Kiwiagogoland

Today I managed to set up a few key services that we will need for our arrival in New Zealand. First off I got my mobile unlocked so that I could use our new NZ Vodafone SIM cards, which arrived courtesy of a friend a few days ago.

Yes, we now have our very own local telephone numbers :)

Next in line was a postal address. We decided on a service called Private Box because it forwards to any address in the world, uses a physical address and allows you to read our mail online. It also has the great service of shredding all the crap you don't want - now that's what I call service!

Oh well, the bite has been a blessing in disguise as I spent most of yesterday chasing my tail.

The land registry search in our HIPS says the road is not adopted, so the solicitor needs sight of a Section 38 and requires a Land Charges search (£73) from the County Council (CC). The CC says I only need to pay £27 for a smaller search called a Con29. I check with the solicitor and this is OK.

So I order the Con29 search and 5 minutes later get a call from the CC to say it should be free and already included in my HIPS pack. Due to the time restrictions I told them to go ahead with the search and I would sort it out from my end.

I call the estate agent, who calls the HIPS provider who says yes a Con29 is included in the HIPS. I ring HIPS provider to ask where the results of the Con29 are and where is the section 38 response. They in turn, call the CC.

It then gets more complex to explain, but the upshot is, the Con29 was not included fully as the CC did not disclose all of the information to the HIPS provider. We are paying for the search directly due to the time issues. The HIPS provider is issuing us with a refund for £27 quid we paid to the CC.

It only took 5 hours to resolve....

Today I'm laid off work after getting bitten on my ankle. Its swollen like a balloon and hurts like hell, making it very difficult to get around. On the plus side, it gives me chance to catch up on a few bits of paperwork.

We've had a couple of people round to assess removal and shipment costs for a container to take our belongings to NZ during the last week or so. Tomorrow though sees something entirely new....the mortgage surveyor for our buyers. I hope everything goes well.

Our "blue stickers" arrived today. We've been holding onto the last minute instead of forking out the 460 quid to have them sit in our passports for months. August 2nd was our deadline to get them, if we'd missed that we would have to go through the application process all over again. For those not in the know, the blue stickers are our residence visas and allow us to stay in NZ.

Some of you may remember my post House Fairy which I made last month. Well I am pleased to announce that the SOLD board has now gone up! I told you it was a case of believing ;)

There is still a long time to go and a lot of hurdles to jump, but so far so good. Keep the payers coming!

Oh my God, that's mad! I got a phone call out of the blue at 10:30pm (I was expecting an email - lol) to say that they would like to offer me the job!

I am over the moon and it seems they were really impressed with my interview knowledge as well as my experience, which is fantastic news. A letter of offer is being sent out and I need to start by 30th September :)

Now the hard work begins...

The viewing lasted 20 minutes. A nice couple, but clearly very busy with us being the last of 6 houses they have seen today. Clearly they see themselves as being strong in the current market (which they are) but I think the fact we have letting to fall back on (which should go ahead in 2 days) indicates we are not going to accept silly offers.

I had a call from the agents today to book a viewing on Saturday. At first I thought they were joking but it seems a couple from out of the area have a change in circumstances that allows them to be in a position to resume viewings.

This will be our first, so its all systems go!