Done It Again !

07 April 2011

Well, we have done it again! Claire and I have jumped right in at the deep end and bought ourselves a little doer-upper. A small and imperfectly formed two bed house with more problems than anyone else was willing to deal with. But what can I say – I love a challenge!

Going to a house auction has to be the most nerve wrecking thing I have aver encountered. It was worse than any job interview. Not only do you have to be so prepared that it feels like you are sitting an exam, but in our case we had to sit it out right until the end of the afternoon.

We made sure we had read the legal pack, visited the house three times (once with a surveyor), we had our deposit cheque already made out with the value we hoped we would get it for and we sat on our hands until our lot came up. Claire had visions of the bloke at the front misreading my nose scratching and us buying something we didn't want or need (or afford).

Waiting around until the end of the day was excruciating, but at least we knew exactly who our competition was. Looking around us we could see a young couple and some people who were clearly builders or developers. Claire expressed concern that the young couple might be looking for their first love nest and we might destroy that for them. I really didn't care, I had my business head on and was determined to get it for the least amount possible.

Turns out that young couple either didn't have enough money available to reach the lowest bid or they were just sitting in to see what happens. But in the end it came down to us and one of the suited developer blokes. The thing about them though is that they have a limit where they think they can make it work and they won't go over that amount. They have no emotional attachment like we did – being our first project. So eventually he dropped out and we got the house for £3,000 over our agreed limit....

Well, it was worth it and I know I can claw that back as I will be doing all the work myself. We couldn't help but celebrate in the kitchen of our new and slightly damp house with a bottle of champagne. The kids ran around the house like loons and came back filthy. Now the hard work starts.

I will be finished the final flat by the end of this week and I am so pleased to get away. I feel like I have bigger fish to fry now. Chris has come and had a look and he is questioning some of my decisions when it comes to the extras I have installed. Problem is that he agreed verbally to this stuff and now I am worrying he is going to make life difficult for me and not pay for it all.

The answer to that would be to rip it all out and use it at home. If he wants to play hard ball then I am more than willing to step up to the plate. How many more clichés can I fit into one sentence!!

So next week it will be Marty the builder, back in business!