It's hard to blog when all you want to talk about is something which could possibly not be happening at all. The land purchase so far has been exciting but also just a tad stressful. We're in the process of having surveys done with a solicitor at home, and playing the waiting game. Buying things like property from abroad is possibly the trickiest thing we've ever done. In reality, it's always a fairly tricky process, but doing it thousands of miles away is just crazy.
What's even crazier than that, is the learning we've been doing along the way. Building, for example. I was always under the impression that a new build would take around 6 months from start to finish. I'm not sure how I jumped to that number, as the only real experience I have of home-building is through my parents journey as they built their family home. And being that this all happened about twelve years ago when I was way more interested in sleepovers and the Backstreet Boys, it seems I didn't pay much attention to it all as I'd thought.
The entire process is more than likely going to take between 8-10 months, holidays & good weather permitting. Our original plan of moving back in with the folks for a couple of months while the house is finished doesn't really work anymore. That would be a great solution for a little while, but for a year? With a cat? Living separately? Throw in wedding planning on top of that and it just wouldn't work. What if we rent for a year while the house is built? It's doable, yes, but means that not only will we have a mortgage to pay off, we'll also be forking out weekly cash each week on top of that. It's just not the best idea, from a financial perspective.
Instead we're looking into other options, like starting the building process earlier than planned - while we are still abroad. Which could be a whole new can of worms... but it's all in the future, so let's just talk about something else for a while before my head explodes.
How about... GLEE! I know I'm super late on the bandwagon, but I have quite literally spent every second of free time in the last week catching up on Season 1. I'm hooked. Jason thinks I'm mad - I suppose from where he's sitting, all he can hear are musical renditions every few minutes, but I think it's gold. And Will Shuester, where have you been all my life? Phwoar. That's all I'm saying.
Sounds intense! My fingers are still crossed for you! And I love Glee too, even though T thinks it's the dumbest show ever. :)
ReplyDeleteGlee is amazing! So glad you are joining the fun!
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine the challenges that come with buying land, and potentially building, from the other side of the world. My experience of living through three builds (all where we lived in them from lock-up while the rest was finished) makes 8-10 months sound like an amazingly short time, but I guess in the real world where your Dad's not building the damn place himself, 8-10 months is a long time.
ReplyDeleteGlee is amazing. I love it. Every second of it. I'm avoiding catching up online though, I've been watching it on E4 each week. I kind of enjoy having a show to look forward to each week that isn't a crime show :)
When we built, it was enough to make me want to tear my hair out and we were only 20 minutes or so away. I can't imagine the process of buying land, searching for a builder and starting to build all from 1,000's of miles away.
ReplyDeleteI know, you need to fly to Vegas and get hitched by Elvis and then you don't have to worry about all those silly wedding planning details... ;)
Such exciting times! It is stressful...I felt like my head was spinning when we were looking at properties. We gave up and decided to rent because we didn't want to live on our own for a year until we found something we liked enough to buy. Best of luck to you both...whatever happens, it will all work out for you :)
ReplyDeleteI hope everything works out for you guys with the land and building. Definitely sounds like a tricky situation and such a large step (so grown up!).
ReplyDeleteBuying a house that's already built when you live in the same town is hard enough. It didn't help that the house was being sold by the slackest real estate agent in the world, but even still, there is so much paper work and SO MANY FEES that aren't covered by your home loan. Save your arses off or else make sure you have lots of room left on your credit cards.
ReplyDeletewant me to be your project manager?
ReplyDeleteI still have to suss out this street and see if you have any cute neighbours for me and julie to play with.
I had a friend who built last year, and her house was finished at least 6 weeks ahead of schedule. I think it came in just under 6 months. It depends on which builder you choose... make sure you ask lots of questions!
ReplyDelete(And also, JEALOUS!)
Oh, I know the feeling! When we were working really hard on moving to Denver it was alllll I wanted to talk about but I couldn't even blog about it for work reasons. I hope this all works out for you!
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, that's crazy!
ReplyDeleteI am clearly really unfamiliar with how things work in Australia...my roommate bought a house over the summer and from the day she signed the papers for an empty lot to the day she moved in to a finished house was exactly 11 weeks.
xox