Renovation time!

It's been a while since my last blogpost, but it's only because I haven't been idle. It's been two and a half weeks since my boyfriend and I have gotten the keys to our little palace and we have been pretty busy. New electricity tubes have been created and / or shifted, walls have replaced, plastered and painted, the toilet and hallway have been demolished, wooden boards have been stained and so on.  Time flies, but there is no rush. In the evening I can go back home to a nice hot meal and shower and an lovely clean and fresh bed :)

*update 17.55hrs*
I just re-read my blogpost from July 1, last year. A blogpost in which I wrote about my friends who just got the keys to their first home.  Time really does fly. Already a year has gone by! Sometimes you have to stand still and realize such things, because otherwise your life just passes you.

Ciao!

Ixis

D-Day!

In a few hours we will be proud home owners. Getting quite nervous now.

*update 22.10*
We've got them :) And a first day of work is already finished. A new phase. It needs a little bit more of getting used to, but these are exiting times.

Ciao!
Ixis

Purchase contract signed!

Ooh, that's a nice lamp! I love that table for our kitchen. I really like a lounge set for in the garden and not to forget a box spring bed. I can't wait to start furbishing our new house. Well, I may be a little bit early with this picture of a housewarming, because we are not quite there yet. But we are getting closer though! 

It's been two weeks after our offer was accepted and we made some progress. The purchase contract has been signed, the employer's statement is filled in, we decided on the type of mortgage we feel most comfortable with, the house has been valued and we agreed on a notary. Next week the official papers for the mortgage application will be ready. Quite a lot of arranging like I stated in a previous post, but it gives me energy doing all of it.

Only a little less than two months and we are getting the keys and can start painting and doing some little chores in and around the house. After that we can put in the furniture and start decorating and making it a real home. This weekend my boyfriend and I will probably start to look for furniture more seriously. Obviously we already visited quit some furniture stores, but when you don't know in which house or room they will be put, it is difficult to really search for something. 

Ciao!

Ixis

lot's of arranging

Our offer was accepted, so the arranging of all the finances and paperwork has begun. We had another talk about the mortgage, arranged statements from the employer, necessary to get the mortgage and we received the concept buyers agreement. We hope to have completed everything within the next two months so we can arrange the key transfer. Well a lot of arranging as you can read!

Ciao!

Ixis

Update house search

After the rejection of our first offer, my boyfriend and I talked to figure out how much we like this house. We concluded that we really like it and want to give buying it another chance. A new offer was made last week. Yesterday we received a counter proposal by the vendors. Which is actually good news to us because now we know there is space to negotiate concerning the asking price. As our first offer was just rejected without a counter proposal we were a bit scared there was no room at all. Even though their counter proposal is still somewhat above our budget so we placed them a final offer. I keep my fingers crossed and hope that the vendors will accept our final offer! 

Ciao!
Ixis

Offer rejected

We made our very first offer in hope to buy our very first house! Unfortunatley this first offer was rejected by the seller. My boyfriend and I took the weekend to reconsider what the house is worth to us and how much we are willing to pay for it, and of course how much we can lend by the bank for our mortgage. This next week we are going to have a talk with our mortgage man and perhaps place a new offer. So, to be continued :D

Ciao!

Ixis

Second House Viewing

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went for a second house viewing. We both invited our parents to join us and give us their critical opinions about the house. Even after that we both (all) still liked the house very much! Even this much that we are seriously considering to make an offer :D Real exiting!

Ciao!
Ixis

Update House search

An update on our house searching process. We started about two months with viewings and up until now we have looked at 10 houses. We only viewed one house twice, but we decided it wasn't the house for us. Last week we saw a house, my boyfriend and I both really like. So we planned another viewing for next week. We both are really exited so we bring 2 other people for an objective view, but if it still appeals to us after next week we may have found our house! I'm really exited and a little nervous, because it is a big step of course, but I am looking forward to it!

Ciao!

Ixis

First step towards living together!

Saturday my boyfriend and I took the first steps towards living together. We had our first mortgage talk :-) It was of exploratory nature just to be informed about the possibilities, the different options and everything that comes with it. 

We were already searching the internet and wandering around the housing sites to orient at homes. But  now that I have found a job we were able to prepare our finances and let someone do the math concerning the mortgage and monthly payments. Of course I need to get an employer's statement of intent as my contract goes for only a year, but hopefully that won't be a problem. 

There are so many different possibilities in the Netherlands concerning the mortgage. Do you want a savings mortgage? a grace(?) mortgage or an annuity mortgage? How about the monthly payments and the insurances? What if one of the salaries drops or falls away for a short period. I want some room in the mortgage and not get into trouble the same instent. It's a lot to take in at once and a lot to think about. But there we have a second appointment with a different bank to inform us about the opportunities. Just to get a complete picture about the possibilities, to hear the story from different players on the market in order to be able to make the best choice.

Soon we would like to plan the first visits to get a feel of how such a thing goes. What do you need to pay attention to? What way does the broker try to sell it to you? What questions do you need to ask? In short: exiting times are waiting for us!

Ciao!

Ixis