Escape to the Country 'Decision Chat'

After wrapping it up at the house, and conscious that the day was passing fast, we de-camped up the road to a local pub who had put some sandwiches to one side for us. We had just one more thing to do for Escape to the Country (the wrapping up segment) but we wanted to get a call in to the Estate Agent to register our interest in the house. Surely this one was not going to hang around? Dodging intermittent signals on the phone as we left the glen to cross over to the Loch Fyne side, we gleaned some critical facts about the house:

1. It was still on the market

2. It was definitely on for £270,000

3. It had sold previously but the buyer's chain had fallen through

4. The owners were open to closing immediately if a good offer was received

We formally noted our interest in the property and briefly gave an overview of our position: not a cash buyer, but a combination of cash and mortgage on our current property, pre-arranged in principle. We were chain free and ready to go.

So, after some quick sandwiches, at about 4:30pm with the sun was still high in the sky on a mid-September's day, we sat on the edge of Loch Fyne, on a picnic blanket much like we had 2 weeks before for Julia and Lucy, only this time it was with an ice bucket and a bottle of champagne (well Prosecco) and a toast to hopefully having found our new dream property.

Liz battled with the wind blowing her hair around, and had to reposition the microphone twice as it had become 'buried' - Adrian's polite code for muffled by boobs, but it truly was the most magical of endings for our amazing three days in Scotland. Third trip to Scotland, third house they showed us, third house we have bid on - the law of everything coming in threes...

And so, after thanking the team for their incredible work, which has culminated in us realising our dream of a retirement in a beautiful setting, we headed on our way home. And we really do owe them a huge debt of gratitude, because the outcome of creating some casual daytime television (into which goes more work than you can imagine!) is a future that just a week ago we were only dreaming of.

A long drive lay ahead of us. Glasgow airport was, as requested, about an hour drive or thereabouts (on good roads) from the house. If this wasn't it, it's never going to be. This degree of remote, this accessible, this affordable and not a structural doer upper. On the way home, we drafted an e-mail to the estate agent with some clarification questions and requesting a call the next day (Friday) with a view to placing an offer.

Friday: our questions answered, John set up a three way Teams call with Linda from Robb Residential in Glasgow at 11am, we were both back at work in separate locations. Liz gave the offer, £310,000, which Linda thought would be of interest to the seller, and this was confirmed back within the hour. In order to move to 'under offer' Linda would require the offer to be put formally in writing by our solicitor, and with a bit of running around Emily from Ledingham Chalmers was able to do this by 3pm on the day. The property moved to under offer by close of play and, apologies to those that had viewings the next day, all bookings were cancelled.

After six months or searching, excitement, heartbreak, and finally, fame - we hopefully have the house of our dreams for the next stage of our lives, and we can't wait to share with you how it turns out!