In the Pipeline

Hello

I haven't been able to blog much recently. Things have been non stop since we moved into our house and we have just got a new addition to our family (more on her later), who is proving more of a handful than I expected! I just wanted to do a quick post to tell you what posts I've got in the pipeline. They are as follows, but not necessarily in order;

1. Update on our complaint to the Financial Ombudsman about a certain well known estate agents.
2. How to make Victorian silhouettes wall art of your family.
3. Top tips for saving up a deposit.
4. Mood boards for my dining room, bathroom, kitchen.
5. Reviews for a couple of websites I have purchased house stuff from.
6. Before and after photos of our newly decorated living room.
7. The new member of our family.
8. How to customise wooden furniture to your colour scheme.

I wanted to let you know what I had planned so you know what content is coming up that might be useful or of interest to you. I've got some time off over the Christmas periods so I am hoping to get started on some of these posts.

TTFN!

The Cost of Buying a Property

Hello

Today I've decided to write a post about the costs associated with buying a property. When we were looking at buying a house I found it very difficult to find consolidated figures on how much it was likely to cost. It is such a monumental amount of money that you really need to know well in advance roughly how much it will cost. I remember thinking 'Oh good I think I've got enough money for a deposit now' only to realise that we would need an extra £2-3,000 on top of that amount! Most disheartening when its taken years to get the deposit. To make matters worse we paid out half of this for the flat purchase, which fell through. This is a massive thing to take into consideration too. Whilst it was, in this instance, our choice (to a point) you do always have the risk that the seller may pull out of the purchase. So some of the things you have paid out for will need to be paid for again e.g searches, depending how far along the process you were. Make sure your conveyancer offer a "no purchase, no fee" arrangement, just in case.

So here are the costs you will incur. I will divide them into those you pay upfront or before completion, those that you pay on completion and extras. Where possible I will give a likely price range.

Before Completion

• Mortgage Broker Fees- £0-399+

When purchasing the flat we went to a corporate estate agents (and oh how we regret it). The 'lifetime broker fee' was £399 (grr!) which was supposed to mean that you could use this company for all future purchases and sales without having to pay fees ever again. Sounds great until they mess you about and you lose faith. We will NEVER use them again, so they did well out of us there. Anyway I digress, when we found the house we used an independent estate agents and they charged us nothing for setting up the mortgage. The service was excellent and we could be sure the service we were getting was based on the commission the person would receive. I would definitely recommend an independent estate agents as their fees are likely to be lower than corporates or as in our case non existent.

• Mortgage Booking Fee approx £300

This is a lovely charge the mortgage company adds for giving you a mortgage. Isn't that nice of them. This is sometimes added to the mortgage amount, rather than being an upfront cost.

• Valuation Fee- approx £150-200

This is the cost incurred by the mortgage company to send someone to the property to value it. They do this to insure the property is worth the price you are paying, incase they have to repossess it.

• Structural Survey- approx £150-£450

These vary in price based on how extensive the survey is. It is recommended that you have a full structural survey done. However this is the most expensive option, so you do have to weigh it up. The bank won't lend on a house that looks like it is about to fall down, so their survey is useful. But they don't tend to go in the property. If you are buying a very old house for example there are potentially a lot of structural problems that should be looked at. What you need to consider is that if you don't have a full survey and there is a problem with the house once you move in, you will have to pay for it. If it is discovered before you buy it, you can make it a condition of sale that the seller rectifies it before they leave.

• Searches £350

These are the first things your conveyancer will do. I have explained more about them here.

Upon Completion

• Conveyancing Fees £700+ (less search cost)

This is what you pay the solicitor for the legal aspects of the purchase. For example changing the deeds, searches, boundary and access issues.

• Stamp Duty

This is the killer. Up until recently stamp duty wasn't applied on properties under £250,000. But our lovely government have reduced it right down to £125,000. So now anything other than a small flat qualifies for stamp duty.
- For houses £125,000-£250,00 stamp duty is 1%. So for a house worth £150,000 you will pay £1,500 in stamp duty

- For houses worth £250,000-£500,000 its 3%. So for a house worth £300,000 you will pay £9000.

- For houses worth £500,000-£1 million its 4%. So for a house worth £1 million you will pay £40,000. Ouch!

- For houses worth over £2 million its 7%. So for a house worth £2 million you will pay £100,000. 

And apparently we have a budget deficit!

Extras to Consider

• House and Contents Insurance £300+

Contents insurance isn't essential, but in my opinion you would be extremely foolish not to get it. House insurance is usually a condition of the mortgage and you will have to provide evidence that you have got it to your conveyancer.

• Will Writing- £200-300

It is recommend that you write a will when you purchase a house as it greatly increases your estate should you die. It is important that you have a legal document to say where you would like the estate to go should you die. It isn't an essential requirement, but something you should do soon after you move in, if possible.

• Life Cover, Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection £30+ a month for all 3

These insurances have different names depending on the insurer. I found deciding on these very difficult as you have to think about your own mortality and the financial commitment you are making. If you are buying with someone else you have to think about how they will pay the mortgage without your income. Life Cover pays out a lump sum should you die before the mortgage term ends. You take out cover for the full mortgage amount. Critical illness pays a lump sum should you be diagnosed with a range of serious medical conditions. It can pay for private health care or pay the bills whilst you recover. Income protection pays a monthly amount for a maximum of two years should you be unable to work due to unemployment or illness. You don't have to have all three, it depends on your budget and circumstances. But it is something you should seriously consider.

I think that is everything! If I think of anything else I will update this post. In short our costs were about £2300 for a house worth £155,000 to give you a rough idea. But it will vary based on the companies you use, the price of the property and what type of survey you have.

TTFN!

Living Room Mood Board

Hello

Today I thought I'd share another mood board. I've already shared my bedroom moodboard. Today I thought I would share my living room mood board. We have nearly finished decorating this room now and it has changed a bit. As I explained in this post the red and the grey didn't really work, so it is now all red with white accents.

We really wanted this room to be warm and cosy. So we have gone for red and dark brown wood. Its the only room in the house that will be a strong, dark colour. We are having a wood burner fitted into the fireplace. Rather than having a surround we are having an oak beam mantle shelf. The fire place is brick and quite rustic looking so I think this will look better than a formal fireplace surround. I haven't got a complete product list for this as I did images searches to get the look rather than choosing specific products. Here's where you can find some of the products.

OWL CANDLE- The Range £2.99

TREE DECAL- Etsy has various designs

RUG- Next Red Bloom £70-250

CLOCK- Newgate Knightsbridge Clock £57

This room is nearly finished now, so I will do a blog post with photos when it is all done and you can see how well I stuck to my mood board!

TTFN! 

Moving

Hello

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I have had a very hectic two weeks moving into my new home! As you would expect it wasn't a fun experience. Even the prospect of it being OUR home didn't reduce the stress and exhaustion. But we are in and unpacked now. Phew!

We had been told we could pick up the keys on friday so we got up early and packed our remaining stuff and filled both cars up with as many boxes as we could. We then got a call saying the keys could be picked up at 11am. Which was brilliant as I have heard horror stories of people waiting all day in their removal vans to be able to pick up the keys. The estate agent was only a minute away from the house, so we didn't have to wait much longer to see out new home.

The first thing we did was look around everywhere properly. I had a lovely surprise when I opened the cupboard in the bedroom, to find a wardrobe large enough for all my clothes and shoes. This frees up space and also means I can sell my old wardrobe for some much needed cash! We unpacked the car, then my boyfriend went to get more stuff. We had decided it would be easier to paint the living room before we brought all the large furniture over. So while he was getting more smaller boxes I started decorating. In hindsight this might not have been the best idea as it made the whole process more drawn out and exhausting. We had chosen a colour called 'Roasted Red' which on the label looked like a nice darkish red. To go with it I had chosen a light grey. This idea may sound whacky but I had seen it in one of the paint swatch books you can get in DIY shops and it looked lovely. So I started painting and immediately hated the 'red'. It wasn't actually a red, but more of a burnt orange. I hate orange! Stupidly we hadn't bought testers first, but went straight to the big pots. So that was £18 wasted! Anyhoo I carried on with the grey and resolved to go to Homebase the next day and get a 'proper' red.

The next day we moved over some smaller boxes and I went to Homebase to get another red paint. This time I got tester and found the perfect true bright red (crazy I know but wait until you see it finished). So I carried on painting with some help from my sister. After painting 3 walls and leaving the other grey, we decided that that didn't work either so I painted over that in red. Another pot of paint wasted! The finished look is really nice and very cosy. All the big stuff had been moved by this point so this was our first night sleeping in our new home.

Unfortunately we didn't have an oven and had a lot of trouble finding one that would be delivered quickly (there's only so long you can eat hot food purely from a microwave). We wanted to get an electric cooker but the wiring was not in place to have it fitted so we have had to get a gas oven. I'm gutted about this as I hate gas. I think is so dangerous and its much more temperamental getting the temperature right. But at least we now have everything we need to live comfortably.

A month later we have one room decorated and have nearly finished another room, and everything is unpacked. I've also done some work in the garden and bought some pots. Each day we do a bit more work and it gets a bit more like the home we want it to be.

TTFN!

Blog Lovin'

Hello

I have just joined Bloglovin' and added the follow button at the top right of my blog. If you are using Bloglovin' and you like this blog please give me a follow so I can see who is reading.

Thanks!

Finally! Some Good News!

Hello

Yesterday we finally received the news we have been waiting two and a half months for. We have got a moving date! Yippee! Next week we will be picking up the keys to our new home. I cannot tell you how awful the wait has been. We have been trying to save money so that we can decorate and buy new furniture so we have barely been out anywhere. I started packing a couple of weeks ago so our flat is full of boxes. The worst part has been knowing that life is going to be very busy and stressful while we move, but not know when it is going to be happening. So it just prolongs the stress even more. But it will all be worth it when we pick up the keys.

TTFN!

House Buying Terminology

Hello

In this post I'm going to explain some of the terminology you will encounter when buying a house. Some of the terms might be really obvious to some of you, but they weren't to me. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

"No Chain"- this one might be obvious but when we were looking for our house we only understood what it meant when an estate agent mentioned it. A property that has "No onward chain" is the best scenario to have as it means the seller is not dependent on another house purchase to move out. So they might be going into rented accommodation, they are selling a buy-to-let, or moving in with family for example. When there is a chain it can make the whole process very lengthy (8months plus in some cases) and unstable. Each person in the chain has to find somewhere else to buy, which can take a while. There is also the chance that one part of the chain falls through, delaying things further. Obviously you aren't going to buy a house purely on this basis, but if you had two houses you couldn't decide between and one was no chain then that would probably influence your decision. First time buyers are also not in a chain which makes them very desirable to sellers. If you are a first time buyer you can use this to your advantage. As you can move quickly the seller is more likely to accept your offer ;)

"Leasehold"- I have covered this in more detail in this post but will do a brief definition here. Leasehold means that you are in an agreement with the owner (freeholder) that you can occupy the property for a period of time (usually about 100 years maximum).

"Freehold"- Again I went into a lot of detail about what freehold means in this post. Freehold means you own the property and land it sits on 'absolutely'. So you are free to do with it what you want (subject to planning permission).

"Conveyancing"- We had no idea what this was before we started our purchase. Unfortunately those that work in the industry assume that you know what this means so don't explain it unless you ask. Conveyancing is concerned with all the legal documentation that is required to purchase a house. As I understand it you could do this yourself, but it is much easier and more sensible to employ someone who knows what they are doing (although it is not cheaper!). You can employ a conveyancer or a solicitor that specialises in conveyancing. It costs an awful lot of money for what seems like not a lot. But it is very important. They will liase with the sellers solicitor/conveyancer, obtain information on the cost of running the property, check planning permission, conduct 'searches' (explained more below), sort out boundary or rights of way issues. This is all done so that you can make an informed decision about whether to go through with the purchase.

"Searches"- This was another thing that we didn't understand, yet had to pay £250 for! As the name suggests they are searches of databases and records. But what are they searching for you may ask. They check to see if the property is built on a coal mining area, radon area (some dangerous gas), to see if you might have to pay for the upkeep of a church (this is called a Chancel check/search), bankruptcy search and a Land Registry search, amongst others.

"Exchange of Contracts"- this is the point at which you become legally responsible for the property and can no longer pull out of the purchase without serious ramifications (you will have to pay compensation to the seller and vice versa if they pull out at this stage). Buildings insurance needs to be arranged for this date.

"Completion"- yey you finally own the property and can pick up the keys!! This is the day you have spent months waiting for. It should take place one to two weeks after you have exchanged contracts.

"Stamp Duty"- Or Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to give it its full title. This is that horrible and hugely costly tax that the lovely people in government want you to hand over (as if you haven't spent enough money already). I will be doing another blog post which will explain this in more detail. But basically if you purchase a property costing £125,000 or more you will have to pay stamp duty.

I hope this is useful, TTFN!

Bedroom Mood Board

Hello

Whilst enduring the agonising wait for moving day, I have been making mood boards for each room in the house. I've found that this is a really good way to build the look you want for the room and decide on matching accessories. With this one I started with the wallpaper. We were originally going to have this wallpaper in the flat, but we decided it would work equally as well in the house. The photo doesn't do it justice. The script is actually done in very light gold and silver so it catches the light beautifully. As you can see from the photo, NEXT have used heather coloured accessories to dress the shot. I think this colour goes beautifully with the cream, and purple is also my favourite colour. So I have used this as the colour scheme. NEXT also do a paint range that matches their wallpapers. 'Autumn Heather' and 'Calico Old English' match perfectly with this look.

We want to keep the decor quite traditional so it is in keeping with the style of the property (Victorian). So I have chosen old fashioned furniture. We love the traditional metal framed bed as it is cream with really nice brushed bronze detail. The furniture shown is all from NEXT but I don't think we will purchase it all from there. I like the style of the wardrobes, chest of drawers, dresser and bed side tables but I would like to get them custom made exactly how we want them. For example the wardrobe isn't big enough.

The overall look I was going for with this room is tradition, but light and airy. The flat we are currently renting can get quite dark at times and it can affect my mood in a negative way so I really want the whole house to feel really fresh and light. I think when the bedroom is finished its going to be a really lovely space to relax in. Incase there are any items here that you would like for your own home I have made a list below of the items, prices and where to find them-

PAINT- Old English Calico £2-£14

PAINT- Autumn Heather £2-£14

WALLPAPER- French Script £15

WOODEN FURNITURE- Isabella Range

BED- Leamington Bedstead £250-£450

CURTAINS- Mauve Ella Eyelet £35-£105

BEDDING- Vintage Wash Floral £35-£65

BEDDING- Natural Lace £25-£55

RUG- Sparkle Heather £45-£230

CUSHION- Faux Ostrich £16

BIN- £25

PAINTING- Lying Lady £80

GLASS BOTTLES- Set of three £22

FRAMES- Set of three £15

Mood boards for the bathroom, kitchen, living room and dining room are to follow. I will also post photos of the rooms once we have decorated them so you can see how the look came together.

Thanks for reading :)

Still Waiting To Move.....

Hello

I'm feeling very grumpy at the moment as we still haven't moved into our new home and its all because a piece of paper wasn't signed by the seller and neither of our solicitors actually noticed it *sigh*. We got the big pack of paper to read about the house three weeks ago. I read it all, signed everything and returned it to the solicitor two weeks ago, pointing out the missed signature. You would have thought this would be long enough to return the signed piece of paper, but no, we still haven't exchanged contracts or arranged a completion date. Argh!! To make matters worse, it is a bank holiday on Monday so we will lose another day.

I can't bear being so close, yet its still feels like so far away. I just want to be in my new home, making it look all pretty!!

End of Rant.

Hopefully I will have some exciting news soon.

TTFN

Leasehold Vs Freehold

Hello

I wanted to write a post about what leasehold and freehold mean. We came massively unstuck because we didn't do enough research on this before going ahead with our flat purchase. DISCLAIMER I am writing this as I understand it from reading the leasehold contract for the flat we were buying. Each contract might be slightly different. This blog post is written to provide you with a basis for doing your own research. Please feel free to add comments (politely) if you feel I have got something wrong. So here goes;

Leasehold

- Leasehold means that you own the right to live in the property for a set period of time (the length of the lease). When we were looking to purchase the flat we did some research that suggested it meant that you own a small box (flat) inside a larger box (whole building). This is not the case. The person who owns the freehold owns the land, building and each flat.

- The length of the lease determines how long you can stay in the property. Leases are usually 100+ years to begin with. As the length of the lease that remains gets smaller the value of the property reduces. Once you get down to 70-80years left the flat will be unsellable as no mortgage lender will lend on a lease this short. You can pay to extend the lease but this may cost upwards of £15,000!

- Leasehold applies to virtually all flats in the UK. Those that are freehold are difficult to get a mortgage for.

- You pay off a mortgage.

- Buildings insurance may be set up by the freeholder, rather than you having to arrange it. But it may not be the best or best value insurance.

- There are restrictions on hanging your washing out on balconies and getting your own satellite dish. There should be a satellite dish on the building that all leaseholders can use.

- You cannot make structural changes to the property.

- You will most likely need to get permission for pets and wooden floors.

- There are rules on how late you can play loud music (this is one of the few advantages of a leasehold)

- You will have to pay ground rent (approx £100+/year)

- You will have to pay service charges for the maintenance of communal areas. This is the killer. There are no guidelines or protection for tenants* with regards to how much can be charged for these services. The flat we looked at had a service charge of £130/month. This was basic, if the accumulated funds weren't enough for the work done that year they could ask for additional money from each tenant. You have no option but to pay these charges. if you do not pay you will be charged interest until you do.

- If you do not follow the rules set out in the contract you could be evicted.

- You may need to get permission to decorate your home.

- Structural issues to the building as a whole will not be your responsibility, but you will have to pay a share of the cost.

- You might be subject to inspections and the freeholder can enter the property if they so choose.

Freehold

- Freehold means that you own the building and the land that it sits on (once you have paid off the mortgage).

- Most houses in the UK are freehold.

- You pay off a mortgage

- Buildings insurance is arranged by you. It may be an essential condition of your mortgage if you have one.

- You can make structural changes as long as you get the correct planning permission and follow building regulations.

- You do not have to pay ground rent or services charges, but you will be responsible for maintaining the whole property.

- You cannot be evicted from the property.

*An organisation called the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal will look at disputes, but from my research they are not very helpful.

I hope you find this helpful if you are unsure whether to go for a leasehold or freehold property.

Websites Selling Beautiful Things

Hello

I thought I would share a couple of lovely websites I have found recently that sell gorgeous homewares. The first one I found by chance when googling pictures of clocks. Its called Mollie and Fred. It sells lot of vintage items from some bigs names such as Cath Kidson and they offer free P&P when you spend over £50. I haven't purchased anything yet as I don't want to add to the things I'll have to move, but I've got my eye on a few things...

I love this cute and unusual key hook. Price £16.99.

These photo frames will go perfectly in the bedroom. Price £18.99.

I heart (see what I did there) this Emma Bridgewater Biscuit Tin. Price £12.99.

They also have a gorgeous collection of door mats. Prices £16.99-18.99.

The other site I have found is Dot Com Gift Shop. This again has a lot of vintage products. Delivery is £2.95 or free on orders over £50. Again I haven't ordered from here yet. A few of my favourites items are...

This vintage sign. Price £3.95.

These really cute key fobs. They have got 'Front Door', 'Back Door', 'Garage' and 'Shed'. Price £1.95.

And these cute storage jars. Price £23.95.

If/when I order from either of these sites I will do a blog post (and possibly a youtube haul video) reviewing the products and service with lots of photos. If you know of any good sites please leave them as a comment. I would love to look at them :-)

Property Purchase Part 2

Hello

So what happened next?

Pulling out of buying the flat meant that we would only be looking at houses. All along we had wanted a house and a garden so we haven't regretted our decision at all. Once you factor in the service charges, the mortgage on a flat isn't much less than a mortgage on a house, so we felt we could afford it. We immediately started looking at properties and viewed about 10 in total. Most of them were pretty terrible but we did view two that we really liked. One was a three bedroom house with massive rooms, but a tiny garden. The other was a Victorian terraced house with two bedrooms and a large garden. I fell in love with the Victorian one and my boyfriend preferred the 3 bedroom one simply because of the space. Although he did like the Victorian one. Problem.

We viewed both of them again but the 3 bedroom just didn't feel right to me, luckily the boyfriend agreed that the Victorian one was lovely. Yes! I truly believe that for the big decisions in life you should follow your gut feeling. The Victorian house just felt RIGHT. So we put in a (low) offer, which was rejected, but it started negotiations. We put in a higher (more reasonable) offer, which again was rejected but the estate agent asked what was the most we could offer. We said we could add another £500 but that was as high as we could go. After a very tense few minutes he phoned back to say the seller had accepted! Yippee!

That was 6 weeks ago. The waiting is terrible, but we are nearly there (I think). I CANNOT wait to move. I've got plans for a lovely log burner, a vegetable patch and gorgeous bird cage wallpaper.

Property Purchase Part 1

Hello

For my first proper blog post I thought it would make sense to tell you about my house buying experience so far. I'm going to do it in two parts as its a long story. So here goes...

My boyfriend and I were getting fed up with renting for several reasons;

1. Its dead money. Only the landlord is benefiting from it.
2. We weren't allowed pets.
3. We were being inspected every 3 months, which we felt was a big invasion of our privacy.
4. We couldn't decorate the place.
5. Most importantly we could be evicted at any time. We had been in a nice little flat for only six months when the owner decided they wanted to sell so we had to leave. Then my sister was renting somewhere for a few months when the same thing happened to her. It is horrible to have to leave your home when it isn't your choice.

With all this in mind we decided the time had come to start looking for our own home. We had quite a good deposit saved up so we took the plunge. After some thought we decided that a flat would probably be the best option, as at the time we didn't think we would be able to afford a house, and the mortgage payments would be lower so we would have more disposable income. We weren't searching for long when we found a really nice flat. It had two bedrooms, an ensuite, was in a really nice area on the outskirts of a town and it was only 7 years old so very modern inside. After a couple of viewings we put an offer in which was accepted almost immediately (the owner had found a previous buyer, but we were told it fell through because the buyer's circumstances changed). We were encouraged to see the mortgage advisor at the estate agents that were advertising the property. We were happy with this as she was a really nice girl and seemed very knowledgable and efficient. On our first meeting she showed us this glossy book about the house buying process and said she would be there to help us every step of the way. 'Great' we thought!

So she arranges us a good mortgage,  for which we were accepted and put us in contact with their associated conveyancer. Lovely job. Everything was going smoothly. At this point we also paid their 'lifetime broker fee' of £349 which meant for any subsequent house sale or purchase were could use the estate agents services for free. This is when things started to change. On our next meeting with the mortgage advisor we talked about insurances. The standard ones offered are life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection. All of which are designed to protect you if something happens and you can't work/die (and therefore can't pay the mortgage). This is when our mortgage advisor started the hard sell. What a change in character that was!

In between all this we had emailed her with a question. The reply we got was very different to precious exchanges. She was quite blunt and basically said 'This isn't something to be asking me, go to your conveyancer'. Again this was quite a character change. It seemed like once she had our money the service dropped. Aside from all this the flat purchase was going well. We had paid the conveyancer for the searches and the mortgage company for their valuation.

After a few weeks we got 'the stack' containing the contracts, results of the searchers and any other information required about the property. This is where it all fell apart...

As you may be aware most flats are leasehold. Those that are not are very difficult to get a mortgage on. What we didn't realise was that you don't actually own the flat. You own the right to live there for an extended period. With this comes a whole set of other potential problems (I will be doing a separate blog post on this). Subsequently after reading 'the stack' we realised that a leasehold was not what we wanted. After much agonising and at great expense (£1300 in fees) we pulled out of the sale. We were also angry at out mortgage advisor as we felt she should have explained leasehold and freehold to us at the very beginning. Had we know we wouldn't have gone for the flat. As first time buyers we were naive and thought she would advise us, especially as we had explained our frustration with renting. But it seems she was only thinking about her commission.

As a result we lodged a complaint with the company in the hope of getting at least some of our money back. After a month of investigation they sent us a letter stating that our mortgage advisor had done a fantastic job- she had set us up with a mortgage. End of. They wouldn't be giving us our money back. We have since referred our complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and our awaiting their decision. I'll do an update blog with the result of this. Keep your fingers crossed :)

Welcome to My Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog,

I have decided to start writing a blog as I am in the process of buying my first home with my boyfriend, and wanted to share what I have learnt (and am still learning). It has been a long and stressful process with some pitfalls along the way, which could have been prevented with a bit more information. I thought it would be useful to share my experiences from first time buyer to first time buyer. As it can sometimes be difficult to get impartial, easy to understand advice from those involved in the process (such as mortgage advisors/solicitors). 

I want to explain some of the house buying jargon as I understand it (as a lay person), pass on any tips I have learnt, share my journey from agreeing a sale to moving in and decorating our new home, review homewares that I have bought and share shops/websites I have found that stock beautiful things for your home.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog,

Jemma

DISCLAIMER- I am no house buying or legal expert. What I write in this blog is based on my personal experience. If you have issues with your own house purchase always go to your solicitor that is what you pay them a lot of money for! :)