The adventure started with the viewing. We were in West Dorset at the time, on our summer holiday (this was August 2012). A few days before leaving for Dorset, I couldn't sleep for thinking about a house I knew had just come onto the market. Chris and my neighbour thought I was a bit mad for considering it as an option for us, so I quietly packed our clothes and off we went to Bride's Valley - in my opinion the most beautiful spot in the world! We regularly rent a cottage there which we are very familiar with by now and all was as it should be...apart from the fact that I couldn't sleep - because I was still thinking about that house! This was the beginning of a love affair! So I talked to my husband, who knows my mad ways well, and he very sensibly suggested I rang the estate agent to find out a little bit more about it, and perhaps book a viewing for when we returned from our holiday. While everyone was having fun on the beach I therefore sat in the car-park talking to the estate agent on my mobile phone, feeling more and more sick as I realised that if we wanted a chance to buy this house I would have to drive all the way back to Hampshire in the middle of our holiday to view it!
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| Chessil Beach in Dorset |
So I left Dorset at 7.30 a.m. in the morning, to navigate the rush hour for a 9.30 viewing. All went smoothly: I arrived at Highfield House and absolutely loved it the moment I walked inside. I am often described as a calm person who is probably not always 'easy to read', but on this occasion there was no mistaking my jumping up and down for pure excitement - "it is just what we are looking for!" I exclaimed to the estate agent who probably thought I was totally mad for even driving all this way! Part of the reason for having to drive back in the middle of our holiday was the fact that this sale was going to be decided as a result of sealed bids, and these had to be in by the following Friday. But we were still going to be on holiday then! So not only did I have to view the house and make a decision on behalf of my husband, I had to arrange solicitors, and a mortgage promise, and submit a bid all on this same Tuesday!
As I said in an earlier post, our bid was accepted. So seven months later, with contracts all signed, we were ready to go. The Friday before last everything was ready...but there was no exchange of contracts. Monday came and went...still no exchange. Tuesday passed slowly and it then started to dawn on us that perhaps all was not well with the chain. Finally, nearly a week later, it was confirmed that the first-time-buyers at the bottom of the chain were pulling out of the sale and our buyers would have to put their house back on the market to find a new buyer before we could all exchange contracts. Hours later that afternoon, we had another call from the estate agent to say that the first time buyers were back on board and so it was all steam ahead to exchange contracts the next day on Friday, with a view to completing the next week...
Friday came and went...and this was beginning to feel like deja vu! We eventually had to put a deadline on this saga as the removal company were coming on Monday morning to start packing! The deadline of noon on Monday arrived, and we received the news we dreaded from our solicitor - the first-time buyers had pulled out yet again!
So we're not quite back at square one, but we do face another period of waiting - and not being sure when we will be able to move to our dream home...
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| Still dreaming of designs and decor! |
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