All on hold.

The saga of the sale of our house continued throughout the past week.   And for an hour last Tuesday morning we thought we were about to exchange contracts.   It was such a lovely feeling but alas it was not to be, cut short quickly by the conveyancer who had consulted her boss, the solicitor.  All is now on hold. 

So what happened?

We were meant to exchange contracts two weeks ago, and the sale completed today.   The proposed dates were given to all the people in the chain five weeks ago.   All paperwork had been completed about three weeks ago, so it should have been plain sailing.

There are four people in the chain, including us.    The first person in the chain (actually two young women) was a first time buyer and had the mortgage organised, the next person in the chain was meant to have had his finances sorted out too but he apparently had a problem which no one mentioned.  More about that later. The third person in the chain is our buyer and she will be buying our house outright, in that there will be no mortgage.  Finally there is us, and we are not buying anything here.   It should have been a simple process.  

The story of the problem buyer number two in the chain.    After making various excuses about not being able to sign a contract, he admitted that he had his money in an ISA (Individual Savings Account).  For those people from Australia/NZ an ISA is a tax-free way to save or invest your money here.   The trouble with an ISA is the inflexibility in taking money out when one needs it.   At first we were told that the man had not read the small print and that he would have to give a months notice in order to get his money.   But he could find 5% (should have been 10%) for the deposit so contracts could be exchanged and completion would be on the 14th May, which according to him would be when he could get his money.   Now our solicitors said they were not entering into this arrangement and refused to co-operate.

Thank goodness our solicitors' refused to exchange contracts.   Today we found out that the man had taken out a First Home Buyers ISA on the 29th April, 2017 and it would fall due on the 29th April this year.   He would then be able to draw on it on the 29th May. Definitely a months notice but not the dates we were lead to believe at the beginning of this week.   

So it has become apparent, that the man's agent and solicitor did not check the paperwork to ensure that everything was in order, way back when the Memorandum of Sale was completed.   So for the past three weeks we have heard all sorts of reasons; the man was on holiday, his agent was on holiday, his agent was not answering his phone (that one I do believe), plus a few more excuses    Our progressor kept trying to chase people up but to no avail, and she would also fob me off with promises to ring me back but did not do so. 

All in all, apart from the stress and anxiety, it has cost us £350 because we cancelled our removal date too late.   The overseas removal firm were due to come to pack our furniture and personal effects next week,   But that is our fault for booking them, based on assurances from our progressor and conveyancer  that all would be finalised by the end of next week.   We were so naive.   One should always wait on the exchange of contracts before booking an overseas removal company, even though we may not have ten days in which to do so, between exchanging contractions and completing the sale.  

So what I have I gained from selling a house in England.  

1.  The process of house selling and buying in England is a mess.

2.  The bureaucratic element of it is too complex.

3.   Many people would rather procrastinate then be upfront if there are problems.

4.  There are too many agents involved in the process.

5. Often it is impossible to get a straight answer.

6.  It is certainly difficult to get a commitment on paper.

7. Planning ahead is impossible as contracts are exchanged so late, sometimes just a few days before completion of the sale. 

8.  The sale can fall through at the last minute.

I am so pleased we are not buying another house in this country.

In the meantime the weather has been really sunny and very warm.   In fact really high temperatures for this time of year.   Wonderful.

We had the best display of flowers ever, on our camellia bush.   

The wood anemone is making a wonderful display in the woods.    So pretty.

A carpet of white under the tall trunks of the trees, which in turn are just starting to show a little green in this part of the woods.

There are a few bluebells.    After the carpet of white there will be a carpet of blue.   I hope all the bluebells flower before we leave to go travelling at the end of next week.

I took Bobbi for a walk on Wednesday, and we both enjoyed the sunshine and warmth.

The brilliant green of the shallow rooted trees were a delight to see.   I will really miss the woods.

Walter celebrated his birthday on Monday, and he received the beautiful tulips, in the photograph below, from Aaron and Kylie, who live in the Netherlands.    We also went out to lunch.   More birthday presents still to come, including panniers from Donna.   We are buying each other electric bikes for our birthdays, once we get to Adelaide.   There will be more combined celebrations with Steve tomorrow.   Looking forward to it.

We are off to Europe on Sunday week.   Much better than sitting here dwelling on the lack of action with our house sale.   We have been planning this trip for the past month, but were hoping all would be finalised with the house.   Wishful thinking.   

We are taking our caravan to the Netherlands where we will spend two weeks at Camping De Vliert, and catch up with Aaron, Kylie, Mia, Abi and Raphy.    So looking forward to seeing them all.    Then we will leave the caravan in the Netherlands, and head down to the south of France to stay at Camping Manjastre for about three weeks.  Emma, Jackson and Isabel will join us there during half term.  After that it will be back to the Netherlands for another week, before towing the caravan to the UK where we will hopefully sell it.

Ever onwards, and upwards, so they say.  

Almost there but not

I have tidied my sock drawer.   Always good therapy when feeling stressed; pairing up socks, and lining them up in the drawer, plus having a good clear out is very satisfying.   While I was at it I tidied up the plastic container shelf too, matching up the lids with containers.    I am convinced that the washing machine eats socks and the dishwasher eats plastic lids.   Where do they all go to?

We are still waiting on contracts to be signed, for those that are buying houses.    This consists of the two young women buying the man's house, and the man buying our buyer's house.   I am amazed at how much stuffing around there is, the quantity of paperwork and the number of people involved in the process.    I have decided that proactive decision making and completing tasks quickly is not a high priority in this country.   

In the meantime we have been out and about.    We went into London to watch Emma run in the Half Marathon which was very exciting.   It started in Pall Mall so we waited in The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace.  Wrong place!  How long have we lived here?   We wondered why the runners were walking towards Trafalgar Square, and no sign of a race anywhere.   By the time we realised our mistake we managed to catch a glimpse of Emma as she ran towards The National Gallery.

After waiting in the wrong place for more than an hour we decided that coffee was needed at this point.   And the perfect place was the cafe in St James'  Park.    Such a beautiful spot, with comfortable chairs, a lovely view and excellent coffee.    We also ate a Pain au Raisin each.   Delicious.

Walter standing in front of Admiralty Arch.   Most of the people had left The Mall by this time.  

After a respectable length of time, we made our way to Whitehall where the finish was in front of Downing Street.    It was great watching all the runners finish, but unfortunately we did not see Emma run past, which did she did easily.   I think we need some training in following people running in marathons.

Emma and all her supporters.

We have had many walks around Danson Lake with Karen and Kathy.   Such a beautiful park.

But back to the cleanup here.   The shipping company will pack everything, so all our bits and pieces stay in the cupboards.   Of course the important thing is to make sure that all items in the cupboards are to go, and that there is nothing that will cause us to get a fine.    Such as lavender bags in the drawers or heated wheat bags.    Bio security is tight in Australia as they do not want people importing anything in that will have an impact on the environment in the country.

We had a metal decoration hanging on the wall outside, which has been cleaned, disinfected and sprayed with gold paint.   Will look very good on an outside wall in our Australian house.

We were not going to take our shade umbrellas but then changed our minds.   The sun is very strong in Adelaide for sure.    At first I tried to hose the dust off the umbrellas but then realised that the top unscrewed and the cloth part came off.    I put them in the washing machine, and all three shades are perfectly clean.    I have learnt something.

Everything that has been in contact with soil has been scrubbed, and soaked in disinfectant, Jeyes Fluid to be precise.   Jeyes Fluid comes with many health and safety warnings and can only be used outside in the fresh air.    I can remember when Jeyes Fluid used to be used liberally to clean school toilets and hospital floors.    Times have changed. 

Some of our outside items on the table, cleaned and ready to go.   The table is now full.

Two weeks ago we had a day or two of brilliant weather, but alas it was not to last, as the cloud came over and stayed for ten days.    Grey, grey and more grey.   Sometimes the cloud was so low it became fog with moisture dripping from the trees.   So very depressing. 

Bobbi enjoying the brilliant sunshine, even if it was brief.

It is now Sunday evening, and the blog that was meant to be posted last week will now be posted in a few minutes.

And we still have no final date for completion of the sale of the house.    I wrote an email to the solicitor this evening outlining our problem with the continuing delay.    Three weeks ago I was told by the progressor that the contracts were ready to be signed.    Was this the truth or not?   Who knows.   Last week I was told the delay was due to some of the buyers and an agent being away on holiday.   Truth or not?

All I know is that enough is enough.