For Sale

As previously mentioned the way things work in the UK is that in order to pay for care home fees (whether it be private or NHS) we needed to sell the asset of the house.

Trying to sell the house whilst Mum was still living there would have been too overwhelming for her. The council offer a 3 month grace period in which they cover the care home fees whilst you make efforts to sell the property, with the intention once the property is sold that you owe this money back. They can also extend this 3 month grace period provided you are able to prove efforts have been made to sell.

Time was therefore of the essence. Clive and I were back down in Devon the weekend following Mum’s move to clean and tidy the house, clear out the junk and get it ready for sale. The place was sparkling when the estate agents came around to do a valuation and we agreed to an ‘open house’ viewing in a fortnight.

Clive and I were therefore back in Devon two weeks later to mow the lawn and spruce the place up for the open house.

We had a couple of interested parties and I was able to accept an offer soon thereafter.

We got a little anxious heading into completion territory because we thought the Brexit vote might impact the buyers interest. Luckily this didn’t seem to sway them and it was green light to complete and move out.

Another long weekend was spent in Devon clearing out the property. The buyers wanted everything gone. The neighbours son was about to get married so I was able to give quite a bit of the furniture to them for their new beginnings. Mum was so fond of him and would have been pleased to know her belongings were going to a good home.

The whole process from start to finish took 3 months! We packed the car with the few possessions, mainly those of sentimental value, which I had decided to keep. A last goodbye to Mums wonderful neighbours who had been such a tremendous support to her over the years.  It felt sad to drive away – the end of an era!