3 April 2016

Well......... What an eventful couple of months we have had!!!!

We put our home on the market on the 11th February and the first inspection was at 10am on the 12th February.  Second inspection that afternoon at 4pm with an offer made and accepted by 6pm that day.  We were given an unconditional date of 26th February with settlement date of 21 March.  YAY we thought.

The buyers had put a 'due diligence' clause of  - wanting all final inspections by council.  Not a problem we thought!   HOW WRONG WERE WE?????  

When the buyers conveyancer did the searches it was discovered that the FINAL plumbing inspection from 1979 had not been filed with council.. This meant it was now up to us.

We were actually away in Quirindi, NSW when all this was beginning to unfold and instead of fulfilling all our planned commitments in NSW we had to high-tail it back home so that we could go to council and try and get it sorted.

We were also told (by the buyers solicitor) that council did not have plans and approvals for the concrete driveway from the front gates to the shed, and that the shed was too close to the boundary in one corner.   hmmmm so why was this not detected when we purchased the property in 2006?????  NO-ONE could tell us. Now this turned out to be easier to rectify that we were originally told.  At first the buyers solicitor was telling us that we would have to move the shed --- a 12metre by 7.5metre shed on a metre of concrete - Ahh NO!.  When we went to council they pulled up the Google Earth photo (a very recent photo as the people behind us with the trampoline had only moved in at beginning of January) and after discussion with the people in authority - we were told that NOTHING had to be done as it all looked fine.  This was told to the Solicitor who passed it on and then she rang us back that night to tell us the buyers did not believe what we were saying and they were going to go to council on the Monday morning.  Fine - you do that!!!!.  They were then told the same thing as us. :D

 It also turned out that the upper deck off the dining room seemed to not have had its final done either - so again that was up to us to rectify.  They also wanted us to put a driveway from the kerb to the boundary of the property.  We then had a quite long discussion with the solicitor about how there ALREADY was a sloped driveway and if the buyers wanted anything different THEY could do that when they took occupancy of the property.  Their argument apparently, was that we were using the ‘box kerb’ and there wasn’t a sloped drive – sorry – it looks like this one is the one that was put in before the house was even built.  We had done quite enough thank you very much.

The owners before us had put in extra plumbing downstairs with a shower and hand-basin as well as a kitchen sink.  This plumbing had NOT been approved by council either.  So again it was up to us to get it all checked out and approved.

We were told in 2007 that we DID NOT need council approval to convert the double garage to a rumpus area.  In 2016 this is incorrect - so we had to get a draftsman to come and draw up plans showing the conversion from Non-habitable to habitable.  Whilst he was at it we had to get him to  draw the plans for the upstairs covered deck so that that could be approved.

With all these works having to be done - we could NOT go unconditional until all the 'due diligence FINALS' had been obtained.

On the 22nd March the building certifier came and checked the conversions, checked the construction on the deck and the roofing and YES - passed everything that had been done.  He then sent everything to council on the 23rd and emailed us a copy of the Form 21 which is the FINAL CERTIFICATION form needed by council.

The plumber had been to check all the plumbing for the FINAL inspection and found that some things were not up to the 2016 standard and had to be rectified.  Of course!!!  So $1800 later he was contacting council to come and do an inspection BUT that could not happen until council had processed the paperwork, sent us a form with a number on it and then we could re-contact the plumber so he could re-contact council and book in the inspection.  So our first council inspection was on  the 29th March and - wouldn't you know it - more work had to be done to make it acceptable!

On the 30th March our plumber was back again putting in some AAV (Air Admittance Vents), 

 the AAV from kitchen sink downstairs

AAV from the ensuite hand-basin and fixing the pipe to the wall because it would be too unsafe if not done.  It has coped fine for all the time we have been in the house :C

reversing the hand basin taps (because apparently you CANNOT have the hot tap on the right) and affixing the drain pipe to the wall in the laundry and then putting so much black insulation on the hot water service - it isn't funny.

 there are covers on the relief valves, the pipe from the relief valve had to be extended and run along the wall and then down into the drain.  It is NOT permitted to be released on the ground anymore.  Then the pipes had to be insulated so no one got burnt.

On the morning of the 1st of April the council inspection was booked for anytime between 8am and 12md - and the inspector arrived at 11.30am and checked the work that was done and YES - it was all passed.  We were emailed the certificate at 3pm that afternoon and we then forwarded on to our solicitor. Ahh - now that WAS definitely a weight off our shoulders and we headed off to Beckies for the weekend.  

We were looking after the children as Beck was heading off to the wedding of the young lady who had been her Bridesmaids 8 years ago.  We had a great evening as my brother Peter was able to join us for dinner (he is working at Yarrabilba near Logan Village).  It was lovely spending nearly 5 hours in his company.  Thanks for coming Pete, the grandchildren enjoyed meeting Nanna's brother.

We are now back home and camped in the van in the driveway.  We only have to pack the kitchen things and we will be ready for our removal that has been booked in for 8am on Wednesday.  We have decided to put our belongings into a storage facility (one of the cheaper ones but it also has CCTV and an onsite caretaker with NO access after 7pm at night - if anyone goes in after 7pm then the alarms will go off).  We are then going to go and spend some time in areas where we are thinking will be great to retire and settle - check out the area and facilities and access to medical needs etc and then compare them and make a decision.  At this point we are not going to rush our decision.

We have got commitments for most of this year with looking after Wendy and Ian's animals from May until end of June and then I am meeting up with a fellow weaver to learn about weaving with native grasses before heading back to Brisbane and passing on my new skills to the Jajari Jimbaljin ladies group.

We then have commitments in September and October down in Victoria before heading back up to the children and grandchildren before heading back to NSW and Christmas in Condobolin.

So lots planned and we will keep you in the loop as to where we are and what we are doing.

Ohh and we know have this out the front