Cycle Twin Cities | Two wheels, two cities, coincidence?

It took a while and meant visiting lots of Cardiff estate agents
but after a few long days and a lot of travelling we finally found a new house and we are delighted. What instantly got us was the amazing kitchen it had. The estate agents mentioned it was fantastic when we booked in the viewing as we had said we don’t want  to buy a place that has loads of work needing to be done.

We had loads of must haves including a big garage (for the bikes) a spare room for the gym I had planned and a decent sized garden as Meg loves doing a bit in the garden and our current homes one is tiny. Finding somewhere that ticked all the boxes was tough and we must have viewed more than 50 houses in total before we found the one.

Not all estate agents in Cardiff are the same

What did surprise me was the difference between the agents we met some were dreadful and I thought at first they would all be the same. Fortunately for us the house we picked was with one of the good ones and he has helped enormously with the whole process. From being so patient with us in our epic search to the effort he put in to get the place for us at the right price he and the office staff were very helpful.
We are also delighted with the help we got with all the contracts and solicitors stuff they recommended a good conveyancing lawyer and they have been most helpful along the way too. we still have a coupe of little things to finish off but it looks like we will complete in the next week so I am now super excited.

Cardiff here we come and thanks to our estate agents

We are on the way and everything is now packed up and ready for the move its tough living out of boxes but Meg is always super organised and she has been military like in getting everything packed up and labelled ready to pass everything over to the removal guys. Luckily for me I just got in the way so she did everything and even got a couple of rides in as she just wanted me from under her feet. It has been a journey and not always a good one but we have to thank our estate agents for all their help they have been great. http://www.pmpremier.co.uk

I could not believe it when my girlfriend told me about a meeting she had with the accountant and the swaps scandal he explained she was involved with. In 2007 she took out a loan for the salon she co-owns and needed for redevelopments. At the time she was desperate to get it done and so when the bank advised on a range of products she eagerly accepted they knew what they were doing and had her best interests at heart.

She was wrong about the swaps

She tells me the one part that had her and her partner scratching their heads was a product they were sold called a swap and any questions they asked were met with a jargon filled response they never really got to grips with and so the loan went through with the advice of the bank official.
What they didn’t know at the time and would never know is these financial products were used to insure the banks profits if interest rates fell and besides the fact they knew this was likely they still sold these “protective” measures to a whole host of SME’s including my girlfriend.
The reality was they knew they were going to fall and the scaremongering tactics used to sell the products was what if they rise can you afford significantly higher payments to us, which of course the answer came back as no. What is scary is that this practise continued over years and if you thought the recent PPI scandal was big then this one may well surprise you.

Swaps hit the headlines

The latest bank scandal has now come to the publics attention including us! These swaps products had been widely used to protect the banks interests and mis sold to businesses under the veil of protecting them and their businesses.
We watched a recent Panorama programme on this and my girlfriend mentioned that she was sure that was mentioned briefly when they went for their loan. As the programme unfolded and we got more irrupted by this lack of ethics show by the big banks I told her to get it checked out by her now accountant.
She arranged the appointment with him the next day and sure enough there was a product within her loan and it was one of these swaps. He advised her on speaking to a specialist and we called a company that he knew that only dealt with this kind of financial mis selling case. She spent a good hour going through everything and the paperwork with them and at the end they confirmed that she did have a claim and that they would be happy to take it on for her on a no win no fee basis.
She accepted and they are no liaising with the bank about the swaps claim that we are making against them. http://www.triumphlegal.co.uk

I must have looked like a sight riding along at the weekend with slate signs strapped to my back. We had been on a long ride to a local garden centre and we often stop there for a rest and to have a coffee and grab a bite to eat before we go home and this weekend was almost no different.
I always take a backpack when we go out to carry some bits in but this weekend I forgot to take it and that was the start of a crazy strange looking mission for us. We had a walk around the centre this weekend and whilst we were there there was an engraving demonstration where a guy was hand engraving slate house signs as a showpiece. My girlfriend loved them and said we should get two for the house and was not best pleased when I told her I had forgotten my back pack and we had nothing to carry them home in.

she really wanted those slate signs

We grabbed our usual coffee and cake and sat down and she said she really wanted the signs and could I walk home if she went on ahead. I had a brainwave and said there was no need and that we could improvise. The signs had two holes in each to fix them to the wall and I suggested a bit of twine and they would strap to my back for the ride home.
Initially she just laughed and said I would have a nice stroll home but when she saw my elaborate back back of house signs she just broke down and took a picture for Facebook.

Those images with slate signs on my back

I have been ribbed mercilessly about that image and it got over a hundred comments and likes from the guys we ride with at cycle club. They all took the Michael about me starting a new biking trend and that they were going out this weekend for their latest cycling fashion statement. I even had the missus taking photos of me as she rode behind and she has posted me looking rather ridiculous as well. It has taught me a valuable lesson though and I won’t be forgetting me backpack when we go for a ride again. A simple moment of madness has led to my social media downfall and so I only have myself to blame!
On the positive the two new plaques we bought got fitted yesterday and they look fantastic so my shame and hard work have paid off. They only took half hour to fit and look really good. The company that engraved them did a great job and we may go back for some more to keep as Christmas presents for mum. We went for slate signs but they did also have different stone signs available too. http://www.stonesign.com