As I said in my last post, Kevin and I intend to move to Devon this year. Our home is lovely but it is a big family house with a massive garden and deserves to be occupied by a family, rather than two people and their four cats.
The house went on the market on Wednesday 22nd and we have had six viewings so far; the cats are completely confused by the increase in visitors, some of whom clearly love cats and others....not so much!
We have to be here during viewings because ours are strictly indoor-cats and it is simply not fair to place the responsibility for their safety on the estate agent. If the front door was left open accidentally, Hobbes would almost certainly dash through it and the gate from the deck to the garden is another vulnerable exit.
However, that means that we are very much 'in residence' - not ideal for viewings. We have to keep moving round the house behind the prospective buyers which makes us look as though we are stalking them.
We have been house-hunting virtually for a while, checking out places on Zoopla and RightMove and then looking at the locations on Google Earth. This is well worth doing, as some estate agents' photos tend to omit the less-than-attractive views, not simply of the property but of the buildings nearby. One particularly lovely cottage had a commercial coach garage, rather than fairies, at the bottom of its garden - unseen in the brochure but very evident on Google Earth!
Having selected some properties to view, we left the cats in the capable hands of our cat-sitter and drove down to Devon last Tuesday. We saw three properties and then spent the night at the Barnstaple Travelodge. On Wednesday, we breakfasted at Sainsbury's and then went to view four more.
The first place was a disappointment - a Grade II listed money-pit. The house did not appear to have had any maintenance carried out for years, and it was right at the top of our budget. We also knew that the vendor would not entertain any offers, so we sadly drove away.
We were, however, soon feeling much happier - the second cottage we visited is (subject to a full structural survey) 'the One'. Like the first place, it is Grade II listed, but it is clear that it has been loved and cared for over the years. The village is lovely, with excellent amenities and the nearby market town has a 'proper' high street, rather than the cloned look so prevalent these days. There are TWO butchers, a proper greengrocers and numerous independent shops, a library, doctors' surgery, vet, banks, hardware store.......
We eventually tore ourselves away to view the other two houses, each nice in their own way but not The One and then drove to my cousin's beautiful thatched cottage in Hatherleigh, where we were to spend the night.After a great evening catching up and being given masses of information on local surveyors who specialise in listed buildings, thatchers to sort out the roof ridge (the only thing that The One might need replacing), electricians, carpenters and so on, we climbed the stairs and fell into bed, with details of buildings dancing in our heads.
We punctuated the journey home with two viewings, but these two cottages had one adverse thing in common - narrow, twisted and steep stairs that Kevin found really hard to negotiate.
So from that trip, we have found our prospective new home and I am trying hard not to pin my hopes too hard on it - even though it is The One. After all, we haven't had an offer on ours yet!
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