We have moved! Say hello to Wonky Cottage

It has been a minute since I last blogged - life has been very busy as at the end of 2023, we bought a cottage!

Last year we were happily renting a lovely house in a gorgeous village and I whilst I always knew I would feel more comfortable owning, we weren't in too much of a rush to get back on the property ladder. 

That is until one day, we received a phone call from our estate agents saying that our landlord wants to sell our house. This phone call came only a few days after we had emailed the estate agents to say we were happy to sign another years contract with them to stay renting.

So panic ensued. I was so upset at the prospect of losing the place we had called home for two years and was worried about leaving the village we loved and felt part of the community.

I had seen previously that there was a cottage for sale in the older part of the village but originally when it was first listed, it was out of our price range. After we received this call I went back onto Rightmove and I noticed that the cottage had dropped in price and it was now potentially something we could afford.

We didn't have a mortgage offer in place and we weren't sure how much we would be able to borrow. Our savings/deposits weren't equal so Mr Poachie and I needed to discuss logistics of buying a house and what that meant but I booked a viewing to see the cottage.

Located on a village green, a stone throw from a pub and with seriously cute kerb appeal. I was excited to see it. I had always dreamt of living in a cottage and this one ticked a lot of boxes.

 

The front door opens to a small boot room/coat room, its not big enough to call a hallway but I like the fact it didn't open straight into the living room.

The living room felt spacious and had a log burner and an ingle nook fireplace. There were beams and lots of original features. 

The cottage had previously been rented out but was currently empty which was excellent news in terms of no chain, we were in a rented house and so it potentially could be a quick move.

The rest of the cottage was delightful, lots more beams, a roll top bath, a downstairs toilet, a pantry/laundry room, a bootroom at the back of the house, a butler sink, three large bedrooms, large bathroom with a great shower, plenty of storage space in the eaves (no more sending Mr Poachie up to the loft once a month).

The garden situation posed a slight problem, when you opened the stable door it lead to a patio area that had no fencing which meant Rosie could run havoc. The gardens are all higgeldy piggedy, so there was the cottage garden a short walk away, the shed was somewhere else and I was worried Rosie would chase a cat/squirrel and worst case scenario run out onto the road.

The cottage is Grade II listed so we weren't sure if we would be able to put up a fence or work out a way to contain her, or where she would go and do her business.

After the viewing, we said to the agent we were definitely keen but were going to Marrakech the next day so wouldn't be able to arrange a mortgage in principle or sort our finances until we were back, but if anything were to change to let us know immediately.

When we got back from our trip, I had an email from the agent (who incidentally was the same agent as who we were renting with) to say the cottage was now under offer and as they hadn't heard from us, they presumed we weren't interested. This was very frustrating as I had specifically said we were very interested but looking back now, I think we were the pawn into someone else making an offer.

So, I felt massively deflated as I had dared to dream that the cottage could be mine and had started to visualise what my life would look like living there, what I could grow in the garden, the log burner on Wintry evenings...

Time passed and I kept my eye on it, praying that the offer would fall through. At this time, the house we were renting didn't seem to have much interest and we started to wonder whether it was actually going to be put up for sale or whether they wanted us to move out, so that they could increase the rent. It wasn't listed online and whilst they said we could have first refusal to buy it, no one came to view it. 

I used to walk past the cottage every day as I walked Rosie near there and I checked online to see if it was still for sale and It turned out that the previous offer they had, had fallen through. I thought this must be a sign from the estate agent gods! The cottage was meant to be mine! Thankfully, by this point we had our ducks in a row and had sorted our finances. We booked another viewing and worked out a solution for Rosie/the garden and we put in an offer.... fast forward a few months we moved in September 2023 and I am so grateful and happy that this worked out.

We have started to decorate as the cottage is mostly painted a hideous shade of mustard or magnolia. Because of the beams I don't think a lot of colour is needed so we are going to refresh the rooms with a coat of white paint, the boot room and downstairs bathroom might be green but we are currently using many tester pots to find the right colour.

We started work on the garden and its so exciting seeing what is growing and I am going to plant my dahlias and sweet peas so I have a mini cutting garden. The joys of home ownership! 

*in case you were wondering why its called wonky cottage, this is just how we refer to it. The walls, ceilings, floor, windows, beams are all wonky in the most wonderful way.