Sunday 29 April 2012

A ray of sunshine in the House of Plague

Things are moving at a tremendous speed!

On Tuesday night we made the list - texted Alex - who promptly made our offer to No. 11's agent - who then said they had to wait for the other buyers (?) - a few hours later, I get a call from Alex "Congratulations! They accepted your offer!" Big relief, happy, happy, joy, joy - 10 minutes later, I get a call from the Council, "No, your offer has been rejected as you don't have a firm offer on your house!" But we do, I say, call my estate agent - then, "Oh no, your buyer says it's not a firm offer, so we have to withdraw our offer". Crap!

Sigh.

But there was a sliver lining. Minutes later, I got a call from the Council who told us about another property on the same estate, No. 5, that had just become available. It wasn't on the open market yet and we were being offered a chance to look at it, which is how the shared equity scheme works: a house comes up for sale, the owners tell the council, who then offers it to the first people on their list. If they don't want it, it then gets offered to the next people and so on until a buyer is found. If no one on the list can buy it, only then does it go on the open market. It's a great scheme! And I for one, am grateful for it!

I immediately rang the owners and arranged for a viewing the next day. It was for sale for about £9,000 less than No.11 but the layout was the same. The differences were all interior - ie, shiny kitchen, new heating system etc. This house had really warm vibes - the people who lived there were definitely happy. There was a lot of love in the rooms and it really helped that the lady who showed us around was a new mum herself (her bub was about five months old). I loved what they had done to the bathroom - basically removed the bath and had a luxurious shower put in. There were photos of their good times everywhere and the kitchen looked well-used. T'was good, so we told them we wanted it and they were chuffed.

I am now fizzing with ideas for a new kitchen and considering a Japanese style tub to go in the bathroom. None of which would have feasible had we bought No. 11.


So now we just have to let the council know and find a new buyer for ours. Meanwhile, they have to find somewhere new to live!


Today, FBB and I took a moment. I had Plate in the sling1 and the evening was cool and quiet. We leaned against Dead Car 1 and looked at the house that we had spent the last 10 years in, our contemplation reflected in the living room window.

"It's been good," said FBB. "And it's going to be great, babe." I agreed whole-heartedly.

Plate's response was, "Cat!".


1 The cold got Plate on Thursday and by Saturday she was not a happy baby. She was so not happy that we got really worried and got her out to the see the out-of-hours GP at Princess of Wales. Turns out she had an ear infection, really chesty, wheezy cough, and a fever. Antibiotics were prescribed. We hit her with both Neurofen and the banana flavoured 'botics and she slept for three hours this afternoon. She was a bit clingy which it was understandable but much happier today. As for me, I'm still coughing but feeling at least three times better than last Friday.



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