After what feels like months of waiting, we have eventually agreed the final price on the house.

Here’s a very quick update:

You might want to have a quick read of the last post to refresh your memory, but to summarise… we were waiting for news from the vendor’s builder to establish if work was required to the rear chimney stack. That would then allow us to either adjust our offer further, or confirm on the price.

Cynical as it may be, but we expected the builder to come back and claim the work he had done was perfect and that there wasn’t a problem. I mean… you’re hardly going to admit you’ve done a bad job and offer to re-do the work for free, are you?! Not if you’re a bit of a cowboy, no.

The letter we received back from this builder stated there was no issue with damp (which there clearly is…) and the work he completed rectified any issues with the lead flashings, etc.

Oh, and to add to his already stellar image, he also used the word ‘sail’ instead of ‘sale’…

Our trust and potential further business with him is now non-existent.

Bad builders aside…

Setting aside the shambolic letter and poor attempted cover-up from the builder, we stuck to our amended offer of £105,000. This, eventually, was accepted.

This brings us up to today. The papers are with the solicitors, and we are in the process of arranging the relevant electricity, gas and water tests before the final completion date.

We’re hoping to be in the property within a month, and have already made a start on renovating some old furniture ready for when we move in (pictures and article to come when we finish it!).