Dream Home In Smithereens

Hubby & I have been house hunting for a long time. We know we can't stay at my parent-in-law house forever. The eldest son's daughter is going to enter Primary School in a year's time. We can't be expecting the poor girl to sleep with the parent all the time. That would be so inconvenient to ahem.... beget another sibling.

However, our Dream Home is a tough one because it needs to fulfill several of the following criteria:
1. Should be around Seremban because it's a manageable drive between PD & KL, a good place to bring up children & not too "ulu" (i.e. rural) that we can't enjoy some city pleasures
2. It needs to have enough land for a swimming pool (hubby insists tht it's a pre-requisite for his dream home. Nothing I / dad say can change his mind)
3. The house needs to have at least 5 sizable rooms. 1 Master bedroom, 1 Girl's room, 1 Boy's room, 1 Library / Study & 1 Media Room
4. Safe neighbourhood for children to play outside of the house compound & for me to return home without fear of snatch thief.

After viewing houses after houses. Bungalow land after bungalow land. Nearly committing on a so-so new bungalow facing West at Seremban 2; we finally found a gem!!! We found a house on 960, Bukit Rasah with the setting like Gasing Hill. Picturesque, cooling green trees, old but comfy houses, joggers / people walking their dogs... sigh... it was heaven. The house itself is extremely old - more than 25yrs, double storey with 6 rooms, 1 wet & 1 dry kitchen, large dining & living room with total build-up of about 5,000sqft. It's on a piece of 11,000sqft freehold land, with enough space for a swimming pool, vegetable garden (wishful thinking), badminton court, dog kennel, tool shed, tea house & still have space for more (mmm.... dreaming of shady trees around some koi pond / bonsai garden around the tea hse). We found it!! Our dream home....

ok gotta admit tht it's not all heaven lar.... there's still the concern of the psychedelic coloured tiles from floor to ceiling for the 4 walls of the hse, the pillars & the floor (imagine brown water drop shape & blue background squares & repeated throughout the outer walls of the building! purple, lilac, pink & white small-small tiles like the ones you still see in some toilets, for the floor & the pillars... arrrggghhh!!!!). So there's still be a lot tht we need to put in to make it nice & livable. We finally agreed to purchase at RM4ook - just nice for our budget & some spare for us to renovate.

We immediately engaged a lawyer & issued a cheque as earnest money to secure the property. 1st bad omen came in the form of the seller wanting to change lawyer from 1 in Seremban to another in KL. Was later told tht the new lawyer is actually the granddaughter of the land owner. So, we have to recall the cheque & await for the new lawyer's details to issue the cheque.

2nd bad omen... We were told the new lawyer don't want any earnest money to commit the property. Upon signing of the S&P, then only they collect the full 10% deposit. However S&P signing can take weeks / mths depending the disputes raised between the 2 lawyers. So it's really strange that the seller doesn't want to accept the deposit / earnest money / sign any letter of offer / provide any written confirmation tht she's agreeable to sell the property to us. A sense of foreboding envelops us.....

The bad news was finally delivered about 1 week after we have engaged our lawyer & submitted my loan applications along with all my documents.... The new lawyer-cum-granddaughter is asking for RM405k & she even said tht we should not "disturb" the old lady (her grandma & owner to the land). Any disagreement should go through her. Hubby & I was puzzled at first... RM5k?!?! RM5k to break her grandma's words... Isn't tht "insulting" tht her grandma's words / commitment to us is just worth RM5k? However considering the small sum, hubby agreed anyway.

However, the more we talked, the more we felt cheated. It isn't about the amount. What is RM5k, when we're already paying RM400k & another RM100k for renovation? Even dad thought that it was really shoddily done. What if we agree with RM405k & later they say RM410k, cos' we still have not signed any letter of offer... So, hubby quickly called back the agent & said, our stand is still RM400k. If RM405k, the deal is off". A few minutes later, we got our reply, "Deal is off mar deal is off lor..." @#%@$#@%&*#$@... the cheek to even use tht tone!

Dunno if the story tht was told to me about this owner is true, so I'll just take it with a pinch of salt. The story tht was told to me was tht this old lady (land owner - her name is on the land grant) is the 2nd wife & her husband has died, but bequeathed the property to her. She had no children of her own, is very sick & is relying on the 1st wife's children to take care of her. The children are now fighting for the "inheritance" / share of the "spoils".

Hearing this story, I guess I'm glad some unexplained forces has made us decide to cancel the purchase. Maybe it'll help the old lady... at least she still has "value" to the children to have around for the property. A bit disappointed lar, but if indeed the story I'm hearing abt this family is true, I'm only filled with pity on such situation & pray tht none of my family members will ever have the occasion to endure it.