We have gotten the keys! We are now the official owners of a French house in Gometz-le-Châtel, Essonne, a little town of 2,500 inhabitants, about 30 km south of Paris.
On the eve of the French National Day, the house finally became ours. Four and a half months earlier, the seller (an elderly lady, through her son) had verbally agreed to sell it to us. It wasn’t exactly a lull period after the house had been found. In this period, we (well, mostly Silviu) dealt with the paperwork relating to the banks, agents, syndic (apartment managing agent) and the mover. The bank made a botched-up job of our loan application. Without that, the whole process would have been smoother and shorter. Silviu would also have had fewer sleepless nights, and we fewer fights.
20 Minutes to Become House Owners
It was on a cold and rainy Tuesday morning that the purchase transaction was completed at our notary office in Orsay. Our agent was present physically at the notary’s, while the seller joined us by video-teleconferencing from his notary’s. Indeed, without Covid-19, France would never have allowed this in this century!
Silviu and I were familiar with how the meeting would be conducted since it was exactly at this office where we became first-time home owners of our Orsay apartment three years ago. Besides, we went through the same motions the day before when we met up with the buyers of our apartment to complete the sale.
During the meeting, all parties skimmed through the purchase agreement on a big screen hanging from the ceiling. Meanwhile, our notary scrolled through it and rapidly explained the rights and obligations of both the buyers and the sellers. Since it was an uncomplicated transaction and no questions were posed from either side, the whole process took less than 20 minutes. At the end of the meeting, the agent handed us the house keys.
Hazelnuts, Hidden Meters and a Central Vacuum
Earlier that morning, before the notary appointment, we met up with our agent and the seller at the house. There, we did a final check and, most importantly, asked the seller about the ins and outs of the house.
Our concerns were mainly related to the functioning of the electric water heating system, the heating oil boiler and the central vacuum system (I had never heard of the last two in my life until recently, very recently). Never really interested in anything remotely mechanical and being super ignorant in this domain, I felt overwhelmed as the seller explained patiently to us how the whole system worked. Fortunately, Silviu was a quick learner and definitely more apt in this area—he seemed to understand most of what the seller was saying.
The seller also shared with us little details about the house. For example, the water meter was very well hidden (underground). The tree at the front of our house with purplish-tinted leaves was actually a hazelnut tree. We could pick the apples in the garden around All Saints’ Day in November. And we could collect the paper garden waste bags from the town hall.
So many things to know. Life is so much simpler living in an apartment.
Our First Three Hours as House Owners
Right after the meeting with the notary, we returned immediately to the house, OUR house. But not to live in it, at least not yet. Even though we are now the owners, we are unable to move into the house until the end of July as the movers helping us are not available till then. For the next two weeks, we will be staying put at the Orsay apartment, ‘renting’ from our buyers.
We spent three hours on our first day getting to ‘know’ the house. We had visited the house three or four times before. However, the agent and/or the seller were always with us. As a result, we never had the opportunity to fully explore it (and be totally at ease). We started the exploration in excited anticipation of what we would learn about the house.
One of the first things that we did was to open all the doors and windows to air the house. Apart from occasional visits by the previous owner’s son, the house had been empty for almost two years. As a result, there was a musty smell everywhere in the house. Believe it or not, there was also a whiff of pee in the master bedroom.
Then we tested the two main house keys on the various doors in the house. By the end of the three hours, we still could not find the use of one of them. One seemed to be a master key that opened all the doors. As for the other one… we are still trying to figure it out. We also tried the various switches: the window blinds, the heaters, the lights etc. Again, another mystery needed to be solved: we could not find the switch to turn on the lights to the verandas.
What Comes Next
Making It Ours
Strictly speaking, the house in its existing condition is livable. Despite the old house furnishings, everything still works in the house. However, to rejuvenate the house, to make the house really ours, we have decided to renovate the house. Since we were fortunate to buy the house at a price lower than our budget, we are able to put some money aside for this project. In the past four months, we have been discussing and planning our renovation project. As such, we are aware of the work it will involve and the time it will take. We would be content if we could celebrate this year’s Christmas in our newly renovated house.
Dust, Grime and Spiders Everywhere
Renovation is optional, but a deep house cleaning is MANDATORY. You cannot imagine how much dust there was, the number of spiders and cobwebs that we saw everywhere in the house. I feel icky after each visit to the house. Just the thought of cleaning the house ourselves—the size and the grime—especially the first time round, and the fact that Silviu is AFRAID of spiders, fill me with dread. Hence, we have decided to pay for a professional cleaning service to help us. Since the cleaning service is only available the following week, we would need to bear with the dirt for another week.
Excited, Happy, Relieved… and a Little Nervous
Yet, when we left the house three hours later, our feelings were mixed. Excited about owning and living in a house. Happy that we would soon be free of our current neighbours. Relieved that the 3-month-long house search and 4.5-month red tape were finally over. However, knowing that the upcoming renovation would destabilise our everyday life for the next four to five months filled us with apprehension.
Regardless, we were ready to embark on the next challenge of being house owners.