It feels like we have been stuck inside an airport terminal for weeks, waiting for our flight. A departure lounge with no air conditioning. In actual fact we are just ‘trapped’ inside our flat, half packed waiting for the news of an exchange date.
Our coach house is an ideal winter bolt hole, warm and cosy and comfortable. It is not so great during an English heatwave when we have to leave all the windows open and Rick barks at all the noises of the estate. He is pining for his garden. The solicitors and estate agents are leading us a merry dance. Three weeks ago we were told we would be exchanging on ‘Wednesday’ so we rushed home to start the packing. Since then three Wednesdays have gone by and we are still waiting. We are fairly confident that the sale will go ahead (apparently there is a problem with deposit money coming from abroad and having to go via the UK tax office) but we dare not book the removal company until exchange is confirmed. So we are stuck here and getting extremely bored and frustrated. And hot.
Fortunately we managed to sell and complete on our rental property within five weeks. The solicitors expressed surprise when we said we wanted to exchange and complete on the same day but why wait when the house was empty and the vendors were temporarily living in a camper van. It all went through incredibly simply.
As soon as we get the long awaited ‘phone call on this place we can finish packing in 24 hours, put everything into storage and hot foot it back to France to enjoy the remainder of the summer.
Is there any reason why you could not have emptied the flat and put it all in storage and left it empty ready for a completion and come straight back to France? Live a little dangerously perhaps? Watched pots never boil my mother said.
ReplyDeleteLive dangerously? Moi? Believe me it has been tempting. But if everything fell through the cost of removals/storage etc. would be crippling. We keep thinking "tomorrow"...
DeleteUm yes, but if the plan is to sell why not get it empty and ready and if this particular sale doesn't go ahead, there will be another buyer. It may mean a few months extra storage but it would give you freedom.
DeleteI suspect that is what we will do if we don't hear something soon.
DeleteSounds like you are doing a limbo dance. The fire is flickering, the drummers are drumming and you and Paul are bending backwards to get under the flaming pole.
ReplyDeleteIt's more painful and less exciting than limbo dancing.
DeleteHow incredibly frustrating. I think your system of buying and selling real estate is a little different from ours. I'm not good with big anxiety-causing events. You're doing well! I hope it all comes together very soon for you. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteIt's much more complicated and lengthy than it used to be thanks to the government's new money laundering rules.
DeleteThat Teddy looks very hot.
ReplyDeleteHe's very hot and grumpy.
DeleteYour Tomatoes will be ripening; get back quickly!
ReplyDeleteI know, it's so frustrating.
DeleteI hope for you everything will be ok soon.
ReplyDeleteIt will be okay, it's just taking longer than it should. Bureaucracy!
DeleteSame here in France, our friends are still waiting for a 'completion' date originally supposed to be early July. They are back in the UK finger twiddleing.
ReplyDeleteIt's an absolute nightmare.
DeleteJust got an email from them, C. Day is 30th July!
DeleteI hope there is not much more to wait; your house, garden and vegetable patch are missing you back in France.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
I think some of the plants will have shrivelled up and died during our absence.
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