Almost There...

The property at Carnhill will finally pass into my hands on Tuesday!

It has been a long and arduous process made all too complicated by typos in wills, pernickety probate officers and long-winded insurance applications. But the purchasing process will be finalised on Tuesday. Funds are already buzzing around in the ether, contracts have been signed and invoices have been submitted.

It has been a good week for invoices. Not for me, of course. I've just sent through the funds for the deposit on the house. I've written a cheque for the Stamp Duty. I've been presented with the solicitor's bill. I've just received an invoice from the architect for Stage 2 of the design process. I have to send a cheque to the Council to cover the building control application process and I will soon receive an invoice for the building inspections.

If we remember how things were before Christmas, there was quite an expenditure on the house clearances covering labour and skip hire.

In short - it seems that many thousands of pounds have been spent and no builder has set foot on the property yet. Funding the remainder of the process will rely on borrowing and cashing-in investments and ISAs! Thankfully, money grows on trees, doesn't it?

To ease the pain of seeing these invoices, we've spent some time looking at more fireplaces, bathrooms and doors. Doorways, Northumberland Street, seemed to have a great range of doors which looked very appealing. Unfortunately, the doors I was drawn to seemed to retail between £150 and £200. With 16 internal doors required, we may have to revise our budget up to ~ £3,000. My penchant for walnut doors may require revisiting!

And finally.... I'm quite sure that I have spent the last 10 years writing maybe 2 cheque a year on average. In the last 6 months, I've exhausted one chequebook and am making serious inroads into the current one. And they say the chequebook is almost obsolete!