why is buying a new house so slow

The process of buying a house - well according to me !

• You get your house valued
• You start internet searches
• You refine your search as you cant afford the areas you want
• You contact estate agents and hand your intimate details over and over again to arrange viewings
• You make many trips and then eventually the agents start to show you houses that match your brief. (Why do they always show you properties just a bit more expensive than you can afford ! )
• You compromise on your ideals ! Garden, Space, Street, Facilities to meet your budget.
• You start using words like 'its got potential!'
• You do your sums, and work out if you can actually afford it!
• Get a mortagage extension, or a new mortgage - this is worth a rant on its own at some point.
• PUT an offer in - MILESTONE
• You wait nervously to see if it is accepted

At this stage your wallet is preparing to start hemeraging cash !

• You contact the estate agent who valued your property at the highest price
• You put your own house on the market and WAIT !
• At this stage you instruct a solicitor
• You move forward with the mortgage
• You spend time on the phone with your solictor and keep writing cheques
• You get your home buyers survey back and it reads like a horror film
• While someone is doing this to you !
• You plan all the new things to buy and line up about 6 years worth of future work
• You tell all your friends that you are going to be moving while it is still no guaranteed

This is as far as I have got as of today.

I am expecting

• To go through many iterations of paperwork with the solictor, laughing at funny covenaces from 1936 about common ground for the Duke of somewhere can graze their sheep.
• To have a target date set
• To exchange contracts
• To complete
• To move in
• To start to furnish the house

Its now 3-5 months later on. You have just moved in and then the conversation starts about where to move to next !

In summary
So, you are paying a lot of money. Stamp duty - how ridiculous is that?! Yet you cant get yourself too involved in the house otherwise rational thought goes out of the window. You have many people working for you - but you cant tell them to hurry up. Your financial and spirtual well being is in the hands of completely strangers in a call centre. Why do we do it??

Star Trekking - remember this

You are definately a child of the 80's - check this one out.

Star Trekkin clip >>

Someone used this as a CV

Greg - a mate of mine just sent me this link. This Yank (because only americans are that stupid), sent in this video as a spontaneous job application. Take a look.


Take a look >>

As a Marketeer I use the web a lot

... and this means I come across a lot of websites and as this is my profession I look for cool idea, clever ways of satisfying customer needs and making a healthy profit.

But there are just some companies that seem brilliant on the outside.  Slick marketing, call centres, information packs.  One companies that really surprised me was TalkTalk. 

My father, who has been online for ages on a dial up had finally decided to move to Broadband.  It had come down in price and this was a thought out decision.  The phone service was moved and broadband was ordered.

He is still not connected.  It is over 5 weeks.  He has paid their expensive tech support phone number help lines and even wrote a letter to their CEO. 

After Poor and quite embarrassing service, he has since cancelled all contact with them

I think this is shocking.  Surely a man in his 50's at home is their ideal audience.  How a company can look great on the outside and fail so badly.  From his experience - AVOID TALK TALK !

Anyone else had any experiences with them - good or bad?