New House Secured

Today I've signed a construction contract & handed over a 6,000 euro deposit for my new house. It hasn't yet been built, I'm buying it 'off plan' & it's going to be on a plot with 15 houses in total & quite close to where I live now. In fact it is a lot nearer to the beach & the sea - I would estimate approx a 10 min brisk walk.
Here you can see the artists impression. It's two bedroomed with an open-plan living, dining & kitchen area. It has a downstairs wc & an upstairs bathroom with bath & shower. I'm also taking up the option to have the oil fired central heating system installed. It will also have air conditioning.
To have the pool built in, as in the picture, would have cost me an extra 25,000 euro on top of the house purchase
price. This would take me over my planned budget because I also have to budget for the very high purchase taxes over here when you buy property (although buying 'off plan' saves a huge amount on the taxes) So I'm making enquiries about obtaining a surface standing pool, the same or similar to one that was at the house I was going to buy before. These are made by a UK company & come in kit form which includes everything. I've researched these on the web so I know the cost of the pools. I'm now awaiting a reply to an email I've sent to the company to ask for the weight & size of the packed pool components so that I can then obtain a quote for shipping cost from the same company I used to ship my belongings from the UK to here. I am hoping that it will be financially feasible to do this as I have got myself used to the idea of having a pool now. Apparently the pools are relatively easy to install & many of you know of my renowned DIY skills. So I would probably only need to get someone to do the electrical connections for the pump. I have already asked the construction co. whether they could lay me a concrete base if necessary as the surface pools need a level base & they would be able to do this.
The site for the houses is empty land at the moment as construction has not yet started. I've been shown around a house of the same design which is being built at another part of the island & is part completed. I've selected the plot where where my house will be built from the 3 plots that were still available. There is the actual purchase contract to also be drawn up & signed, this will include the stage payments I'll be required to make at various points during the construction. Completion is estimated to be between 8-12 months so I will remain where I am for now. As the house will not be far from where I live now I'll be able to follow the construction from start to finish & get photos at the different stages.
So all is not lost - as many have said, maybe the other house was for some reason just not meant to be. Also, because I am now going for a 'new build' house I will not be comparing it to the house I lost as it is completely different. So everything is looking up again :-))

A Week With Mum (Part 2)

I said a while back that I would post the second part of my mum's visit here to see me - so here it is. I had agreed with work that I could take a day off on the Friday so that I could go with mum on an excursion.
The company I work for have as one of their excursions 'Golden Cruise' This is an afternoon cruise around the south part of Zakynthos.
We made our way by car to the small port at Agios Sostis where we met up with Wendy, who is our company guide, & the rest of the guests who had booked the tour. I'll put a few photos on within the text to show you some of the sights from the excursion.
We settled ourselves on board the boat & we set off, firstly across Laganas Bay on turtle lookout. We were fortunate to see one adult turtle but very briefly. It was seen to take a large gulp of air & soon disappeared again below the surface.
The boat then made it's way to Marathonisi Island (also known as Turtle Island due to it's shape being that of a very large turtle) The beach on Marathonisi is one of the nesting grounds for the Loggerhead Turtle.
The boat anchored off the beach & those that wanted to (including mum & myself) left the boat & swam ashore for a while in the beautifully clear waters. I felt quite brave as I have always felt uncomfortable in water when out of my depth but with the buoyancy of the sea water I felt quite safe & enjoyed our swim.
When everyone was back on board the boat made it's way around to the other side of Marathonisi where we were able to view the caves. From there we then sailed on around the Keri Peninsular where we saw the beautiful cave formations there too. Heading back to the port of Agios Sostis we had time for one more swim stop - this time, as it had turned a little cooler, mum & me did not swim but a group of young lads had a whale of a time diving in over & over from the sides of the boat, much to the entertainment of the rest of us.

All in all a very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon with mum. It was helpful for me too because next season when I am talking about this excursion to our guests I will have a better idea of what they can expect.

My next post will be an update on my house purchase situation - I'll be posting some good news :-))

Bad News re. House Purchase

Last Saturday morning I got a telephone call from the sellers of the house I was going to buy. They informed me that the planning application for the house that they were going to have built on the land they own, has not been granted. After considering their options they have decided to stay put where they are so they will not now be selling the house.

As you can imagine I felt pretty gutted on receiving this news, particularly as the last document I needed from the UK for the bank had arrived in the post only the previous day. I delivered this straight to the bank the same day so everything had felt that little step closer.
Maybe for some reason, unknown to me yet, it wasn't meant to be - who knows.
So now I have to start the search again for a house to buy. I hope that I can find one that is just as suitable as the one I have just lost. Up to now things have always seemed to work out right in the end so I have to hope that this situation goes the same way. I have had to bounce back from setbacks before so I should be used to it by now LOL.

I have already started researching properties via the internet & have been a drive around on the lookout for potential houses for sale. I've arranged to see a construction company tomorrow morning about some new build houses that are going to be built between Kalamaki & Laganas. I will have to speak to my bank & my lawyer to let them know what has happened & also have a rethink on the options open to me to finance my purchase. Wish me luck everyone.

On a separate subject, my work has ended now for this year. My last day was 8th October as our work had slowed right down so I now have my 6 months off for the Winter before I re-commence at the beginning of next season.

I still have to post the 2nd part of my mum's visit - I haven't forgotten, I will try to do it soon. My first priority at the moment is to identify a property to buy - I hope to be able to report some good news on that soon.

A Week With Mum (Part 1)

On 23rd September Mum arrived for her second visit to Zakynthos to see me since I moved out here. The weather was starting to look a bit unsettled & I was really hoping that it would hold out for just a bit longer so that mum could enjoy the beach & especially swimming in the sea which she loves to do. I need not have worried as the sun shone throughout most of the week.

The day after mum arrived I had been invited to a celebratory meal at Michaelos restaurant in Kalamaki. This was to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Joanne & Steve's wedding which had taken place on the island the previous year. As mum was here with me the invitation was also extended to her which was nice as it allowed us to have a lovely meal out & also for mum to meet some of the friends I'd spoken about that I know from the Zante internet message boards. A whole group had come out together, many for their second visit of the year.
The photo of me & mum was taken during our meal at Michaelos.

As I was still working in Kalamaki, I took mum in with me on a few occasions & dropped her off at the beach where she was able to spend several hours each time. My manager had agreed that it was ok for me to pick mum up again when she was ready & drive her back to my house & for me to then return to work.
After all, I couldn't leave mum sitting on the beach until 9pm which was my finish time :-) This arrangement worked out well.
On the Monday morning I took mum with me to Tsilivi, to the hotel where I do my 'Welcome Meeting' every week. I thought it would be nice for her to see what I did & I think she was suitably impressed with my presentation ;-) While there she also got talking to one of the guests who turned out to live only about 26 miles away from mum in the UK & had an aunt that lived around the corner from mum.
On the Wednesday of mum's week I had arranged to book her a place on the 'Discover Zante' island tour that the company I work for runs. It is an all day tour & gives a good overview of the island taking in the main highlights. The lady who mum had been speaking to at the 'Welcome Meeting' had also booked to go & so it was great that they enjoyed the day together. The photo of mum was taken during the tour of the island.


On the Wednesday evening both me & mum met up with my friend Emma to have a meal at another great restaurant 'Zepo's' which is also in Kalalmaki.

The photo shows the three of us - mum being nicely co-ordinated with the matching tablecloth LOL. Once again a lovely meal in great company.

I will try to post the final part of mum's week soon.