DOING LIFE

A SERIOUS OFFER - NEARLY A DONE DEAL

13-14 October 2007

It has been quite an eventful weekend. Whilst teaching my scrap lesson on Saturday morning and having a couple of house hunters sassing out our home, Trish from Acutts Estate Agents phoned to ask whether she could bring around a very interested client, who has already seen the outside of our home, at about 2pm. I said that would be fine. The couple promptly arrived with Trish (punctuation being a trademark of Trish's work ethics) at 2pm. As usual, I was expecting to have freedom of our home again within about 20 minutes (which is the usual duration for home hunters to enlighten themselves about our home). But alas, this was not to be. Half an hour went by, 45 minutes went, a whole hour went by at which time the couple requested a tape measure - now like most of you who probably have sold or bought a home - when the word tape measure comes up you know matters are turning serious. Shelley was visiting the afternoon, and me not being able to put my hand on a tape measure right away, Shelley promptly pulled a tape measure out of her handbag. No sooner did the tape measure appear and the garage's height was measured to make double sure that their 4x4 will fit. Another half an hour went by and only after the couple made another tour of the house and garden, did they depart.

Trish had promising news on their departure informing me that they are definitely putting in an offer and wanted to know whether we would be able to meet the following conditions:

Condition ONE

Occupation date, 3 December 2007

Condition TWO

Permission to have 3 dachshunds (miniature sausage dogs) on the premises (complex rules state only two animals per unit).

Condition THREE

Rose (our home executive) has to stay on.

Condition ONE was the least difficult to meet, apart from it perhaps leaving us homeless for a while having to evacuate by 30 November - leaving me with only six weeks of enjoying living in the unsurpassed beautiful lush green and peaceful environment of Kloof and enjoying the company of my dearest scrapping students.

Condition TWO was quite a hurdle to overcome. The complex's rules states that only two animals per unit are allowed and if the rules are bent for one unit, it could set a president for future new Sandlea unit owners. I got hold of Conroy, who was at his apartment in Bryanston about this issue, who soon made work of this and contacted the chairman of Sandlea's body corporate. The chairman could not be persuaded to allow three tiny sausage dogs instead of two - so it seemed like one little miniature sausage could cause a serious deal to fall through the cracks.

On Sunday, Conroy phoned the other two members of the body corporate who was totally relaxed about allowing three little sausages instead of two. With the approval of the other members, Conroy got hold of the Chairman again, who this time round, having heard that the other members gave their approval, also gave his stamp of approval. This was a huge relief. Trish also got hold of the Chairman and got his stamp of approval personally and even offered to assist Sandlea's Body Corporate with the wording of its rule regarding animals.

Just as a matter of interest, the couple actually have FIVE little pedigree dachshunds. They have already found new owners for two of them. A third one is 12 years old and recently had a huge back operation and has a serious heart condition. It was apparently a miracle that it came through the operation alive.

Condition THREE was another serious stumble block. As most of my scrapping students know, Tracy (ex Bundu Chick) has offered to employ Rose and has already been waiting for Rose since the end of July and said that she is willing to wait for Rose as long as it takes to sell our home. It took a lot of courage for me to ask Tracy whether she would be willing to give Rose up. Thanks Tracy for being so understanding and being willing to find another home executive. This meant a lot.

Condition ONE has changed since the signing of the offer to 28 November 2007, which gives us 5 days less to organise our move and find a home in Gauteng.

So a big thank you to:

First of all Trish, Tracy, the Chairman of Sandlea's body corporate and Shelley with her tape measure who made this offer possible.

I got the ball rolling with setting up three removal companies for quotes and am seeing the first tomorrow morning. The reality of relocating to Gauteng has kicked in and life will be moving along a bit faster for a while. I am flying up to Johannesburg on Friday, visiting Conroy for the weekend. Looking forward to seeing him again for the first time in three weeks.

- 'Scrapping Teacher on Offer' Signing off