u/Homebird1999

We are currently working through getting approval in principle for our self build - all of the documents are in except for the engineer’s final costings but the underwriters have said that based on current figures they don’t anticipate a problem.

We are extremely lucky in that once we sell our current home, we hope to only need to draw down approximately €100000 but to give ourselves breathing room we have applied for €160000. This money can’t be drawn down until our current home is sold as the bank will need to see proof of funds for the remainder of the build.

The complication is timing. We have some savings left after buying our site, and we had trades we know and trust lined up to start in the autumn when hopefully the house will have sold. Due to a cancellation some trades can actually start at the end of this month, which would be amazing as ideally we’d love to take advantage of the summer and get going, but our current house won’t be sold by then.

We looked into whether a temporary personal loan with the same lender could help cover the early stages before sale proceeds come through (we would pay it back before drawing down the mortgage) but were told the lender views this as bridging finance because it relates to the build.

Just wondering if anyone else has navigated something similar whereby they wanted to start before the sale of their own house and savings weren’t enough?

We’re putting our house on the market this month and, after meeting a number of estate agents over the last six months, had narrowed it down to two. I’ve gotten some really great advice from this sub along the way, so thank you. We met again this week with the agent we thought we’d chosen, but one aspect has thrown me and I’d really value opinions.

Other agents had suggested 1:1 guided viewings (for example, 10-minute appointments), where they would personally show buyers around, point out upgrades/features, and agree in advance what storage/cupboards would be shown to highlight space and finishes. We’ve invested a lot in our home so thought that that would be the standard approach.

However, our chosen agent prefers more of an open house, where everyone arrives together and walks around themselves while he remains outside. His view is that seeing other interested buyers creates competition and helps drive bidding.

I understand that logic, and of course buyers are entitled to properly view a home. I’d have no issue with serious buyers — especially on a second viewing — taking their time and looking around more freely. I think what’s making me hesitate is the idea of multiple groups, including people who may simply be browsing, having broad access to our family home from the outset. Our home is our sanctuary, so while I probably sound stupid, I’m finding that part difficult. I also worry buyers may miss some of the upgrades/details.

Secondly, other agents mentioned that they request no videos be taken, but this agent said he lets people do that and didn’t feel like it should matter as the photos will be online. Again, I feel uncomfortable with that for the reasons mentioned above, but I don’t want to be unreasonable as I understand that it’s a huge investment for whoever buys it.

Would love to hear people’s experience — buyers, sellers, or estate agents — on what approach tends to work best.

For context in case it’s important, it’s a relatively high-spec home around the €700k mark in the commuter belt.

Thanks!

Firstly thank you to everyone in this sub for amazing insights over the last six months. I would really appreciate some honest feedback. My husband is ex-Intel from way back when. When he left he kept shares as we always thought they’d go somewhere. Back in February we needed access to money as we were in a situation whereby we were building a new home and hadn’t yet sold our current one. For many different reasons the only option available to us was to sell some stock, which really was plan Z as I knew from reading here that Intel was about to have a huge upswing, but unfortunately we had no choice. I made sure to sell the bare minimum which still unfortunately was about 70% of our stock at $46 but kept the remaining 300 or so. I felt sick selling as I knew from this sub what was going to happen. We are now in a position to have some cash flow coming up again soon, and we were wondering if we should reinvest? We are not investors ( I honestly don’t even understand what people mean by calls, never mind what most of the tags in this sub mean), we are just normal working people. I also know that you typically only invest what you can afford to lose, which is not a lot in our case.

With all of that in mind, would you reinvest, and if so, what would be the max price you’d invest at, and why? I see all the jokes about the guy whose grandfather left him shares, so I’m hesitant even posting this, but I value people’s opinions here. Thank you and congrats to everyone celebrating this week!