A DAY TO STRESS, THEN RELAX

Well, today we shall be free of the contract on number 3 house.  All going well.

As a friend pointed out, there is a clause in the contract that gives our solicitor the right to cancel the contract if he/she isn't happy with it.

We sent the Builders Report to her last night, and WOW, our friend Marty did an amazing job of it!

He has identified all the defects, with photos, and has said the house is in the VERY HIGH RISK of failure due to the cladding and weather tightness issues that are glaringly apparent to him.  

So, really I shouldn't be so stressed out.  But I am.  Until it is over, I will be doing tummy flips.

Once it's sorted, we can then move on to making an offer on something else.  

We are lucky that the people who are buying our home are happy to stretch out the settlement, giving us more time to find something.

I can't quite believe how difficult it is to find something in Hamilton!  But, we will eventually, even if it's in Cambridge.  *smiles*
Cambridge has some lovely shops, and isn't that far from Hamilton after all.

As I am literally knackered from all the travel and stress, today is going to be a true day of rest for me.  Sadly, poor Stew has to go back to work... and commute for a bit longer.

ONWARD...

3.44 pm:  time is ticking down... and we have not yet heard if we are released from the house contract.  I have literally been paralysed with fear that somehow we will be locked into buying a leaky house.

Our estate agent put a building report clause in the contract that OVER RODE the solicitor's clause.  So we have had to try and get around that by getting the bank to refuse our finance... therefore meaning we can't buy the house.

I am waiting to get confirmation that the contract is null and void.  Until that happens I can hardly breathe, I'm that scared we will still have to buy the house.

All I have managed to do today is some washing!  The rest of the day has been spent looking at the damn computer, waiting for an email to come in from our solicitor.

Shit have we ever learnt a hard lesson with this.  NEVER EVER try to go unconditional in just a few days, and NEVER EVER let your estate agent put an additional clause in that overrides your chances of getting out of the contract!

I still don't know WHY she did that.  I think Stew will be asking her though.  

4.43 pm: We can breathe again. Our solicitor found a loop hole, and the vendor's solicitor has accepted it.  We just have to get our bank to refuse us finance ON THIS HOUSE, and we are free of that contract.  I could cry I am that relieved.
All going well we will be free to look for another house by Thursday.

I'm feeling very cross with our Hamilton Estate Agent.  She rang me half an hour ago, assuring me that it would all work out 'just fine'.  That may be, but it has been a bloody stressful few days, that would have been totally unnecessary if she hadn't put her stupid clause in the contract.  

Today has been utter shit.  I'm hoping a good night's sleep will result in a better day tomorrow.
TRACY:  Stew is aware of the finance thing and can counter that by stipulating 'finance from our bank" when the finance clause is written in tomorrow.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Yep... another Mother's Day rolls around.

And I will be getting up fairly early so we can go back to Hamilton to look at more houses.  *sigh*
I am starting to dread it.

Maybe today we will find something and actually buy it?
Miracles happen don't they?

I really don't have much else to yabber on about right now, so I will go and catch ya later.

 Have a wonderful Mother's Day girls! 

ONWARD...

Well... I've managed to line up 3 houses to view today, 2 are in Cambridge and one is in the wop wops.  (In the country)  *smiles*

Leaving soon...

No luck yet. Going to revisit one that used to be top of our list months ago. 

6.03 PM:  Finally home after another long day looking for a new home.

I can't say it went well, though there is one that is a POSSIBILITY. Maybe two if we get desperate.

ABOVE:  While in Cambridge we browsed the local market... bought some lovely fruit loaves.

 ABOVE:  I found a little fabric shop in Cambridge.

 ABOVE:  And a bloke with a parrot on his shoulder.

 ABOVE:  Ran into Russell and Ange!  They had decided to check out the market too.

 ABOVE: This is one house we liked in Cambridge.  

ABOVE:  This was out in the Wop Wops.  Not quite right for us for a few reasons.  Quite a long way out of Hamilton, dark and dingy bedrooms, nowhere for the sewing room etc.  Had a lovely pool though.

So, that was our day.

Tomorrow is going to be mega stressful.  We have to get out of the contract on House Number 3.  Shitting bricks over that.

VERY HOPEFUL TODAY

Today we are heading off to Hamilton to meet up with our friend Martyn, who is going to do a building inspection on our prospective new  home.

I am feeling super hopeful that all will be well, and we can proceed with the purchase and get ourselves out of limbo finally.

After the inspection, if Marty has brought his good lady wife (Jacqui) and kids, we might just end up having lunch together before heading home again.

Marty is coming over from Tauranga, he's such a lovely guy doing this inspection for us.

If the inspection shows up too many risks with the house, we might end up looking at more houses.  I hope we don't have to.

So, that's our plans for the day.

I'll be back later on with the 'news'... keep your fingers crossed for us.  

ONWARD...

THE HOUSE HAS FAILED IT'S BUILDING INSPECTION. 

So yes... we are back to square one and are now off looking at more houses with our expert builder and his cute family in tow. 😊

We have just put an offer on a 4th house.... an are awaiting the outcome.

If it isnt a GO... we are looking at another house later today.


Finally on our way 'home' .... with no new home secured. 

I will update fully when we get home. Long story. 

So.  We met Marty and Jacqui at the house and I drooled over it some more.  Meanwhile, Marty did his inspection.  He took ages.
Then he met me in a bedroom away from everyone else and gave me his verdict.  Me and Marty in a bedroom... ALONE.  hee hee (family joke now)

Oh I digress:

The house WAS/IS a leaky home.  Lots of repairs had been done, but in Marty's opinion they had not been done well at all.

And there are overriding issues with the method of construction and architectural aspects, which back when the house was built meant it is always going to have leaky problems.  He took photos of all the 'problem' areas he could SEE.

He went into the garage and saw wooden planks up against one of the garage walls, so he moved them and found they were covering 4 big bulges/bubbles in the wall.  Obviously water was causing them.  Sneaky sneaky.

So, we have backed out of the contract to buy it.

I am so relieved we had Marty check it out for us.


After that we looked at house number 4, which we liked very much, it was 3 years old and of brick construction.  We put an offer in on it on the spot.  It had just come on the market yesterday, and was having the first Open Home today.  More on that later...

Then we went off to lunch with Marty, Jacqui and all our kids.  It was nice to relax for a little while, even though I was really stressed to the max.

After lunch Marty and Jacqui left for home, and we went and visited some friends in Hamilton to await some news on our offer on House Number 4.

After not hearing anything by 5 pm we decided to head home.  Half way home we heard from our Agent.
The Number 4 house's Open Home was flooded with buyers!  And the vendors asked that all interested parties present their offers by Tuesday, as although they had our offer, they had 3-4 other parties wanting to make offers as well.  

So, we retracted our offer, with a view to maybe making an offer again on Tuesday.  Though in the back of our minds we feel like with that much 'competition' for it, it will go beyond our budget.

The Hamilton housing market is just NUTS right now!  Something that was around $700,00 six months ago is now over $800,00!  It's because the Auckland market is so hard to buy into now, Aucklanders are buying in Hamilton and commuting to work in Auckland!

So, we are struggling with all the competition.
But... we WILL find something eventually.

We can extend the settlement date on our home here luckily!  

Tomorrow we are going back to look at a few more houses.  We MUST. FIND. A. NEW. HOME!

And that was our day... lot's of up's and down's.

I'm happy to be home now though. 
The poor dogs went NUTS when we got home.  They missed us obviously.  
Tallulah's stitches look good, no sign of infection or irritation.  I was a bit worried about leaving her alone all day so soon after her operation, but she is fine thankfully.

WASN'T "UP OUR SLEEVE!"

Anonymous9:32 PM

Christ Chris, you tell us one thing, get our sympathy, then tell us something else! You had this house up your sleeve all the time. You just wanted our sympathy. Well you got it. Satisfied? Be truthfull to your blog followers. Without us, you wouldnt have a blog and your life would be boring, like everyone elses. Grow a pair and be honest.
Jane Moore, Belfast.

ANON from yesterday (Jane, yeah right):  the house we signed up yesterday wasn't our '3rd choice' that we had 'up our sleeve'.  

As we missed out on the two homes we really wanted, but lost at auction, we had to reconsider our options.

We had to re-visit some homes we had previously discounted.  We realise that we will have to make some more compromises to get the house that is the best option, at this time, for us.

None of this was to 'get your sympathy'.

 It is just me sharing what happens in our life, including the ups and downs.  My blog is an online record of my/our life.  I did not set out to garner readers/opinions from the general public.  My blog has just grown an 'audience' all on it's own.

And contrary to your opinion, I would still have a blog, with readers, OR NONE.  

We don't need your sort of negativity thanks. Go and read someone else's blog.

Now, just to muddy the waters some more... there is a fair likelihood that the house we signed up yesterday will fail the builders inspection, due to it's method of construction and architectural aspects.  We were told this last night by our VERY QUALIFIED builder friend,  who is going to do the 'proper' building inspection on Saturday.

So, we may yet be back at square one, and if that happens we will roll with it, and look some more.  NO sympathy needed.  *smiles*

NEXT:

My truly DISGUSTING story from yesterday:

I am sitting in the car, about to leave Hamilton East after signing house purchase papers.

In front of me is a park.  It's very open to the shops/road/pedestrians etc.

A woman walks past my car and steps onto the grass in the park, about 6 meters in front of me.

Next thing I know, she stops, hauls her track pants and knickers down to her knees, bends over, tilts her posterior up and proceeds to have a piddle! 

Due to the manner in which she had her bum angled, I (and everyone around her), got a 100% view of EVERYTHING she had for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

I was gobsmacked and horrified!  All I could think of was "Please don't have a poo too!"

Luckily she didn't, she just had this monstrous piddle, then hauls her pants up and carries on walking across the park!

And the kicker?

Guess where the nearest public toilets were?

200 meters ahead of her, in the park!

I never, ever want to see something like that again.  

ABOVE: Said woman walking away after her piddle!  You are SO lucky I didn't photograph her doing it!

TALLULAH:  is doing well.  Still scared to move much.  But she is eating a bit, though I have to hand feed her as she's not sure how to eat with the plastic Elizabethan Collar on.  Poor darling.

 ABOVE: When I put her in the bedroom, she stood just like that, and did not move a fraction for a good 5 minutes!  She was totally freaked out and bamboozled by the collar!  
That collar thingee is to stop her licking or pulling her stitches out.
She gets her stitches out in 10 days.

ABOVE: How sad yet adorable does she look!  Awwwww... 'Lulah you are gorgeous.

Well... today I have a lady coming to do a quote to move our furniture and effects to Hamilton.  
Other than that, it should be a quiet day.  
As I'm fairly tired, that is a good thing.

ONWARD...

Well... the lady from NZ Vanlines came and has done her thing, we should get her quote on Monday.

Now... back to the correct spelling of SPEY/SPAY... when I picked Tallulah up last night the vet gave me an information sheet pertaining to Tallulah's post-op care.

ABOVE:  How our VET spelled the word.  Just like me.  Just sayin'.

My cough  has been horrible the last 24 hours.  Lots of throwing up.  Might go to the Dr again next week if it's still this bad.

I've done lots of housework this morning, and coughing.  Coughing is TIRING!  I'm gunna have a nap.  YEAH. 

Just got a phone call.  No nap for me.  Griffin's been hurt at school so I have to go pick him up and get him to the Doctor.  Hurt leg.  Not sure how bad. 

20 minutes later and I've brought him home with a pressure bandage on his shin. He got kicked playing soccer (an accident). The nurse put ice on his leg and the swelling has gone down a bit.  He can walk just fine, so  I'm not going to take him to the Dr.  Drama over.

Well ... another day ends.  We  have enjoyed a quiet Friday evening.  Off to bed shortly, hoping I don't start coughing again and end up sleeping on a lounge chair.  

LOTS ON...

First up for today, I take Tallulah down to the Vet's for her spey operation.  No more puppies for her.  She did not cope well with her first litter, so it's the best thing to do for her.

Next:  I have a lady coming from a moving company to do a quote for our move to Hamilton.

Next:  I will be trolling the Real Estate sites for new listings.  And making a list to look at tomorrow or the weekend.

Next:  TODAY IS ARCHER'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!
They are coming for dinner and cake.  BEX... bring the cake would ya?  lol

I am NOT feeling so dejected today.  As many people have told me, if it was meant to be, we would have got the house we wanted yesterday.  Obviously it was not meant to be.  Our new home is out there, just waiting for us to find it.

We can stay in our present home for longer than the 'settlement' day, as the purchasers are not in any way ready to move yet!  So that is good.
I expect we will 'rent' our home from them.  That will be funny.

So, there ya go.  My day is full.  And I am going to be positive.  Being miserable is NOT FUN. Nope, not at all.  Sooooo... I won't be. 

ONWARD...

Tallulah is safely at the vets... and I am ???

Had a little change of plans for today.  More on that later!

3.51 pm:  and I am home after taking an unexpected trip to.... HAMILTON.

Guess what I did there?

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! Yes we did indeed.  We decided not to piss around with renting/moving twice bla bla bla, so we bought our 3rd choice house.

We both love it.  Maybe not as much as the other two... but it is still lovely, and we are only too happy to call it 'HOME'.

When we lived in Hamilton 14 years ago, we used to go on little 'tiki tours' around nice neighbourhoods.  And this area was TOP of our list of 'we would love to live here'!

And now we will !  *smiles*

Once again, I shall not divulge any photos till middle of next week, once it is no longer on any websites... and it has gone UNCONDITIONAL on Monday or Tuesday.

Actually, I took some outside photos today of it... so will upload those and see if I can put any of them on here, without giving away the address.

The poor kids are having to walk home in drenching rain today.  Oh well... that won't kill them.  


Just picked up Tallulah. It was horrible!  She tried to bolt when the vet opened her pen, and the vet had to grab her... and it must have hurt cos she screamed holy blue murder!
I got a huge fright cos she cried so much and so loud!!!

But, she's all good.  She's now in the spare bedroom where it's peaceful and quiet.

Bex and the boys are here, and we are awaiting the arrival of the men before getting dinner.

And OMG do I have a story to tell you about something that happened today!!!  But... it will have to wait until tomorrow... there's plenty on here already.

 ABOVE:  Opening presents.  Grandma and Granddad gave him some winter clothes.

 ABOVE: Funnily enough, he liked the paper the best!

 ABOVE:  Bex made this cake for him.  Coincidentally, the birthday card we gave him was also a Cookie Monster!

ABOVE: Dante enjoyed blowing out the candle, his baby brother just wanted to swat/grab it.

ABOVE: It was a surprise to see a pink cake under all that blue!
It was a very tasty cake too... I've got another piece to enjoy tomorrow.

FINGERS CROSSED

Once the kids leave for school, I'm going to head off to Hamilton.

I will probably kill an hour or two wandering around a mall ... then head off to the Auction.

Stew and our Estate Agent are going to meet me there.

I will probably be a mess of nerves by then.

WISH US LUCK!

ONWARD...

WE MISSED OUT ON BOTH HOUSES WE HAD OUR EYE ON
 FEELING TOTALLY DEJECTED RIGHT NOW.

But we will keep looking...and hopefully find something SOON
.. or we could be living under a bridge by end of month!

6.45 pm:   and I'm home... and looking at more houses on the net.  Spreading the search out a bit... even looking at PLASTER houses now~!
Shaking me head.

My back is killing me for some reason, not even low down like 'normal'.  Probably from being tense all day?

OH well... another day tomorrow.  Can't go to Hamilton to look either.
Tallulah gets speyed (de-sexed) tomorrow, so I have to be here.

Friday I will be back  looking at houses I expect.

I was going to cook dinner, but now that I look at the time (6.47 pm) it might just be takeaways.  *sigh*

Scrap the takeaways idea.  I realised I had pork out, so I have a sweet 'n' sour pork stir fry cooking.. to be accompanied by home made garlic bread... cos it's comfort food.  And I feel like comfort food.  

P.S.:  it's official.  Throwing up Garlic Bread sucks BIG TIME.

Bloody cough from hell doing it's thing on me again.  IKKK.

I DID IT AGAIN...

Slept in!  I didn't sleep well. Bit of coughing still going on.

I will do a proper post once I get outta bed....

9.35 am:  right, I'm out of bed, tidied the house, and now I'm off to buy a birthday present for our youngest grandson, Archer.

He will be 1 on Thursday.  

My freakin' cough chooses the perfect time to act up... when I'm in bed, and when I wake up.

Oh and another thing making me cross... there is a small dog SOMEWHERE in our neighbourhood who barks NON STOP every morning.  It's been barking for about 3 hours already. 

I sure in hell won't miss that once we move.

At least I know it isn't our dogs.

ONWARD...

Well I've been down the road to the mall and bought a present for the bub, and cards and paper... then I came home and did some housework.
And coughed.  And coughed some more till I threw up.  Nothing new there.

I will have to go out again soon as I've run out of Gees Linctus, which is the only cough syrup that seems to help.  

Well it's been a very quiet day.  My nerves are ramping up!  Tomorrow we either buy a house, or end up having to look for other options.
I'm off to bed fairly early tonight... so tomorrow gets here quicker!

MOVING QUOTE

This afternoon I've got the first of three companies coming around to do a quote for moving our furniture and effects to Hamilton.

That should be interesting. You should see our garage!  It's full of stuff from the house, with little 'tracks' so we can get to the freezer etc!

The kids go back to school today, they have about 3-4 weeks left there, then we will be taking them out of school until we are moved and settled in a new home.

NEW HOME.   This week on Wednesday we are going to the Auction for our Number 1 and 2 houses.  I have nightmares worrying we won't get either of them.

Cos if that happens we will have to do a really quick regroup, and try to find something else we like enough to buy.    Time is ticking away on us.  If we are not careful we will have to camp out in a motel till we get a house!  Really don't want to be doing that.

Archer was in fine form last night, he had an empty fizz bottle and he was using it to hit Griffin on the head...

 ABOVE: He loves it when I get out my camera!

 ABOVE:  Griffin is such a good sport!  Baby hit him heaps of times, and laughed and squealed in delight while doing it.

ABOVE:  Griffin seems to have a really lovely rapport with babies and littlies.  
We are going to miss seeing these bubs so often once we move... *sad*.

OK I'm off to get the washing on, and tidy the house.  Because we haven't had to do Open Homes any more, I've been a bit slack in the housekeeping department!  
And I can tell...  I can't stand a mess!

ONWARD...  

11 am came and went... and I'm sitting here waiting, waiting ... for the furniture removal company guy to arrive to do a quote.  No guy.
So I ring and leave a message.  Nothing.  I text and leave a message.  Nothing.

12.09 pm:  a call ... "Oh sorry, I'm over on the North Shore right now, how about I come over around 3 pm?"

I said "Yes" ... but followed it up with a "Did you forget or what?"

Yeah.  He forgot.  Something tells me he might not be getting the job.  Being punctual and professional is high on my  expected standards.

I've now rung 3 more moving company's to get quotes.  

Nice way to start my day... getting crabby!

5.01 pm:  shit where did the day go???
Seriously, I thought it was about 2 pm... then I remembered that the kids were home from school and ... well... look at the time!

The first moving company guy finally arrived, and he apologised profusely for not remembering his appointment this morning.  He was good though, and I should get his quote via email soon.  His 'guess-tament' sounded really good.

I've heard from our Real Estate Agent Lou in Hamilton, she is expecting us on Wednesday.  I'm sooooo full of nerves.  I feel sick.

I've never been to a house auction before.  If we get the house I am in love with, I am going to be so happy to show you all!

WEDNESDAY.  2 more sleeps.  Or should I say, 2 more nights tossing and turning!
*smiles*

GARDENING

Well today is going to be productive.

We are going to get all the big pots and metal cogs etc, out of the gardens, and replace them with agaves from other parts of the gardens.

That will fill up all the gaps we will create in the gardens.  Luckily we have heaps of agaves that have baby plants growing off them.

We have a really big square plant pot that I am going to empty all the soil and plants out of, that way the movers can lift it a bit easier.  I had thought of leaving it here as it's so heavy, but then I changed my mind.  I love the pot!  So taking the soil out will make it possible to move.

So that will be our day.  I think Stew will try and mow all the lawns too, it's been a few weeks since they got done.

Can you believe it's now MAY?  OMG sometime this month we will be moving!!!  All going well that is.

ONWARD...

2.04 pm: and we have been busy getting the gardens sorted out, taking all our pots and so on out... and putting plants in the gaps.

 ABOVE:  Before ....

 ABOVE:  After.   And I actually think it looks better 'after' !

ABOVE:  All the 'stuff' out of the gardens that we are taking, pots, metal bits 'n' bobs and so on.

Stew is now mowing the lawns ... once he's done that he can relax again.  

Is there something wrong with blogger today, or am I just too boring today?  NO COMMENTS!!!  Pffffffft.

LOL... yaaa... comments!  Now I feel much happier.  I'm a sad git.

We've had a lovely evening ... I cooked Spagetti Bolognese, it went down well with the family.