We're back home from our Suffolk house hunt. The biggest worry while were away last week was how Marion 's mum Flo was managing without us. Fortunately she had a couple of visitors and she seemed pretty good when we visited her on Saturday and Sunday. We arranged for three of her old friends to come round to our house yesterday for some sausage rolls, cakes, a cup of tea and a glass of sherry. And things went extremely well until Flo needed to use the bathroom. Instead of asking any of us for help she opened the door, slipped and fell with a mighty thud and a nerve shattering scream. To say that we panicked is an understatement; Marion rushed for the phone whilst I, along with Flo's friends and a man who was working on some jobs around the house ran to her aid. Although her dignity and her pride were badly damaged, her head didn't hit any of the bathroom ceramics and, luckily, it simply brushed a wooden floor. Her knees took a nasty knock. Marion didn't call an ambulance as one of Flo's friends was a nurse for donkeys' years and was happy that the injuries didn't warrant a hospital visit. After an hour she was well enough to return to her care home in good enough spirits to be able to share a joke about her tumble. We smiled with her but our stomachs were in knots. Frailty, Alzheimer's and old age are a deadly combination. We visited her again this morning and the nurse from the Memory Clinic joined us. The nurse is pleased with her progress - she has started to settle well in the home.
I mentioned that we had a man at the house to finish off the small jobs that we want tidying up before we put it on the market. Yesterday he repaired the front door, fitted new brassware to it, re-grouted the bathroom and cleaned the conservatory gutters. He's already put new taps in the kitchen and cloakroom and fitted new lights by the front door so, when the decorator has finished repainting a couple of rooms and we've done our last few jobs of blacking the grate and cleaning the driveway, we'll be ready to put it up for sale. I'm not sure that the £122 to fit a new seal to the washing machine door because it looked a bit manky was taking it a step too far (would you open the washing machine on a house viewing?). I've been taking a few photos in case we decide to try and sell without an agent. I'm tempted by Sarah Beaney's super site Tepilo ( CLICK HERE ) but, having gone through the Zoopla sales figures for Southport for the last twelve months it doesn't look like much is moving so I'm not anticipating a fast sale. Our three previous houses all sold on the day they went on the market (honest truth) but I'm not sure that we're in the same conditions today. We aren't desperate - if we get the house we are interested in it will take a good six months to renovate and we're in the fortunate position of our purchase not being dependent on the sale.
It's very tempting to try Tepilo - nothing ventured nothing gained. But where does absolutely everyone look before looking anywhere else? That's right, RIGHT MOVE and, so as to avoid upsetting their estate agent customers, they won't accept private sellers (can't blame them really). According to Right Move we have to concentrate on the 3ps Price, Presentation and Promotion. We've got the presentation right so now we need to fix the price and sort the promotion. I reckon that, without an agent, we could ask a price that is a fraction below a very important price break but, with an agent. we would need to go over that important price band in the maximum price menus. Oh well, let's see what happens. Tepilo is happy to allow you to promote through an agent as well.
They do say that moving is one of the most stressful times of your life and "they" are definitely right.
We're going to get a big water bill. While I've been writing this I left the hose topping up the pond (no we aren't on a ban here) and I forgot about it. If we had any viewings today we'd have to explain that the back is an experimental Japanese water garden or, being green, that we've decided on our own paddy field. Apologies for lack of photo due to slight exaggeration.
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