New beginnings

Here's a quick update on the house that K and I bought a couple of months ago. It seems like ages ago now - and whilst we'd like to get the move done as soon as possible, there is still a lot of preparation to be done before we'll be in a position to move in.
Part of the reason for the delay, is that the current owners sub-divided their property a while back, but never got clearance certificates from the council. They left it until the house was pretty much sold (to us) before applying for this clearance, only to find out that the council would not grant clearance until sewerage and electricity supply had been added to the subdivided piece of land (essentially we're buying a piece of their land - the piece with the house on it, and they are keeping the rest). We were then told that this process could take up to 4 months to get sorted.
The other part of the problem is that the deeds office, apart from being evicted from their Jhb based offices, close shop during December, so nothing gets done until early Jan.
By some small miracle, the owners managed to get clearance from the council during December. I think that they have had to put money into a trust, as a form of surety, until the council sorts out the sewerage and electricity requirements, in return for granting clearance. Either that or a decent back-hander was paid. Who knows? Besides the delay, its not my issue anyway.
We have also agreed to pay a nominal occupational rent from the 15th January, until the transfer goes through - we're hoping by 1st or 2nd week in Feb.
So, what that means is that from 15th Jan, we'll have a new house to move into. Top of the list of things to do still:
- Get quotes for outside security beams and link them up to the existing internal system
- Look at lighting options for the driveway
- Automation of the entrance gate
- Organise movers and transport for the day
- Buy a lawnmower

So much to do still - but really exciting at the same time.

Happy New Year

To all our friends, family and readers of K&G Online, K and I would like to wish you all the very best for 2008. We hope that you have had a happy and safe festive season, and that the year ahead is filled with health, peace and happiness.