Househunting

Phase 1 of our househunting is completed. After looking at a number of candidates, we found a house that we really liked. This week we put in a bid, and after a bidding round, our second bid was accepted by the current owners.

 

So we move on to phase 2 now – the drawing up of the contract to purchase. That phase will be completed in a few weeks when we and the current owners sign the contract. In parallel with that, we’ll now be putting our current house on the market. Our neighbours have all said that they’ll be sorry to lose us. We suspect that part of it may be that the peace of the cul-de-sac might be disrupted if a family with children buy the place… We’ve suggested that the neighbours might like to take out an advert in the Gay Krant (the Dutch gay news magazine) offering the house to a gay couple with no children…

 

Phase 3 will be the completion of the contract, when we formally take possession. That will be no later than the end of March, and may be before if both parties are able to complete beforehand, e.g. if our house sells quickly, and the current owners have found their next house.

 

The house we’ve found is a converted farmhouse (a woonboederij) in Gelderland. It’s out in the country, down a lane, and has a large garden. So Martin will be able to carry on with his love of gardens, but on a much bigger scale. I suspect I’m going to be roped in to help, which is fine. Despite being in what passes for The Netherlands as "the middle of nowhere", it does have an ADSL connection – so fast Internet access is still possible. As you might imagine, this was a somewhat important consideration for me…