The week after house hunting began.

Saturday 13th April

Hello all and a happy weekend to you.

I’m writing this blog while making dinner – tonight’s culinary delight is good old bangers and mash; a winter dinner I hear you think. Ye, because it’s still winter outside, pouring in fact but slightly warmer than the sub zero temperatures we have endured of late.

I am feeling slightly jealous as i have just checked the temperatures in Fayssac where we are hoping to move to and it’s 23 degrees and sunny today and will climb to 27 by mid week. Which is one of the reasons we want to pack our house on on our backs and fly south.

Now I also hear you say “what the hell have you two been up to all week after leaving us high and dry with your last post telling us you have found your dream home” or maybe just “whats happening?”

Well we haven’t been sitting around feeling all rosy and chuffed at finding the house. We, well Kev actually, has been very busy trying to work out what budget we have to do all the necessary renovations and what offer we should put in to make the dream come true.

In fact his workings out started at the airport whilst waiting for our delayed flight home. We sat in departures squeezing the last bit of life out of my iPad looking at guttering, fencing and boilers; very glamorous NOT, all i wanted to look at was swimming pools and paint colours.

Ooh sorry have to dash the oven buzzer is going so have to get dinner ready.

Sunday 14th April

Morning all, it’s so windy out there today but at least it’s a bit warmer.

My bangers and mash turned out to be one of the best I’ve made, if I may say so myself. Our Saturday evening consisted of probably the last roaring log fire we will have in this house, lots of red wine and copious amounts of a really lovely port our Rach brought with her which accompanied some rather stunning cheeses we bought up in the village. For our teleplay visual delights we had a double bill of Scott and Bailey with a Britain’s Got Talent intermission.

Anyhoo enough of our indulgences, back to the French house.

We have also decided that if an offer is accepted, we’ll get a survey done as this is going to be a long term project and we want to make sure the house is in good nick and find out what, if any, nasty surprises lay in store. In France they don’t have surveys done, they work on the principle that if the building has been standing for all these years it must be ok. Kev has managed to find two English surveyors who have sent in quotes and one will be lined up ready to go.

So the big question now is what offer do we make on the place, it’s on the market for 318,000 Euros but the French always inflate the prices on houses. We already know that a previous offer of 260,000 Euros was turned down, but they weren’t cash buyers like we will be. Our agents have said we are in a excellent position as cash buyers and that if we put an offer in they will strongly recommend the sellers accept it. Here’s another difference between buying and selling in the UK: the agents work for the buyer not the seller and the seller can have their house on the market with multiple agents.

Lots to think about this weekend and then hopefully we will make an offer early this coming week.
We will keep you posted.

Now just in case the sun does decide to honour us with an appearance this Sunday here is a little ditty to celebrate.