A trip to Prague...and a house update

So these past few days have been quite eventful.

On Thursday I worked from home and we got some estate agents around to do a valuation. The first guy told us more than we were expecting, the next two told us considerably less. I suspect they were pricing low for a fast sale, but we have a minimum we need to achieve, and we believe the house is worth that.

Anyway, Thursday evening Hubby and I went to take a look at the house we had seen for sale online. And uh oh, we LOVED it.

The only drawback is that it is at the very top end of our budget, and I would have prepared to take on a bit more of a project, whereas this house has all been done, so there's not much I can do. The couple selling it are moving to New Zealand, so they are leaving loads of stuff behind like curtains and offering a load of furniture for sale as well at really good prices.

The problem now is that we need to sell our house as fast as we can, get the right price for it so we can afford to put in a decent offer on the other house before anyone else does and they take it off the market. On the plus side, no one else has put in an offer yet - I suspect they are in the same situation as us - houses just don't seem to be moving at the moment.

I have advertised ours on Twitter, Facebook, noticeboards at work, and emailed the details to a few friends of mine who might know people who are looking to move out of London. I am hoping this leads to something so that we can save ourselves the estate agent's commission.

However, I am meeting with them again today, and the photos, floorplans and Energy Cert will be done this week so that hopefully we can get it on the market by the weekend.

The house we want to buy is just gorgeous. The garden is beautiful. It is all very "us", with veggie patches, an enormous sitting room, a snug for Nick to play computer games in, a dining room (at last), and for me - a range like I have always wanted!

Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed for us! And in the meantime, if anyone knows anyone who is looking to move out of London to be in the country, but still within an hour's commute of the city centre, please let them know we have a lovely house for sale - £330k for a 2/3 bed house, kitchen/diner with underfloor heating, large sitting room with feature fireplace and radiator, 2 large double bedrooms with fitted wardrobes etc. etc. and fantastic views over lakes, fields and horses!