Still waiting on transfer

I've now signed bond and transfer documents. Paid in my deposit and all costs.


Now it's just a matter of patience (which I sorely lack). I'm hoping transfer will be effected around end of September / beginning of October. But until I hear something further, it's just a long waiting game with no end in sight.


I'm already researching things like ceiling insulation to decide what I want to do before moving into the house. But then it's hard to decide until I have keys to the house. Without measurements, I cannot even get quotes so don't know what is affordable yet.


I guess I should find something to distract me for a month or two. Every time I do research on things to do, it is frustrating. Because I cannot get quotes, cannot make decisions.


Even the new shower is purely academic until I have keys and can measure up to see what size shower will fit into the bathroom.


Sigh....

Bond finally approved

Just a quick update to say I had my bond approved. So now it's just a count down until the day transfer goes through. Then I can move into my own home and settle down at long last.


I'm now staying in the small Karoo town of Uniondale in a rental. I have to confess that I am enjoying it and meeting people all the time.


I love that I can see my new house from the garden of my rental. And I am anxiously waiting for my final move as I have such big plans for that house.

Moving again

Well, I'm moving again. At this point, I've done minimal packing and really couldn't be bothered. I'm packing the most important stuff (like breakables) and will toss the rest into black bags over the next few days.

And of course at this point, I'm still waiting on a bond application. So no clue if this is my last move or if there is another one around the corner. Maybe that's why I'm so disinterested.

But I have to confess, I cannot wait to get out of here. Although I'm in a lovely village, I don't enjoy the house I'm staying in. On days like today, when the wind is howling, it really sounds like the roof is going to blow away. Let's hope it resists the wind at least until after I'm out of here. The rain will not do my poor pc much good.

Seriously though, the owner of this place has a lot of work to make this place into a lovely home.

My new rental accommodation is in much better shape. And walking distance to some shops, a restaurant and a pizza place (and I just love pizza of course). And yay, it has a covered stoep at the back. A place where my kitty can hang outside even when it's raining and I can enjoy the sunshine without dying of heat exhaustion (if summer ever arrives).

Social life in the sticks

I find it quite amazing that although I live in a place where I only know a very few people, I often end up having quite a social life.

Take last night as a good example. They don't sell fresh milk in the shops. So you buy directly from the farm. Yesterday, I stopped around 5.30pm to buy milk from the farm. I ended up staying for dinner and chatting with my friend. I only got home at 12.30pm this morning.

Naturally I overslept. 

People out here in the countryside are just so friendly.  I am loving it. It's very different to the cities (particularly my life in Johannesburg). 

Less suspicion amongst people just makes socialising that much easier.

I'm loving the fact that crime is low. I can safely walk to shops, to friends even at night.

Where is my home?

One bank has just turned down my bond application. I am still waiting on the other banks in the hopes that someone will find value in this little house I like.

The valuer says the 3 bedroom house, double garage, double car port on 5000 square metres of land is worth no more than R150 000. I don't know what planet he's living on, but where in South Africa can you get all that in any condition for that price he's given.

So it looks like I probably won't get my house. While I'm not admitting defeat, I have decided that it's high time I moved into a comfortable rental home where I can settle in properly while I'm house hunting.

Another friend seems certain that the universe is blocking my purchase of all property because he thinks I'm supposed to be living near Cape Aghulhas. He and his wife will know by the end of September if they can afford their huge game farm there. 

At this point, I'm willing to take a look once they've bought. Maybe he's right - maybe that is where I am destined to live. At this point, quite frankly, I have no clue.

I'm being blocked left, right and centre so maybe Andre has a point. Another month or two of looking certainly won't kill me. And if there is a perfect place for me, I look forward to finding it.

A garden full of horses

I've been approached by potato farmer who wishes to use some of my huge garden to farm potatoes. He'll give me a few pockets of potatoes as payment.

He also asked if it's ok if one of his assistants lets his horses graze in my garden. Since they won't eat my herbs, I'm fine with that idea.

I went to go look at the horses this morning. They're not only beautiful horses but friendly too. There are 2 of them with their little foal. It's so adorable. 

Living in the countryside is definitely suiting me. I love all the farm animals that are in the area. And even in my new town, I will be living in the rural section so will be surrounded by horses, cows and sheep. Still debating if I should get a big animal of my own. Which animal would I get - probably a horse. But that is something I can worry about much later.

I still haven't found the card reader to get my photo's from my camera to my pc. I cannot wait to move to my new house and unpack everything. Thankfully the new place has cupboards (unlike the rental), so I'll actually be able to unpack all my boxes.

Snakes in the garden

Well, I've had a chat with the current owner. I asked him whether he's ever had snakes in the garden or house. He said that the only snakes they ever found were 2 boomslangs when they first moved in and nothing since. Hopefully I won't find any when I am living there.

But that is something worth noting since boomslangs are venomous. Thankfully they say you usually have a few hours before the venom actually starts acting. Thank goodness.

I definitely like the idea of having time to get to the doctor or vet should myself or my kitty ever get bitten. Also, I did read that they are not very aggressive and will only bite if threatened.

I guess climbing trees is not such a good idea and any clearing of the back garden will need to be done carefully.

And of course, I also need to be very careful of spiders since I'll be on the outskirts of the town, in the rural district. Eek - with my arachnophobia that won't be fun.

The hunt for a house

I know it's been quite a while since I have posted on here. Between working long hours, a visit from my family and house hunting, I haven't had a chance to sit down and gather thoughts.

I have been looking at houses in many villages all over the langkloof and surrounds for the past 2 months. I've looked at beautiful houses with no garden, not such great houses with lovely gardens and much in between. I even saw a stunning house that had everything I wanted except that it had major water problems.

But eventually I found something that was just right for me.

It has a lovely big kitchen with space for a big kitchen table.  There is a main bedroom with dressing room plus a guest bedroom. A spacious lounge. And a lovely little sunny room which  will become my office.

The garden is huge. And when I replace the ceilings with wood ceilings, I'll then have a attic which will be big enough to turn into an art studio or a guest room.

Here are the pictures of the house. Unfortunately there are none of the 2 spare rooms or the bathroom.

There is a lot of work to be done on the house since I want the kitchen and dressing room to have wooden cupboards. I'll probably have to settle for wooden veneers over the current chipboard since new cupboards will cost a small fortune (especially with the amount of cupboards that will need replacing).

I also want to put a shower into the bathroom. And possibly re-tile the bathroom. Although I cannot remember what colours where in the bathroom, it was pretty nondescript and certainly nothing to write home about. Thankfully it was a decent size with adequate space for both the washing machine and the shower I want to install.

I'm still trying to decide on colours and style for both the bathroom and kitchen. With the kitchen, I also have the option to leave the layout as is and just put my kitchen table in. Alternatively, I could put a centre line of cupboards with a big work surface in, effectively breaking the kitchen into workspace and dining area, putting the kitchen table on the other side so that it would be more like a smaller open plan kitchen with a casual dining area on the other side.

As for the bathroom, I need to decide what type of shower, what colour tiles, if I want any layout changes or not.

And then of course, I want to replace all the ceilings with wooden ceilings (except the master bedroom which already has wooden ceilings. And Bourne Gleam all the wooden floors. And I'm seriously tempted to put carpets into the bedrooms since they have tiled floors currently.

Of course I also want to repaint inside since most of the walls are not a colour I would have chosen. And I need to put new fascia boards on plus redo the gutters. And I definitely need to get a fireplace installed.  Thankfully not everything has to be done before I move in, since I'm on a limited budget. 

I'll start with the gutters and fascia boards and then see how much I have left. Thereafter I will be able to tackle one project every month to three months depending on how much money I can scrape together and what the cost of said project will be.

And the garden needs some more trees, possibly a few fruit trees. Some herbs, my veggie patch.

So it looks like my next year or two is cut out for me. With lots of projects to keep me out of mischief.

The search for the perfect home continues

Today I went to look at 3 houses. 2 unfortunately had very tiny gardens although stunning houses and the other one was a very tiny house even though the garden was adequate. I could buy it and build on an extra room. But I think I will first look around for other options.

I'm sure when my dream home presents itself, I will actually recognise it. 

And on Sunday I'll be looking at a few more properties. This is all very exciting. My only worry is that I do not find something I fall in love with before my lease runs out. I really do not want to buy a house that doesn't tug at my heart strings.

At the end of this weekend, I'll try and post some pics of the houses I've viewed.

Living without built in cupboards

Well, the countryside is lovely. Although rather chilly.

Unfortunately for me, these old houses don't come with built in cupboards. At this point, I just don't have a clue where to store everything. My entire life I have lived in places that had built in cupboards. So as you can imagine, I don't have much in the way of cupboards now that I'm in a place with none.

It's quite scary just what my house looks like. Shoes are still living in boxes. Half the kitchen stuff has to live in boxes. Where am I supposed to go with all these boxes I wonder.

And I am still trying to find a property to buy. I've heard of a few, spoken to some people. 2 neighbours have said they'll take me to see properties. I'm just not sure when.

In the meantime, I guess I will just have to be patient. And I honestly don't have the drive to start a veggie patch in a house that I can only stay in until December. Same goes for putting in cupboards or fixing up anything.

Goddess grant that I find something soon. Living in limbo is so not my favourite way to live.

Settling down to life in the country

I've now been here exactly 2 weeks long.

I'm embarrassed to say, I still have not finished unpacking. My priorities lie elsewhere. I'm doing a little most nights and that is enough for me.

I am really enjoying country life. One of the most often heard sounds is the mooing of cows as they wander by my house to their grazing fields.

I buy my milk from a lady who has a herd of cows. It's fresh farm milk. Full cream and not that watery stuff they sell in the shops. I still need to get a veggie patch going, but that will come in time. In the meantime I will buy from local farmers.

The people here are so wonderfully friendly compared with in the city. On my first day here, a lady from the next road popped in to introduce herself. I've already been to a baby shower of one of the ladies who lives in town and last night I got an invite to a birthday lady. I'm meeting people at a rate of knots second to none.

I've arrived and am finally online again

I left Cape Town on Friday morning and took a beautifully scenic drive down Route 62. If it wasn't for the fact that I had 3 cats in the car, I would have been tempted to stop and enjoy the scenery for a few days.

I arrived  on Friday afternoon. The neighbours have been wonderful. So many friendly people who have all come and introduced themselves.  

Unpacking is going slow. But I'm not in the mood to rush with it. There are no built in cupboards, so I still need to go shopping for some cupboards. Hopefully the auction will have some gems.

And this afternoon, my internet was set up. So I am thankfully back online.

Nearly moving time

At long last it is nearly time for the move. It's Sunday afternoon and just a few days left.

My movers arrive on Thursday morning. Still got some last minute odds and ends to pack. But it shouldn't be long at all.

And I'm very privileged to have a wonderful sister who has invited me around for dinner on most nights next week. Which means I can get my stove disconnected early and pack all the food away.

I will miss my family and friends. Although it makes me feel a tad guilty, I am so excited about my move to the country. I don't think I will miss the big city. Just all the special people I'm leaving behind.

Delays with the move

Between go slows with SARS and the Municipality and backlog at the Deeds Office, my transfer is taking forever to get registered.

Although I want to move at the end of April, the extra time gives me a break with the packing. I feel like it's all more manageable now.

So I'm not going to stress about this. Will rather just  enjoy the extra breathing space.

The move is now set for 6/7 May. The movers arrive on 6 May. I just need to decide if I want to leave on Thursday night or Friday morning. And oops - must remember to put my leave in at work.

Packing up my house

It currently feels as if I've been packing up forever. And yet the house still looks so full of stuff.

I'm thoroughly exhausted and losing hope that packing will be finished by Friday when the movers arrive.

As I'm sure anyone who's ever moved a household knows, this is an exhausting little exercise. But with less than 1 week to go, I cannot take my time. I am itemising the boxes which takes far longer. But with me moving into a temporary rental for 8 months, it is better this way. Then I don't have to unpack everything. Books and any hobby things can stay packed until I find a permanent home.

Anyway, best I get on with my packing. Blogging is not going to help the boxes get packed. Right now I'm wishing for a packing fairy to assist, but unfortunately that's hardly likely to happen.

Deciding on a lovely journey

Since I will be driving to Haarlem, I have decided to take a look at the various routes available. I could take the N1 but I have driven that so many times and am bored with it. The garden route has potential but I've done that a few times too.

And then I found a lovely route to try. It sounds brilliant and I could turn my drive to my new home into a mini holiday. Route 62. The website that tells all about this lovely route is http://www.route62.co.za/content.php?contentID=5&townID=0&Route62=Route62

And the way I figure it, is that I could get to know some more about South Africa on my travels. Now I'm actually starting to look forward to the long drive.

Learning to listen

I finally realised about 2 days ago that the universe is obviously trying hard to tell me something.

First I couldn't get a bond for the full amount. The bank did say the land was worth R120 000 but they would bond it as vacant land so would only give 70% of the R120 000.  This would be under R100 000 and they do not grant bonds under R100 000. So the only way to buy the house would be cash. And I don't have enough money to buy a house cash (even after the seller dropped the price to R215 000).

Is the universe trying to give me a hint?? Yes it is. And I was just blithely ignoring it.

So I will be moving to a rental in the same village that my dream house is in. It's a small 2 bedroom, but should be adequate to keep me going until I find a house. 

I do believe that the right house is there somewhere for me. It feels so right to move to that area. I did get someone to dowse on that subject for me. And yes, right town, wrong house. Apparently my house will be available soon. So best I get my butt down there so that I am ready and waiting when it comes onto the market.

There is still so much packing to do and time is running out. Although I only move at the end of April, I need to be out of my house before then. I will be spending part of April living with my sister.

On either the afternoon of the 29th of April or the morning of the 30th April, I will be leaving Cape Town and heading for my new home in Haarlem. It's so exciting and I'm so looking forward to moving there.

I've recently done my Power Tools Beginners course at DIY Divas (http://www.diy-divas.co.za/) and do my second course on 17 April. This time I'll be doing the Basic Home Repair Course.

After my move, I will then move onto the Electrical, Plumbing, Woodworking and any other useful courses I can find. Obviously I need to do the advanced courses too. And I am really looking forward to the furniture workshops. I have so many ideas for beautiful bookcases and furniture. The ladies at DIY Divas have been great. And the Knysna branch has already contacted me to see how they can accommodate me and my needs.

Disappointment, annoyance & more obstacles

I'm feeling a little annoyed with all the banks in this country today. All banks declined my bond because of the state of the house I want to buy. You would think that the least they could do is give me an amount they would be prepared to lend and a list of the faults that made them decline it.

So are they now expecting me to apply for 20 million more bonds for this house, dropping a bit each time to find out how much they will give me? Or maybe a bond application per bank for a variety of houses that are up for sale, when I have absolutely no idea what their criteria are in terms of fixer-upper type houses.

Has anyone here ever bought  and bonded a house in really bad condition and had to fix it up. If so, how do you go about it as I'm finding that I just don't know where the fuck to start. Or maybe I'm supposed to buy one of these tiny bloody boxes in good condition since I cannot afford a large house in good condition. Eish - makes me want to cry.

My seller is prepared to drop the price. But since I don't know how much the banks will loan - how on earth do I know what to offer.

I've went through one of those bond companies. All they can tell me is that is not approved because of the valuation. They cannot give me a figure of how much they will loan me.

Answers ranged from "property not suitable for mortgage purposes" to "insufficient value found"/

And when I asked for more details, I was told the bank doesn't give full details of how much they will loan me and what exactly are the various issues with the house that make a house "not suitable for mortgage purposes".

So even shopping for another house - I have no clue what price I should look at and how much damage the house can have before the bank will write it off as "not suitable".

And I really want one of those old country houses that needs some TLC. I want to turn my house into a home that fits me and my lifestyle.

Yet another bank has declined

I found out yesterday that yet another bank has declined. They say they will only give a bond for the value of the land. They too have given the house a nil value. I advised the estate agent of this and she says she will speak to the seller about dropping the price to the value of the land.

I've also now got options of 2 rentals. One in the direct area and the other in Uniondale. Yesterday, I realised that this whole situation is not worth stressing over. So I guess I will find out in a few days if the other bank will give me a bond or if I am renting for the moment.

And honestly, I'm looking forward to whatever happens since I believe that everything will work out for the best (even if it doesn't always seem that way). Yesterday I had such a "zen" type moment when I realised this. It was just amazing to feel so good knowing that I'm not sure exactly when I'm moving or where I am moving to. To know that it will work out and I don't need to worry my pretty little head about the details.

Still waiting on other banks

I've now applied through an agency to all the banks in the country. I'm hoping that someone can see the potential in a house that is a fixer upper. This house is a heritage house that will be stunning with some work put into it.

My shock and horror that an assessor can refuse to value a house because of it's condition is still with me. Surely the man must be blind. It has a roof and walls. Is standing. Got all it's windows. And 5 bedrooms to boot. How on earth can he assign it a value of nothing.

I've now been in contact with a wonderful gentleman who's involved with the Heritage Society. He said he is contacting the Simon Van Der Stel Foundation on my behalf to see if there is any help they can give me. Possibly a letter to assist the valuator to see that this is not just some old house that should be demolished.

I'm now holding thumbs and really hoping that I can get a bond through some bank who has an assessor with some vision.

But I also have a rental house arranged in the event I don't get a bond. It's an area that I've fallen in love with and I really have no desire to give up my dream of living there. Somehow, some way, I will get a house in the Langkloof. If not now, then later.

Bond declined

My bond was declined this morning due to the house apparently being graded as derelict by the valuer. So now it's back to the drawing board.

I've asked to find out how much they valued it at in the hopes that I can come up with enough cash to pay in the balance. I've also asked my estate agent to apply to other banks in the hopes that I can get this house.

Worst case scenario is that I rent in the area and save like mad until I can afford to buy a house cash. Then I won't need to worry about banks & their silly rules.

But to be honest, I really feel like crying this morning. It's such a big setback.

Panic over although still waiting on bond approval

I got hold of my estate agent. Since the delay that is holding up my bond approval is not mine but an issue with documents from the transferring attorney (who's sorting out things with the seller), I'm relieved to hear that they won't hold me to that date for bond approval.

They'll give me 30 days after they have given me everything I need. This is a relief to hear. While still really keen to hurry up and move, at least I'm not panicking about losing my dream home. So tonight I can go home & start packing boxes (since my internet is down and so my gaming is not going to happen tonight).

I do think it will be really exciting to start packing well in advance. I can really sort through everything in the house & decide what goes in which room & mark the boxes appropriately. This will be the first time I've ever managed this as most of my moves have been rush rush moves with me packing and moving in under a month. Sometimes in under a week.

Still anxiously trying to get bond approval

I guess I should learn patience. And have faith. But I'm still chewing nails over the angst of trying to get my bond approval.

The lady selling to me was given the house by someone else. But they never did the legal paperwork. So it will be a simultaneous transfer from him to her to me. But of course the bank's assessor wants proof of all this and the transferring attorney is really really taking his time. He was asked for these documents last Friday. It's now Thursday and I am still nagging daily.

I have until 20th March to get my home loan approved but at this rate I'm worried it will never happen in time. These small town attorneys don't seem to be in a rush. My loan application has already been cancelled due to it taking so long to get these documents.

Now I have to reapply completely. Grrrr - this makes me spitting mad. If I lose this house because of the seller's attorney, I swear I will scream.

My dream home

I guess that I should give you a little view of what this dream home looks like.

The picture that had me falling in love with this house was this one:

Once I arrive in the area, I will take some more. So far I mainly took pictures of all the damp, cracks & faults. Nothing that actually gives a good view of the house inside.  But I thought since here I am, drooling about my move to my dream house, best I at least give you a peek of what has got me so excited.

My house is sold

Well, it's been a few days since I've posted. I've been chewing nails hoping that the purchasers buying my house would get their bond. Otherwise I would still have to get my house sold in a hurry.

But I got an e-mail saying that the purchasers have had their bond approved. What a relief. One more worry off my plate.

I'm still waiting on my bond approval which is taking long since my bank once a letter from the transferring attorney giving the details of the farmer and his sale to his ex-employee who is now selling to me. Eish - it's taking simply forever to get this all to a point where everything is approved and I can finalise the date for my move.

And then my DIY Diva's "beginner power tool" course has been moved to 17 April. And who knows which province I'll be living in by then (I certainly don't).

I guess this whole thing is an exercise in patience for me. But all my visualisations should help with getting everything going smoothly (if not speedily).

But since my house is sold, I can therefore begin my packing. And best I think carefully about what I will actually manage to fit into my 3 door car. Not a lot of space. And I have to fit the 3 cats in there + my pc and my laptop. I just hope there will be space for a case of clothes and all my cleaning equipment. Since I know that my new house is filthy & needs a good clean.

This afternoon should be fun. I need to phone and nag that transferring attorney to hurry up and send me the documents. I really really want everything finalised to the point where estimations of date for transfer can be given.

Escaping the city (part 2)

A big part of this whole shift for me is that I'm trying to live a greener more natural life and feel that living in the countryside will make that easier.

I've recently gone pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish & seafood). A big part of that change was because of the nausea that follows eating any large amount of meat and the subsequent stomach problems which followed. Now that I  am no longer eating meat, I am feeling a whole lot healtheir. And I am only eating fish about once a week, once every two weeks. Not daily.

I grow my own herbs and veggies in my back garden. I cannot wait to start a bigger veggie patch in my new garden. And I compost too. I'm hoping to get a worm farm to help with that.

Slowly but surely I'm finishing all the "chemical" cleaning products and beauty products and replacing with more natural ones. Things that are kind to animals, and environmentally friendly.

I do recycling too (wherever possible) although it's not easy when you live in an area with no recycling bins. Slowly but surely I'm greening my life.  This is going to be a long and interesting journey since I'm also cutting out processed food. Guess I need to learn to bake bread and everything as I progress down this road.

If I find nice easy recipes, I will post them here or post links if they're from other websites. I love the vegan dad blog.

Escaping the city

Over the last year, I have been getting a feeling that I need to go and sit on a mountain for a day or two. Due to pressures at work, budget and various social happenings, I still haven't gone and hung out in the mountains for a weekend.

This has led to an ever increasing sense of paranoi with regard to my life in the city. I want out and I want out now. Eventually by January 2010, this feeling had led me to fly down to the Eastern Cape to look at houses in Haarlem. I have found my dream home.

Ok - to be completely realistic here, there is quite a lot of work to be done before it's in the state that I see it. But it's on 4300 square metres of land and it's a beautiful old Karoo house. I just love it. I had my moments of doubt where I wondered what on earth I would do with a 5 bedroom house, but I definitely know it's the right thing for me. I've even found uses for all the bedrooms (and am now wondering about turning the ceiling into a loft to give me another room).

I'm now waiting on the purchaser's of my house to get their bond approved. And also waiting on the valuation of the new house to be approved (my bond has been granted subject to valuation and sale of my house).

Which leaves me in the position of chewing nails while I wait and wait... and wait some more.