Our flat buying proceeds apace, but suffered a bit of a setback today. We are more or less settled on our fixer-upper, assuming it goes through – if not, whatevs – but the GF went today with a contractor to see what needed to be done, and was basically ambushed by a lot of men talking loudly in Turkish and rushing him to make an offer and, specifically, the offer they wanted. Amidst all this was a lot of manly backslapping which is something he really dislikes, so came back wanting to just flee. Meanwhile I, with my general lack of trust of other people, and not having a very strong commitment to the flat anyway (I like it but could move on without a backward glance), felt much the same. However, we called someone – one of the many agents we’ve met in the past weeks, whom we liked and trusted but who is out of town, and she was very helpful. She went through all the places where a dodgy agent or seller could do funny business, went through the documents we should ask for, and referred us to someone who could be a sort of external eye and ear. So finally a bit of reassurance, and also a feeling of clarity: we don’t need to buy anywhere unless we are sure. Neither of us like being hustled, though, and that side of it is really leaving a bad taste in the mouth.
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