2002

Diary 2002

28 December	I phoned three of our previous estate agents and asked them to resurrect the papers and get something going as soon as possible. I explained that we were still going to fly out on 8 January because of our commitments in Spain, and they all agreed that they could deal with matters in our absence. Unfortunately, we cannot contact the solicitor until 2 January because of the holidays.
27 December	We called in to see Helen and Colin after a day out visiting - it now appears that Fiona may not be going straight back on the market, and Helen and Colin appear to be reconsidering their position. In any, case they insisted that they wanted us to go back on the market, which will be very difficult as we will not be here! They agreed to ring Fiona on Sunday night and find out what their decision was, and let us know.
26 December	I spoke to Helen who said that they were putting theirs straight back on the market, as was Fiona, their buyer.
24 December	Helen phoned this morning to say that the first couple in the chain had pulled out. We agreed to concentrate on enjoying Christmas and speak again on Boxing Day.
21 December	We went to dinner with a former colleague and her husband had made the sign showing the name of our new house. Unsurprisingly, we are calling it 'Jubilacion' and he has made a beautiful sign in wrought iron for us to fix on the wall. I'll add a picture when it is finally in place.
19 December	Paul came home for Christmas - we picked him up at Gatwick at about 9.45pm. He doesn't think much of the weather (cold and wet) as he left wall-to-wall sunshine in Gran Canaria!
17 December	After some concerted reading of instruction books and help sites and much head-scratching, I am just about to publish this site. If you are reading this, then I succeeded! There are still lots of areas to be completed, but I am sure that I will always find new information to add, and I have to start sometime.
11 December	Thomas phoned with one or two queries about the floor tiles we have ordered for the house - he confirms that three men are working there now and the interior walls on Bill's floor are in place. We told him that Frank Rose says the furniture will be delivered on Monday 13 January.
9 December	We booked the night of 6 January at the Travel Inn at Weeley.
7 December	The amended contract for David Dale was completed and posted, and we booked the rooms at the Travel Inn at Harlow for (half the) night of Tuesday 7 January. We can book the taxi to take us to the airport when we get to the hotel.
6 December	We went and bought Bill a new wheelchair in Clacton so that he has two decent ones to take to Spain. Peter booked the car, a Ford Focus estate, for 24 days from 8 January. Lee has agreed to buy the Volvo when we go, so we will have three weeks to find and buy something suitable for us before the hire car goes back.
2 December	After a phone call from Peter, Frank Rose confirmed that the movers would arrive on Monday 6 January, and continue on the Tuesday if necessary, leaving for Spain as soon as they had finished.
30 November	Peter retired from his physiotherapy practice—and promptly started sorting out all the necessary notifications for the move!
26 November	Frank Rose from David Dale arrived at 10am (an hour early) and caught me in the shower! When he had finished his tour of the premises he was happy with the original quote—subject to possible trans-shipment at Montesano because of access problems—and said he would confirm 6 January when he gets back to the office on Friday.
24 November	I booked three tickets for 8 January from Go in their sale - at £20 each! Unfortunately we have to check in at 4am. We will stay the previous night at the Travel Inn at Harlow and get a taxi from there. I also rang Ron for advice on car hire since he has the reputation of getting good rates. He recommended www.easyautos.co.uk and I checked them out. They do look better than other rates we have seen, but we're not booking until the furniture removal is confirmed.
20 November	As the sun was shining we drove into Javea after we had done the packing and wandered along the promenade at El Arenal. We had coffee at Crazy Daisy's and lunch at a cafe whose name escapes me - but Bill and Peter enjoyed their full English breakfast, and I appreciated the sausages and mash. We then went back to the villa for a sunbathe, finished packing and cleaning and left for the airport at 4pm. Everything went OK and we arrived home at midnight.
19 November	We collected the rest of the documentation from the bank for the new account. Martha came with us to translate—it seems that it is necessary to negotiate everything with the bank - there is an 'official' rate for every type of transaction but you only pay it if you don't ask for it to be reduced! We spent another hour with Thomas on the final details of the contract for the finishing of the house, signing it before we left.
18 November	We went to see Thomas to discuss the details of the contract before going to the Notary's office in Pego to sign up. The lawyer arrived at Pereto's, saying that the bank manager was already on his way to Pego, and we left, following the lawyer, and followed by another couple who were also signing the deeds for their new house. Our vendors were half an hour late, but everything eventually got done in what I imagine is the normal Spanish fashion - certainly none of the locals seemed at all surprised by what seemed a bit frenetic to me! The bank manager, Mauricio, gave us details of a new account...it seems that it had all to be changed now that we are landowners! We have to collect the cheque book and the rest of the cards tomorrow. After it was all over we returned to the Awraba in Orba for lunch and had a bottle of Faustino V to celebrate. Then we drove to Denia and met Martha who took us to a shop to order the shower chair and rails for Bill's shower-room. That was a long process as well, and we were glad to get back for a rest.
16 November	We picked Sue and Colin up about 3.30 (their car had broken down) and took them up to see the house. They both liked and Colin said he would have bought it if he had seen it first. They are getting pretty fed up with looking at houses that don't meet the specs they have given the agents, but are not in any particular rush. After wandering round the house and garden, thankfully in the sun this time, we went back to the villa and had a cup of tea. Later we all went to Monroe's Carvery in Moraira for dinner. It was an excellent meal, and also very cheap and very filling.
15 November	Still raining! We visited the lawyer in Benissa just to go over everything prior to the signing on Monday. It was very difficult to park and even more difficult to get into Calle San Pedro because of all the roadworks. When we finished I rang Thomas and we arranged to meet him at the house to go over the building works needed. We didn't try and get Bill into the underbuild but he had a good look round upstairs and was impressed. I had bought some little cakes and we had a ceremonial 'first food' in our new home. We went back to the villa and stayed in for the evening because the weather was still so awful.
14 November	We woke up to total cloud cover and quite a stiff wind. We were supposed to see Thomas at 10am but when I rang him to say we were running a few minutes late, he said he was busy and would like to cancel the meeting until the next day! That left us free to go up to Bella Vista and then into Orba, where we visited the Bank and collected the outstanding cards. By the time we came out it was raining and thoroughly miserable. Bill sat in the car while Peter and I sloshed up to the supermarket and got some food for the villa. We then had lunch at the Awraba and went back to the villa to get out of the rain.
13 November	The bank rang at 8.45am to say that the drafts had arrived and Peter went and collected them. We had a bad time getting to Luton—the A12, M25 and M1 were all blocked with traffic accidents and problems according to the traffic reports on the radio, so we went via the A120, Baldock, and Flitwick route to the A1 junction 10 and it took us nearly three hours! We collected the tickets from the desk and had a snack and a wander round the airport while we were waiting. (What a good job that we left so early!) It is a nice, small, cosy sort of airport and the parking was easy. The plane was delayed half an hour and we finally arrived at the villa at Benitachell about 10.30pm, after misunderstanding Martha's instructions. The villa is absolutely lovely and will suit us very well when we go back to it in January. It is roughly 40 minutes from our house.
12 November	Peter went to collect the bank drafts and they had not arrived. He arranged to pick them up at 9am tomorrow morning before leaving for Luton. The air tickets had not arrived either, so Peter rang Monarch who arranged for them to be at the desk at the airport tomorrow. Martha e-mailed directions to the villa - but not where the keys would be left
11 November	The lawyer rang—the signing of the deeds is set for Monday 18 November, and we made an appointment to see him for a general review of everything at 10am on Friday 15 November.
6 November	Faxed requested contract details to the lawyer.
4 November	We rang Pereto and told Thomas that we had booked flights and would be in Spain from 13 to 20 November, so we hoped they could arrange for the deeds to be signed during that period.
3 November	Peter took the bull by the horns and booked three flights and a hire car for Wednesday 13 November. The only flights we could find were with Monarch from Luton Airport. We haven't flown from there before, but Kevin says it is good.
31 October	Wonderful last day at work—capped by a message from Helen this evening that the couple who had looked at their house yesterday had agreed to buy it! And they already have a buyer who wants theirs to rent out—so that makes a nice short chain.
26 October	I rang Thomas and he confirmed that he had spoken to Vicent the previous afternoon, after our telephone conversation. There is apparently a minor delay with the bank who have decided that they want a valuer from a special department to look at the house as it is unfinished. He should be going in next week. We discussed the dates for signing, and I said that we would very much like to keep to the original date of 11-15 November, so that the completion date does not slip. He will consult Vicent and ring back on Monday or Tuesday...
25 October	We came in about 3pm to find a message from Thomas acknowledging receipt of the drawings and details that Peter sent on 22 October and promising full plans next week! I rang him back about the date for the signing of the escritura and he tried to ring the lawyer who apparently was not available. However, we later got an e-mail form Vicent saying that Thomas had said there was a problem with the bank and the signing would be at the end of November. Curiouser and curiouser!
24 October	Thomas has finally replied - to say that we should contact the lawyer for details of the mortgage! But the lawyer isn't talking to us... Peter is going to start sending faxes next.
22 October	Peter has collated all the drawings, plans and pictures of the building work we want done on the house and has sent it to Thomas by courier.
21 October	We now have three more agents on-line. Perhaps they will send some more viewers. We have had a reasonable looking quote for the removals from David Dale, but the estimator has just gone on holiday and we have to wait a fortnight to take it any further.
17 October	Peter has been talking to Bellavista - they say that the signing of the escritura should be in November - but when? We have got flights and accommodation to book. Apparently, Thomas from Pereto has had a 'small accident' which, I suppose, may account for the fact that he hasn't replied to any of our e-mails or sent the specs that he promised.
14 October	Helen and Colin still don't have an offer so we decided we would have to spread our net a bit - I told the estate agents that we were giving them the necessary week's notice that we are going to put the property with other agents as well. They responded over the next two days by making appointments for two more couples to view on 19 and 26 October!
11 October	I had a day's leave ( I shall never work on Fridays again!) and we went to IKEA. Sharon came as well. We bought the two bedroom lamps which I wanted and then found a caddy for the wall of Bill's shower; two prints and frames; a small circular red rug; a big wooden chopping board; and a heavy square vase. When we had finished we went to Costco but they wouldn't let Sharon join so we went to Lakeside instead. I found a beautiful gold-coloured bowl that will look absolutely gorgeous standing on the merchant's chest in the living room. Peter spoke to one of the girls at Bellavista yesterday and she is going to chase up the lawyer and the builder for answers to our e-mails - that will be nice! I am looking forward to some confirmation that this is actually happening!
3 October	We have details of a villa in Javea that is adapted for wheelchair use and is available in January - so we have booked it for four weeks from 3 Jan 2003. Talk about assuming that everything will work out - we haven't got a removal firm organised yet! And Helen and Colin don't have a buyer for their house.
28 September	Peter has booked flights from Alicante to Stansted and return for my 60th birthday in February! And we don't even have a date for flying out there yet!
18 September	Anna - Back to work and agreed with my manager that I could leave on 31 October.
7 September	First sight of new house! It was only the second one that we saw less than 24 hours after our arrival in Spain. After concentrated discussion up to and during lunch we agreed to buy it and sorted out the initial holding deposit with Thomas of Pereto. During the rest of our stay we visited the bank (three times) and the lawyer (twice), as well as builders' merchants, lighting shops, furniture shops, etc., etc. We also explored the area, noting the positions of restaurants, bodegas, markets, and so on. By the time we left I felt quite at home in Orba!
20 August 2002	Helen and Colin have agreed to buy this house—when they have sold theirs! They are going to talk to the estate agents tomorrow.