Mike, Ann & I attended an open day at the factory in Brandon.
It's about one hour from me.
It was really interesting to see how the homes are made
and the amount of insulation that goes into them.
[There are] 25 cm in the roof; my house has about 6 cm.
We had a look round the modern Middleton.
It was only 45' and an L-shaped lounge/diner
which I don't like.
We looked round several others,
but not the Regency which is the one we were interested in.
They didn't have any on display.
Chatting about the models over lunch, we decided the IMAGE [above]
and [the] Middleton looked a bit more modern
and the kitchen and bathrooms looked a higher spec,
but they are £7k dearer than the Regency.
I've sort of decided on the IMAGE, but doing away with the ensuite.
I don't need two bathrooms to clean.
One was going to be for the dogs and they can share with me.
I won't have the bath in the main bathroom,
just a big walk-in shower so I can fit the dog bath in,
which I do at present.
They come fully furnished, but I'm not having the beds
as I have just bought a new bed with a really good mattress.
The second bedroom will be my hobby a/k/a dog grooming room.
I want a row of sliding door wardrobes on the wall that backs
onto the utility room and I will take all my new grey chest of drawers with me
[Also, m]y grooming table and grooming tools cupboard.
I have my new oak dining table and it looks identical
to the one they had in the Middleton, so I will take that.
I'm thinking of taking my leather suite as it's in perfect condition.
I want an induction hob rather than the gas one they fit as standard.
And instead of tiles in the bathroom I'd like shower wallboard
so no grout to try to keep white.
I'm hoping some of these additions/omissions offset each other
so the price won't go up too much.
I [could] get a new bungalow in Scotland for the same price as this house;
but the reasons I'm not having a bungalow are:
the price of the bungalow
plus £8k land tax
plus £6k lawyer's fees
plus £4k per year taxes.
(The Park home [taxes are] much less).
Then there is the greenspace fee [which] could be £1k per year
and you could still get kids playing football by your car.
The IMAGE comes as grey modern.
I prefer the floor plan on the IMAGE.
I will flip the bathroom and office room.
I don't want a toilet next to the dining room.
20 April:
Ann & Mike prefer the IMAGE as well.
They want the ensuite turned into an office for Mike,
[who] hopes to get a hybrid job [and] will need a home office.
That area is further from the living area noises.
Ann wants the study as her woman cave,
and Mike has the second bedroom as his hobby man cave.
They are taking the [house] with all the furniture it comes with,
but they want to keep their own mattress as it's a really good one.
I'm going for greys and blues; Ann wants peach and browns.
22 April:
I got the plan today; I'm plot 67 . . .
[This is a photo taken of a computer screen, hence all the lines.]
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