BaldyBeardyBloke
1st February 2008, 10:39 PM
Hello one and all (sorry, long one).
Firstly, the rumours are not true. I have not dropped off the edge of the planet, just been very busy. The bread knife (aka PinkPiggy) has kept me up to date with important happenings in forumville in the meantime.
My last post was probably the one titled 'Not Buying, Building'.
The title of this post probably tells you all you need to know about it, in principle.
Yes, the plan to build in the new 'burbs of Hamilton has been shelved, canned, halted, the plug pulled. Why? Complicated really, but in the end we felt the size of the debt associated with the build was, although affordable, just that bit too big and we'd have ended up in the same situation that was a problem in Scotland i.e. a mortgage so big that any desired choice of change in employment or general household income generation would be extremely severely limited. One of the main reasons we left the UK was to get away from this trap and live life, so backing out was the final decision.
Yes, we lost a little cash in the form of a small(ish) deposit, but we're certain it was the right thing to do.
We also decided that we wouldn't seriously look at buying/building again until April.
That didn't last! :no
Actually the house we have now agreed to buy was one we saw at the same time as the build deal came along, and we never persued looking at the place properly. We were getting disillusioned with looking at houses that didn't fit the bill or were stupidly over-priced.
Noticing it was still around we went to look. So glad we did, fab house, perfect for us, everything we were struggling to find:
Older style 'character' property
In good structural condition
Perfectly livable in, everything in working order & well looked after
Plenty of room for us and potential visitors
Quality mature garden
Close to parks for kids to play, cycle scoot etc (it also happens to be 2 mins from river for lovely walks for us too)
Nice neighborhood
Tons of scope for updating, modernisation, extension, improvement etc.The vendor (English, of course) was in the last few days of a contract with Harcourts agents but was not happy with them, so we agreed a private sale and 'kept it quiet' for a week to be sure we'd passed the end of his agent contract without risk of the bloodsuckers wanting their pound of flesh for doing nowt.
So, what, where I hear you clamour.
Here's the TradeMe link. Note the stunning 70's interior, nice (not) but as above all clean, tidy and livable whilst we chip away at improvements. Look out for avacado bathroom suite on TradeMe :yes
Note also, we will be paying significantly less than the price advertised here ($30K less, for the nosey beggars out there). Our mortgage will be $70K less than with the build. Much happier. Can't wait to get in. Move in date likely to be mid April (school hols).
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=137652488
BBB
Firstly, the rumours are not true. I have not dropped off the edge of the planet, just been very busy. The bread knife (aka PinkPiggy) has kept me up to date with important happenings in forumville in the meantime.
My last post was probably the one titled 'Not Buying, Building'.
The title of this post probably tells you all you need to know about it, in principle.
Yes, the plan to build in the new 'burbs of Hamilton has been shelved, canned, halted, the plug pulled. Why? Complicated really, but in the end we felt the size of the debt associated with the build was, although affordable, just that bit too big and we'd have ended up in the same situation that was a problem in Scotland i.e. a mortgage so big that any desired choice of change in employment or general household income generation would be extremely severely limited. One of the main reasons we left the UK was to get away from this trap and live life, so backing out was the final decision.
Yes, we lost a little cash in the form of a small(ish) deposit, but we're certain it was the right thing to do.
We also decided that we wouldn't seriously look at buying/building again until April.
That didn't last! :no
Actually the house we have now agreed to buy was one we saw at the same time as the build deal came along, and we never persued looking at the place properly. We were getting disillusioned with looking at houses that didn't fit the bill or were stupidly over-priced.
Noticing it was still around we went to look. So glad we did, fab house, perfect for us, everything we were struggling to find:
Older style 'character' property
In good structural condition
Perfectly livable in, everything in working order & well looked after
Plenty of room for us and potential visitors
Quality mature garden
Close to parks for kids to play, cycle scoot etc (it also happens to be 2 mins from river for lovely walks for us too)
Nice neighborhood
Tons of scope for updating, modernisation, extension, improvement etc.The vendor (English, of course) was in the last few days of a contract with Harcourts agents but was not happy with them, so we agreed a private sale and 'kept it quiet' for a week to be sure we'd passed the end of his agent contract without risk of the bloodsuckers wanting their pound of flesh for doing nowt.
So, what, where I hear you clamour.
Here's the TradeMe link. Note the stunning 70's interior, nice (not) but as above all clean, tidy and livable whilst we chip away at improvements. Look out for avacado bathroom suite on TradeMe :yes
Note also, we will be paying significantly less than the price advertised here ($30K less, for the nosey beggars out there). Our mortgage will be $70K less than with the build. Much happier. Can't wait to get in. Move in date likely to be mid April (school hols).
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=137652488
BBB