Buying Obain Uaine - excitement and heartbreak

After the last property in Dumfries, Greenbogue Steading, we'd driven back to the West Midlands via both sets of parents (one in Yorkshire and one in Lincolnshire) - whilst on a road trip, what were a few more detours to our adventure. We were both very very excited about Obain Uaine and were bouncing around tactics for our bid. Would a letter to the owners pull on their heart strings and potentially make a critical difference? Or was it simply about money and confidence to complete quickly?

Monday morning came around quickly and we phoned our solicitor in Inverness. As ever, Emily was a star and happy to help us get the relevant particulars into the offer without over complicating the process.

As you'll recall, Obain Uaine was up for offers over £280,000 British Pounds Sterling. So how much is a two bedroom house on the Outer Hebrides worth? Well the answer is, it's worth what someone will pay because it's not a commodity, it's unique. We had worked out that at this point in our lives, £340,000 was the most we could stretch to and that formed the basis of our bid. Surely £340,000 was enough? Our offer rolled in keeping the furniture, which we estimated was worth maybe £2000 (it was only second hand IKEA in the main), but the convenience to both buyer and seller was worth more - getting things to and from the islands costs money, risks damaging it and perhaps stops you from enjoying a new house in the way you would want to.

Closing date was the Thursday and the week went quickly, catching back on sleep, housework, shopping, chores and, of course, work. The joys of taking time out of work and coming back to the backlog of last week being on the desk or inbox! Liz was convinced we'd win the house, John more 50:50, but surely £340,000 was not a derisory or rude offer and we were 'in it to win it'. We were still nervous about the big move, but our minds were beginning to catch up with our hearts. All we could think about was the beautiful view from the deck, the chance to live in nature and join a thriving and busy community of like-minded people. We were already half there.

Thursday arrived, the 12pm deadline came and went, Liz's Grandma rang her in excitement, but still we had not heard anything. Then, at 4:26pm the email dropped into our inbox. Well, we didn't win it and we'll never know just how amazing a place it is to live, or whether island life wouldn't have suited us and we'd bail after a couple of years. How much more did someone offer? At this point in time, we don't know as the property has still not moved to sold (2 months on).

Interestingly Liz is not as heartbroken over this one as Loch Droma, which is like a first love - there will always be a special place in her heart for Loch Droma. And yet, two months down the line that wonderful photo of the sun glinting off the balustrade round the back decking still makes us sigh with regret...that we won't be able to swim off into the sunset from our back door, or bask in the fresh sea air, or sit on the deck watching for otters. We cannot imagine anything more magical than sitting in your garden with a complete feeling of serenity and sharing that with the local wildlife.

John has lost his appetite for the search for now, but Liz is still continuing the daily website trawls in the fading hope that there is something out there that will call to us both and provide us with the Scotland dream of peace and tranquility that we both share, the goal of living a simple life in the country. Will we ever find it?