Brendan Hughes

Just came back from the notary's office with a signed and stamped contract in my sweaty paw, and 40k euros less in my bank account. That's just the 10% deposit, before you think I have a bargain. It's the Portuguese equivalent of exchange of contracts, so things SHOULDN'T go wrong after this :nail-biting smiley:

She's now got 90 days to move out and us to move in.

Normally it takes 2-3 weeks to get to the stage of signing the contract. Pah! That's for cissies! We first saw this house in September last year, and agreed a price in mid-January, so it's something like SEVEN MONTHS so far ! I'm not going too far into the story, but it involved bank debts on the land registry, court procedures to clear them off, a whole new system of stamp duty being introduced half way through the negotiations, etc etc.

I stuck to it as I think it's a great house, and there is not much comparable on the market.

So I'm looking forward to moving from a 70m2 apartment, five floors up with no lift, crammed to the brim in a stinky town centre - to something like 300m2-plus, over four floors in a leafy suburb, with a view over the valley to the sea, and a commute in the morning by a train that runs along the beach! I know I'll be disturbed by bloody barking guard-dogs (the wealth of a street near Lisbon is directly proportional to the number of guard dogs roaming each garden) and I heard the woman next door keeps chickens, but it has to be better than the shouting, car horns and stereos, and tram bells that we get now.

I hope to be seeing more of the DIY forum in October-November, as I want to knock down some walls in the loft to make it spacious, and that includes moving light switches, which I know zilch about.

So - happy Friday to the rest of you!

Brendan

Markus

Congratulations mate! all the best for when you get into your new home!

V5

Congrats! The "fun" begins.....


Iain
(Avid DIY forum reader now! )

FERRARINUTTER

When's the flat warming party?

Mossman

hey, congrats Brendan! Send them piccies soon!

Mossman

NACRO

Good for you Brendan, buying a place in Portugal is a nightmare- I have family there so know just what a ball ache it is.

Brendan Hughes

Thanks all! I'm trying not to celebrate too much, as we've had so many setbacks up to now, there is still another 90 days for things to go wrong!!

Went into work on Friday, and found that they will move half our office out to a new building in about October, as we are grossly overcrowded, then we can all have more space. So I'll go from living and working in a sardine tin to living and working in a football pitch - if anyone sees me walking round with binoculars, I apologise!

Brendan