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Original poster

Mortgage accepted! When can we start buying furniture?

57 replies

kaykkies · 22/07/2020 12:40

Just got the call from our mortgage advisor that our mortgage has been fully approved and we are now moving onto solicitors.

The sellers want a quick sale and want us in the house within 4 weeks from now.

Contract not signed yet but when is a 'safe' time to start buying furniture?

OP posts:
Pootles34 · 22/07/2020 15:22

Agree with waiting - it's easier to decorate when there's no furniture in anyway.

winterisstillcoming · 22/07/2020 15:27

Start asking around and looking on selling pages. Cobble the minimum together and live a few months in the house before you buy. You'll have a better idea of your needs and be able to buy accordingly.

winterisstillcoming · 22/07/2020 15:29

Definitely buy other things like crockery, utensils, laundry items, appliances as you will need those from day one and can be refunded if it all falls through.

Northernlights855 · 22/07/2020 15:29

Another supporter of wiring til you’ve moved in so you can spend time measuring up at your own leisure and getting a feel for the place. You can also do any bits of decorating without risk of new furniture getting paint etc. on it.

Are their any local thrift groups that you could get recycled essentials free or very cheap to begin with then pass them on again as your new things begin to arrive?

Whatsnewpussyhat · 22/07/2020 15:33

Have a look if there are any independent furniture stores locally that have their stock on site.
We have a large warehouse by us that sells catalogue/shop returns cheaper. (Next, Mark's and Spencer, etc) Our first couch was delivered on the day we moved in, a few days after I bought it. The second one I bought they followed me home with it.

BarrelOfOtters · 22/07/2020 15:37

Not yet. Sellers change their mind, things fall through....

Borrow stuff, go to second hand shops, use a blow up mattress or just order a mattress and not a frame. Don't order anything unless you can put in on hold or cancel it.

Speaking from bitter experience.

Glittertwins · 22/07/2020 15:52

Wait until exchange as a minimum, keys at worst. You also might want to live in the space a bit first to decide what you really want and how it would work out too

Cardboard33 · 22/07/2020 17:05

Ok, no need to get angry about it - I gave you LOTS of info about when to buy furniture in my first post, which you've ignored, and instead focused your reply on answering the bits that you don't want advice on. I am wondering how you literally don't have anything at all (other than apparently knives) to your name yet are in the process of buying your first home, but that's another discussion given you've got plenty of answers telling you to wait.

Finfintytint · 22/07/2020 17:44

Op, what are you sleeping on at the moment ? I get if you are in furnished accommodation you may not have your own furniture but you’d have your own mattress at least surely? Use that until you can order a bed. If you are at your parents then can you borrow a bed until you get your own. The only scenario is that you have been living in a hotel until now. Your snippy comments mean you don’t really want advice. I get you are excited but don’t wait time and money.

MikeUniformMike · 22/07/2020 18:40

Get the keys first.

If you have absolutely nothing, get temporary stuff from freecycle type sites to just tide you over.

You will probably need to sort out the painting and decorating and flooring, and it's a lot easier to do this in an empty room.
Until you have lived there a while, you won't know exactly how it will look in there.

chipsandpeas · 22/07/2020 19:49

if you have storage where you are just now id start buying bits after exchange
dont buy on credit or a credit card until you have completed incase a credit check is run again and something goes wrong

for things that have a long wait like a sofa get onto facebook marketplace or gumtree and get something cheap to do you for a few weeks - when i bought my sofa i was told 6 weeks, ended up being close to 10 weeks for delivery, i had a 2 seater sofa bed and some garden chairs in my livingroom up until then

just get the basics to begin with then start buying better when you are in and settled, it will give you a better idea of how things will place in each room - until you are in you cant really visualise how its all going to look especially if you are decorating

chukwe · 23/07/2020 00:48

@Turkeydrumstick

We ordered from oak furniture land and they let us order to our new address, we explained it to them and they said if it got knocked back to let them know. It did in the end and they moved the date straightaway they were actually really good and it meant the furniture came the day after we got the keys.
How long did it take to arrive? oak furniture land is showing 14 weeks on their website
GrumpyHoonMain · 23/07/2020 00:50

I would wait until completion. You can do any work you need without having furniture to worry about.

Pipandmum · 23/07/2020 00:56

I moved in to my new house with a bed. I then furnished it with sr ind hand furniture as it became available, though I think I bought the sofa new. Anyway, I'd wait until you have exchanged and be prepared to rough it for a few weeks.
By the way I've never has to wait more than a week or so for furniture unless it was custom.

user327253 · 23/07/2020 01:01

I think most people already have furniture before they buy a house so your circumstances are unusual. Isn't there any decorating or flooring you want to do before getting furniture in? If you have avsolutely nothing I'd sleep on an airbed and then go and buy furniture from marketplace/eBay/IKEA etc I wouldn't be ordering stuff that takes ages to arrive.

GU24Mum · 23/07/2020 09:11

If you literally have nothing, I'd order a bed and a kitchen table and chairs then wait til you move in. You'll have no idea what you really want until you're in. You can get the "boring" stuff (utensils etc) pretty much straight away and can live without a sofa for enough time to take you to choose it and order it once you've been in the house a short time. Adds to the fun, honestly!

Northernlights855 · 23/07/2020 09:25

Don’t underestimate how much easier your circumstance is. This is prob the last time you’ll ever move without the hassle of packing and removals.

I’ve relatives who’ve downsized and haven’t been able to breathe in their new places for months while they decide what to keep and shuffle round piles of stuff trying to paint the walls.

Do you know anyone who is downsizing and you could relieve them of a few things?

eurochick · 23/07/2020 09:25

I bought before I had planned to (perfect flat came up and was too good to let pass) so I moved with nothing. My parents donated two camping chairs, a mate lent me a blow up mattress and my TV stand was a packing box. I literally had nothing, having rented a furnished room previously. It was fine - kind of fun. I didn't start buying stuff until I was in. I seem to recall I found a sofa on three week delivery somewhere so chose that one.

TheFaerieQueene · 23/07/2020 09:28

Can you look into renting furniture until yours arrives ?

LittleBearPad · 23/07/2020 09:31

Order now if you can cancel if anything goes wrong.

Order at exchange if you can’t cancel

On lead times you may be lucky. I recently ordered furniture from M&S. It said 6 weeks delivery but all turned up in 10 days.

LittleBearPad · 23/07/2020 09:31

and there’s always IKEA

Northernlights855 · 23/07/2020 13:23

Also, is there any possibility that vendors Have furniture that they would want to leave behind or would be happy to sell to you?

Could ask the estate agent to ask, if there was you’d view the furniture and come to a price etc.

Pepperwand · 23/07/2020 14:38

Definitely wait until exchange. We bought some furniture for a house we were in the process of buying and then everything fell through right at the last minute.... it happens. Most people when they buy their first place live with camping chairs, air bed etc at first. You can get beds and mattresses from mattressman.co.uk within a couple of days delivered usually and they've always been very good. Ikea too as pp have said had a lot you can pick up and take home on the day.

Lougle · 23/07/2020 15:36

I'd try second hand, too. We got a really lovely solid oak table that the sellers were getting rid of simply because their children were growing up, so they wanted a smaller table. They had bought the exact same table in a smaller size. It had been covered the whole time and came with the instructions - practically brand new.

TokyoSushi · 23/07/2020 15:40

Just be careful, we were excited like you and I ordered two massive sofas from DFS on the Saturday. The sale fell through Monday Morning, so DFS hadn't even had the order 48 hours and said they couldn't cancel the order as they were being custom made, even though there's no way they could even have started!

I sat with those sofas goading me in my garage for almost a year! Just hang on a little while, but some pictures or plants or something to keep you going in the meantime if you just want to buy stuff!