No fixed abode

[h0b0]

I should say that I have a soft spot for old castles and mansions on the Realestate pron thread. If I had money to burn it would be something with character but I have to be a little more practical.

I think I should step back a little on the discussion. On both the houses I have shown on this thread there is no external wood. The first is 3/4 plastic siding and 1/4 stucco and stone. The wood is internal behind a vapor barrier and wouldn’t need touching unless something else fails. After the wood we have 4-6 inches of insulation.

The second house is hardyplank. It’s a fiber cement hybrid.

The derelict house in one of the pictures was probably wood siding. That probably represents what a house will look like with no maintenance of the wood.

[h0b0]

sgtBerbatov said:

I asked him whether he expected some sort of acknowledgement email from the search company and he said yes.

I think this is critical to understand when buying or selling a house. The people you rely on are reactive. This may be because they are doing many at the same time but still is frustrating. It means they wait until they receive a letter before progressing to the next step. If there is a break in the chain then all stops and there is no system in place to catch those that have fallen through the gaps.

Now I work for the same company as the mortgage came from I can escalate the issue in a meaningful way. A typical member of the public may escalate to the next level manager but there is literally 10 more levels until you get to someone in power. I can drop a message to the top of that chain and get things moving again.

The CEO of the mortgage division also drinks in my local club. Sober me would not dream of approaching him but I can’t say that for “drunk h0b0”. Fortunately, it didn’t get to that point.

[sgtBerbatov]

h0b0 said:

sgtBerbatov said:

I asked him whether he expected some sort of acknowledgement email from the search company and he said yes.

I think this is critical to understand when buying or selling a house. The people you rely on are reactive. This may be because they are doing many at the same time but still is frustrating. It means they wait until they receive a letter before progressing to the next step. If there is a break in the chain then all stops and there is no system in place to catch those that have fallen through the gaps.

Now I work for the same company as the mortgage came from I can escalate the issue in a meaningful way. A typical member of the public may escalate to the next level manager but there is literally 10 more levels until you get to someone in power. I can drop a message to the top of that chain and get things moving again.

The CEO of the mortgage division also drinks in my local club. Sober me would not dream of approaching him but I can’t say that for “drunk h0b0”. Fortunately, it didn’t get to that point.

Agreed. If/when I do it again I'll be on their back from the start.

I think what got me though was the way he was adamant that it was sent and received yet they used email to do that. Email isn't a secure or reliable form of communication, emails can fail to send and you never know about it. But yeah, I'm there now and won't be dealing with him again or listening to the wife about what solicitor to use in the future!