Monday, October 09, 2006

Buyer Beware (Updated)

So, after a weekend of upheval in our housing plans, we are now back in the area closely ajacent to Square One.

Without going into a massive amount of bile-filled details, our lawyers very kindly prevented us from getting totally humped by our estate agents and seller, who told some VERY large fibs regarding the length of the leasehold on the house and are big, fat liars who will roast in hell for trying to fleece us. For probably the first and only time in our lives, we love lawyers a LOT and are eternally grateful for their warning. The disappointment of not being able to move into a new place in two weeks is heavily tempered with relief at not gettting stuck with a property we wouldn't be able to sell and the excitement of finding somewhere even BETTER to live.

Ambrose Bierce called litigation "a process that you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage." To apply that temporarily to the real estate market, we are two very grateful sausages on a renewed mission to find our dream home.*

*Actually, it's a bit early in our homebuying career to find a dream home. We're just hoping for one that doesn't suck.

UPDATE
Do Mr. DD and I screw around when it comes to house buying? We certainly do not.

This afternoon, our offer on a flat in the village that we live in currently was accepted. We’d always bemoaned the fact that we’d love to stay in the village, but would never in a million years be able to afford it. But call it Providence, call it Fate, call it whatever, 2 days after losing the maisonette, we found the Forge Flats.

HOW MUCH NICER IS THIS PLACE THAN THE ONE WE WERE ABOUT TO MOVE INTO? (There’s really no earthly way that you could know, but trust me when I say IT IS.)

The view from the living room and kitchen: An orchard, hills, a church and a windmill.

The view from the master bedroom: OUR GARDEN. Yes, we get our very own personal garden for our very own personal use. With trees. And grass. WITH A FLAT.

The kitchen and bathroom are both larger than the ones in the maisonette. Everything is FINISHED and finished well (currently inhabited by a builder and his wife and he did all of the improvements), so no stupid having to put floors down before we can properly move in. Walking into the place felt like…home. We were instantly besotted.

Color us pleased.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shiiiiiit.

Well, you've got plenty to keep you occupied!

MsPrufrock said...

Fuckers.

We got gazumped when trying to buy our first place here in the UK. Luckily the flat we ended up buying subsequently had honest sellers.

Here's to finding the almost dream home that doesn't suck.

Unknown said...

Oh, the new place is GORGEOUS. Congratulations!

Southern Comfortable said...

I'm so glad you're digging on lawyers right now. We get so much flack that it's nice when one of us is recognized for doing something good! :-)

The new place looks gorgeous. Really beautiful, and the views sound fantastic!

katty said...

Hmmmmm. well done. views sound lovely.

I have to start thinking about moving very soon.

Not looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

Oh! Hooray! Sounds like a dream!

Well done!