A Slow Crawl.

As you’ve read, it started back in about April, when we went and had a proper look at the block, did a whole lot of talking and working-out stuff, and some more talking – and then finally made an offer.

We were nervous about making an offer, as we pretty much had no savings left from the last few years of having had various kids come back home – so we didn’t want to make an offer, then find out we couldn’t get a loan!
It would have been rather embarrassing, especially for a real estate agent, and when the sellers are ‘well known about town’ types… 😐

Anyways – caution to the wind – we haggled some, and the offer was accepted.
In the meantime, we got to work on the loan docs also.

Then – joy oh joy – just as we got the pre-approval (the day we headed off on vacation actually!), their accountant decided that they shouldn’t sell this financial year…!
So, whilst they have agreed that the land is ours, and we do trust that they wouldn’t sell it out from under us, it means that they won’t sign a contract until July 1 – which has been disappointing.
You know how it is…. – once you’ve made a decision – you want to actually be DOING stuff.

The upside of this though, was that it gives us a little time to get together some extra $$s, in case we have to top up the loan, and to also find a ride-on, and source things like power/septic/water etc, as well as time for designing our shed/home.
We also had previously planned a vacation to NZ from mid-May to early June, so at least we wouldn’t be sitting around home gnawing our knuckles, waiting for things to start happening!

At this point in time, we anticipate the shed being our eventual home – unless it’s financially unviable/prohibitive to bring it up to habitable council spec, so the current plan is between July and Xmas, we gradually move stuff over into a shipping container, and work on the shed to make it comfortably habitable (to our standard, not councils), when we can.
We will live rough for as long as we need to with a portaloo and camp stove etc, working our way to lining it, then adding a proper bathroom, kitchen etc, and then getting it to habitable council spec.

If that isn’t financially viable, we will look at maybe building a small kit home (think granny-flat size) that will be to council habitable spec from the get-go.

So that’s where it all stands at the moment.
We’re hoping to go out to the Farm this weekend to clean up some, mow around the shed and slab, and mow in markers ready for where the house-fence lines for the dogs will go.

Here’s hoping the weather gives us a break for a couple of hours!!

5 Comments

  • Linda douglas

    Hello, girls! This is Linda Douglas, aka the Ratwife from Ratrace Losers. We are living off-grid out in the Chihuahuan Desert of Far West Texas. We have been here for about 2 1/2 years now. Why is the farm named for owls?

    • TheWhitbys

      Hi again Linda.
      We’ve been loving reading your adventures, and started at the beginning before you even got to Tx :))

      As for the Owls – well the really is threefold…

      1) we’ve both just always been a big ‘fan’ of owls for some unknown reason – and have always had them in various forms all around our homes.
      2) there are also a number of owls that live around the vacinity of the Farm, and we love spotting them, or listening to them at night when they are calling out to each other.
      And 3) is a bit of tongue-in-cheek inside-joke type humour.
      OWLs is also an acronym: Older Wiser Lesbians – of which we are a variety…lol

  • Linda Douglas

    Personally, I’d love to see a more detailed bio for you as well as some discussion of where you are homesteading. I confess to some ignorance about Australia. What is the climate there? How far from “city life” are you? Do you have any pets? As I continue exploring your blog I’m sure I’ll have other questions.
    Linda

    • TheWhitbys

      We’ll try to get onto that Linda – and thank you for the suggestions 🙂
      Is always great to get feedback and to know what others would like hear about, and know about you!
      Hopefully you have already learnt a lil more about us as you’ve read through 🙂

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