sarjo

I should have exchanged contracts on a house purchase today, but last minute my solicitor said there was a problem. There is the mention of a RECTORIAL TITHE in the title deeds, which may result in a claim in the future. I have read that you can get a chancel liability insurance policy for about £65 if the land registry is not aware of the problem. I have also read that a property could be unsellable in the future if this is officially known? I am at a loss as I am completely in the dark, and my solicitor was disturbingly not familiar with this problem, and was probably doing the same as I have been - google searching it!!! Anyone with knowledge of this or advise please??

Absolutely spot on mate. My father in law is a first class sparky working as an electrical engineer for his local council. He cannot sign it off as he does not have that final qualification. He has said that he is reluctant to do the work because of those bloody regulations now in place - he employed someone recently to fit his own boiler in his house and has had so many problems with it he ended up fixing it himself!! Why pay a monkey to do the work which can be done yourself? I know regs are there to protect you - but that is surely for the benefit of mickey mouse and donald duck??

With the stringent laws nowadays with electrics in houses I was wondering if anyone knew if you could re-wire a house yourself and then pay a fully qualified sparky to come and certify it? Obviously the person doing the original re-wire knows how to, just doesn't have that final piece of paper to sign the job off!

That spoils the fun . . . and you never know there could've been a prize!! Actually I was being lazy and thought I'd let someone else do the research.

What do you think is the average length of a 'medium sized' car?? Eg. mondeo / peugeot 406??

Conrad - thanks for the words of encouragement. I have seen another mortgage advisor this evening and hopefully he is going to come back to me with some more options. I am also thinking of asking estate agents to send me details of every property with no upward chain - upto 50k above my borrowing limit in the hope of being able to secure a property at a bargain price. I am not desperate to buy any old property, I am looking to buy my next home and guess I will have to wait for as long as it takes - hopefully before the market picks up again.

FIXED - preferably for five years. At least if you can afford the payments now and nothing drastic changes, you know you aren't going to lose your house.

Hi Fifty - definitely too long. Had a difficult couple of years with my dad and a battle with cancer which he finally lost in November, so haven't been around much. Fancy a house swap then? I would love a huge garden, but would have to buy some sheep instead of a lawn mower!! Have you heard anything from Psymon recently??

No offence taken. My salary is just under 40k, my partner's on 12k and we are looking at an affordable mortgage on just my salary as my partner is self employed and we want to be careful. I think you are right about people being lent money beyond their means. There is no suitable property here in devon for 150k for us - we do have some certain requirements like must have min 2 bed plus one room for study, must have garage and off road parking, and garden . . . If I moved back to the midlands I would be laughing!!!

That sounds interesting - I'm hoping a different and independent mortgage adviser tomorrow will give me some more advise. What times your salary did they offer you?

Well remembered Scooter - yes I am a teacher! Problem is, I live in the seaside town of Dawlish and dont really want to move anywhere else. The prices are being held up by the fact the town is relatively small with insufficient housing for the increasing population and because of its popularity. I dont think that there are any local housing association availabilities, although to be honest I dont think i would like the idea of it? I have enough money to buy a reasonable property if i were to find the right one, and once I have saved up the increased deposit! I think!!

Banks will only loan for example 85% so if I fail to meet repayments they get their money back off the property My point was I do not want to be in a position of buying a house and then losing money on it straight off, hence I will not offer anywhere near the asking price if I do not htink it is worth it. I am looking at buying a property which I may only be in for upto five years, so have to get it right so I hopefully do not lose out when I come to sell up again.

I offered less on the property as that is what I have been advised to do. I guess it depends how long you have been in the house and how much equity you have. I know someone who has just bought a house for £250,000. It was on the market at £310,000 but the folks who lived there had been in the property over 15 years so had obviously made their money. Unfortunately for you I have heard that house prices are going to drop a little further then prob stay that way for a year or two before climbing back up. If I think a property is worth the asking compared to others on the market then I wouldn't take the piss. My problem is buying a house now at the asking price or just below, for prices to continue falling and immediately having a negative equity

I have banked with Barclays all of my life. They offered me 4.5 x my salary with the possibility of increasing it to 5 times. On an 85% mortgage they were offering me a 5 year fixed rate of 6.3% i am seeing an independent mortgage adviser tomorrow.

Was it a new build? How much deposit?