What I've learnt about home ownership - and the buying process!

I recently bought my first flat in London. I was warned that buying a home wasn't going to be as much fun as I expected, but I had no idea what I was letting myself in for!

I got the keys on a Friday, and started a new job on the Monday. That was crazy decision number one - but to be fair, it wasn't meant to be that close, I should have had the keys months earlier.

I decided to pop some central heating in where there wasn't even a hot water system to support it - that was crazy decision number two.

Crazy decision number 3 was to open the cabinet under the kitchen sink ...

But the story really starts before I got the keys. Back in August, after months of searching online for a maisonette, in a quiet location, close to public transport, I finally found a beautiful little place that fit the bill. I viewed it twice, and I compared it to other properties in the area. I was sure this was the one.

The first surprise was what happened when I made an offer. It was my first offer, and the place clearly needed a little bit of work. So I came up with a fair offer that wasn't too far off the asking price. My offer was rejected, which wasn't a surprise, what was a surprise was that there wasn't a counter offer - just a 'no'. I was stumped, this wasn't how it was meant to go - I thought home buying was a negotiation! So, knowing how much I loved the place, but that I wasn't going to pay the full asking price, I took a shot in the dark, upped the offer, and was relieved when the second offer was accepted. I thought I was past the hard bit...

The next few months were some of the most frustrating I have ever experienced. Between a lease extension that should have been quick and easy (but wasn't) alongside the sale paperwork, shocking customer service from a supplier on my side of the deal, and repeated delays, it was only when I threatened to pull out of the sale that things suddenly started to move along.

So, back to the day I got the keys. I knew the place potentially had a damp problem, and had paid for an enhanced home buyers survey to make sure it wasn't going to be a major problem - like rising damp. I had been given the all clear, so it was a shock when I walked in - knowing the previous owner had literally moved their furniture out that morning - to an overwhelming damp smell. It was awful.

The next few days were spent mopping walls and cleaning off any mould I could find. But, it was only when I opened up the under-sink cupboard in the kitchen that I realised where the main problem was. The wall was black ... absolutely covered in mould. We then also found damp in the woodwork of an internal wall. I'd done the right thing in getting the survey, but it seems the mould was probably caused by very poor maintenance, potentially for years in some spots.

There was no way I was living with a black wall of mould in the kitchen, so out came the kitchen, off came the plasterboard and suddenly I was contemplating a new kitchen. And whilst it's lovely to have a new kitchen, and new walls in spots, it certainly wasn't what I thought I was signing up for.

Adding radiators was another 'small' job that turned out to be far more complicated than originally thought. The old-fashioned water tanks had to be removed and replaced with a combi-boiler - expensive but feasible. The pipework that was going to go inside the walls had to be mounted on the outside, because ... there was no 'inside the walls'. For some odd reason, this property has two sheets of plasterboard stuck together for internal walls, with no wall frame in between - definitely not something I could have anticipated. And, removing the old gas heaters left massive holes in the walls that need to be fixed, inside and out.

But, to be honest, the bane of my life for the past month has been painting. If anyone ever says to you, 'it just needs a lick of paint', run! Because, that lick of paint takes much longer than you'd think. I'll have literally painted every wall, door, door frame and skirting board by the time I move in this weekend - with the exception of the kitchen decoration that I managed to roll into the price of the new kitchen. What I learnt about painting is this - invest in good equipment (my Australian merino wool roller is the best ￡15 I could have spent), or, better yet, pay someone else to do it. Honestly, it's an art form and I'll be paying an expert next time!

I've been told several times that it will all be worth it once I move in and it feels like home, but I think that if I ever buy again, I might just be swayed towards a new build instead!