Finally, we've had an offer accepted

[DamselInDisgrace]

As the thread title suggests, really.

We've been looking for about a year, and it has been frustrating to say the least. And, at long last, we've managed to find a house that we like and people who are willing to sell it to us (for a sane price)

Now, we just need the rest to go smoothly.

The previous owners part exchanged for a new build, so there's no chain and they're keen to get it off their hands quickly. We're first time buyers with a decent deposit. So, theoretically, it should go smoothly and quickly but you never know.

Annoyingly DH is away at a conference, so I have no one to get excited with me. Well, I did tell the kids but they'd get equally excited if I'd said they could have McDonald's for tea.

Now I just need to instruct solicitors, deal with mortgage stuff and all that fun stuff.

Good for you. It's quite an exciting time. Especially buying your first house!!

Hurrah hurrah! So exciting. Well done. Congratulations! And

Thanks.

Well, don't get too jealous yet. All sorts of stuff can yet go wrong! The search has been so torturous that I won't believe it until we get the keys.

Despite this, I am stupidly excited. It's not anywhere near as impressive as anything you're looking at rhubarb, though.

It's a 4 bed semi in Newcastle. The location is great for us. It's close to DS1's school, near the metro station and close to several of his friends' houses. It gives us a choice of schools for DS2 (who'll start reception in 2013), which is something of a luxury. There are 4 non-faith schools that he could get a place at, 3 of which are very popular and always oversubscribed (the 4th is not enormously popular but is absolutely fine). That means we can avoid all the school applications angst in January, which would be lovely.

It needs some work, but it'll be really quite lovely once we're done. The biggest thing is that the kitchen needs a skylight or window. The previous owners extended it, but didn't think it might benefit from a window. They then put in a kitchen with darkish wood doors, black worktops and black tiles on the walls and floor. This was not a sensible plan. So a skylight/window (and a nicer kitchen) is really quite important.

Everything else is decorative. There's a lot of laminate and horrible carpet that needs to go. At least the previous owners didn't carpet the bathroom. You'd weep at how many houses we've seen with carpeted bathrooms (some of them built in the last 5 years and owned by young people so there can be no excuse).

Sounds fab! I'd definitely go for a window over a skylight though in a kitchen; it's always nice to be able to see outside while you're doing the washing up/peeling the spuds.

My Dad once carpetted my bathroom for me as 'a surprise' while I was away (years ago when I was living the single life in my little flat by the sea), because I'd been saying I needed to do something about the flooring. No kidding it was a surprise .

Argh. That must have been a nightmare. I can't begin to fathom the thinking behind carpeting a bathroom. I just can't.

The skylight idea is just in case it costs a fortune to put in a window or we can't get permission for one. I don't see why we wouldn't though, as it'd face into our garden like all the other windows at the back of the house. I won't be doing any washing up though!

I'd go for window over skylight too. Skylights can be a bit of a nuisance and sometimes prone to leaking. (Don't mention the weather!) There was a carpet in the kitchen when we moved in here. What a crazy idea. We couldn't afford to replace it at first. Then I managed to spill a bottle of olive oil on it. Don't ask me how!

Bathroom carpets are nice for about the first couple of days after they've been laid new and then awful.