Back on the blog...
8 July 2005, 08:43
Still alive. Still alive.
Last couple of months have been a veritable whirlwind of… stuff.
Moved into new House and, much as we love the place, have been faced with reality that House will need a solid restumping in a few years and some dodgy builders have done some very dodgy things indeed (e.g. built the extension flush to the ground so there’s no ventilation whatsoever – hence potential feral white-ant mecca) that will require fixing. But the joint is 85 years old and still standing so that’s saying something.
And no, we didn’t get a builder’s inspection before we purchased the place (blame infamous spontaneity) but hell, you live and learn.
There’s so much bloody stuff you have to think about when you buy a house. It’s a long story, but to cut it very short, Bank gave us pre-approval in the first place when they shouldn’t have (because of Husband’s “fixed-term contract” status) even though I was a little suss about the situation, but I stupidly trusted Bank because they’re supposed to know their shit.
I could gouge my eyes out with my naivety.
So we went on a merry-shopping-spree, found a perfect little Edwardian cottage with rose garden (not important?) and negotiated (very badly) to secure it after it was passed in at auction.
It was v. daunting to sign the contract-of-sale without having checked it through our solicitor (who, to give him his share of the blame, told us if we showed him the contract before the auction, we waived our 3 day cooling off period). Little did we know (and he should have known) that the vast majority of auctions have a non-conditional contract, which means you waive your cooling period anyway and you basically can’t back out of the contract (even if you can’t secure finance) without having your arses sued. And 10% of a house price is a massive amount of coin.
BUT we had secured finance, hadn’t we?
The next day, when it was time for Bank to cough up the cash, they realised their mistake with the job-status, baulked and said:
“You aren’t eligible for Lender’s Mortgage Insurance [the cash they give you to make up 20% of the purchase price] so we can give you the money, you just have to come up with the 20%”.
An extra $15,000 over what we had. In 2 months. We promptly shat ourselves, wiped up, saved like mad bastards and managed to get over the line (after eating toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch every single day).
We really had no idea what we were doing so are grateful we came out of it relatively unscathed with slightly elevated blood pressure and a healthy skepticism towards institutions who are supposed to know what they’re talking about.
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On the brighter side of finance, I did got a promotion and pay rise at work last week because I am Super-fab Work Goddess. Just ask me.
Permanent Link - i did miss ya guys! good to hear you came through that mess unscathed and the house is still in good shape :) buying a house is definitely one of THE most stressful things anyone can do in their lifetime. you learn a lot of great lessons the first time around, that’s for sure. i know i did. anyway, it’s good to have you back!
— gleek Jul 9, 01:26 AM # - I missed your musings too Kinki. Sounds like you and Husband had a torrid time – everything that could go wrong did go wrong! It’s so hard to get good advice these days, and yet oddly enough if they screw up it still turns out to be your ass and cash on the line, not theirs – dammit. Anyway – glad you are back and all is well.
— vanessa Jul 9, 06:44 PM #
