Monday 24th February 2008
We got up early again today because we have got a lot to do and we are going back to Sharon’s tomorrow, we wanted to visit the Schools that we were happy with and try to fit in a couple of House viewings.
First stop Vasse Primary School, this is quite a quaint little school really, it used to be classed as rural working out of a couple of classrooms but had now become quite well developed with just over 200 pupils and plans in place to take more because it is situated right opposite a building site with hundreds of plots for housing just waiting to be sold. We had a look round the school with one of the Deputies and he answered our questions, we were quite impressed with it.
Next stop was Geographe Primary School, this is the largest of the Primary schools with just under 600 Pupils, it was hidden away behind a Sports Centre and difficult to find. When we went into reception the lady behind the desk was unable to give us much information at all really and there was nobody available to talk to us or show us around so we left. The place hadn’t felt right from the word go, it is a bit big compared to what the kids are used to and just didn’t have a very good aura about it.
On to West Busselton School where we were welcomed and had a chat with one of the Deputies who explained everything in great detail before showing us around, when we got to the Oval (playing field) we were standing under some Peppermint trees and told us that these were home to some Possums and that the children see them quite often. Well, you can imagine, the kids were swung over by this bit of information and when the Deputy pointed out a piece of Possum Poo on the path that was it they were ecstatic and desperate to start school immediately.
There is not a lot to choose between Vasse and West Busselton and we checked to see if you could live in one area and put the kids into school in another, but unless you send them private the State Schools will not entertain the idea.
We then went into the town centre and arranged to see a couple of houses in the afternoon before we went for lunch at the Olde Chapel Café. We went there because they have a wireless connection and we would be able to pick up our E-mails.
We ordered some food and drinks and while the kids read books on one table we checked our E-mails, Ian is not happy because he has just found out that Birmingham managed to nick a draw on Saturday, while we were doing this the Owners son walked over and gave Ian the phone saying that there was a call for us, caught on the hop a little bit Ian answered it and it turned out to be Kevin the Business agent, he had rung the Café to tell them that the buyer had pulled out and when they told him that we were having lunch in there he had asked to speak to us. Our offer has been officially accepted and we don’t have a clue how the system works but we’re sure it will be fun finding out.
Just to finalise the offer there were a couple of alterations to the letter of offer that needed to be initialled so we arranged to meet him at his house and finalised that.
We needed an accountant and one quite close to the Café had been recommended to us so we went there on the off chance that we would be able to talk to someone and had a nice long chat with one of the accountants there who explained the best way of operating a business from a taxation point of view and this was almost identical to what another accountant had told us a couple of weeks ago, only this one was a bit more personable and cheaper.
Then we had to find a Settlement Agent (conveyance solicitor) and after contacting a few we find out that there is only one in town that is qualified to do Business Settlements and he has upset the Owner of the Olde Chapel Café at some point so she is using an agent from Margaret River which has done us a favour. The agent is also licensed to do residential as well and as we will need to purchase a house we managed to do a deal for him to the Settlement on both.
After that we went to look at a couple of houses none of which were up to much so we arranged to meet the agent again tomorrow to see another one.
We then decided to go back into town to check out some more properties in the estate agents windows and while we were looking at one display, the agent who had been lumbered with doing the late shift came out to ask if we wanted any help so we told him we want something near the beach, cheap and near the right schools and he said I may have just the thing. He went inside and came back with details of a house that was a bit tired but has been put on the market by the Bank, we arranged to meet him there for a viewing about 15 minutes later, so we quickly bought the kids an Ice Cream to shut them up and met the agent.
The house is lovely, a bit old (30 years) and in need of some TLC but the layout would suit us, it’s got the right number of bedrooms and although it needs a lick of paint it looks structurally sound, it’s near the beach and it’s on the market at about $100k less than others in the area that have been kept tidy. Apparently the Owner died about 2 years ago and the family still use the house for holidays from time to time but the Bank as Trustees have now put it on the market for whatever reason, we are thinking if it’s a repossession we could be on a winner here. We had a good look round and love the place, it’s just a matter of how cheeky we dare be with the offer.
We had a look at the closest bit of beach, 200 yards we reckon, it is quiet and safe being fairly sheltered in the bay. We then head off back to the Chalet where we demolish most of what is left from yesterday’s picky bits and agree to put in an offer on the house in the morning. We have decided to go in with a stupid offer to see what the bank say after all banks in the UK used to virtually give houses away as long as they got their money out of it.
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