Moves Afoot! - Part 3 - The Waiting Game

(I've taken the liberty of including within this post a few photos which show some of the good memories I have of our home in Seaford. Hope you like them).

Our trip to Devon had been successful, much to our surprise. Now came the legal process of buying the house; the searches and the questionnaires - what's staying and what's going. After a flurry of activity comes the wait.

Our Garden in Seaford

So we sort out stuff, the clothes and gadgets that have outgrown their usefulness. We continue to pack my books, half of which had already been packed to make the place look tidier. In fact my books seem to have become a huge bone of contention and I defended them as you would your 'babies'. I had to face the fact that I had far more possessions than Alan, when you looked at all my craft materials and calligraphy equipment and papers for all my different crafts - all of which needed to be packed. Packing everything wasn't really an option until we had some idea of a date, but we packed as much as we could.

Then came the news in February from the solicitor that exchange of contracts was imminent. We dared to hope that the move was going to be as smooth and stress free as our two previous moves. But that was not to be.

After three weeks, I timidly suggested that we might contact the solicitor to ask if there was any news and for the next few weeks we were treated to a round of delays, all of which were based at the bottom of the chain, with our 'buy to let' couple who were buying our buyers property. First they were looking into a right of way issue; then, apparently, they were sorting out a mortgage (which appeared a little late in being applied for). There were even times when these individuals were un-contactable, even by their own solicitors.

Beautiful 'Black Lace' Elder

Having already obtained quotes for removal firms, we thought to check out a few dates.Our first choice couldn't help us and he advised that all firms were being booked up by the 'buy to let' people for the 31st March. We were advised to book with the first firm that were able to do a 2 day move. This we did, more in faith than anything else as no news continued to be received.

This lack of information continued until 23rd March, with our conveyancer informing us that the buyer at the bottom of the chain was still not in a position to exchange and that from his point of view, the move wasn't going to happen.

Loved My Alliums!

In desperation more than anything else, we sent a letter to our conveyancer and estate agent telling them that if it didn't happen by 24th March, then we wouldn't be moving on 31st March and would then leave it until April. Alan duly delivered the missive to both at 9.00 am on the 24th. Within an hour, exchange of contracts had happened, with completion to occur by 31st.

And what had the delaying tactics of the 'buy to let' individual resulted in? For us it felt like a pressure cooker about to burst. We had got to the stage where there had been so many excuses and, in some cases outright lies, you believed no-one in the end. If exchange hadn't happened, we stood to lose our deposit and more with the removal firm (they wanted the full amount of money by 24th March - £2,000!). We see-sawed between relief that we were actually on the move to anger that you could be held hostage like this. And you were left with the question - why does moving have to be so stressful??

Our Seaford Home