Help calm me, house buying and selling stress. Part 4

Oh THANK GOD!!!!! Why delay telling the kids? Aren’t you celebrating? Right. Late celebration afternoon tea and Prosecco coming up.....now, where’s me butter knife?

Seriously, Shandy, you’ve done the right thing, Limbo is over and so soon will be lockdown

Brilliant work Shandy! You will sleep well tonight!

Omg, how absolutely fantastic, well done shandy, you have been strong, I am so proud of you and so very happy. Perhaps tell the children this evening then you won`t wake up with that hanging over your head, expect tantrums but so be it. Oh it is so so wonderful, such good news.

Wonderful news Shandy and now, breathe....

Well done & many congratulations on being able to get on with the rest of your life.

That’s so good to hear Shandy , now tell us exactly what you are looking for in a new home and where you want it and we will all start searching for you.

Rightmove here we come!

Other online estate agents are also available..........

Congratulations Shandy.

Thank you all - my son rang tonight and I've told him, one down one to go.

I do thank you all for encouraging me to enter the auction straight away rather than a few months more with the EA. I think if I'd delayed I'd be in despair now.

This buyer did make me uneasy but now he's had to put down such a large deposit I can only hope it happens as expected.

I feel so stupidly upset, my planned 'jacket potato' was an onion! xx

Oh dear, I’m not a lover of onions, however loads of freshly milled black pepper a huge dollop of butter and - -chuck it in the bin- -eat it all up

Great news Shandy and it won't be too long before you can turn the corner properly.

well, at last some really good news. Well Done, SHandy - you bit the bullet and now you can have a period to relax. In many ways, particularly at the moment,that delay be very good, gives you time really to sort out all things left at The Station, and once you have given yourself a couple of days to relax and come down to earth, you can start the search for your new home. And, you will have the advantage there of being a genuine cash buyer in what is going to be a depressed market - you can now drive a hard bargain for yourself.
Tell your daughter, let her join in the celebration, now is the time for her to decide if there is anything she wants as a momento of the station.
You have been really strong in all of this, time now to relax a little, unwind, and start to realise what an excellent position you are actually in. So pleased for you

Shandy57 brilliant news. You deserve to have the future you want. If your daughter isn't happy for you she should be ashamed of her self. Please take note what I said do not give your children any of the money from the sale of your house. They are adults and should be standing on their own to feet. It's going to be both exciting and upsetting for you sorting out what to keep and what not. When I moved thought I had been ruthless sorting out. Then when I unpacked found loads of things I didn't need. Like Craftyone said it's amazing what you send on your new home in the first year. Think about how much you want to spend on your new home but allow for at least £20,000 to do things in it.

Have a really good sleep you deserve it. Look to the future. Exciting times ahead of you.

Hip hip hooray. Great news Shandy. The 8 weeks will fly by.
Are you able to have the deposit released to you? If so that will give you the money for a deposit if something comes up within the 8 weeks yours will take to complete. It will also give you the interest -such as it is - on it rather than the solicitor or whoever holds it. I know it will not be much but every little bit in your account helps.

I'm pretty good at making a pavlova if anyone wants one for the virtual party and I'd love to try the pavlova grazing plate.

The papers are full of advice not to buy property, shandy look but don`t jump in with any offer for a while. Back peddle a bit, you will be a much sought-after real cash buyer. No qualms about putting in a silly offer when you see the property you would like and definitely look at properties on sale for more than you are willing to pay right now. You have the oyster pearl in your hands and can pick and choose. What massively good fortune that your buyer committed yesterday, today with the papers onto the property market, he may have jumped out.

So now it will feel like an anti-climax, expect that and get sorting done, due to non-essential travel, the tip run and gumtree will be non-functioning so this time you need to be ruthless and use your bin collections, just get rid. Assume that you get a 2 bed, hopefully 3 but don`t count on that

I have spent at least £20,000 on making sure that my home is right for me. You will have bills left right and centre and please be sensible and don`t give any money away, you need it for your old age. Would your children be carers, I doubt it, so you may need in time to get a gardener, a cleaner and so on. All the stress from the past few years will have affected your health but you have been working on all 4 cylinders and will not really have noticed. Keep all the money, it will help you for the next 30 years

Shandy57 I echo everything Craftyone has said. You will be a bungle of mixed feelings today. Happy,sad, terrified and weepy. Take each one in your stride. Those of us who have moved have been though all that. Just think of how happy and proud your husband would be of you. You have had an awful lot of upset and fear over the many months. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Summer in a new home no more worries about a cold drafty house. No worrying about single glazed windows cracking. Things for you to embrace central heating, double glazing and most of all cheaper bills. A long and bright future ahead. Lots of adventures and new friends to make. In these uncertain times you have so much to look forward to. Look how you have grown as a strong independent woman since you first posted on this thread. If you look back I bet you won't recognise yourself.

You will be walking your dog with a high smile on your face. Take a big breath then as I love lists. Things you don't need . What you want in your new home. What you are willing to have done in it. And more importantly what you are not. A 2 bed should be plenty for you with money over. Make sure when you do fine a place to have a good survey done. So glad I did as that way I already had a list of jobs I wanted doing when I moved.

When this crisis is over . At lot of shops and business will be having huge sales to make up for lost revenue. Good excuse for new bedding ,curtains etc.

New day new you. Hugs and kisses.

Well phew! But why do you have to pay an EA? They didn't sell the house it was the auction house that did?

Great result Shandy57; I did have to smile at your comment about avoiding cars. My sister lived in Warkworth for a long time and we jumped on verges a number of times getting to the beach.
My contribution to the tea party; DP has been doing his best to get thro the cherry Madeira cake although I’ve just taken a loaf out of the bread maker.

Shandy Congratulations!!!! Absolutely delighted for you. You can relax for a bit, do the practical sorting of your things at your own pace and start looking at Rightmove to get an idea of prices in different areas. By the time you're ready to move prices will have dropped massively. You'll be able to get a fantastic deal on your new house. When we moved last year from our 17th century cottage we made a list of essential and then desirable things we wanted. It helps focus the mind. At our age we couldn't afford to make a mistake. So a cottage with a huge garden and constant maintenance became a 20 year old four bed house with a lovely but small garden. A light, warm and up to date house. Like others have said, though, whatever you buy you will spend loads of money getting it to your requirements. Some rooms have been really cheap - about £20 for new curtains in our bedroom. Others a lot more with things like new shelving for our books and bits and pieces. You will want to indulge yourself too. Our bathrooms and kitchen were done to a high quality by the previous owners, so I bought lovely new crockery, storage jars and artwork for the kitchen and Missoni towels for my bathroom. The 'old' towels are fine for my husband's shower room!!!! I'd just exchange them if we can ever have guests!!!!
So, Shandy, onwards and upwards!!!! You have so much to look forward to - an exciting new life in a new home perfect for the next stage. And lots of treats. Great news!!!!

Morning all! Thank you for your lovely comments, it is so nice to wake up to.

I got the offer email from the auction house late yesterday saying they would let me know when he returns the contract and pays the deposit so it's not a done deal yet. I will just have to wait and see, hopefully he won't withdraw with today's news. At least I did agree the eight week completion.
I'm not going up to the station to start sorting, or look at properties until I get confirmation. It is going to be very odd living so close - I might be doing some skip surfing ;)

Have a good day whatever you are doing, I'm going to make a start on one of my four boxes of loose photographs. When my son was born I had to return to work full time afer six weeks. I took photos and immediately put them in albums when they were developed - but when my daughter was born two years later I didn't make the time to do it. Hopefully I'll be able to get them into chronological order!

Bye friends, so glad I found you

I've just heard - buyer can't send his deposit as he has to wait for underwriters to confirm his mortgage. Tuesday, apparently.

he is still playing games, is he legally committed shandy?

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202003/medium-772715-ef9abd4e-4a81-4554-9c4d-1d47ed4f5721.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202003/medium-633485-ca66481d-b737-4c46-a540-53bee089b578.jpeg

Congratulations Shandy.
I have followed your thread for ages, and been there in your trials and tribulations, along with all your supportive friends.
I could provide a bit of fruit cake, and a case of wine.
Oh blast, this was delivered for a neighbour, and I told them it was here. ?
Now you can soon begin your search for a new home.
Well done.

I'm going to the beach with my dog, I need to relax, other buyer was mortgage too

Shandy, I should imagine that this morning you are wondering if this is really happening. Almost too scared to believe it. BUT IT IS!! Fortunately, you are now in that rental cottage, think you have about four more months already paid there. Hopefully, by the end of that period, you will be able to move into whatever is your new home, or may need to extend the rental time - often this can be done on a monthly basis following a set time rental like you have at present. The very nasty landlord that my daughter and family rented their house from couple of years back (six months rental) did agree to do a month by month extension at the end when they were in the process of purchasing their own house.
So, you really have time to sit back, sort out and take a deep breath or two or three at present.
Would just throw in my repeat of what both Craftyone and Whiff have said about money required when you do move. Even, what may seem, the most perfect place, will have you wanting to spend money on many things. New Furniture, curtains/blinds, decorations, new kitchen, etc equipment, etc. etc. It all mounts up very quickly - and you must keep as much money as you can for these things, to make your new home as perfect for you as you wish.
You have adult children, let them act like responsible adults - if anything they should be helping you out - but even if that is not possible, you should not, at this stage, give them any monies - you will probably need it all and more. Wait until you have been in your new nest for a year at least before making any donation arrangements.
As I understand it you are, at present, keeping your daughter - the rent you mentioned she is paying from her savings is for the house she was sharing (for such a short time). Perhaps this could be a good time for that to come to an end, who knows when she will be able to return - and perhaps, use a small amount to pay towards her keep with you at present.
I can remember when one of my daughters returned home when she was about 20 years old, she was sick and had her spleen removed, she was, therefore unemployed, and on sickness benefit. I made her give me half of that money each week - at the time she thought I was the hardest, nastiest parent in the world (I did actually need the extra housekeeping). Little did she know then, that I was saving the majority of that and when she did finally leave my home to set up her own, I gave her the good size sum. These days, some thirty years later, she does say, she totally understands why I took the money and is sure that it did help her to know the reality of life. Now, she is in an excellent job, has a beautiful house and home and car, has brought up her own daughter, totally by herself - very successfully -but she did have to learn those life lessons sooner rather than later. If I did need some money I know I could go to her or her older brother at any time for assistance and they would give it.
Relax now, sort out photos - a very cathartic occupation - I can remember when I did this some years ago following the death of my youngest child.
Keep is well informed and WELL DONE!!

Is selling at auction in England not binding and sealed with a deposit on the day? When we sold at auction a 10% deposit was paid when the contract was signed at the end of the auction. Had the buyer pulled out after the auction he would have lost the deposit.