Renovation project - Decision time

Renovation project - Decision time

We have spent the night talking about the pros and cons of both houses and have still not made a decision. We have arranged to have the keys to both again and go for a 2^nd viewing today.

We spend hours in both properties and still struggle to make a decision. Both have so many positives and negatives.

However we have decided if we can get the property with the spare little house to include the garage we can convert it into a gite and have an income. But only if the price is right.

Decision made we contact the notaire and make an offer, this is not as nerve racking as it may have been, as we will just go for the other one if our offer is refused.

We now have to wait for the answer, which luckily does not take long, it has been accepted.

WOW we are buying another project.

We know what to expect this time which makes life easier but we will be returning to Spain in a few days so really want to get everything finalised before we leave, we are not using an estate agent, we are buying through the notaire.

We go to visit the notaire and confirm our offer, it is at this point that we find out that the notaire also charges quite an amount for their estate agency services in addition to the normal notaire fees, but these are not as much as many of the actual estate agencies charge.

The owner has arranged for the surveys to be completed. He has also arranged for Veolia (the water company) to complete the checks on the pipes.

We are at the property when the surveys are completed and they are not as simple as you would expect.

Currently the water is connected via the owners main house as is the heating system, both of these will require disconnecting and a new mains connecting to the property we are buying.

The water contractor arrives and says that he thinks there is a mains already connected, the grid lid should be just in front of the property, we can not see it. He gets out a metal detector and this detects the grid in the road, unfortunately the local council have tarmacked over it. So out comes a lump hammer as he tries to break through the tarmac to get to it.

We end up with John and the guy hammering the road, and then once uncovered they use a selection of tools to try to open it, this is not happening, he will have to come back with more tools to get into it, but he is 99% sure that there will be no problem.

He also has to check that all the waste pipes drain in to the correct drains, this needs water, which we don't have as the owner has turned his water off.

I find a bucket and call at one of the neighbours, good time to introduce ourselves, she does not look impressed but gets a full bucket for us. All of the waste water pipes are tested and these work. It is just a case of waiting to see if the mains pipe is in order and can be connected.