When I survey the wonderous dross

So we went to Espoon Lahti on Friday and had a look at a couple of flats. The first on was on the 2nd floor and the bathroom was wrecked and all the fittings were in the small bedroom. One of the dividing walls had been removed and the living room and bedroom had been combined to give a huge space. In the apartment was a Blind Scottish terrier it was a sad old thing that followed us around and sniffed at our ankles. The door to the balcony was painted blue. I did not like the place and we left.

In the next building on the first floor was the next place we went to see. It was light and airy with good floors and a well equipped kitchen. It felt good and Maija wanted to make an offer on it, provided that she could get all the light fittings in the deal. Esa the estate agent said he would try and do the deal but the light fittings might have some sentimental value. We decided to pay the full price provided the owners vacate the flat on the 8th of Feb.

I went to work and Maija stayed behind to do all the paperwork. At around 16:00 Maija called and said she had agreed to put down a deposit of 5,280€ this apparently ensures that no-one else can make an offer on the flat while our offer is under consideration. She had some trouble getting the money together since there is a limit on our bank cards of 200€ per day s I had to use SOLO SERVICE at Nordea to pay the deposit online.

Later that night the estate agent rang and said we had thapartmentnt pending the final payment. Maija was happy especially when she heard that she had got the lights in the deal even though apparently they had been a wedding present to the couple who owned the flat.

Now I have to get in touch with the removals company in the UK and arrange for our stuff to be delivered on the 9th of Feb. I wonder how this will be handled. In the UK the completion date is all important. No money is exchanged hand s untill the house has been emptied and is ready for the new tennents to move in. Apparently we could hand over all of the money a week before we moved in, but you would then wonder what is to stop the people for staying on longer in the house and keeping your money. There must be some safeguards in place to prevent something like this from taking place.

Anyways we have to be out of our flat in Lautasarri on the 7th of Feb so if the deal goes through then the timing will be excellent.