Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

skint_spice

Congratulations on the new house, I hope it all goes through smoothly and quickly and you regain some headspace.

savingholmes

Thanks Skint, Lucielle, Uralmaid, try_harder, Blackcats and Tall Girl

Well I got the house clean and tidy in time for the buyers to come and view. It was a mammoth effort - but I should be more able to keep it like this now. I've binned loads as I went along and identified some more items to donate. I listened to good old Dana to help motivate me. I got rid of loads of towels and bedding after the divorce - but plenty left that still need to go. Some cushions I'll donate too.

They brought their 3 kids who were really excited I'd guess aged between 10 and 18. They are interested in buying some of the furniture so that could save me some money on removal costs. They asked me to give them an itemised list with prices. They want DD's mattress so good job I hadn't cleared it out yet - and the FB bedframe. They'd also like a quote for some of my other furniture. Not my sofa sadly - but not surprised at that. They'd like DS's bed - which is in good condition - but I need to work out what to quote. They'd like some of my bedroom furniture - and possibly some in the garden too. They loved my decorations. They also really liked how I styled my bedroom and were even interested in the lamps.

Annoyingly the pond pump didn't work when he asked me to show it him again - despite the pond being full - but the waterfall was very clogged with leaves - so I may just need to clear that out. We've swapped phone numbers so it is easier to stay in touch. Life feels on fast forward again. They are friends with the people directly behind me so are very excited about that too. They were really sweet.

I am nervous and excited - but also really exhausted - as not slept much recently. Hopefully I can relax more now they've had their second viewing and were okay about me having swapped property. They only moved to this country a few years ago - which is why the whole mortgage process took longer. They want some stuff I was planning to tip / donate so feels like a win. It was good to explain in person about a couple of the things they keep querying so hopefully they will let those rest now.

At my new place to be he pretty much said they only needed the beds so were open on other stuff - so not sure if that meant for free or at a cost. It sounds like they got it at a discount as his wife is in that kind of trade. Their stuff was nice so that could be an option which could reduce my costs further. It is advertised as 'chain free' so yeah @TallGirl
- I'm hoping I just ring the mortgage company Monday - update them on the situation and then pay a fee for the survey. Unsure if I have to pay for the port cost again or not. I may need to wait for the memo of sale first - so need to chase hard on Monday to have any chance of meeting an end of January deadline.

I need to work through my furniture list and work out what I'd be happy to sell and what I want to take and see where that leaves me. My removal quote was cheaper if there was no dismantling - so it could be that I save £ by leaving stuff. Need to weigh it up.

I'm going to nip to MnS and hopefully pick up a Japanese meal deal. That will then give me a few meals without having to think. I'm going to try and get an early night as I'm whacked.

jwil

Glad your afternoon went well, and all sounds really positive.  Hope you manage to have a good rest tonight

beanielou

jwil said:

Glad your afternoon went well, and all sounds really positive.  Hope you manage to have a good rest tonight

From me too.

KajiKita

Your buyers sound genuinely invested in your place and like they will want to make it work and I am delighted by your enthusiasm for the cheaper new place. It sounds like it makes more sense to both your heart and your pocket ❤️👏😊🤩

KK

beanielou

KajiKita said:

Your buyers sound genuinely invested in your place and like they will want to make it work and I am delighted by your enthusiasm for the cheaper new place. It sounds like it makes more sense to both your heart and your pocket ❤️👏😊🤩

KK

Absolutely this. 

MerryHen

I've just caught up with your diary. You sound really positive about this place, and it sounds like a good fit. Your long term plans are detailed and well thought out, I'm looking forward to following along (and maybe picking up a few tips!)

savingholmes

Baileys_Babe said:

Would Dd be interested in your main tree

Hi Baileys_Babe - sorry I missed your post - I was just reading back as a lot has happened in a very short time - and spotted it. I asked DD yesterday and unfortunately not. Nice thought though. I gave DD some lights though which made her happy. DS lives too far away and I imagine it would be his landlord rather than him that provides the tree, so I may just go through the box and work out what decorations to let go and then put it on FB for a fiver or something. 

On one level I'm torn as it's a nice pre-lit tree - I don't know whether it is part of wanting a fresh start - or whether it really is that the tree feels like too much effort - but it is quite heavy to manouevere even though it comes in a few pieces connected by wire - and seems to take forever to decorate. I like a lot of the decorations - but it is also true that there are a lot of memories attached to Xmas decorations and post divorce - I'm debating whether to let some of the tangible items go - and just saving the very small amount of the decorations that I love. I did a bit of purge last year - but have further to go.

I bought a new tree yesterday from R*ng3 and really like it's simplicity. I've put it in the kitchen with a bay window and shiny floor all of which help reflect it. (This is their photo rather than my house). (£25).

TallGirl

So pleased to read about your buyers that sounds really reassuring. You new tree look lovely and minimalist. Fab if they are happy to take/buy your furniture. We got our sellers bedroom furniture saved a lot of money and hassle moving it around it’s super heavy. 

savingholmes

MerryHen said:

I've just caught up with your diary. You sound really positive about this place, and it sounds like a good for. Your long term plans are detailed and well thought out, I'm looking forward to following along (and maybe picking up a few tips!)

Thanks @MerryHen and welcome. I'll check and see if you have a diary too.

Thanks too to Jwil, Beanie and KK.

I am positive about the new place - something about the beautiful, white replastered walls and nice kitchen, wet room and downstairs toilet. The layout is really good - well mostly.

It has a garage which they've split in two at some point. So lots of storage part accessible from inside and part outside only. I'd prefer an internal door to both parts but that could be habit. (At the previous house the whole garage had been converted so it lacked storage).

Outside is a tiny lean to shed - which I will probably get rid of - having read the survey report on the other property and the danger of leaning stuff in terms of damp!

There's a patio area and grassed area around the back and path next to the house with 3 outside lights. At the front it is basically a drive and a partial privacy fence. I don't think there's any planting at the front but I would add some. But if I take my ten million pots (not literal obviously) I'd have a good start on that anyway. At the back there is some planting on a second layer.

You walk in - there's a really nice toilet to the right and then to the left is the door to the lounge. That then leads to the hallway and stairs and access to the storage area. It also leads to the utility area and a nook they've created to hang coats and put shoes away etc and then round a corner on through to a beautiful white gloss style kitchen. It has a double oven at waist height which is what I wanted, an integrated fridge freezer and space for a dishwasher. (The other house I'd have needed to put a new kitchen in and there was no obvious gap to put in a dishwasher).

It has a lot of those pull out metal runner things which I like the idea of - and nearly put in here but for some reason it didn't fit the gap. There's a gas hob I'd replace but the rest looks nice. I'm tempted to get a new dishwasher - as mine can be temperamental - I'm also not mad keen on the faff of disconnecting and reconnecting. I also think I've had it a very long time - so wonder if it could give up the ghost soon. There's a doorway through to the store which is where the washing machine and drier are (not totally clear how that relates to the floorplan. To the right of the kitchen/utility area is the boiler and a new back door etc - which has a little pedestrian cover overhead. Need one of those at the front!

To the left of the kitchen area is the dining area and then the snug which is probably what I'd make my art space. I'd put bifold doors in where the patio doors are now (next to the dining area) - and might at some point when I re-roof - add roof lights. Then upstairs is the 3 bedrooms - one of which is set up as a study / dressing room and the separate wet room. I will miss having an ensuite - but have to keep reminding myself I'm mostly due to live there alone - and if that changes I can review then. Other than a bedroom and an ensuite - it is a comparable size to here. So yes excited - as long as the surveyor and solicitor don't raise too many issues with him having done a lot of the work himself.