13th September, 2015
Things are moving quite quickly at the moment – for us as well as Jeremy Corbin. We have to ‘Exchange Contracts’ in the next couple of days and ‘Complete’ in the first week of October. From that point on, we are homeless. We don’t yet know whether our buyers are buying all our furniture, some of it or none of it. We don’t know if we will need a furniture removal firm, a white van man or we will just use our car. We were going to stay with Pauline’s sister but she has guests in October so we are desperately casting around for somewhere to stay. Jeremy is desperately casting around for experienced politicians who are prepared to serve in his shadow cabinet.
What we have done this morning is book a month on the south west coast of Tenerife in Los Gigantes which has nothing to do with big beans as the Greeks might think but is the name derived from big cliffs on the shoreline.
One thing it is not is understated. It’s got a Health Club with Spa & Gym plus indoor and outdoor pools. It will help us pass the month of November!
14th September, 2015
We contacted the solicitor acting for us on our apartment sale. We told her what the estate agent had reported but she said she had heard absolutely nothing. She will find out and get back to us. All morning we heard nothing. We went out for a long session at the Health Club. We did an hour in the Gym and another in the pool, etc.. Absolutely shattered, we drove home. If you know Surrey you will know that it is heavily wooded. It is a paradise for Tree Surgeons. Our route to the Health Club is lined with huge trees and mainly Oak and Horse Chestnut. As we speed under them, the trees bomb us with acorns and conkers which are in abundance this year.
Just as we were preparing our meal – grilled chicken and Greek Salad – the solicitor rang to say the exchange of contracts had gone through. The 10% deposit had been lodged and the sale was now irrevocable. We agreed a completion date of October 7th so we can now make all our arrangements.
To add to the pleasure and simplify the move, our buyers have agreed to buy every single stick of furniture at exactly the prices that we requested. This will mean that we will move the small, personal items that were not for sale by ourselves in our car. We will rent a little extra amount of storage to keep them until our move in February/March next year. When our new house is built, we will furnish it completely anew. What fun!
15th September, 2015
Things are running at full tilt. Informing two sets of solicitors, reading contracts and lots of small print, moving money between accounts to pay deposit on the new house, filling stacking, plastic storage boxes is all going on with urgency. We have fifteen of them from the last English move.
We’ve been to the Storage Pod to rent additional space. Our car, with the seats down, will take 8 storage boxes. I can just lift one full of books and files or full of crockery and glassware. They will be stored for up to 6 months. We leave the apartment three weeks tomorrow.
16th September, 2015
Warm – 24C/75F but very wet today. We managed to get to the storage pod with 8 boxes of books, etc. before the rain came down and then home to do more packing and paperwork. This will be the second day without gym work but we’ll go tomorrow.
Cancelling services should be easy. It’s certainly easy starting them with Sky – TV/Phone line/Broadband – answer within a minute if you want to open a new contract. If you want to end an existing one, it takes 20 mins.. Electricity, Council Tax, Water all have to be cancelled. Our Service agreement in our property must be ended and our pre-paid charges returned. We have to notify the TV Licensing Authority, The DVLA for our driver’s Licences, the Banks, and the Post Office for re-addressing of mail. These are all niggly things which take up time but have to be addressed.
We have bought and sold many properties and moved many times but it doesn’t get any easier. We wonder how we found the time when we were working. Still the goal at the end makes it all worthwhile.
17th September, 2015
Lovely, warm and sunny morning spent indoors packing boxes. A trip to the storage this afternoon will see the Study and Kitchen cleared of everything bar essentials for the maintenance of life – computer, scanner colour laser and an electric griddle, coffee maker and kettle.
Eight more boxes taken to the Storage Pod. About eight more to go before we can relax and feel as if we can be ready to leave. Just three weeks to go before we have to be out. We can’t really believe it has gone so quickly but we have to adjust immediately to our new environment.
Talking about adjusting to new environments, the new Labour Party leader is doing just that. Almost every national newspaper is doing its best to rubbish him. After all, he’s just not playing the ‘game’ by their rules.
While all that’s happening, the Greek electorate look like moving back to the centre leaving left and right precariously balanced. In some ways, this is far more dangerous. What Greece needs now is clarity, determination and strength. It needs the programme it has agreed to be pushed through immediately or even sooner.
18th September, 2015
Glorious early Autumn morning but we are still dominated by boxes, packing, boxes, packing. We have 18 or 19 days left to do it but we have always been like this. Things have to be done now. In Greece last year, I was making daily, early morning trips down to the communal bins dumping things that just wouldn’t be suitable for anyone else before our sale went through and we handed over the house to someone else. I find/found it quite cathartic leaving the old behind and moving on – starting afresh. It is so liberating. I wonder how the goldfish are doing in their little world. It seems so far away now.
In between wrapping and packing, I’ve been doing the financial accounts in order to keep a tight grip on the moving costs. It’s good fun and keeps me sane to know things are under control. We will take another 8 boxes to the storage pod this afternoon and the property will heave a huge sigh of relief as space appears.
This evening I am continuing to prepare the Welcome Pack & Guide to living here, using the services, seeking help, managing the electric gates, burglar alarm and identifying all the keys. We are also writing guides to easy use of the white goods, televisions and satellite systems. Our buyer has been living in Australia for years and will find many of these things a little stressful at first. We want her to be happy in her new home.
19th September, 2015
Another lovely, lovely day with warm sunshine. Shopping at Sainsbury’s by 9.30 am and then home to continue the packing. The Welcome Pack & Guide is now complete and accompanied by all the user booklets that came with the washing machine, dishwasher, oven & hob, fridge-freezer, televisions, burglar alarm, heating system and much more.
Sanders Blog 