Friday, May 7, 2010
I Need a Dollar
(Aloe Blacc, 2010)
Progress. No, I am not talking about the election results.
I mean the number of small but significant steps we have taken this week:
1. The house is now insured. Lightening, gas explosions, tidal waves: we have no fear.
2. We have a mortgage. We have become one of them. You know, those people you sometimes hear droning on about how low rates are these days, in fact we got quite a good fixed rate of 3.9%, which we combined 50/50 with an annual variable, starting at 2.39%, but in Belgium the law says it can only ever increase by 1% a year, and can never more than double in the lifetime of the loan, don’t you know… yawn….
3. Now this IS exciting: we have an architect. In fact three. The fabulous Vincent and his team, masters at bringing light and space into old Brussels town houses while preserving their original character. Have a look at the ‘Henry’ and ‘Potagère’ projects for an idea of the kind of glass / balcony / light well / garden extension which we quite like. He is going to prepare an ‘esquisse’ (detailed plans) and then, well, we’ll have to see. Very, very provisionally, we are looking at this sort of timing: Plans this summer; Submit planning application in the autumn; Start works in spring 2011; Move in before Christmas 2011. Let’s hope that is not too optimistic…
All in all, it was a long week. Thankfully tomorrow is the weekend, so we can put aside the paperwork and get back to clearing the garden. Bliss.
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5 comments:
What progress... particularly about getting your architect on board. How exciting. Those timings seem quite generous to me (novice as I am in this game), but then I suppose there is more to do to the house than one ever expects from the photos.
I was aiming for something much quicker to be honest, but we figure that taking the time to get the plans right first time means that the planning permission and works go more smoothly and efficiently in the end.
And also a bit of expectation management!
"Expectation Management" - I like that phrase; there's certainly a stack of people in my office I could apply a bit of it to.
Good to see whilst our respective countries governments are descending into chaos you've still managed to get a great deal on your mortgage.
I assume it now goes without saying that I am ridiculously jealous?
I WANT A GARDEN.
It is good to be cautious on times, but you may find that if you push ahead on a tighter timetable you still get good results. There is always the risk that if time table are too generous others may simply put off what they can do sooner.
Any way, wouldn't it be nice to be in for next summer?
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