Tag Archives: Bath

Flat Purchasing Fiascos

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After nearly a year of flat-hunting, one has finally been purchased. What I initially thought would be a simple process turned out to be MUCH more complicated. By simple, I mean I thought it would be a matter of outlining my requirements, going on Rightmove to see what was available, arranging some house viewings, placing an offer on my dream abode, and moving in one month later.

Silly me, I clearly live in Lala Land.

I think it’s because things seem to move a lot faster in the only country I’m completely familiar with – good ‘ol Canada. There, it’s not atypical to have a house sold in 4 days, or even before it gets listed, and to get the keys within 1.5 months of the sale going through. Whereas in Bath, it seems like 3-4 months is considered standard from placing an offer to getting the keys in your hands.

May 2013

Bright eyed and optimistic, this is when M and I first started scoping out flats. We had a rough budget in mind and with that, we made bookings for every flat that fit within the budget that was in a decent location. I don’t consider myself to be high-maintenance but apparently I have demanding…um…demands. It’s not unreasonable to want an ensuite bathroom, high Georgian ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a garden…is it? I mean, Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in England and I figure, if I’m going to live in Bath I would want to live in a typical Bath Georgian building. Reasonable request? I think so!

October 2013

By month 4 of flat-hunting standards started to change and sacrifices were made. We were getting nowhere fast and the prospect of owning a flat was slipping away. I escaped back to Canada over the summer months to deal with visa issues and left M to his own devices. When I came back for a brief visit in October I came back to a deliriously happy fellow. One who had just purchased a flat. Without me. I know I wasn’t around to view any flats and while it’s true I told M to make the call in regards to putting offers on flats he deemed worthy that was just me being nice! I didn’t think he’d ACTUALLY do it!

So he showed me the flat. I think it was all I could do to not burst into tears. The pictures below show a very beautiful flat…to the naked eye.

Spacious sitting room going out onto the balcony. But what the hell is up with that huge pink piece of plastic on the wall!?!
Sitting room looking into the kitchen
Kitchen the size of a walk-in closet...and more pink plastic!!!

I think M was blinded by the flat’s beauty and was put under some evil spell that compelled him to put in an offer. This spell inhibited his logic and reasoning in the following ways:

  • It was WAY too expensive for what it was. He put in an offer that was £10K below the asking price and his offer was accepted. That would’ve been good and dandy if the flat wasn’t priced £40K above its valuation.
  • The flat was on one of the busiest streets in Bath and the bedroom faced the main street. Something I absolutely cherish is a good night’s sleep. And there was no way in hell that was going to happen in this bedroom. Noise-proof and fully insulated windows (double glazed windows) aren’t allowed in listed Georgian Buildings, as it goes against the city’s ‘aesthetics’.  This means I would’ve woken up to 6am lorries and morning traffic EVERY SINGLE DAY. Weekend sleep-ins? Good luck! It was also opposite a night club, which means not only would it be extremely noisy Fri and Sat nights, but one would not have the right to be surprised/angry if faced with the smell of piss or puke.
  • One of the biggest highlights of the flat was the large balcony in the back. True, it was very nice. What M didn’t seem to mind (which I thought was a big deal) was the fact that the stone of the building was starting to come apart. It’s not a good sign when the sales agent says: “Watch your head, the building’s a bit old, you don’t want the stones to fall on you.” Forgive me for, you know, wanting to keep my head intact.
  • The flat required probably an extra £15K in renovations and with the already high price-tag of the flat I could see any hopes of going to the Maldives evaporate before my very eyes (yes, yes #FirstWorldProblems).

Oh, I tried to be supportive but I knew with every ounce of my being that this was a mistake. The question was “How do I make M realize this is a mistake without sounding like a horrible person…?”

Enter: Flat Surveyor!!!

Getting a flat surveyed is the norm here (and probably in Canada for older buildings? Confirmation, please!) and the process involves hiring someone who’s familiar with the internal structure, the outside of the building, inspecting all potential problems and submitting a 1000 page report (perhaps a few pages less…) of all potential issues as well as what they think the property is worth in their professional opinion.  I struck a deal with M. If the surveyor came back with a valuation within £10K of what we purchased it for then we’d continue on with the sale. Else, bye-bye flat!

I waited with bated breath as M went through the report.

He smiled.

I thought “fuck. I got this wrong…I got this completely wrong.”

He asked what I thought the report stated and I looked dejectedly at him and said it was obvious the report came back in his favour.

He pointed the computer screen in my direction and that’s when I saw – the figure facing me was £30K below the asking price and £20K below what M offered.

HALLELUJAH!!!!! I WON!!! I WON!!! M’s convinced I smirked all night, but it was just an expression of jubilation. I didn’t have time to console him. I was too busy thinking: “Maldives is back on the table…”

February 2014

Another offer was put on the table. No ensuite. Not a Georgian building. No floor-to-ceiling windows. But this one had potential…LOTS of potential. This one was a project and I like projects!

Offer accepted…and the waiting game to get the keys began. The flat is part of a complex that belonged to a woman who just passed away. Her family was acting as executor and to put nicely, the family was in no hurry whatsoever to get this sale going. With the flat being unoccupied and totally ready to move into I thought the move-in process would be all ‘BADA BING BADA BOOM’.

March 2014

We wait

April 2014

We wait some more

May 2014

Lots of back and forth emails exchanged between the two parties’ solicitors.

June 2014

Take a wild guess

July 2014

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!!! 5 months later – we gots da keys!

Present day

I wish I could say things are now smooth sailing and I could show you pictures of my new humble digs but apparently, the fun (please note heavy sarcasm) has just begun! The flat is a fixer-upper and while I like working on projects, I didn’t think I’d actually have to LIVE in one. Renovations are well underway. I am currently living in a construction yard but hey, at least I’ve got my next blog topic! Stay tuned, folks. An update on the extensive flat renovations is on its way!

Sunday Fun Day – It’s ROAST time!

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If there’s one thing I love England for it’s for their immense devotion to providing their countrymen with a pleasurable way to end off a long and hard week. Two words. 1. Sunday 2. Roast. Of course, the reason for the long and hard week is because I’ve had to work my body to the max to burn off the million calories from that one meal. But I digress…

I’m ashamed that after living here for two years and having kept up this blog for basically the same amount of time, not a single entry has ever been devoted to one of my most favoured English gastronomic experiences. I have to specify English because let’s face it, not even the crème-de-la-crème of Sunday Roasts will ever beat out Chinese-style lobster and Peking duck.

But it’s never too late to correct an error (is it?) so I will now begin to document my Sunday Roast experiences. The good, the bad, and most especially, the OMG-THAT-WAS-SO-AMAZING-I-WISH-EVERYDAY-WAS-SUNDAY experiences.

Allium Brasserie  Abbey Hotel, North Parade, Bath BA1 1LF

Price: £££  ||  Atmosphere: 3/5  ||  Service: 5/5  ||  Would I go back? Yes, but it wouldn’t be my first pick

Allium Brasserie’s one of the more pricier Sunday Roasts I’ve come across, but with Chris Staines, bearer of a Michelin star, as head chef I can see why. I ordered my go-to dish, the traditional roast sirloin of beef. At £18.95 the roast came with the regular trimmings: Yorkshire pudding, parsnips, carrots, roasted potatoes, and a bed of greens and bacon.

Sirloin beef with all the trimmingsSirloin beef with all the trimmings

The good:

-I appreciated that the server asked if I was OK with my roast being served pink.

-We were served bread that was ACE! It was a beautiful sourdough bread that’s leaving me with a watery mouth just thinking about it even 9 hours later. Props to serving this delicious bread warm and for providing us with room temperature butter that just melted right onto the bread. We ordered another round of bread because it was so good.

-The service was quick, efficient, polite, and I never had to wait long before my empty glass of water was refilled.

-The meal itself was pretty nice. The beef was tender and juicy, although the slices were precut for me and I’d prefer to be served a chunk of meat and be given a steak knife so I can cut my own portions. That way the beef will stay warmer as well. The carrots were caramelized and pretty delicious. The roasted potatoes were piping hot and seeing as they were triple fried in duck fat, pretty tasty as well (but just three potatoes? Come on…).

The bad:

-The atmosphere and ambience of the restaurant was definitely catered towards a higher end clientele. It’s probably nice as a romantic date kind of setting, but on a Sunday afternoon I just want to have a good laugh and relax with my friends. Allium Brasserie is definitely not the place for that. We all felt we had to be on our best behaviour and had to make sure our indoor voices were in check.

-Not enough gravy. I adore gravy, and the more of it I get, the happier this girl will be. I want to be able to dunk my beef, all my vegetables, and have enough gravy left over so that my Yorkshire pudding can go for a lovely swim. The gravy supply was definitely lacking, leaving my Yorkshire pudding dry and lonely. Poor thing.

-I’m a self-confessed quantity over quality girl and while I’ll admit I didn’t really NEED to eat more at the end of my meal I would have preferred to leave the restaurant STUFFED . I mean, a Sunday Roast should leave you satisfied all day long. I just had dinner 2 hours ago. I would have preferred more of everything and would have also appreciated more vegetables, namely greens. Broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts – anything! I mean, at that price I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

-For the next point I don’t think I can hold it against Allium Brasserie because I think this particular downfall may be a remnant from last night’s dinner, but I found certain parts of my meal to be overly salty (eg. bed of greens with bacon). I’m stating I could be biased because I had a doner kebab for dinner last night, which was so loaded with sodium that I woke up today with a completely parched mouth and proceeded to drink a 1.5 litres in one take. I think my palette was a little extra sensitive to salt today, so again, can’t hold this point against Allium but I thought it’d be worth a mention.

In conclusion, not a bad experience whatsoever. It just wasn’t my ideal situation but I would recommend it to those who I know would appreciate Allium Brasserie’s qualities.