Their food is basic, but home cooked, tasty and hot (temperature) and their welcoming smiles are infectious; they make everybody feel happy!
They have brought their Albanian heritage and belief in hospitality for diners to Agios Nikolaos, and we felt it was such a fitting way to spend our celebration night. As we sat down at a table next to where Freddi was sitting and we told him our news.
“Bravo!” he exclaimed.
The wine flowed; food arrived; wine flowed, and yet more food arrived and yet more wine flowed!
As the night came to an end, Freddi, ever the consummate host, says,
“Hmmn. I think this news calls for a celebratory drink. Tsipporo from Albania; the best!”
The drink is served and toasts are made, “Gazua!” (Albanian for “Cheers!”) A warm glow was felt all round; faces and stomachs!
Sunday was so exciting, tiring and nerve wracking all at the same time! Vassilis had given us the keys for the day in order that we could have full access to the house to make our drawings and plan the colour schemes and fixtures and fittings.
So, we went back to the house and we drew scale maps of the whole site, the adjacent plot of land and drawings of the rooms of the house.
We took hundreds of photos from all angles of the inside and outside of the house as well as the olive trees in the garden. We went from room to room and made a list of what we needed to buy, especially for the kitchen if Giannis was to build things like cookers, fridges and freezers into the work tops and cabinets.
The colour scheme was easy to agree on as we fundamentally wanted it to be light and bright throughout the house; a truly Mediterranean feel! It was when we were standing on the top terrace taking in the view for the umpteenth time, dreaming about our new life living here in Agios Nikolaos, when we realised there was a flaw in the plan.
“What if somebody buys the land next door and builds on it?” I said to Valerie,
She replied, “It would spoil the outlook and view from our ‘Dream’ house wouldn’t it!”
According to the local Greek law, you are able to build right onto the boundary wall; however, if you choose this planning option, you are not allowed any windows. To have windows the building must be a minimum 2.5 metres from the boundary wall.
On our scale drawings, and using the information provided by Vassilis during our very first visit, we identified that the land immediately to the West side of our house, but adjacent to our entry, could be built upon.
So, we started measuring to scale and decided that either of the possible building options, should it happen, truly would be a disaster as far as we were concerned. If somebody built a house on the plot it would ruin our ‘Dream’ and it seemed to us that the only way to prevent this ever happening was for us to buy that particular piece of land to protect our view and immediate environment. This was not in the plan, and neither was the money!
“Well” I observed, “We cannot afford it, but then again we cannot not afford it. We’ve come this far and we cannot let this threat spoil our ‘Dream’ of living in paradise.”
We took measurements and photos of the plot of land and I ‘‘phoned Vassilis to see if we could meet him to talk about another big problem that we had discovered. He was fantastic. He came out to meet us at the house and we explained our dilemma.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Giannis also owns this land, and he was planning to build on it, but I am sure that I can persuade him to sell it to you.
I’ll talk to him about it today and when we meet in the morning, we will see if we can make a deal.”
I don’t remember if we were worried, excited, nervous, frightened at the prospect or still happy, but, guess what? There was one thing that we decided to do. Back to the ‘scene of the crime’ to adjust the plan!
“Parecello (Please, what do you want)?”
We ordered our drinks.
“Theo Ouzo (Two Ouzos), Eferesto (Thanks).”
As we sat at ‘our’ table we realised its attraction. It wasn’t just that we liked Ouzo! It was that the view was very calming. The place had become a haven for us, and the view that the position offered provided us with the emotional security we needed, and the reassurance that we were making the right decision.
After all, it was in this very spot as we watched the world going on around us that we decided that Agios Nikolaos should become our home.
We wanted to be part of this world; a world away from the UK and the ‘treadmill’ of work, and everything that went with it. We thought that we may end up financially poor as a result of the move, but we knew for certain that we would be very rich in terms of happiness. We had made the right decision about the house, and now we knew we must make the right decision about the plot of land.
By now, it was late afternoon and the sun was going down behind the Church beyond the harbour. Although it was the 29th of September, the temperature was still 30 C. Panic! Could we really live in this hot climate for 365 days of the year?
Only time would tell, but we were ready and willing – there was to be no going back as the ‘Exit the UK’ plan was well and truly underway and it didn’t contain any contingency for a ‘Return to the UK’ for any reason whatsoever!
We continued to sit there for quite a while just enjoying the peace and quiet and the warmth of the evening and continued to watch the sun slip away to another world for another day.
We knew that it would return tomorrow, and that for us tomorrow would be a ‘landmark’ day. We would commit to buying the house, the land, the colour scheme and the fixtures and fittings.
THE LEGAL BITS
The next morning we met with Vassilis in his office at nine-o-clock, and sitting alongside him at his desk was Giannis the builder. Both of them had the biggest smiles on their faces that you have ever seen. They appeared to be genuinely happy for us and they knew how big a day it was going to be for us.
“Kalimera! (Greek for Good Morning’). So, how are you two today? Excited?” said Vassilis.
That was an understatement, as my legs were shaking. I’m not sure with what, but I don’t recall it being excitement; more like fear! Fear that we would not be able to reach a deal about the land and our ‘Dream’ of living in paradise might be in jeopardy.
Vassilis continued, “Please sit down. I have ordered some coffee and orange juice for all of us. Today, the plan is this; we will reach an agreement with Giannis about the plot of land and then we will go to Kalamata to get the Greek Tax Numbers. Afterwards we will go to meet a Lawyer to make an appointment of Power of Attorney. Then we will return here to Agios Nikolaos to meet the Notary to sign all the papers. Tomorrow, we will go to Kalamata to meet with Giannis to see, choose and order everything he will need to finish the house.”
The coffee and juice arrived from the bakery next door. It was delivered and served by Amanda, who in time we would come to know very well, and remains a good friend to this day.
“So, let’s talk about the plot of land.”
It transpired that Giannis did in fact own the land, and he was intending to build another house on it as he had building permission to do so.
He had told Vassilis that it would have been identical to ours, although it was a smaller plot, but turned around the other way to offer more privacy to both owners. Therefore, we were right; it would have been a disaster! It is worth noting here that Giannis doesn’t speak English, but like most Greeks he can understand some English if it is spoken slowly. Also, we discovered, like most Greeks, he understands more than he lets
We were ‘all ears’ as Vassilis went on to say, “Giannis has said that if you can agree to complete the purchase of the house before 31st December he will sell you the land and not build on it. He has said this because he will benefit from taxation obligations that will compensate him for not building if the completion is done on time. Later than that date will mean he will have to pay a large sum of tax. Also, as a businessman, he recognises that that one sale of a house and one sale of some land
are better for him than to possibly have two houses for sale next year and maybe no buyers lined up. If you agree to this, he can have the house finished by mid-December in time for you to return, approve it and sign the papers. What do you think?”
We knew what we thought; we were back on plan!
Vassilis ordered more coffee and when it arrived we sat and talked about the proposal and the timings. We agreed the price and the dates for completion of the house and the completion of the sale.
We looked at the calendar and agreed that we would return on 17th December for two days to inspect the house and sign the papers and we shook hands and then we joined in with the big smiles too!
Mind you, I’m not sure why we should have been smiling so much as we had not even put our apartment on the market yet, and it was the main source of the finance required. But hey! That was only a small detail!
The plot of land was to become ours and that was what really mattered; to protect our life living in paradise. The plot of land didn’t look like a ‘big deal,’ after all, it was just an area of ground that was unfenced and contained three olive trees. To us though, it was the key to our success in being able to live our ‘Dream’ in paradise.
The next two days were quite a ‘blur’ and the memories of those two days were all about driving back and forth from Agios Nikolaos to Kalamata and about waiting to do a whole variety of tasks! Loads of photocopying documents and signing documents; paying out the Euros for the official stamping of the documents and holding hands and grinning inanely at each other!
Monday seemed to be about completing the paperwork for the legal agreements. Them: Questions. Us: Answers of “Yes, Yes, and Yes!” Them: “Sign here, Sign here and just one more Signature!” It seemed that queuing and waiting to be seen by an official, being questioned, and saying ‘Yes,’ accompanied by our signatures on a document, and paying for the privilege, was all we did at every office we went to. However, we did it all, and we achieved our goals:
Tax Numbers secured.
Power of Attorney appointed and arrangements made to have the contract translated into English
Signing the official Document of Agreement to Purchase in front of the Local Notary
Opening Greek Bank Accounts
The bank accounts were a ‘last minute’ thought which we fitted in before our return to Agios Nikolaos and our appointment with the Notary. We figured that if we had spent virtually the whole morning answering questions, filling in forms and paying out fees that we might as well open bank accounts at the same time. Amazingly, it only took 15 minutes to provide all our details, deposit some money and receive a bank card to use at the cash machine!
Monday night was dinner with Vassilis. We had silly grins on our faces all night long; Valerie and me because we had secured our ‘Dream’ home and Vasillis because he had made a sale. Also, he knew that we would be happy living in the house and living in Agios Nikolaos. More importantly, was that they had forged a genuine friendship over and above the business level.
That night, we went back to the apartment and we were very happy, and still with those big grins on our faces!
As planned, Tuesday was yet another trip to Kalamata and this time it was to choose the ‘fixtures and fittings,’ and the tiles that Giannis would need to finish the house, along with the colour scheme for each room. We went to quite a few of his suppliers to look at everything available within the budget he had earmarked to finish the house to the specification detailed on the original advert in the Tsoumeas office window. By the end of the morning, we had chosen the tiles for all the floors, outside terraces and the steps up to the studio apartment terrace.
We had also chosen fittings for the showers and bathrooms, and the wood for the kitchen units as well as the colour schemes for each room. After a brief stop for lunch, we went to the electrical store and chose a cooker, a washing machine, microwave and a fridge / freezer. These electrical items were to be ‘built in’ to the finished kitchen unit layout.
After it was all over and we were back in Agios Nikolaos, guess what? No! Wrong answer!
It was not back to the ‘Scene of the Crime’ but to Aaggi’s waterfront bar for a cool glass of wine to recount our day, what we had chosen, and to watch the sunset.
Aaggi herself came out to our table located on the decking by the water’s edge to take our order.
“Parecello (Please, what do you want)?”
We ordered our drinks.
“Theo Lefko Cresse (Two white wines), Eferesto (Thanks).”
Next morning, we packed and headed to the coach stop in Agios Nikolaos to wait for our coach to Kalamata and then to Athens for our EasyJet flight, home and back to work.
We were travelling with the sure knowledge that we were ‘on our way’ to our new life and the ‘Exit the UK’ plan was not only a reality but was on schedule.
All we needed was the money!
Here we were once again, back to the ‘Scene of the Crime’ waiting for our coach to come!
Nikos duly arrived, “Parecello (Please, what do you want)?”
We ordered our drinks.
“Theo Ouzo (Two Ouzos), Eferesto (Thanks).”
We must have looked a sight. Sitting there waiting, once again with those giant grins on our faces, all we could think of was that we were well and truly on schedule with the ‘Exit the UK’ plan and our new life together in a new country and a new home.
Dreaming of our ‘Dream’ house and of a new life living in ‘Paradise,’ and thinking that ‘It Started With An Ouzo’.
OCTOBER 2007 – THE MONEY STARTS TO COME AND GO!
As yet, nobody in the UK knew of our plan except our friends in Agios Nikolaos; Our families, neighbours, friends and work colleagues knew nothing of our desire to leave the UK. For the moment, we decided to keep it that way and not to tell anybody until we had the apartment up for sale and our finances sorted out and in place. Three priorities stood out like ‘beacons in the night’ on the ‘Exit the UK’ plan and these were:
- Send the balance of the deposit within two weeks to secure the purchase of the house
- Sell the apartment to raise the money
- Find some more money than we had originally thought that we would need in order to buy the plot of land
Attached to our ‘Exit the UK’ plan was a financial spreadsheet detailing where our money was going to come from and what we needed to raise. Now that we had the purchase price sorted out, and agreed a price for the plot of land, we could begin to work out how much money was required and how we were going to raise it.
During the days that followed, we plotted and planned, and eventually completed the spreadsheet. We would have enough money to buy the house and if we ‘liquidated’ absolutely everything, we would end up with just a small amount of money to bank in Greece which we planned to call our ‘just in case’ fund.
At that time, the Euro exchange rate had only slipped by a few cents over the previous year and was still quite strong at 1.47 € Euro to the £1 GBP. So, to be on the ‘safer’ side, we did our sums at 1.40 € Euros to the £1 GBP just to be sure in case of any fluctuation that might occur. Little did we know at that time of what was in store for us.
Both the Euro and the Property Market would slump badly and in only a matter of weeks!
Although it was our main source of money, the apartment was still not on the market. If we were not going to be able to realise the equity in it quickly, we were going to need some money in the interim period to make the deposit payments. All our other money was locked up in long-term investment account and the apartment.
We decided to go and see my brother Bill and his wife Jeanette and tell them our news and explain the problem, show them our plans and see if they could help with the deposit money. They turned out to be as excited as we were about the ‘Exit the UK’ plan as we told them of our recent exploits. They were happy to help, and to this day we are most grateful to my Sister-in-Law Jeanette and my Brother Bill as they gave us the
balance of the deposit money to send to Vassilis. Without their help at that moment it time, we may never have made it.
We duly sent the balance of the deposit to Vassilis, and I telephoned him to check that he had received it and he confirmed, “Yes, thank you. Everything is ok. Giannis will now complete the house. We will see you on 17th December as agreed.”
At the time of transferring the money, I reminded Vassilis that we were still waiting for the contract from the Lawyer translated into English, and that there was no way we were going to sign the contracts until we had seen them in English.
Greek Law is quite complex and we needed to understand just what we were signing. We wanted to be absolutely sure about our key requisites that we had agreed with both Vassilis and Giannis and were included in the contract; right of way along the track to our house; metered mains electricity; metered mains water. He assured us that this would happen as promised.
So, we were at mid-October and we were planning to complete the house and final payment by December with a view to moving in by the end of April.
If we achieved this timetable, it would be 18 months from the date we made the decision and right on time according to our ‘Exit the UK’ plan.
During those first two weeks of October, it seemed that we examined everything in the plan every night, and maybe we did. Our real problem was how to raise the balance of the money on time as required in the event that the apartment didn’t sell as quickly as we thought that it would.
Exciting but very nervous times! We needed to have a contingency in the plan, so we went back to see Jeanette and Bill. We explained our predicament and showed them the details of the finance plan which confirmed that we would have all the money once the investment accounts were cashed in and the apartment sold.
Basically our proposal was, “Hey, how about a long term loan on even more money?”
It Started With an Ouzo Page 4
