We have moved

Greenan Bay.

Wow, June seems so long ago now, and now we are back in Scotland permanently.

It has not been an easy transition in some respects, but very easy in others. 

Given the current market conditions, our house sold remarkably quickly. However, it wasn't as straightforward as we had hoped, as the buyers were tough to deal with and offered unacceptable conditions. Even our realtor got exasperated with them. I was unhappy because they were getting a house below the market rate but still making unacceptable demands. In the long run, it worked out, as it meant we could buy the house we are in now without sinking into our savings. 

When we came over in June, we thought we would need more time to find a house. We had several houses we were going to look at, not just in the Ayr area but as far away as Crail in Fife.  This was the second house on our list.  All the other houses were older, and we intended to buy something other than a newer home. As we looked around the houses, although they were in good condition, you could still imagine the work needed in the coming years. We didn't relish putting in new windows, updating kitchens, etc., which would eat into the time we intend to put aside for other more enjoyable things.   

After two days of looking and returning to see this house again, we made an offer. It just ticked all the boxes: It was only two years old, so it needs very little maintenance, in the Ayr area and is very close to the sea. We were surprised the offer was accepted, as we had been told the market was hot, and we offered below the recommended buying price in the house report. Buying houses is different in the UK and Scotland. You put the house on the market with a guide price with offers over, expecting offers about  20% above the price marketed. That was our mistake in the US, as there it's the reverse, so if we had put the house on the market above what we expected, we would have received offers nearer the price we wanted. C'est la vie!   

There was a minor hiccup with the sellers as the house they were buying was part of an estate, and additional documentation was required two weeks before the closing of missives.  Then, one of the executors went on holiday, and they needed to sign the document. They were in a place with little internet access, so it looked like the missives wouldn't be signed on the agreed date.  I think our solicitor put some pressure on the seller's solicitor; as we wrote, we would pull out of the deal if the matter wasn't dealt with in a timely manner, as we had found an alternative house we could move into almost immediately.  Suddenly, everything went at lightning speed, and we were able to collect the keys very late in the day; on the agreed date, there was a minor hitch with a missing paper, which our solicitor quickly sorted out.

Home sweet Home