Blog Archive Page 3
The solicitor phoned on Tuesday. She hasn’t been able to find anybody to set up an indemnity regarding the lease problem, and now says that the lease is actually fine as it does in fact comply with the 1985 housing act. Which is good. I’d rather this had happened two months ago, but it’s good nevertheless. So she has recommended to the Halifax that they approve the mortgage immediately. Woo! The estate agent, slightly bemused, called this morning and says he wants to push for completion on the 5th December. It’s unlikely I’ll actually move in then - there’s a bright pink wall that needs repainting, for a start 
- but it won’t be long after that. I’m just waiting for the phone call to confirm that the exchange can finally take place…
Caught up on words today. Being awake helps so very much!
I found out yesterday that the valuer finally got back to the Halifax with his recommendations. We don’t actually know what he said, but the Halifax have now requested an indemnity document, which the Seller’s solicitors are drawing up1. This apparently covers them against being sued by…someone. I’m told this is very simple and shouldn’t take long. That’s the final hurdle, as far as I know, so it’s possible things may start to happen in the next few days. That’s good, because the sofa is still being delivered directly to the flat ‘before the end of November’
Just off out for what’s become an annual meet-up with some friends I used to work with. I’ve enjoyed the last couple of get-togethers very much, so it should be fun.
- at my expense, apparently [↩]
The flat is progressing, but very slowly. The good news is that the lease problem appears to have been resolved. The housing association refused point blank to alter the wording of the lease, but have supplied a letter stating that I will only pay 1/6th of the maintenance charges, albeit with the clause that they can invoice me whatever they like on top of this. Presumably the latter part is covering themselves against me trashing the communal areas; it’s only fair to charge me personally in that circumstance, I guess, but it’s still broader than I’d like!
The current problem is that my solicitor has had to inform the Halifax (my mortgage providers) of the problem with the lease, as it could affect the resale value of the property should I default on the loan. The Halifax then contacted the original valuer, who ‘didn’t get the fax’ for a week. We’ve spoken to his assistant, and we’ll hopefully have a reply by Thursday, as they’re only in the office between 1600 and 1700.
If the valuer says that the resale value is reduced, I have a decision to make. Not all of the money is coming from the mortgage and it’s unlikely the loan figure will be reduced, but if the valuer revises his estimate, should I still pay the agreed figure? Or should I try to renegotiate the house price, and risk the seller pulling out? Ugh.
The good thing is that the valuer’s recommendation is the final item we’re waiting for. Everything else, as far as I know, is resolved. So hopefully once this is sorted I’ll be home free…
I had various attempts at getting my computer working today, but nothing’s yet worked. Most of today’s writing has been done from Mum’s machine, as mine has been stopping on Windows bootup. I’m leaving memtest86+ running overnight in the hope that’ll turn up something.
I’ve had some more flat news in the past couple of days, but I don’t really know what to make of it. I received a letter from my solicitor containing a copy of a letter to the seller’s solicitors, which says that an amended Deed of Variation is needed to sort out the maintenance payments, or it is likely the buyer will not proceed. Fair enough. I had a phone call from the estate agent this morning, however, and he said that two other solicitors have looked at the lease and concluded that it doesn’t need changing. We’re now waiting on the housing association to put their argument in writing, and hopefully it will amount to more than ‘it’s a really old lease’, this time. Also, the asbestos survey has found some ‘white asbestos’ under the ‘barge boards’. I’m still not sure whether that’s in the flat itself or the communal areas, but I’ll be able to see the report for myself soon.
I’m getting worried, now. If it seems like I’m being awkward in any way then there’s nothing to stop the seller putting it back onto the market. So things are still going backwards. My sister receives the keys for her house tomorrow, at which point she officially wins the race. Hmph!
I’m getting there on the website rebuild, but it’s slow going! It’s quite fun, though. I’d forgotten how quickly time passes when editing websites - I barely noticed this afternoon.
We spoke to my solicitor this morning. The flat situation is worse than I’d realised, as it turns out the lease specifically states that I have to pay all of the maintenance fees, instead of 1/6th - I thought that was just a possible interpretation. The landlord’s solicitors are still refusing point blank to change it, too. There’s also the matter of upcoming asbestos searches on the building’s communal areas. My solicitor says that if damaged asbestos is found and the other 5 tenants leave or declare themselves bankrupt, the landlords could legally demand I pay for the repairs. As such, her professional opinion is that I should not go ahead in the current position, and the Halifax will not sign off on the mortgage without her approval1. We spoke to my estate agent later - he’s hoping to be able to convince the landlord’s solicitors to change their minds. On the bright side, anybody’s solicitor should pick up on this issue, so it’s unlikely the buyer seller2 will pull out. I hope.
Another letter from my solicitor this morning. Apparently the housing association have said they will not agree to enter into a Deed of Variation:
as it is an old Stratford-on-Avon District Council Lease
Which, as far as I can tell, isn’t a reason at all. My solicitor is as baffled by this as I am. Apparently we’re now talking to the Halifax in order to get an indemnity policy. I think the problem is that if everybody else moves out, say, they could easily demand the entire buildings maintenance from me. Hopefully there’ll be a solution somewhere!
Also, the housing association are currently investigating all of their properties for compliance with asbestos regulations, and hope to have looked at my building by the end of November. My solicitor wants to complete ASAP, but with a ‘long-stop date’. I think this means that I’ll be able to move in, but the paperwork won’t be completed until the results of the survey are confirmed. I’m not sure what would happen if problems were found; would the price be up for renegotiation? I’ll check this 
So things are finally progressing after five weeks of very little, but not very fast. My sister and I are racing to complete on our new residences, but I have a feeling she’s going to win
I’m doing pretty well with stuff for the flat. Other than the washing machine and desk, everything’s ordered or here already. I’d been told that one of the final deliveries would arrive yesterday, and I was quite looking forward to receiving it as included was a desk chair. I’ve had my current chair since 1996 at the latest, and it’s rather frayed around the edges! Since the arrival of Megan it’s deteriorated rapidly, what with her leaping onto it whenever she wants a walk, as well as lying under my desk and chewing the castors, so a new one was somewhat needed! The company promised faithfully the new chair would arrive yesterday, but nothing did, and now they haven’t replied to my querying email. Grrr.
The landlords…are also investigating the cost of entering into a Deed of Variation to clarify the service charge payments….Unfortunately, completion of your purchase will be delayed whilst the title is being rectified.
Aaaagghhh. I was hoping to be moved in for November so I’d be all ready for the NaNoWriMo, but that’s looking a little dodgy now. Still, I’m going to take part no matter what - moving at the same time will just make it all the more exciting Also, I’m happy because a cool teapot arrived in this morning’s post.
Serenity is #1 in the UK charts, and #2 in the US. Fantastic. My enthusiasm hasn’t waned since last Friday. The DVD is rumoured to be coming out on December 20th in the US, too. I don’t buy many DVDs these days, but that’s a certain purchase!
The Argos purchases arrived today, and they’re all boring. Well, not boring boring, just only as interesting as non-stick oven trays, ironing boards and pillows can be. I ordered two sets of plates by mistake, and rather than have crockery for 8 people who wouldn’t fit into the room all at once returned one via Argos’ 16-day no-quibble promise. Hell, this is riveting stuff.
I still haven’t heard anything about said flat. If the current owner pulls out now then, well, I’m screwed.
Daylight inspection of the damage from yesterday’s car prang has resulted in news both good and bad. The good is that my car is pretty much ok. There are a couple of patches where the paint’s gone, but nothing that can’t be filled in with touch-up paint, or a blue felt-tip pen. The Focus, however, is scratched more deeply. I’ll ask the local ford garage to take a look tomorrow, since they owe me a favour or two
Waxy points out today that the Cary Grant / Audrey Hepburn film Charade is now in the public domain due to a clerical error, and can be legally downloaded here. I haven’t seen it, but Miss Hepburn is always engaging imho.
Google Reader is now (almost) fully Opera compatible, although saying that it’s not actually loading for me atm.
I caught The Daily Show on more4 for the first time this evening. It’s a ballsy show to schedule, as it doesn’t really fit into the UK advert-break system. At one point there was an obvious jump-cut, and another time the title graphics appeared briefly. The NTSC av quality is noticably poorer, too. Thankfully, the content more than makes up for it. I don’t know how accessible it is to anybody without a rough knowledge of the US political system, but, frankly, I don’t much care Extra digital channels are perfect for this kind of show.
Yesterday’s Daily Source Code had a particularly creepy moment when Adam played a listener’s audio comment about how to chat up women in the gym. Noting their exercise bike inputs of age, weight and stamina is apparently great because you can “see how long they’ll last in the sack”, as well as the best chat-up line to use - “you look slim” if they’re particularly overweight, for example. Ugh, sometimes it’s embarrassing to be male. Adam was also rather unimpressed. Then, though, one of the podcast promotional clips was from two young women clearly trying to attract a certain kind of audience - ‘we don’t know RSS feeds from our tight little asses!’ - and was similarly degrading. It was an interesting contrast.
Finally, my friend Lil is moving to Devon to live with her boyfriend, which makes them the first couple I know to move in together. Congratulations, Lil and Tom!
Despite only starting at lunchtime, I did have a productive afternoon. I spent a good few hours on the Argos and eBay websites, and have ticked many items off the Stuff Needed for Flat list. Choosing cutlery, oven gloves, plates etc. was strangely fun! It’s great to be able to put my own mark on a place right from the beginning.
I’m quite impressed with the Argos website. Three items were unavailable for home delivery, but the site gives you the option to check stock at local stores and as a result all three have been reserved at the Solihull branch, providing I pick them up tomorrow. I wish they saved the shopping basket server-side, though, as a crash (wtf, incidentally) emptied all of my items - thankfully I’d been making a note of the product numbers just in case, but it was still a pain.
While we’re talking web shopping, buying furniture online is such a pain in the ass! Almost every website decides that the best way to subdivide their catalogue is via brand. So when you click on ‘desks’, the subcategories consist of ‘ventura’, ‘dingleberry’, ‘flarkledoyk’ and ‘romplestein’. Usually they all look exactly the same anyway, but having to check each one is irritating. The product pictures and descriptions are godawful, too. Does anybody actually click ‘buy’ after looking at a 200 x 200 image and the words ‘700×1000x700 beech corner desk’? I swear somebody could make a mint by designing a website properly.
Hmmm, it appears late-night blogging causes me to rant.
It’s Fleet Week in San Francisco apparently. I guess that means it’s exactly a year since I was there. Cripes. My wanderlust was sated for a while, but thinking of that day brings it back with a vengeance. I’d best start making some money!
I should probably be going to bed, but am not feeling tired yet. I think I’ll watch a Scrubs episode then head upstairs…Night!
Serenity’s out today! Woohoo. I won’t be able to catch the previews this evening, but shall be there tomorrow. From everybody’s reaction it’s only Simon and I that are interested in going, but we don’t care. Gotta find us some brown coats…
I spoke to the estate agent earlier. Apparently the new lease is on its way to the solicitors, and assuming that’s ok we’ll be able to start talking moving-in dates.
The third book in the Bartimaeus trilogy officially came out today, but Waterstone’s had it on the shelves yesterday afternoon so I picked up a copy. Most exciting. I have a cunning theory as to what will transpire, but am avoiding the blurb until I finish my current book - won’t be able to resist the temptation otherwise. I even remembered to use my Waterstone’s gift voucher, having had it in my wallet since christmas.
The solicitors are still arguing over the lease agreement for my flat. It seems that the wording currently suggests I have to pay all of the buildings maintenance fees, rather than 1/6th. This isn’t actually the case - the current resident only pays 1/6th - but the possible interpretation means my solicitors have asked for a deed of variation, which is taking a while. I’ve no idea when everything will be sorted, in fact nothing has changed for a couple of weeks, now. I do have saucepans, however.
I’m hoping this week will see the launch of Google Calendar, the server for which is apparently live but inaccessible. Google may wait until their conference at the end of the month, but Google Talk’s servers went live only a couple of days before launch. I’ve been using Outlook + Plaxo for the past few months, and s’alright. Changing anything from the web feels like a chore, though, and Outlook’s a hulking blight on my system resources A swish ajaxy google app integrated into Gmail would be great and, as Jeremy points out, there’s certainly room for innovation.
Lynsey and I are off to a dancing competition at the tower ballroom in Edgbaston this evening. We’re watching rather than taking part, and it’ll be interesting to see professional routines up close. I discovered yesterday that I don’t have access to a black dinner jacket, so am wearing a brown one. That should be ok, shouldn’t it? I’m having to wear a tie - an item of clothing I have yet to be convinced isn’t simply a big arrow pointing to the crotch - so shall pick out something suitably individual.
My mortgage offer just arrived, which I guess this means it’s actually happening! On Monday I was starting to prepare myself for it all falling through, so this is rather a relief. My estate agent says the solicitors are still exchanging minor details, but otherwise there’s nothing left to do before finally signing the paperwork. I wonder when completion date will be…I’d guess a couple of weeks. I’d best get on with shopping
I was proud of myself this morning when I made a couple of phone calls and achieved what I wanted. I renegotiated my car insurance, as well as talking to the seller garage and changing the method of payment. Nothing much for most people, but I’ve been poor on the phone for much of my life, and this was quite an achievement Life coaching has certainly helped in this regard - I wasn’t terribly nervous before making the calls and didn’t come off the phone convinced that the recipient was thinking me a moron.
We’ve been told that my mortgage has been approved and the offer paperwork was put in the post on Tuesday. I was hoping for it this morning, but with luck it’ll arrive tomorrow. As a result I’ve been researching broadband, phone lines and home insurance. Good grief. It’s not particularly complex, but the sheer range of offers boggles me. Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com is an excellent resource for saving money, but it’s easy to become bogged down in minutiae. I’m hoping to find an uncapped, decent share-ratio, 1mb broadband package for under
Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Arrr, thar be booty fer th’ pickin’. Landlubbers and sea dogs alike stand a good chance a’winnin’ me tome: Pirates! In an Adventure with Whaling, there being nay entrants as yet. Ye need but scrawl a smartly ‘avast!’.
‘coupla mornin’ links for ye: mushy romantic drawin’s, via sea dog Waxy, an’ Flyin’ Mobulas via them scurvy Boing Boingers - between ye’ an’ me, I’ve seen better sea beasties.
Me new cabin bunk has arrived! Just need t’ confirm me ship, then all’s well.
Sketchings from th’ lubberboats will appear on th’ bonny sea port flickr today, me hopes.
Arrrr!