[victoria]

We found a place which suits all righty. Set up with HIFEX & was arranging a swift transfer for the deposit from funds in the UK in anticipation of a purchase.The vendor's been hard work on the negotiating front which is fine. It's allowed us a leisurely progress.Knowing that the mail in blighty is cr*p I followed the advice of the local post shop & paid for courier to send our instructions to the UK bank so it should arrive by Fri. at the latest.Did the track & trace thingy too. The agent popped in last night for us to sign another offer(our top) & left it with him as he was going out for the evening. Last night I checked on the t&t & the status was showig "awaiting delivery to an NZ depot" WHAAAA? This was collected last Fri.! I phoned the helpline (lovely lady) who informed me that the method chosen will involve postal delivery by the RM & not private courier as I'd expected.(there may be an incident reported about a crazy lady in the local post shop) Also she was surprised that my item wasn't showing as scanned. Possibly slipped past on collection. She says there is no way (barring a miracle) that this will arrive in time for Fri.but will do some following up & call me tomorrow.I immediately phoned our agent to say there's been a development. He interrupted to say" Good News! The vendor signed last night. He texted me on my way home & said he'll sign. I didn't get in till 1 in the morning & I was going to phone you first thing but you beat me to it. So what's the development then?" . . . . Oh for the love of .....

[Smiler]

Sounds like a roller coaster ride!

On another forum I read that RM special delivery/courier mail is the first to be shifted and also that the strike is badly affecting some areas and not impacting on other area's at all.

I hope yours is among the lot being delivered. :nice1

Good luck!

[victoria]

Thanks Smiler. The lovely post lady actually phoned me just after lunch today. She's confirmed that my package is now "leaving on a jet plane" & she has asked her workmates to keep fingers crossed for me.Isn't that nice? I told our agent that there will now be a delay in paying the deposit but we do have a third of it immediately available if that's acceptable. I did explain what's happened.. He said he'll have a chat with the others (who are they?) & get back to me. Uh Oh ... haven't heard anything yet. Now we know how hard our agent has worked to get this deal for us, he really is a smashing chap & I'm trying not to become a quivering wobbly jelly at the thought of this causing us to lose out on a property.What with worrying about Moorf & our forumites down south I think sleep is not an option tonight.

[Smiler]

No worries! The NZ post people I've dealt with on the phone have been extremely helpful too. 9 times out of 10 royal mail were as well, especially since they have set up the telephone support centres.

I hope the vendors understand the situation and lets face it, they'd be silly not to wait a couple more days. :nice1

Oh and you won't get any sleep because you'll sit up all night entering the track and trace number on the website. You really need one of those maps that they have at the front of the cabin on the plane, with a little envelope instead of an airplane ..... :laugh

Let me know how you get on, coz I won't sleep now..... :roll

[victoria]

Got a phone call a little while ago & the vendor is alright about the deposit. I can pop in what we have next Tues. Phew!!! He has said that he might not be able to get his cow off the land in time. She's a gorgeous aberdeen angus with a calf from last year & a fluffy jobby from this year.They can stay as long as they like. The post office lady also phoned to confirm my parcel is still on track.

[Smiler]

Got a phone call a little while ago & the vendor is alright about the deposit. I can pop in what we have next Tues. Phew!!! He has said that he might not be able to get his cow off the land in time. She's a gorgeous aberdeen angus with a calf from last year & a fluffy jobby from this year.They can stay as long as they like. The post office lady also phoned to confirm my parcel is still on track.

YAY!!! :clap :raebanana :clap

[Helsandfamily]

Thank Goodness for that !!:clap :clap

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Ooh, this is better than Shortland Street.

[jubjub]

Ooh, this is better than Shortland Street.

Thats not difficult... :laugh

Victoria, glad its all working out! Fingers crossed the letter gets there soon and you can get your money!

I remember our electronic transfer taking about 3 days longer than they said and we got a bit stuck at the deposit stage, but it all worked out.

[victoria]

Oh thanks you lot. Stayed tuned for the next exciting instalment.

[Smiler]

Oh thanks you lot. Stayed tuned for the next exciting instalment.

Please could we have 4 episodes a week, with catch up on Sunday's over brekkie? :D

[victoria]

The latest is this "STAY AWAKE"!! I'll be asking questions later. In between reassuring calls from the PO lady that our pack was delivered & signed for on the Friday (miracles happen)I did further checks at the local council & found out that a COC hasn't been issued for an ext. done at the property.Further phone calls to agent & our solicitor(back & forth all afternoon) the vendor booked an inspection for the next day.At inspection a couple of things needed addressing before issuing the certificate which the vendor has agreed to do.Our solicitor has put in that a sum on settlement will be witheld if incomplete by that date. The vendor immediately agreed.This is the same person that dragged his feet all along the negotiating route & even our agent said this was unsual. Now I've found out something so please don't blab this about but the vendor's in a bit of a fix & needs a quick sale.He'd been trying to self sell for ages but at such a ridiculous price that he scared potential buyers off.We like to barter(particularly OH) & have all the patience in the world if we want something enough. Now little miss stoopid here wondered why on checking our online account,our money was still inactive.I missed timing a phone call to the UK leading to a further 24 hrs delay.Got an email from them on Weds. am saying they'd been trying to reach me. I managed to discipline myself to stay in & make the call. Spoke to a droid (one thing I certainly don't miss about UK) turns out I put the wrong area code in AW STOOPID STOOPID STOOPID me. Well ignoring Mr. Smarmy Pants I confirmed the instructions. Yesterday our solicitor called, already come in & sign. Um mmm (please don't strike me dead) I said that OH is on emergency call out & could we come in Mon? ...........................







That'll be fine. Phew!Just off to change my pants again.

[victoria]

Just a little bit more. I checked our online account & believe it or not our money had been transferred & received into our NZ account Fri. night!!!! So we can now pay the deposit balance when we go to the solicitor tomorrow. There is just another thing though. You remember me mentioning the cow earlier on? Well I've ended up the proud owner of a 2 half yr old station pony. He was not receiving the care he deserved(very friendly & curious chap) & I couldn't stand by & see a youngster being ruined. One thing led to another & now Oscar is part of the family. Of course I couldn't keep him on his own when we move in so have agreed to take on a companion horse he already knows. The thing is, what do I tell the cow? How do I tell her she's got to moo-oove on sooner than expected? I'm at an udder loss.

[Smiler]

I bet you can't wait for tomorrow! :clap

We'll be expecting lots of pics of the house, cows, horses and anything else you collect along the way :D

[victoria]

Thanks again Smiler for your comments.Today we went to the agents before our lawyer appointment to finally pay the deposit balance. You really are not going to believe this but I whipped out the old cheque book to happily write out this pesky amount and .... and .... and .... er ..... there were no more cheques in the book. I'd finished it earlier in the day for a utility bill & didn't put the replacement new one in my bag.Imagine that amazing photo shot invented by Spielberg in Jaws where the camera double pans on Schneider as he sees the shark attack & you'll have an idea of the moment. The exceptionally kind lady said it's alright because I can pay it tomorrow into their branch closer to me as that is where she'd be sending the receipt anyway. Thanking her profusely & not looking at my very quiet OH we went to the lawyer. It was an anti climax as all went smoothly. So I hope you now know how to make house buying in NZ exciting. You become a muppet like me & wear out your guardian angel along the way.
Looking to move in approx. 4 weeks. (OMG is the red stuff ever so good here!)

[Smiler]

I know that feeling :laugh

Glad it's almost sorted and when we look to buy a house here, I'll be asking you for tips! ;)