Is This The One?
Over the next couple of weeks a few other nice looking places came up, but they were either too big, too expensive, too restrictive on planning, in the wrong location or just not quite right. So, back to the crumbling cottage, I downloaded the auction details and had a good read through. I sent the estate agent some searching questions - there is a lane that runs through the property and includes the access gate, and it isn't part of the property - do we definitely have a legal right of use in the deeds? Could we please have the contact details of the farmer who owns the lane so we could start up some kind of rapport? Is the statement about connecting water and electric just the personal opinion of the seller, or more concrete? I got a very swift reply to confirm that, yes, we had legal right of access agreed, and yes, we could have the farmer's details in due course, and the water and electric connections were personal opinions but she did give me the contact details for the electric and water boards. So, we could see challenges but nothing so drastic that we couldn't find a solution.
The bonus was the planning permission that had been agreed for an extension the same size as the original cottage. We weren't sold on the plans but it proved that in principle we could build an extension if we wanted to, or change the plans slightly to create something that would suit us better. I also phoned the water board and electricity board to see whether they could advise on connection, and maybe even the cost - both of which were agreed theoretically, and a rough price for the electricity connection was given by their online calculator. Failing that there was always the 100+ year old well, solar panels, Starlink, a sewage treatment plant and other creative solutions that we could Google. Which was fine because we both like the idea of living fully off grid. I duly completed the credit check the auctioneers requested and provided the name of my Scottish solicitor even though I knew they probably wouldn't be interested in a Welsh property purchase, seeing as the law is different south of the border.
We skirted around vague details of how much we might consider bidding and anything concrete on financing the project for the next couple of weeks until, the week before the auction, we were in Mallorca on a little holiday - our first foreign trip together and pure bliss. But, we needed to discuss it properly as the auction was just a few days away and I would be in Iceland on holiday, so Huw would have to do the honours of bidding on my behalf. Lulled into a sense of deep contentment, and over an incredible pan of paella, I managed to pin Huw down to a jointly agreed limit. We spat and shook on it before we panicked, because it was suddenly all very real - not only the property purchase but also the commitment we were making to the lengthy project and, potentially, to each other. I was fairly sure we wouldn’t win it at that price and was prepared to be both disappointed and slightly relieved at the same time. But, the nearer the auction got, and the more we thought about it, the more we wanted it - all of it - the cottage, the planning, the work, and the lifestyle it promised ... and to do it all together!
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