r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	Jaccident
Comment	Hey pal, Great concept for a tool, I think this would be really amazing, especially for first-time buyers! I will be encouraging my friend who is just starting her journey to home-ownership to give it a look. Scottish Localisation Issues I have bought very recently so simulated my conditions to see what the app suggested. There's definitely an issue where the application isn't sensitive to Scotland's "Offers Over" system. Places can be expected, regularly to go 5-8% over Home Report value at sale, which is skewing your estimates down somewhat in areas that this is common (G12 for example). When searching in Scotland you need to be sensitive not only to the list price but the sale price in historical data AND the Home Report value. I don't know how you begin to scrape this data automatically I'm afraid. As a result the app was suggesting that I would have way more cash available than realistic, as everything over the HR has to be stumped up by the buyer on day one. UI/UX Issues * In the data entry phase, there are quite a few steps, which meant that I had a while to realise that the app was suggesting numbers way larger than comfortable because it was working from "max" (for me it was when it suggested a 1400£ mortgage). Salary is a good starting point but I feel like working from Max without getting the user to agree is a mistake. * The nav arrows on the timeline don't feel natural. It's so different to the standard carousel that I kept mousing across to the other side of a card to move back. Bugs * During the set up step I could not, no matter what, get a custom number typed in to actually work. I was typing value £256,256 in each time, and got a number of different results. (e.g. £256,125, £256,240) * Once Returned to the dashboard I could see "Life Goals" but couldn't scroll down to see them properly. Firefox Mac 65.0.1 (64-bit) Notes * As you are aiming to represent savings etc too, I think it's worth adding the two "real" costs First-time buyers are often naive to, LBTT (Stamp Duty) and Conveyancing Fees. One is obviously an exact figure, the other needs to be a suggested amount. * It breaks my brain a wee bit that the avatar that takes you into the tutorial isn't in the same art style as the rest of the site. * Because the Timeline runs off screen on one side, and to the "You are Here" on the other, the "You are Here" cut off is very severe. I recommend adding an alpha to the items as they reach the edge, perhaps a gental shrink too.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/axwy9a/great_website_that_shows_where_you_can_afford_to/ehwph6l/
Created	Wed 6th Mar 2019 10:37am
Status	()

Hey pal,

Great concept for a tool, I think this would be really amazing, especially for first-time buyers! I will be encouraging my friend who is just starting her journey to home-ownership to give it a look.



**Scottish Localisation Issues**

I have bought very recently so simulated my conditions to see what the app suggested.

There's definitely an issue where the application isn't sensitive to Scotland's "Offers Over" system.

Places can be expected, regularly to go 5-8% over Home Report value at sale, which is skewing your estimates down somewhat in areas that this is common (G12 for example).

When searching in Scotland you need to be sensitive not only to the list price but the sale price in historical data AND the Home Report value. I don't know how you begin to scrape this data automatically I'm afraid.

As a result the app was suggesting that I would have way more cash available than realistic, as everything over the HR has to be stumped up by the buyer on day one.



**UI/UX Issues**

* In the data entry phase, there are quite a few steps, which meant that I had a while to realise that the app was suggesting numbers way larger than comfortable because it was working from "max" (for me it was when it suggested a 1400£ mortgage). Salary is a good starting point but I feel like working from Max without getting the user to agree is a mistake.
* The nav arrows on the timeline don't feel natural. It's so different to the standard carousel that I kept mousing across to the other side of a card to move back.



**Bugs**

* During the set up step I could not, no matter what, get a custom number typed in to actually work. I was typing value £256,256 in each time, and got a number of different results. (e.g. £256,125, £256,240)
* Once Returned to the dashboard I could see "Life Goals" but couldn't scroll down to see them properly. Firefox Mac 65.0.1 (64-bit)



**Notes**

* As you are aiming to represent savings etc too, I think it's worth adding the two "real" costs First-time buyers are often naive to, LBTT (Stamp Duty) and Conveyancing Fees. One is obviously an exact figure, the other needs to be a suggested amount.
* It breaks my brain a wee bit that the avatar that takes you into the tutorial isn't in the same art style as the rest of the site.
* Because the Timeline runs off screen on one side, and to the "You are Here" on the other, the "You are Here" cut off is very severe. I recommend adding an alpha to the items as they reach the edge, perhaps a gental shrink too.