27 May 2011

Sorry for the long silence. We had some computer problems, but it is all sorted now.

In the last week, the rubbish has been removed, and we started moving stuff over. We have a small trailer and we will need to make many trips. We also moved our clawfoot / rolltop bath over, which was a Trademe find. That is a very long term project, to move the bathroom into one of the current four bedrooms. On Friday we had to be out of our Cambridge house for a visit by prospective tenants, and we did our first real work on the house.We chose one room to clear of scrim and wallpaper. Scrim is the hessian that was nailed to the sarking (horizontal boards) on the inside and wallpaper was pasted over that. It looks a lot fresher now. We will definitely need to insulate the outside walls and seal the gaps. We will obtain a quote for insulating the ceiling and underfloor on Monday. We also wrote an email to Historical Places to come out and advise us on the restoration process.

Most of the work in Cambridge is completed, I reckon we will need another week. Yesterday we had some serious rainfall, and our garden project has been delayed. In the meantime we will keep moving stuff over.

Being in the Jackson house while it was raining, we noticed one leak on an outside wall. Will have to get on the roof to find it. Luckily it is on the flat roof area.

The first priority for the next week will be to repair the cookhouse or outhouse so my tools and machinery can be moved there. I do not want to move it yet, the risk of theft is still there, although it is New Zealand. All other material is left outside.

We discovered most of the posts and beams for the veranda which was broken down. We haven't checked it for completeness or condition yet.

In spite of three groups being through the Cambridge house, we do not have a tenant yet. Fingers crossed for this weekend.

22 May 2011

We have been to visit the house today with friends. The more I see it the more I like it.

We started a fire in the living room fireplace. No smokein the room even with green leaves, which means our "central heating" will be working this winter.

We hope that the fumigation has worked. We also took a wardrobe over, because we have been building built in wardrobes in our Cambridge house, and that was surplus to requirements.

Tomorrow the rubbish man is supposed to remove the rubbish from outside the house. Fingers crossed.

We plugged a phone in the jack, yes, we do have a line. It is disconnected, but at least we will not need to pay installation fees.

21 May 2011

Yesterday we got the key, after some argument with the agent. We will "rent" the place untill we tak full ownership. The rubbish will only be removed on Monday. We took over and undertook to clear the house out.

The key didn't fit, but it presented no problem. Every door and window was unlocked and unlatched. We replaced the lock and nailed boards over some doors. The only loss was two sets of brass door knobs. Not too serious. We went back this morning and boarded all broken window panes, and secured the place. Then we set off a huge fumigation cannister. Apart from the rubbish, the house is remarkably clean. Tomorrow we will go back and since we can do no work, we will start with an assesment of the condition of the house.

The four fireplaces seems to be OK, but we didn't have any matches with us, so we could not test the flues. On one fireplace we have a leak on the chimney flashing on the roof. That will need urgent attention.

On an initial inspection, it seems that the sarking, or internal board, in the living room, is tounge and groove, whick might mean we will not need to gib line it. The rest of the  house seems to be plain boards.

I forgot to take a picture of all the stuff that was left behind, will try to do that tomorrow.

Bedtime now.

17 May 2011

The agent called and said that the seller has taken responsibility for the removal of rubbish. They reckon it will take another 3 days, then we will take over. Can't wait

16 May 2011

No such luck. There is still a lot of stuff around. The owner and agent inspected the house and agreed that some stuff has been removed. We are still negotiating. Maybe we will get the keys tomorrow. Fingers crossed and touch wood, whicever works best.

15 May 2011

Good News!! We drove past the house yesterday, and it seemed fairly deserted, just some furniture outside. Today we went back, saw nobody and had a look through some windows. The house is basically empty, save for loads of rubbish and some furniture, scrap and otherwise. It seems the tenants have moved out!!

Tomorrow morning we will contact the agent and try to negotiate earlier occupation, with a minimal rent for the next 3 weeks. We must also make sure nothing of value was robbed out of the house.

We will also contact the letting agent and get the ball rolling to get the Cambridge place rented out. Lord, please give us the right tenant and very soon please!

8 May 2011

Well, we are still waiting for the current tenants to move out. I heard some rumors that it might be sooner than we expected, but let's wait and see.

We had some friends enquiring about exactly where the house is. The address is 10 Grey Street, Kihikihi, New Zealand. Interestingly, the name means cikaida, or sonbesie in afrikaans.

This last week we spent on doing some of the 101 jobs before we can move. We have finished sanding and varnishing the floors. We will be moving back on Monday, after living in the top flat for the last week. Elna reckons the floors are so nice now, she does'nt want to move!! We are also collecting corrugated iron to build some sheds once we move, to store all the material we amassed over the last 6 years, and also the woodworking machines. We will keep the tools in the house. There are no outbuildings.

Sorry, there was one, a cookhouse, or outside kitchen. When we first saw the place in 2003, it was riddled with borer. The borer is not so bad now, because there is no timber left to bore. The studs of the frame are hanging in the air, about a metre from the ground, as you can see.

The people from NZHPT gave the last owner permission to demolish and rebuild, but we will try to save it. In any case, we cannot use it for storage initially.

I  promise, the whole house is not in the same condition as this cookhouse (I hope)

See you next time.



27 April 2011

We went unconditional and paid the deposit. The current tenants have a 6 week notice period, but we are hoping that they move out sooner. In the meantime, in our house, we have to sand our floors, build wardrobes, tidy up the garden and do100’s of small things. The idea is to rent our place out and move over as soon as possible. We never in a 100 years expected to be moving again.

26 April; 2011

We have received three reports, structure, plumbing and electrical, and all is OK.

15 April 2011

We got a rental assessment for our house, and went to see the lady at the bank. Remember, we are pensioners with no money. We explained the whole quest to her, showing her pictures past and present. She played on the computer and YES!, we can have a 100% loan. We are elated. Thank you Lord! We will have to do a builder’s inspection in order to get insurance however.

8 April 2011

Our offer was accepted. The price we agreed upon is the same as it has been offered to us way back in 2005. Since then house prices have doubled in New Zealand.

So we bought a house, without any money. Déjà vu. We bought a property in Pretoria in the same way before. I promised Elna four things. We will only buy it if we can get a full loan from our bank. We will not sell our existing house. If and when my health does not allow me to continue, we will sell up and move back. We will try it for 5 years. I will sell my Austin 7 project car on which I have done no work yet. This project is done in faith alone.

5 April 2011

We have been to the house. There are currently people living in the house. We had a walkthrough. It is a 4 bedroom house, with a lounge and dining room, and a kitchen and bathroom extension under a flat roof.  It was as if we walked into a time capsule. Absolutely no maintenance was done for the last thirty years or so, except for the new roof and some weatherboards having been replaced. The inside walls are covered in sarking, which is horizontal timber boards and covered with scrim. Scrim was a finely woven hessian cover with wallpaper over it. The scrim is peeling off and the wallpaper is 1970’s vinyl paper. The bones are good, or so I hope. On the positive side, there are four fireplaces. (We might need it, the ceilings are 12 ft or 3.6m and there is no insulation)

We went outside and the agent asked me what I thought it was worth. I suggested a price way below the asking price. After some discussion, I made a higher offer.

4 April 2011

I am not very clear on this matter, but somehow somebody suggested that we should go and have a look at the house. I contacted the agent and arranged to see the house.

27 March 2011

We learnt that the property was for sale again. I located it on Internet. It was on a 2300 m section. (The section has been subdivided) I told Elna that I should not go and look at the house, because if I see it from inside, I will want to buy it. 

This is our story of the Jackson house.

“We” are Gary (Gert) and Elna Bester.

The Jackson house is a historic house in Kihikihi in New Zealand.

Major William Jackson was a prominent figure in the Maori Land Wars, and specifically in the King Country. After the wars, all soldiers and officers were awarded land, farmland and a town section. This was in Kihikihi.

The house was built around 1877 and was used by Jackson until his death in 1889. His widow sold the house around 1892.

We first saw the house in September 2003 while house hunting.  It was totally overgrown and very neglected. It was sitting on a one acre (4000 m+) section which could not be subdivided because of the gardens, which was famous at the time. It was also a New Zealand Historical Places Trust Category ll listed property. Research revealed that the house belonged to a trust and I located the solicitor who administered the trust. He said it was not for sale. I asked him notify me if the property ever came up for sale.

In 2005 we bought our current house in Cambridge, and guess what? Very soon afterward I received a call from the solicitor that the house was for sale. Obviously we could not buy it. However, we kept a close eye on it. Soon we noticed that the roof has been replaced, and the whole section was cleared.  Nothing much happened after that. There was some occupancy, but later on it was vacant again.