And It's Mine

Mind you - I was beginning to wonder, as yesterday afternoon wore on, if settlement would actually happen.

I had gone down to work, intending to leave around 2 or 2:30 and head into town, on the assumption that settlement would be around 3:30.

But no. Apparently my mortgage company was reluctant to transfer the mortgage money to my solicitor, despite the solicitor and my mortgage broker asking them to, multiple times. Eventually they transferred it at about 3pm. In Victoria settlement has to be finalised by 4pm. At 3:30 I arrived at the tramstop nearest to the estate agency where the keys were. I sat on a seat at the tram stop and waited. And waited. And waited. By 3:55 I was cold, fed up, and fairly certain that settlement wasn't going to happen that afternoon.. I was JUST about to give up and head back to my car, when at 3:59 I got a message to say that settlement had happened, the flat was mine and to go and collect the keys.

I was slightly surprised when I walked into their reception area and their receptionist simply handed me the keys without asking anything that proved my identity. No check of my ID. Nothing. I said "Hello, my name is Frances Hyde and I'm here to collect the keys for unit 6 hundred and..." and she interrupted me with an "Oh yes. I've got them here". And gave them to me. I know she was expecting me but I could have been anyone. A flat burglar, perhaps.

Anyway.  I didn't argue. I accepted the keys, a bottle of champagne and a Happy New Home card and went away.

Closer inspection of my flat made it obvious that it has been inhabited by tenants for quite some time. This is not to say that no one looked after the place but it is tired and a bit dishevelled and needs a few repairs and a bit of TLC. This doesn't really bother me. If the imperfections do begin to bother me then I will get them fixed. Plus, if the place had been in pristine condition I almost certainly couldn't have afforded it. Anyway I bought it for its light-filled space, its big windows and the view. I don't really care about scuff marks, nor even the crack in the kitchen bench (I may begin to care about that eventually; not sure what I would do about it though).

I took some boxes down today. This was the first time I had been in the flat in the middle of the day. 

Isn't it beautiful?

Lindsey and I marked the last Sunday that I will be a resident in Ballarat with lunch at The Boatshed. It almost certainly not be the last time I will be in Ballarat on a Sunday but it was something of an end of an era. I am not anticipating a return to Ballarat as a resident. But I have lived in and around the city, on and off, for very many years. I lived in Beaufort for three years, Ballarat city centre for three, then had a twenty year gap before coming to Mount Helen for nine years. It seemed worthy of a noteworthy Sunday lunch.

So we had mocktails and a seafood platter to share

It was a bit disconcerting just how quickly Lindsey and I managed to demolish all that food!