More on Conveyancing

The local council finally managed to email me the correct application forms to fill out which we have done, and faxed. The seem to have managed to undercharge us by about $180 but we'll just keep that between ourselves I think! The woman was so rude to me when I told her that the settlement date is very soon, she said that they normally take a week to do the searches, to which I replied that they would have had OVER a week to conduct them had they sent me the forms to the correct email address.

The Property Transfer forms have arrived and I'll fill them out tonight and post them off on Monday. There's a whole lot of legal jargon on them that I'll have to google to make sure we get it right. Then all we really have to do is transfer the final payment, which I will have to go into the bank to do. There are two ways to do it, I can either pay the bank $35 to do it or I can apply for an increase in the amount of money that I can transfer to a specific account and do it myself. Having done everything else myself I might just do that myself too!

I'm now 41w, and very ready to pop! So I wonder if I'll get all this done beforehand or if A will have to take over. I really should write a "TO DO LIST" because at this stage my head is kind of focussed on other things. Things that are, believe it or not, more exciting that filling out and faxing forms off to various government departments and solicitors!

The Great Conveyancing Saga Continues!

It is one week until settlement and I have been getting rather nervous about the lack of information I had obtained about conveyancing. Today however I managed to get some decent, meaty information!

I've spent weeks phoning the local council, the land title office, and various conveyancing companies with the idea of hiring them on our behalf since I'm so heavily pregnant and not getting any information. However the solicitor acting on behalf of the vendor called today and said that she needs me to send her a form called the "Transfer" and told me where to get hold of that and gave me the numbers of the certificates I need to apply for from the council, in order to get them to complete the searches. All up it looks as though we'll save about $700 - $1000 by doing it ourselves, so that's not to be laughed at! That's quite a few tins of paint.

The certificates will certify that there are no rates owing on the property, that the vendors actually own and are therefore able to sell us the property, that the boundaries are correct, and that all the renovations - or things that are built on (namely our very strange rumpus room) - were done legally, with council approval. I was talking to a friend about the whole drama today and she said that checking the boundaries is really important because her mother has recently lost so much off her property that her driveway is too narrow to park the car in!

We're thinking we might not leave here til a month later than we planned because then A will be at work, earning good money in the month where they do massive parties and he gets lots of over time. So, we'll wait and see what mood strikes us, he might be totally over it by then and not give a damn about the money .... here's hoping!

It's Really Happening!

I went to the real estate website to send a link to a friend who wanted to see the house we're buying and there it was .... it says UNDER CONTRACT!

Now we just have to have a baby, organise removalists, pack every thing up (the worst bit!) and head on down to OUR HOUSE so we can start renovating and making it OUR HOME!

I've been watching a few housey type shows on tv and getting lots of ideas. I really took to a purple colour that I saw painted in someone's kitchen, but I'm wondering if it'd suit the sort of thing I'm after. I really should spend more time watching this type of show than gory forensic crime shows .... maybe.

As for having the baby, I'm 39 weeks or there abouts, that's based on a really rough guestimate, I have no idea how pregnant I am really. It's safe to assume that any day now could herald the addition of a new family member - one without scales, fur, fins, or feathers! I'm at that point where I am totally over it and my energy level has dropped to below zero, and I'm having lots of pre labour signs.

39w, birth pool ready to go!

Plodding Along

The cat contemplating migration ...

We're well on our way to home ownership now! The deposit is paid, all that remains is the irritating business of conveyancing, and settlement. So not terribly long after we welcome our new baby I expect we will take possession. Which will e a whole new set of issues, like insurance, and trying to work out what we can do from over 1000km away to make moving in easier!

I wanna get a few things done before we move in, and I wanna have a better idea of what some other things are gonna cost. I'm thinking I'll send a friend over to the house as soon as we take possession, and get her to measure the walls so we can estimate paint costs using the bunnings paint calculator.

We have a rough idea of what colour we want the walls to be, I want brown, not too dark not to light, warm, rich brown. We will give the kids a good helping of freedom in what colours they choose for their own rooms, and Stylish will probably be allowed to paint her own room. The kids both seem to want a similar combination of turquoise and mauve. I'm ok with that, and paint can be repainted when they decide they hate it!

We've finally got some sort of a plan organised for moving our cat which is a relief. A friend of ours will board him, then stick him on a plane. I want to be semi settled, with all our stuff moved in, if not unpacked before he arrives, because we really don't want him running off which he is prone to when moving house. He's 9 now so he's pretty settled, plus he's been in this house for nearly 5 years. I was very concerned about boarding him professionally because that would require vaccination, and we would like to keep him unvaccinated. He's lived 9 years without a problem, I'm prepared to bet that vaxing him would be the start of his health problems.

I'm now 38w round, or so I estimate, I really have no idea. I've been doing pre labour stuff on and off for a week now, and my blessingway was last Saturday. I had a gorgeous day surrounded by wonderful women, and Stylish did a henna drawing of the Egyptian frog Goddess, Heket, on my belly.

Sale Goes Ahead!

I have contacted the solicitor acting on behalf of the vendor and told her that we wish to go ahead with the sale, and today I'll be paying the deposit, assuming the REA gets back to me in time with bank account details.

The REA is also gonna see what she can find out about conveyancing for us because every path I look down is a dead end and at 37w pregnant (and in early labour) with a partner working full time and two kids it's getting to be a bit of a worry.

Apparently the FOR SALE sign that was out the front of the house now says SOLD! That's starting to look a bit real ...