Finally!!

Finally, we have all the paper work needed for our architect to get started. Yesterday we received conditions of gas hookup and surveyors plans of the property, so we scanned/photocopied those and the water/sewage and electricity company documents and emailed and posted to the architect. Now it's just a matter of time until the architectural plans are done (4 weeks, we hope), and then we apply for a building permit, which can take up to two months to go through (assuming there aren't any problems with the application). So while the paperwork is in, the waiting game hasn't finished...

Still more purchases

Building on a budget we really weren't expecting to have a lot of modern, new nice things in the home...

yet we are in luck.

Reduced from 2499zł to 1699zł, and then to 799zł on Allegro (Polish equivallent of eBay) we have this beautiful ex-display, only very minimally damaged cabinet and vanity with basin and tap Barcelona from Belliani.

At market, these gorgeous modern taps alone are probably worth some 500zł, so we couldn't pass this up.

Now the questions are - how do we get it from Szczecin to Warsaw and where do we keep it?

Mein Kampf

It is really frustrating that week to week something is supposed to be done, but week after week you keep being told to wait longer.

It happened when we were trying to purchase land and it is continuing after that as well. We really thought it would all be downhill after we finally got the land. I mean, seriously, who takes a year to buy a little property?

But no downhills for us. In order to start work on construction plans, our architect needs technical requirements for water, sewage, gas and electricity connections and a topographic (or some sort of) map. These were supposed to take 2-3  weeks, when we applied on December 19.
After Christmas we heard that the officials were probably in holiday-mode and weren't planning to knuckle back down before their Christmas break. Then we heard the same about the New Year's break. After the New Year we were told they'll get into it now, probably 2-3 weeks from now...
and so it's been five weeks and we're waiting.

Meanwhile, our architect is working dilligently to find any and all grants and subsidies to eco-building in Poland and is well researched and in touch all the time. Also, she's 5 months pregnant! And wants to have the blueprints ready for us by the end of February so she can focus on herself and baby in the third trimester, and certainly to have her part behind her by the time baby comes!

So fingers crossed things start picking up pace...

To rent or not to rent

So we are currently paying 1500zł in rent per month for our dingy smelly dark old apartment in Warsaw, when we have a perfectly good piece of property out in beautiful Łomianki.

In the short to medium term we were planning the purchase of a vehicle. We currently have a beautiful 1992 Honda Del Sol.

But it's a two seater and not being able to give someone a lift, transport anything more than two bags of groceries and not even take it for long drives (it's only as comfortable as a matchbox car can be) is starting to be a niusance. In the event of any familial growth, it's also not going to be big enough.

Besides, I am going to need a vehicle the minute we move to Łomianki, if not sooner, as regular trips to the building site are going to be necessary and husband and I don't work the same hours

I'm thinking to stick with Japanese makes, perhaps Toyota Avensis Verso, Avensis or Corolla Verso?  Basically an MPVish model.

In the medium to long term we were also planning the purchase of a caravan. We love travel, but it's expensive, and opting to DIY some meals is a great way to save money. Fuel costs often equate that of flights, having a car when you get whereever you're going is super comfortable, generally there are huge benefits.

However, if we push the purchase up a few months, or indeed both purchses, could we live on site and not pay rent to some random guy who happens to have inherited this dodgy apartment after his dead mother?

Certainly, if we were to do that, then the caravan would pay for itself. They're only about three month's rent-worth.


We'd probably want one with a self-contained bathroom if we were to live in it while building, possibly not if only for tourism purposes, a functional kitchen and a heather, and at least a 4 berth, so while living there we can have designated dining and sleeping areas and when travelling it can accommodate our family and friends and in future offspring.

The main risk is that we don't finish the build before winter. It gets too cold here to live in a caravan. Or so my husband thinks. I mean, they are fitted with a heater, and how long would it take to heat that little space... but if we weren't able to stay there, where would we go?

But I'm obviously hopeful we'll move in sometime during autumn...

So we continue to ponder this. Perhaps when plans are done and we actually start building we'll have a better idea of when we might finish the house and be able to move in. Then we can make a more informed choice.