sophia

Oh yeah, don't even start me about Larne! We bought our first house in Larne, I loved it for a while........ 6 months max (only ever loved the new build house) and then after 1 year, hubby was driving me home from the bus stop after work and I casually mentioned not to be alarmed but there is a 'for sale' sign in our front garden and er we are moving house!!! 1. The drive there and back along that cr@ppy road, getting stuck behind Tractors, lorries, learner drivers, buses - you name it , it went at 20 mile per hour with no chance of over-taking for miles. 2. The bus service to Belfast - if you enjoy being heavily pregnant and standing at the front of an ulster bus from Larne to Belfast with no one offering you a seat this is the bus for you. If you enjoy standing at a bus stop in Larne in the freezing rain when it rolls past you, not bothering to stop cause it's full up and you know your gonna be late for work - yippee bring it on! 3, The local football team - yes, I (by virtue of being a 'wag') had to stand in this crowd full of ****ers who shouted abuse at my hubby every time he got injured 'he's f'in useless anyway etc etc' as he lies curled up in a ball on the pitch with bones snapping in every direction. 4. The local town, ......... oh don't even start me about that place, I mean.......... I didn't mean to get onto a rant but I blame up Shipbuilder for bringing up Larne!!!!!

Portrush! Can't stand the place! 1. Freezing 2. Crap shops 3. Ghost town in winter 4. Barrys 2p machines tack! 5. General - grey depressing windy feel. 6. Absolutely nothing to do but try to get out of it at any cost. I really tried hard to give it another chance last year and stayed in a friends caravan, did the whole 'NI tourist' thing, but failed miserably. Spent the night trying to get my screaming brats to sleep driving round in a caravan park at 2am in the morning, next day to the beach in freezing cold grey skies, sand blowing crapiness. Even the White house depresses me with the old people's clothing......... Why do I hate it so much, people seem to love it, but defo is the worst place to live, why anyone would bother holidaying in the place is demonic!

620;)

Yeah that is right - we bought our dream house for near rateable value, I would say to anyone if the house is at rateable or below and you can afford the mortgage then go for it;) I waited over 2 years from selling to buying so my circumstance is different, as I upgraded from a 3 bed semi to a detatched with 1/3 acre in prime location for the same money needing less than 30k mortgage. My advice to FTB is to wait a year unless you get a real bargain.

Just rent for a while, you will kick yourself if you buy it now and in 6 months it is less. I sold, went into rented (with hubby and kids) and have now bought again for a fraction over the rateable value! It meant that we could look around at all the houses on the market and not feel rushed into finding one in a short period of time. It was worth the over 2 years wait, we know we will never want to move from here, as it has ticked all our boxes and more. You have got your house sold, that is the hard bit over, you are on a journey, all the best!!!

Yes, I read it and thought of you Belfast Boy...... you were ahead of your time. I finally bought a pad, moved in last week, have to say it was definately worth the wait, would I do it again in the next crash ....... probably

My finances come very close............not................is that the episode where Rimmer comes in contact with a virus thing, Mr Flibble's eyes go weird and lazer like and he tries to kill the crew????

JD has balls, if anyone can do a better job step up and take the microphone or stop whinning! We love you JD

go on JD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tom McClelland too!!!

This is so true! I went to an all girls very academic school and then on to uni and studied sociology and feminism and believed all the cr@p about women in the workforce and careers etc. Let me tell you ladies, I've had the career - it is stress, it is ********, it is bitchy and back stabbing, it's not the media creation of power woman! Yes, those 60's womans/feminist movements have wrecked it for us women. Men won't even get off a seat on a bus to let a heavily pregnant woman sit down anymore etc Now I am a stay at home mum with 2 young children - husband goes out to work, and I don't know any of my professional female friend that wouldn't leave their jobs tomorrow and stay home with the kids etc..... we were all sold a lie. We have house prices that are so high now you need two salaries, if us women had have stayed at home, house prices would be lower and based on one salary, we could all be 'ladies that lunch'!!

Yes, you have to buy a black (household rubbish) bin from the council - the recycling ones are free. When I moved over 2 years ago the vendors took the black bin with them. Also, in my area if you buy an extra black bin and leave them both out they will only empty one. So if you want a extra large black bin you have to claim you have loads of people living in the house. If you keep an eye out on gumtree sometimes people sell them for £10. I know in the council estate beside us that if your bin goes astray you can get a new one for free at the community house - im not sure if you have to be on benefits though, but was thinking if the gumtree people are getting them free and then selling them on for £10B) I know my mates mum claimed hers was stolen and she was able to get a new one for free and give her existing one to her son who moved to a new property without a bin:rolleyes: Sad but true!!!

No that's right we never talk about the STR - Sold To Rent people......Selling at the top of a property bubble, to rent and wait for prices to crash, then buy at bottom/near bottom - scum the lot of them:P

Hey, exciting times ahead ! Hope you have a lovely wedding in 2 weeks. the day goes by so fast so make sure you both enjoy yourselves! I'm in my seventh year of marriage (best years of my life) Sounds like you are off to a good start saving for a deposit and buying in at the right time, set yourself up for financial freedom in your married life! Enjoy your new house, bless ya, Sophia

That one at f'side is up their own ar*e. Back in Aug 2008: I know I went in to the office looking like a total mill-beg, in a tracksuit, blond hair stuck to me head accompanied by a raving lunatic 4 year old and a terrible 2 year old pulling at me and rubbing snot on my shoulder..... but was there really any need to treat me like a pleb - which they did (i don't suffer from victim mentality) but that day I was in no mood to hear any cr@p. Or pms as BB would say;) After they tried to sell me all kinds of rubbish (which had been sitting on the shelves for a long time and not reduced - thankyou property-bee), I responded by asking if there was anything cheaper in that areaB) I grumpy looking man behind the desk told me that I 'would never' get a property in such a location for under 190k.... and redirected me to council estate properties - cheeky barstool. I responded with the usual....cr@p .... property crash, interest rates bla bla, will not bore you with the details, but the argument was falling on deaf ears and the kids were trashing the place so I headed for the door telling him I would just wait a year for them to fall further and come back Sep't '09. I remember his last words 'well I don't have a crystal ball you know but if you wait a year they will prob be back up by then'.... think he even mentioned I 'would miss the hms titanic'. I told him 'I'll be back' in my best Arnie voice, but couldn't even be bothered to go back.... he'd just deny it:rolleyes: I do love some estate agents though, they are not all bad

message sent, and all the best in your new pad, hope it all works out well for ya;)

I know from an insurance end of things we would not insure anything with asbestos, it is a public liability nightmare. When the regulations came into force in NI re public buildings, churches etc had to get rid of asbestos, the insurance world went mad, same thing for composite panels and fires, you are looking at a total loss scenario. If it were me Id walk away too, sorry:ph34r:

As I child I got so many Easter Eggs and selection boxes I used to roll the chocolate up in a turd shape and lay the turds on the pavement outside my house. Dog owners looked in disgust as their doggies ate up all the 'turd'

Okay this is what you do PP (works for my 5 and 2 year old daughters). You put the Easter eggs (you get from relatives etc) prior to Easter Sunday, somewhere visable and out of reach (just to torment them a bit) Then by the time they have tackled a few of them on Sunday, they will not be wanting anymore, so you don't need to buy any of them yourself! I did notice the eggs seemed alot smaller this year and thought my relatives had all been a bit tight:P

As someone who is completing on a house purchase soon I'm disgusted at this latest stamp duty exemption. What about me, a 3rd time buyer, I still get a 2k bill for nothing! This is the first time I've had to pay stamp duty as we have been exempt up till now and it's the biggest con. Ban stamp duty! On a side note, was getting a prescription earlier (for my deafness) and pharmacy said prescriptions to be free from next month. Was actually thinking of waiting until April to get it, am I just a stingy lunatic - yes;)

What I noticed in my search area (newtownabbey) was alot of houses going 'sale agreed' in Jan and Feb. March has died. When does the Spring bounce officially start? I believe we have more drops to come. The job situation is dire, young people can't get jobs, houses are still over-valued etc.....

I went for a 3 year tracker, think it was 2.49 over base with absolutely no fees (worked out better than the lower interest rate one with fees) in my circumstances. We only needed a very small mortgage <30K, so interest rate rises are not going to affect us much (I hope). But it really depends on your own circumstances, I do think if it had been a larger mortgage we would have fixed for 5 years, as I would predict a 2% rise or more over the 5 years - but I could be completely wrong - probably

Alot of people nowadays are getting the wood/multi fuel burners and linking them to the heating system for both radiators and water. My husband is buying a chain saw and going on the rampage to feed this machine. Does anyone know the cheapest place in NI to buy wood (in bulk) or coal (in bulk) ??

Hi Doccy, the rateable value site gives house size per sq mt. If a house has an integrated garage is this garage space included in this measurement?

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Well done, that is great House Hunter. To get a house that ticks all the boxes at rateable is hard to find. I am also sale agreed at rateable value for my dream home, and am so pleased I found this website which has placed me on the right path to financial freedom.