New house stuff

[dydey90]

Yesterday I had an offer accepted to purchase my first house (yay)
Mortgage agreement sorted
Girlfriend works at conveyancing company so legal fees sorted

What I need BCF collective advise on is utilities and buying shit.
-Currently with Utility Warehouse, paying around £110 per month for gas, electric, phone and broadband in a 3 bed semi. New house is similar size but has BT fibre (YAY). How does this compare? Can I get cheaper? I'm expecting at least a £15 increase on that for the the fibre.

-Council tax. Do I start paying when contracts are exchanged or when I officially move in?

-Front room needs decorating. DIY or hire somebody? Never decorated myself but my father is a veteran who has always done it himself.

-Need sofas. Should be good for other furnishings, but don't have sofas. Seen a few we like in the major sofa shops, but I tend to avoid these sorts of places. Where is best to get this sort of thing from?

Any cashback deals for the above would also be helpful!

Thanks.
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This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[mudcow007]

is the house a do-a-upper?

if so, remove the sink & toilet it then becomes inhabitable an you can request a council tax break (up to 6 months i think?)

or just say its uninhabitable without removing shizz an hope they dont come an check

someone somewhere always has furniture they dont want, speak to family an friends...

[stinkwheel]

[DrSnoosnoo]

I know that in Leeds, they do not give a council tax break if the property is vacant anymore.

I don't know the situation regarding uninhabitable though and I suspect each authority is different.

What's utility warehouse? They just sort out supplies for you and you pay them a fee? I'm sure you could get it cheaper if you sort it out yourselves, literally cutting out the middleman.

My living room has the décor that was present when we bought it. But when it comes to it, I will DIY, apart from walls needing skimming etc, that's deffo a skilled job.

We've been looking for sofas etc too. Go to the main ones, see one you like and you can often get them on 0% interest for 3 years or so. We saw a corner group for 1700 or some number like that and it was less than 50 a month, if you need it now and can't wait to save, crack on. Or reduce the monthlys by putting a larger deposit down; for example a deposit of 500 quid reduces that monthly to £33, some people spend more than that on their mobile phone contracts ...
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[dydey90]

Not a doer-upper, it's in really good condition and technically ready to move straight into. It's just that all the walls are plain white so I'd like to give it some personality before it's filled with stuff.
I think it might be Kirklees council anyway (Dewsbury), who I hear couldn't outwit damp gingerbread, so I might be able to wing it for a few weeks while it's sorted with a bit of luck.
____________________
This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[DrSnoosnoo]

[Ste]

Find the best deals for utilities using uswitch and moneysavingexpert.

Check topcashback to compare cashback offers for the different suppliers and click through from topcashback to the companies website and sign up there.

[dydey90]

[DrDonnyBrago]

Don't buy anything until contracts have been exchanged. Chains fall apart all the time.

If you have already handed notice into rental house and ordered a 5 seater electric recliner to your prospective purchase address, you'll find yourself on a sticky wicket.

I painted all the walls and ceilings in my house the same shade of Dulux white. Means no cutting in around the ceiling and after 5 years of renting, I couldn't face another magnolia walled house. White looks fresh, simple and modern, magnolia looks like a cheap rental. Wife has since had me wallpaper a wall in a few of the rooms, looks good tbf.

Oh and final thing is to be sure to research the gloss paint you use. EU banned one of the chemicals responsible for oil based white paint staying white ( ) so now they all turn yellow within about 2 months unless exposed to direct sunlight. Water based gloss seems to be the way forward.

[grr666]

Ebay is the answer, if you swing it right you can use the same van you hire/borrow to move in to also collect large
furniture items you've won in auctions for cheeps. We managed to get a leather 3 seater local to where we were going
to live which we whipped round and grabbed while I had the luton.
Alternatively B&Q do hourly van hire.

Picked up a lovely DFS sofa for my kitchen from a bloke in Bath via Ebay. Cost me 100 quid, I have my own van
with roof bars so managed to get it home for the cost of the diesel 16 mile round trip to collect. Although second
hand it looked new and still does .A year previous I bought a 4 seater leather job for my living room brand new
also from DFS. Didn't bother with all their finance and all that parp, and that one cost me about £3000.

Cheapest sofa I managed to bag from ebay cost me £11 I still have it out in my conservatory.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Chuffin Nora]

Inb4 dydey90 in a month's time:

SHIT!
It's only just dawned on me that the house that I bought a month ago doesn't have a garage, and the side/communal passage is too narrow to get my bike down [OR] the passage is wide enough but the angle of the back gate won't allow me ingress to the back garden/there's no back garden so getting to the back garden isn't an issue, and, while we're on the subject, there's no front garden to speak of, and the locale is stuffed to the gunnels with pikies and scrotes, so -- Oxford or Almax chain? Which immobiliser? Which alarm? Which disc and U-lock? Will the local authority allow me to sink a ground anchor into the road/kerb/pavement? Er…Which ground anchor? Security lights? CCTV? Breed of attack dog? Air rifle? Machine gun? Therapist? Medication? Asylum? . . . Divorce lawyer?

HEEEEELP!!!



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There's a fine line between integrity

[iooi]

Certainly get on the cashback sits such as Quidco for utilities & insurance. Even for the likes of comparison sites.

I would certainly dump Utility warehouse. Just make sure the cashback is worth it.

Be aware in Leeds if taking stuff to recycling sites (read tip) they do not like Vans. So forget hiring one to take stuff
I've just done that to get rid of a bed and sofa. Thankfully they turned a blind eye to the 1st load with the bed... Now got 2 fucked sofa's stuck in the garage
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[angryjonny]

At least a subset of Ikea's range of "big stuff" (i.e. beds & mattresses, sofas etc) can be driven away on the day. DFS and the like typically need at least 6 weeks to deliver a sofa and you'll be on inflatable chairs in the meantime.

[hellkat]

If you have two bathrooms, start out as you mean to go on and agree to have separate ones.

You should not find yourself taking a dump in a plastic bag out in the back garden just because she is taking too long putting "product" in her hair.

Also: just decorate each bathroom as each inhabitant sees fit.
It will make her feel better about the very important paint-colours rule that Stinkwheel has invoked.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[dydey90]

[dodsi]

I would honestly get a pro to paint. The difference in finish is incredible -lucky enough for me my brother in law is a painter and decorator so it cost me beer tokens.

Magnolia with white ceilings looks shit (sorry stinkwheel it just does) we went for dulux trade mould resistant paint in white matt for ceilings and a "gray steel 4" on the walls. Then white satin wood on the doors and skirtings. It is much more contemporary and will be easy to paint over in future due to how light it is.

Remember, this is your home.. Saving a couple of hundred quid isn't worth it when you have to live in it.

[angryjonny]

[dodsi]

Also, what would you be decorating onto? if its rough old walls consider filling and sanding or even getting it skimmed by a plasterer depending on the state of it.

This means that if you change your mind on colour schemes later then you have a lovely base to paint whatever colour you want whenever you feel like it. Bodging a load of wallpaper on top is just going to cause long term issues (and be more expensive).

Personally I would always stay away from wallpaper due to the difficulty in getting it on to a high standard and then getting it off again when you want to change it. Art is your friend when you want to change the feature of the wall.

Sofas ETC - buy second hand off some mug who bought the wrong one (for them) about a year ago and they have decided to buy a new one on finance again from one of the main players.

Alternatively, buy one of the cheapest ones from the big players as i found out a few years ago to my great expense that they are all basically made using the same methods whether it was £400 or £4000 (only in harveys, DFS, SCS etc) if you go to a decent place then spending 4k on a sofa would give you that "fight club" feeling.

"You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled."

[dydey90]

Good idea about the sofas, test searched for one that we liked from Sofology that was around £1300 new. Two on gumtree, £350 and £800.

As for decorating, looks like I'll have to get quotes and hope they don't make my eyes water!
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This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[t121anf]

If it helps we paid £80 for our stair case, upper and lower halls (both small) to be painted.

We supplied the paint.

Would normally have done it myself but couldn't be fucked on with it being the stairs.

Have to agree, that for once a trade person was worth paying for, we used Silk (i hate silk) and the tradesman managed to get a nice flat finish, when I painted out bedroom in Silk it's shiny in different directions. Matt is normally ok.

[stinkwheel]

The truly contemporary way to do colour would be using lighting.

I'll do a "feature wall" in a colour but I still insist magnolia is the one colour to rule them all.

I once made the mistake of doing a wall a dark red colour. Never again!
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[dodsi]

Our spend on 1 room (13ft by 9/10ft) has been...

£420 on skimming (plastering) the ceiling and walls - these were in a state and the finish is now perfect.

£150 on 3x tins of paint - all dulux trade wall colour, White matt for ceiling and white satinwood for door frames/doors and skirtings. (we still have loads of the ceiling paint and satinwood left)

£50 on new MDF skirtings - still have most of another rooms left over as purchased 5m lengths.

£50 fitting for skirtings - all fixings and glues were supplied from our friendly chippie.

£220 for painting all of the above in labour and helping take down coving/sanding frames and filling and painting window sills and filling skirtings and caulking in skirtings and frames twice. Price included decorators caulk, dulux trade base coat paints before applying our own paints listed above.

£890 in total there - but it is finished to a really high standard.

New carpets/underlays are going to cost us £350. new switches and sockets will be another £40/£50 then curtains and rails/fittings are another £80/£90. then some more beer tokens for painting the new doors & handles etc (£390) we have just bought for the whole flat and £120 to have them fit.

Projected spend on 1 room - around £1500!

BUT... it looks professional and the finish should last.

doing it myself I wouldn't stand to save much more than £400 on those costs and it would probably look a bit cack.

[dydey90]

I'm hoping that the plaster and the woodwork is alright. There's a wooden daedo rail that wants ripping out but that's all.

Also... £50 for a tin of bloody coloured lead?!
____________________
This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[grr666]

Congrats on the house, it's the best money you'll ever spend but I think it's safe to say, the next 12 months will be
an 'education' for you Mr dydey90. I only hope all your bills are as small as £50.









Hint- They won't be. Trust me, I'm a property developer and builder.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[stinkwheel]

Ok. Breakdown painting my Living room.

10l crown Pure brilliant White, 10l crown magnolia. £16 each.
2.5l Dulux matt emulsion for feature wall £16
1l Dulux white high gloss for doors £13.50
1l ronseal quick drying woodstain for skirtings. £15

So total of £60.50 on paint. Far more paint than it ever needed.

Three tubes of frame sealant from screwfix at £2.50 each to reattach the skirtings after staining.

Big box of brushes: £10

Sheepskin roller and tray: £15

Mini gloss roller: £7

White spirit: £3

So just under £100 for all the paint and tools to apply it with.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.