husband told me that we should not be so rush again and made an offer only after 1 visit
Husband's family and friend also tell us to take our time to visit the appartment
and the area before offering to buy
At least, now we have become an expert in the process of buying appartment, hahah
Just a summary of how it works (direct owner sale)
- Visit the appartment
- Offer the owner with a email (with conditions, eg this offer will be cancelled if you dont send us the reports)
- The owner can receive many oral and email offers but the owner must definitely sell to the first person that offered the advertised price, and not wait for higher price or other offers, is like they must honor the stated price
- If the email offer is accepted, most owners will stop house visiting for others
- Thereafter about a week, you sign the presign contract at the notaire office and the contract will be mailed to you
- the next day you are to transfer the deposit (5-10% of price) to the trust account of notaire
- After you received the contract, you have 7 days to cancel the deal without penalty
- You go to the bank to formalise your mortage
- Some time later (normally 3months), you sign the final sales contract and collect keys
So, i was sure that im going to be rational
Although i think is fine too repeat what we have done previously
To email and offer to reserve the appartment since we can still pull out anytime
but husband say we must be rational and patient
(ahem you will read what happens next)
Actually, while searching for the past months,
I have always been interested in a particular area but price is a little steep
That is, Saint maur des fosses.
It has been rated as one of the best suburbs with average 7/10 points in all aspects eg security, commerce
So husband's friend and father also mentioned to us to explore the place
One day after we decided to reject the previous appartment,
we started to research this area and husband managed to get interested
and we made appointment to visit 2 appartments in the area yesterday
Unlike the previous appartment, we research the town before visiting
And all seems too good to be true for our budget!
It is a nice town surrounded by the river that it seems to be on an island
the area is served by 4 train stations and the further station will only take hsuband 1hr to work
while the first 2 stations will only take husband 50min max to work
The town is full of rich people that the mayor rejected offers to build social building (HDB)
There are plenty of commerces and schools around
It is well known for its security in france!
While we got a little excited that it may be the perfect town, we managed to calm ourselves down
Husband reminded me that we must be rational
The train ride to the area was more crowded than our previous ride
but still managable and was nearer
Husband and i loved the town when we arrived at the station
It really looks like an expensive town compared to what we visited so far
or simply, like a normal place of paris
Walking around felt really safe
but as in Paris, people are not really friendly
The first appartment was located at 2mins walk from the second station
located in a quiet street with a bakery beside the building
but less than 2mins walk to the main streets of commerce
definitely, commerce makes the street much more lively
The appartment is on the ground floor of 35m2 butcomes with a terrace and a storage cave
I will not say that the design of the appartment blew me away
but i do appreciate the design of the rough industrial look
I always tell husband that i will love an appartment with interior bricks wall
and i really like there are a little of that in this appartment
The living room is quite small but we have a bigger bedroom
although husband is going to complain again that if we partition the bedroom into 2
the kid's room will have no windows
I dont know whats with french and windows
To me, the kid should be thankful to have a room with or without windows
but even husband sis has the same concern oh well.
We are not a great fan of ground level
For me, im worried for the safety and cold floors
For husband, he often comment that ground floor has no view and the windows with grills feels like prison
But husband love the terrace and immediately forget all about his ground floor hatred
We seems to have the strange luck to always visit a better appartment before a bad one
The second appartment was located 12 mins walk from the same station
but in an area without commerce and opposite the train tracks
The building is old but badly maintained
that husband foresee that a site will be required soon (means we need pay)
Although bigger than the first, the appartment felt more like an illegally build extension on the ground level
The room was really small but the kitchen and living room are bigger
But husband say the main problem is the roof contain a toxic
that you cant do any fixing or frilling without professional seal-off construction
So, it was a straight no for us
After visiting both appartment, husband was so sure of the appartment that he wants to offer the advertised price
Ehhh who was the one who keeps remind me to be patient and rational?!
In the end, i suggested that we speak to the owner again
and sound her out at 163k (yes it is very expenive for a small appartment at ground floor at 168500k)
And to say that we will make a formal offer as soon as she email us the reports
Till the last minute before meeting the owner, husband was still trying to persuade me
that we should sound out at 164/165k
errrrrrr i managed to force him to say 163k at the end
from what i observed, the owner doesnt seems keen at 163k so we went home
On the way home and at home,
husband keep trying to convince me that it would be sad if we lose the appartment
just because we offered 1/2k less than others
and that we should really reserved the appartment at the advertised 165000k
Please remind me again who was the one that say we must be rational and not offer after 1 visit?
Husband then call his sister
and at the end of the call, the sister say we should offer 155k for ground level
haha, as expected husband was not agreeable, he already thinks im crazy to say 163k
The owner emailed us most of the papers and husband think its really good appartment
Well, it is definitely a popular appartment since is advertised 2 days ago
and we are not the first visiter interested in offering it
But i do have my concerns that we will need spend money on fixing some wear and tear
and being too hasty about the decision
After a long night and way past my bedtime,
I finally give in and agreed that we will offer at 168500k
But husband has to promise that he will not say:
- Maybe the owner would accept a lower offer
- The house is too small, we should have bought a bigger one
- I think we overpaid for it (especially when his friends or family comment on the price)
Im writing it here so that i can show it to him what he promised
although i think he should tattoo this 3 sentences on him
Despite all, maybe im a little unrational too to offer after a first visit and a really high price,
all i can say to myself is that its still within our budget
I am paying for the security, nice town, reduced traveling time to work....
The owner's new home will be ready in 1-2months
so maybe, we can still meet my deadline to shift in August (Summer holidays)
I hope all will be well...
No comments:
Post a Comment