ToughButterCup Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Our current house is a cool, drafty colander. And to finance Salamander Cottage, we need to sell the colander. [The sublime built next to the ridiculous] So I'm putting Repair-and-Replace plan together. Trying hard not to look at the cost. Done my due diligence , thanks @Ferdinand, @Onoff, @JSHarris , @Crofter , @TerryE and others. EPC for the current house is likely to be X, Y or probably Z. To top it all off, the main heating system is a multi-fuel stove that enchants everyone who comes in and settles down on the sofa. Heats all the hot water, a good few rads and a cat. Bless it, the fire needs daily maintenance and has never yet performed well when there's a blocking high-pressure system. We'll never sell with the current set up. So out with the old and in with the new. E7; never get our money back. Oil; just don't like it. Illogical? Maybe, but that's it. That leaves LPG. Calor are fitting tanks free. Salamander cottage is 20 meters away. Any reason I shouldn't use Calor for both properties? Too simple? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Maybe it's different down your neck of the woods, but up here LPG is generally taken to be the most expensive option, a hangover from the 70s and only an option used by those who want gas for some other purpose anyway (e.g. hotels with kitchens) or those tempted by slightly lower installation costs. As I understand it, the tank remains the property of Calor and you rent it from them, so that is another part of the running cost to consider. I think that if you are spending money on making the house more sellable, you need to put your own preferences to one side. My parents are currently considering some upgrades to their house with a view to renting or selling, and my Dad wants to put in a multifuel stove- I keep telling him to just get an oil boiler as that is what is the standard on the market and most likely to attract interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 I would rather hack off my left manhood appendage and fry it with chillies than have a Calor tank within 50 miles of my property.... They are clueless wonders who conveniently "forget" that LPG prices can go down as well as up with global demand. When I said I was leaving due to price they offered to beat the new supplier by 1p per litre.. That was a drop from 46p to 33p on one phonecall and I worked out they had overcharged for about 3 years... They also wanted £2000 for a buried tank - local supplier did it free gratis... Find a local supplier who has a good reputation and also look at underground tanks. I would doubt you can share a tank, but it would be a good bargaining chip to get some decent pricing if you did have 2 installs and 2 tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Old house.....I feel your pain! We sorely need a back up for when we run out of oil or the boiler is u/s. The hot water cylinder is positioned so tight to the sloping roof joists I can't even fit an immersion. There's the broken remnants of one I can see atop the tank. I suppose short term a cheap new HW cylinder and bit of plumbing would get us by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 With heating oil you can ring around and haggle over the price. With LPG the gas company retains ownership of the tank and only they can fill it for the first two years (typically). After that you can switch supplier but ownership of the tank has to be transferred to the new supplier or a new tank fitted. Oil is about 5.0 to 5.4 p/kwh, LPG 6.30 p/kwh so LPG is currently about 16% more expensive. Oil is currently about same cost as mains gas according to.. http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, recoveringacademic said: Our current house is a cool, drafty colander. And to finance Salamander Cottage, we need to sell the colander. [The sublime built next to the ridiculous] So I'm putting Repair-and-Replace plan together. Trying hard not to look at the cost. Done my due diligence , thanks @Ferdinand, @Onoff, @JSHarris , @Crofter , @TerryE and others. EPC for the current house is likely to be X, Y or probably Z. To top it all off, the main heating system is a multi-fuel stove that enchants everyone who comes in and settles down on the sofa. Heats all the hot water, a good few rads and a cat. Bless it, the fire needs daily maintenance and has never yet performed well when there's a blocking high-pressure system. We'll never sell with the current set up. So out with the old and in with the new. E7; never get our money back. Oil; just don't like it. Illogical? Maybe, but that's it. That leaves LPG. Calor are fitting tanks free. Salamander cottage is 20 meters away. Any reason I shouldn't use Calor for both properties? Too simple? As systematic answer as I can think, as I was trying to think this through. As ever, ignore the bits that are gibberish or irrelevant. 1. You don't want the highest price, you want the highest net value add (= extra price over current value minus cash you have to spend to reach that price), balanced against your time. 2. You perhaps don't want to spend time on it over the minimum because you are nurdling the new one. And for you, time and money are both things to maximise(?) 3. ISTM that there are three options: a - Sell as a 'wreck' in current state. b - Sell as a 'liveable but needs work when they have thought about it'. ie Good enough that they can move in and say wait a year, c - Sell as a "it has been done up". It *will* sell in each state, but at what price? I think your obvious choice may be 2, given the 30k or whatever 3 would take and the risk of not getting it back, and the time involved. Spend your time and money on the new one. 4. Budget. When we sold our tired house (albeit different: 5000 sqft former small manor) - the Estate Agent was adamant that we spend *nothing*, because we would just be limiting the options of the new buyer and not adding much to the likely price (2013: difficult), as the buyer would be wanting to do a full renovate and would not give us money for the bits we second-guessed they wanted to do. In the end we just spent on necessary repairs, and replacing the grotty bathtub. Plus a *huge* amount of decluttering, including sending 3 vans of furniture to auction. The photos are online here - that is after 3 Luton van loads of furniture had gone. No point in expensively poshing it up beyond 'liveable' if the reality is that it is a project. Lower the price slightly and attract a wider range of buyers. In the end we had to drop our price by 25%+ to sell, so it was a good recommendation. It felt a huge reduction, but now there is a new bit of HS2 close enough to (unnecessarily) unsettle buyers - glad we escaped. 5. What to do? I would draw 2 Golden Rules and a PS. 1 - Do not spend on anything that moves beyond "liveable", or your target buyers might want to remove (leave that as available negotiation). 2 - Do things that will stop people buying it ie remove barriers or anything that will appear in a Homebuyer's Report. Don't leave stuff that will obviously need doing in the next 12 months .. replacement cost will just come off the price. PS If there are easy clear value-adds or increase-sellabilitys, perhaps do these. Example: if you had an ensuite that was plumbed in but in use as storage not a shower, put a shower in it, or board out a loft ready to be boarded out. Clutter Or rather declutter declutter declutter. We tried to touch each item just once. It went to 1 - Keep 2 - Auction 3 - Burn or skip. Didn't manage it entirely, but it helped. Cosmetics Is there simple stuff to make it easier to sell. Lick of paint? Room sized rug on a threadbare carpet that you then take with you? New doors for the kitchen units? Outside needs to *look* manageable even if not. Advice Get a couple of Estate Agents round to look early - it will just take a promise to give them a run at selling it when the times comes. Personally I am quite impressed with the likes of House Simple. Timing. If you really intend to shift it, *shift it*. Now is a good time - low supply. Can you get it on the market by April 10th - the big buying season is Easter = April 14/15 when you can have an open day. It can be done. Or at least make the May Bank holiday. Price. Suggest price to sell, and sell to a cash or non-chain buyer. Is it perhaps worth losing 5-10% on this to save waiting for an extra 6-12 months before moving into the new one because you haven't released the funds. For most people, 12 months would be up to 5% of the time period between retirement and the move to a very small wooden house indeed. Sell quickly not next year to have that extra year in your new house not the old one . Ferdinand Edited March 22, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 2 hours ago, recoveringacademic said: We'll never sell with the current set up. So out with the old and in with the new. E7; never get our money back. Oil; just don't like it. Illogical? Maybe, but that's it. That leaves LPG. Are you sure? What about secondhand E7 heaters that look suitable for a "lived in" bungalow? Here is a bloke in Wakefield offering 9 Dimplex at £20 each, for example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dimplex-Night-Storage-heater-radiator-fire-/252819667035 Can you just pass the Free Tank offer to the buyers if you sell sharpish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 @Ferdinand , the cheque is in the post. Only got to get it past Debbie, and the job's done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 1 minute ago, recoveringacademic said: @Ferdinand , the cheque is in the post. Only got to get it past Debbie, and the job's done. Pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Magnolia the walls, grey carpets, gloss the woodwork. Present a blank canvas. But estate agent's view first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) PS Unused multifuel stoves can be quite attractively left exactly where they are, black-leaded with a flower arrangement on top, or as a "focal point to make you feel warm". Edited March 22, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichS Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 If you go the LPG route try Flogas as opposed to Calor. Far more competitive on price in my experience and the supplier I am currently using (though nothing to do with my house). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 2 hours ago, recoveringacademic said: Calor are fitting tanks free. Salamander cottage is 20 meters away. Any reason I shouldn't use the same Calor supply for both properties? Too simple? I should have made the key question more clear - could I use the same LPG supply for both properties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 13 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: I should have made the key question more clear - could I use the same LPG supply for both properties? No ... you would be creating a distribution network from what I understand which has a significant number of additional hoops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 Life as a DNO wouldn't be so hard methinks. Just a couple of extra isolation valves .... just like a block of flats innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 External oil combi for the colander, and an ashp with electric + LPG cooking for yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogman Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Got a second hand tank (bunded top entry) if you go for Oil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 I sold my last house " as is" I know I took a hit on the value but the estate agent(s) all said don't waste your money they will change it when they move in, even the gas boiler was not serviced and stated as such. The family that bought it have done loads of work and made it their own. Plus I could not be arse'd and wanted to concentrate on planning my new build. ( SWMBO keeps hinting at me doing work in our temporary house but again my thoughts are only on the new build). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 My missus will insist on spending money & re-papering the crappy, original, woodchip papered walls in the currently separate lounge and dining room. All because she's "fed up with them". These "walls" are in fact HARDBOARD nailed to I think what are roof battens. THEY'RE COMING DOWN FFS! I'd happily strip all the walls back to bare structure to see what we've got underneath. Only got one socket in one room and two in the other. Got mates who would happily come round for a weekend and gut both rooms on a beers / barbie deal! As long as it's all clean I'd quite happily live with it. Not sure yet whether this will be the next project or the roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Well I have told my missus if she wants to do it that's fine by me but I ain't doin it ( knowing full well she wont) ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Unless the mother in law comes around, I'm not even going to dust until we leave for the new place. Probably a year away, but you can draw some really pretty patterns in dust. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 4 minutes ago, joe90 said: Well I have told my missus if she wants to do it that's fine by me but I ain't doin it ( knowing full well she wont) ? She got all the bathroom floor tiles on which she's now changed her mind. Lengths of skirting she's just bought to replace along the bottom of a wall in the hall. It's only me who'll do it yet when I offered I got told to get on with the bathroom! Again in an area we're planning to gut. Might as well set fire to £5 notes in this house to keep warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 @Onoff Reminds me of when SWMBO was pregnant last year and the nesting instinct had kicked in, I had to give up a weekend to redecorate the 'nursery'- a room which I intend to convert into the front entrance hallway and stairwell when we do the loft conversion. Lots of stripping woodchip off walls that aren't going to exist in a couple of years time. To cap it all off, we painted the whole place a lurid pink colour following the first ultrasound, and then a few months later a baby boy popped out. I was even less enthusiastic the weekend that we repainted the place blue... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 3 minutes ago, Crofter said: @Onoff Reminds me of when SWMBO was pregnant last year and the nesting instinct had kicked in, Mentalpause here mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Crofter said: @Onoff Reminds me of when SWMBO was pregnant last year and the nesting instinct had kicked in, I had to give up a weekend to redecorate the 'nursery'- a room which I intend to convert into the front entrance hallway and stairwell when we do the loft conversion. Lots of stripping woodchip off walls that aren't going to exist in a couple of years time. To cap it all off, we painted the whole place a lurid pink colour following the first ultrasound, and then a few months later a baby boy popped out. I was even less enthusiastic the weekend that we repainted the place blue... That - sorry - made me giggle, having also spent much time stripping woodchip. Will buy you a pint if we ever meet. Edited March 22, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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