It was back in September of last year that their offer on a semi-detached house just a stone's throw from us was accepted. They were due to move in during the week before Christmas but delays happened for one reason or another, including the death of a spouse higher up the buying chain.
At one point it seemed as though the whole thing would collapse but this week they got the keys. Shirley and I had not seen the place before but we were pretty delighted with it when we got inside the house just two days ago. The previous occupants did a fine job of modernising the first two floors. The bedroom floor is a little tired but re-decoration and new carpets up there will work wonders. The attic looks ripe for conversion into a fourth bedroom. We think they have chosen wisely.
The house cost £460,000 ($566,000US, $847,400AUS). That's the kind of price you have to pay these days for a modest but nice property in the south western sector of this great northern city.
We have all worked like mules today, trying to bring the home together. Putting up beds, assisting removals men, cleaning, emptying boxes etcetera. There was so much to do that by the end of the day it was decided that the little family would sleep at our house.
I made them a tasty chicken curry with aubergine (American: eggplant) , lentils and coconut milk and they are now snoring upstairs ready for another day of house moving activity. Hopefully, they will sleep there tomorrow night.
The house enjoys great views to the east and north east right down into the bowl of Sheffield city centre. It is good to know that from now on their hard earned money will be going into their own property and not into the pockets of a greedy landlady and landlord who had put the monthly rent up to £950 just before Christmas ($1,169US, $1749AUS).
How wonderful to have their own home! It sounds perfect. They will over time make it their own unique place. The price sounds very reasonable (even cheap) to me. I won't tell you how much my daughter and son-in-law paid for their house.
ReplyDeleteWhere did they buy their house Margaret?
DeleteThey bought a Craftsman style house (built in the early 1900s but updated) in University Place, Washington. It's west Tacoma, near the Narrows Bridge and Titlow Beach. My daughter loves that style house and also wanted the big yard and many planting beds since she is a devout gardener.
DeleteThe Seattle area seems like a fine place to make a home. I hope that your daughter and son in law will be contented in the new house.
DeleteGood for Frances and Stewart to get their own property. Now home is really home.
ReplyDeleteIt is a big relief for them and a nice house for Phoebe to grow up in.
DeleteI hope they'll be happy.
ReplyDeleteHappiness can be an elusive acquaintance.
DeleteNice that it all worked out--moving can be so stressful--and wonderful that they will be close by.
ReplyDeleteThey will all be much happier in this neck of the woods than they would have been in north London.
DeleteI hope that they will be very happy in their new home. A house like their's would be at least twice that price here in Harpenden! ( 25 minutes to London by train!!) My eldest is in the throes of house purchase. They are hoping to move by the end of July. Not sure why it takes so long. ( Their offer was accepted several months ago)
ReplyDeleteIt takes so long because all estate agents and solicitors involved in conveyancing belong to the sloth family.
DeleteWishing them all the very best, and much happiness in their new home. You must all be pleased that they are living nearby.
ReplyDeleteWhat an eye watering price UK houses are these days. I wonder if the original owners could ever imagine their house would reach such a high price.
What has happened about their flat in London - have they sold it, or are they still renting it out?
Thanks for remembering that CG. They are still renting out the flat in Wood Green, still awaiting the improvements that Haringey Council insisted upon. Once those long-awaited improvements have happened, they will probably sell up. It has remained a background source of unwelcome stress and worry but fingers crossed it will all work out in the end.
DeleteThanks for the AU$ conversions. Even by our standards, that is quite a lot for a house in a regional city. I am guessing it is large, rather nice and in a good area. I doubt they have committed unwisely. Phoebe probably won't have to worry too much about money a long way down the track. But who knows what Phoebe will become.
ReplyDeleteThe way Phoebe throws and catches balls I think she will captain England's ladies in cricket and whup those Aussie gals.
DeleteGreedy rentiers are at the root of most of Britain's problems.
ReplyDeleteThey are probably the same people who saw government COVID support as a trough to feed from.
DeleteWhen we were unexpectedly left homeless after our house purchase fell through at the last minute, we were struggling to find somewhere to rent. We had to pay £1200 per month for a little 2 bed place, and pay 12 months rent in advance in order to secure it. What a rip off.
ReplyDeleteThere ought to be better controls but greedy landlords and ladies seem to have free rein.
DeleteAubergine is eggplant in Australian too. The house sounds delightful and I know they will be very happy there.
ReplyDeleteWhat have Aussies got against the French? Egg plants are aubergines! And zucchini are courgettes!
DeleteNothing shocks my mind from the very low cost of living area where I live like real estate prices somewhere else. For $566,000, I could literally buy any house in town, including the mansion around the corner and down the street that has five bedrooms, six baths, 7000 sqft, a three car garage and a huge inground pool behind it with money left over in my pocket. In some areas of town, I could buy a couple blocks of houses though I wouldn't want to live in those areas particularly.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I remember from my trips to England, is that pricing seems high by my standards pretty much everywhere I went. Inevitably the result of a fixed amount of land, i.e. an island, and an increasing population.
Americans are lucky to have so much space. In many states even very poor people live in detached houses with plenty of land around them. For $566,000 you could buy all of Detroit (slight exaggeration).
DeleteHappy news for their little family, security and a roof over their heads. House prices is a whole new essay on wickedness though.
ReplyDeleteSuccessive governments have allowed house prices and rental costs to rise in an unchecked manner. I think that is very wrong.
DeleteGood for them. The price shocked me. I wonder what my modest modern (then) 3-bedroom semi on the fringe of one of the most desirable villages in Cheshire would cost now nearly half a century after I left it. It sold for £10,500 in 1975. In 1976 I bought a detached 3-bedroom old house on Lewis for £16,200. I sold it in 2005 at a valuation of £57,000. Possibly not one of my best investments. Little wonder people are selling their houses in the South of England and coming to live here.
ReplyDeleteTo find out what your old house in Cheshire might cost now you could investigate Zoopla or Right Move to get a good idea.
DeleteBy the way I hope the family (which includes you and Shirley) will be very happy.
ReplyDeleteThank you Graham. Their close presence in our lives since September 2020 has been very enriching. As I write, Phoebe is upstairs taking her midday nap with her cuddly sloth - Monty.
DeleteI wish them well in their new home. The transaction can take ages. It took Kay five months to get the keys with only them and the seller in the chain.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for us to understand the snail's pace of it all.
DeleteHow exciting for all of you. You are living my dream. I've always loved the idea of having my children close by when the time comes for them to have their own places. Buying a house is getting ridiculously hard for first time buyers in some parts of Canada. Because I live within commuting distance of TO, single-detached houses in our area start at a million dollars. I personally think renting may be the way to go for many young people. The thought of a million dollar mortgage at thirty something is bone-chilling to me.
ReplyDeleteIt should be a human right to have a place to live - somewhere where you can sleep securely in your bed and be warm in winter. We should not have to pay a king's ransom to achieve that right.
DeleteNice to have them close by. I am not shocked by the price, I am glad I am settled in the housing market and not starting out.
ReplyDeleteI guess that houses in DC's best neighbourhoods cost a hell of a lot.
DeleteI wonder how much houses will cost when Phoebe grows up? Good luck to them in their new home.
ReplyDeleteShe will have to buy a house in Withernsea or Accrington or Crook,County Durham.
DeleteCongrats to the new homeowners! How nice that they will be close to you!
ReplyDeleteWe have 3 moves this year in my family: My daughter and her boyfriend bought a house together and moved just a couple of weeks ago. She's about 30 minutes from me. My youngest son and his family will be moving to my city in May. They bought a townhouse only a couple of miles from me! My middle son and his family will be moving to Houston, TX this summer. So some closer but some going far away!
It's very nice that two of them will be nearby. I wonder if the middle son will ever come back to stay in Illinois.
DeleteWhat good news!
ReplyDeleteThey are so happy to have finally made the move.
DeleteI would KILL to have a monthly rent of £950. Ours is more than twice that! Still, bravo to Frances and Stewart for wisely investing their money and earning some equity, unlike us. Even a £450K purchase price doesn't sound too terrible compared to what houses bring around here.
ReplyDeleteIan and Sarah's house in Fulham cost over one million pounds and yet it is terraced and quite small.
DeleteOh, and "eggplant" is one word, for what it's worth. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Steve. I will change it.
DeleteMy first house in Walkley cost 24 thousand my second in hillsborough 42
ReplyDeleteOur first house at Commonside cost £15,250.
DeleteCongratulations on your move! I hope you're settling into your new home and enjoying the new beginnings that come with it.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your post, I couldn't help but wonder, "Can I Return An Air Mattress To Walmart?" After some research, I found out that Walmart has an incredible return policy on air mattresses, allowing customers to return them within 90 days of purchase, even if they have been used. This just shows how much Walmart values their customers' satisfaction and trust.
Thank you for sharing your update and for sparking my curiosity about Walmart's return policy. I wish you all the best in your new home.
Congratuliations!! Finally, the long-awaited move has happened. Well done, all of you, on the cleaning, unpacking and shifting of things. I imagine Phoebe found it all very exciting.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to buy my flat now, I doubt I'd be able to afford it. It is neither big nor modern nor in any way "high end", but it was what my budget back in 2003 would allow. Hard to believe it's been 20 years since Steve and I moved in, and 13 1/2 since I have been living on my own.
The Greater Stuttgart area is, along with Munich, among the most expensive parts of Germany when it comes to real estate. Rents and house prices are ridiculously high.