Moving update

I have been postponing this article, in the hope that everything would be finalised, and I could write the definitive statement of what is happening.

I should have realised that this was never going to happen. The complications and frustrations of selling two houses and buying one, separated by many hundreds of kilometres and two different legal systems, conspire to ensure that we are never entirely clear what is happening.

Still, we have made progress on all three transactions, and here’s the latest state of play:

• Derby sale
  The buyers are still on board, although their solicitor keeps asking additional, often stupid, questions. The date for completion has been tentatively set for 9 April, but contracts have yet to be exchanged. So this could all still fall apart.
  Our estate agent, Hayley, continues to annoy us intensely, but we have at least managed to get written confirmation of the fee we shall pay on completion. Val achieved this by going in to see her in Derby, and demanding that she write us an email, and print off a copy, before she would leave the office. Vague protestations of “I was going to do it . . .” were sternly countered by “You knew I was angry, so why didn’t you then?”
• Roquetaillade sale
  We are now certainly completing this Thursday. Frank and Phil, our purchasers, will arrive from Dublin tomorrow and are staying with us till Friday. We shall have a couple of hours of the delights of Maitre Isard (pipe puffing, obscure references to his long-ago schooldays, well meant ‘jokes’, a dogged commitment to ensuring everyone is clear about every detail of the transaction, and growing evidence that his legal knowledge is not fully up-to-date with the world of international treaties about marriage contracts and property sales). At least, unlike those involved in the Derby sale, we are sure he means well.
• Saint-Sornin purchase
  Maitre Vivier’s office seem to be getting their act together. Last week I emailed them to check whether they were nearly ready to set a completion date. Their response dashed our hopes as it turned out that they had delayed several weeks in starting the statutory two month period for SAFER to decide whether it wanted to intervene and buy the farmland. We paid out an extra fee to bring this back on track, and the apparently efficient Mlle Perron seems to have everything under control. She even returns phone calls, and speaks in admirably clear ‘standard’ French.
  Mlle Perron explained that the sellers had not expected things to suddenly move ahead, and could not move out before 26 April. So we have fixed the completion for 10:00 on Monday 27 April.
  Now we just have to agree dates with the removers . . . . Which is not as easy as we hoped, because they like to have the whole of a Monday and Tuesday available for scheduling deliveries on long distance moves. The nice lady we’ve been dealing with says she will talk to the patron and see if the delivery might be scheduled for the Monday afternoon. So much for having a few hours to clean the place out and check where we want things placed!

In four weeks, we could be installed in our new house, happily erecting fencing so we can bring the llamas over from their temporary lodgings with Mike and Suzanne. I wonder what crises we shall have to deal with between now and then?