The Offer - Accepted

We didn't leave it long.  We waited until 6pm that Saturday to inform the estate agent we wanted to put an offer in.  There was some back and forth with agreeing a price but we got there.  The offer was accepted.

First the survey.

Now I hadn't realised that there was a choice. When we bought our flat, we had a basic survey that didn't even tell us that our boiler was about to burst the afternoon we planned to move in. So this was a good learning curve.  We didn't want to get caught out on a house that had been standing for over 100 years.

There's options - the Basic Evaluation survey ensures the property is worth the price, the Homebuyers Report shows up any minor defect in the property and points out any areas of concern and then there's the Building Survey - this is the one we chose. I found http://www.home.co.uk/services/survey_quotes.htm really helpful in explaining which survey we should choose.  This survey uncovers every area of concern and highlights even the tiniest of faults that need to be brought to our attention.

Survey booked. Conducted.  Report arrived.

It's a far cry from lip gloss and moisturisers. Flank wall, lateral restraints, timber joists, rendering.  Suddenly I was drowning in a new vocabulary that I didn't want to be defeated by. I got to grips with many of these terms and in reality, all you need is a good surveyor who is prepared to talk you through his 20+ pages of the survey.

“Areas of concern?“ I asked. What concerns? This is going to be our home.

It soon became clear that there was a problem.  A defect in the flank wall meant that this project was going to take a little longer than we thought!!

The house

"Buy the poorest house on the richest street, not the richest house on the poorest street."  A very good friend reassured me of this when I was full of panic and fear while telling her about the house.

The street - it's not the richest street, but it's a gorgeous side street, full of pretty terraced houses and lush green trees. The house - this is just what we've been looking for: a beautiful Victorian, end of terrace house that hasn't been renovated for many, many years. We wanted a 'project' and here it is.

Welcome to our journey of finding, buying and building a home in this end of terrace house that we already call 'home'.

It all started one May afternoon when we were told by our local estate agent "there's at least ten offers for every house." We knew we had to be quick if we wanted this one. There are hundreds of 30-somethings looking to move from a flat to a house and we're no different. We'd missed out on two houses already but this one felt right.

The Saturday boy at the estate agent, Harry, showed us two houses opposite each other one afternoon. In the first we were asked to remove our shoes as the floors had just been cleaned. In the second house, he opened the door, laughed and said "come through, no need to remove your shoes here!".

His sarcasm became clear.  Grey floors that were once cream, cracks in the hall wall, dust on the light switches, cobwebs in the cornices and an overgrown garden blocking the back door.

We gave each other a knowing glance. This is it - this is going to be our home!