We decided to move the family as something of an adventure, a fresh start to follow a new opportunity. We'd always looked at the move as a long-term change; with the kids at school and the eldest heading for high school, too much change is not a good thing.
So, in a nice neighbourhood of our newly-adopted city, we found a good school for the kids, moved into a rental place and set about looking for a home.
The strictest requirement for the new house was it had to be within walking distance of school. This need was firmly expressed by our youngest, who had embraced this new-found independence and freedom with a relish. the house also needed to be close to trains for access to the city, and not too far for me to drive to work. And not too far from the soon-to-be high school for the eldest. And big enough to accommodate visiting relatives at a squeeze, with enough trees and garden for the cats. Also cheap enough that we could actually afford it.
So began months of house hunting and religious interrogation of realestate.com by my wife. Saturday mornings were governed by a list of good prospects, and a whirlwind tour of neighbourhoods according to a strict schedule. Needless to say the kids usually protested; “How many houses do we have to look at?” And my wife’s fervour often got the better of me as well; “Are you coming to have a look at this one or not…”
Eventually we found “our house” - the kids could walk to school, we could walk to the trains, and the eldest was a just short bus ride to high school. And the youngest had friends from school who lived there. There was of course the small issue of actually making it ours though. The open inspections had attracted substantial interest, not least from our family who traipsed through the house on at least four occasions. The day of the auction we were hopeful but nervous about getting the home within our buying limit. As it turned out, we were really the only people who wanted it. The first bidder fell out after a few minutes, and the second more serious bidder abandoned the auction once his limit had been reached, leaving us the highest bidder.
This however, was not the end of the story, but instead the start of a protracted negotiating process. The sellers’ attachment to the house plus a steadfast belief in its value, despite a falling market, led to them demand far in excess of our bid which in itself had been substantially over list. So over the course of the month there were calls to the agent, counter offers submitted followed by more phone calls and negotiations?.Eventually, almost a month after attending the auction, we were the new owners of the house.
The strictest requirement for the new house was it had to be within walking distance of school. This need was firmly expressed by our youngest, who had embraced this new-found independence and freedom with a relish. the house also needed to be close to trains for access to the city, and not too far for me to drive to work. And not too far from the soon-to-be high school for the eldest. And big enough to accommodate visiting relatives at a squeeze, with enough trees and garden for the cats. Also cheap enough that we could actually afford it.
So began months of house hunting and religious interrogation of realestate.com by my wife. Saturday mornings were governed by a list of good prospects, and a whirlwind tour of neighbourhoods according to a strict schedule. Needless to say the kids usually protested; “How many houses do we have to look at?” And my wife’s fervour often got the better of me as well; “Are you coming to have a look at this one or not…”
Eventually we found “our house” - the kids could walk to school, we could walk to the trains, and the eldest was a just short bus ride to high school. And the youngest had friends from school who lived there. There was of course the small issue of actually making it ours though. The open inspections had attracted substantial interest, not least from our family who traipsed through the house on at least four occasions. The day of the auction we were hopeful but nervous about getting the home within our buying limit. As it turned out, we were really the only people who wanted it. The first bidder fell out after a few minutes, and the second more serious bidder abandoned the auction once his limit had been reached, leaving us the highest bidder.
This however, was not the end of the story, but instead the start of a protracted negotiating process. The sellers’ attachment to the house plus a steadfast belief in its value, despite a falling market, led to them demand far in excess of our bid which in itself had been substantially over list. So over the course of the month there were calls to the agent, counter offers submitted followed by more phone calls and negotiations?.Eventually, almost a month after attending the auction, we were the new owners of the house.
No comments:
Post a Comment