Today we gave the kids what they seemed to really want…. a long lie! Frank and I got up early and headed out to Callander to hike up the Bracklinn Falls while the kids slept. I hesitate to call it a hike though as the main path is now wheel chair accessible! The weather was gorgeous – sunshine abounds – and the scenery is beautiful. We did scramble around the rocks at the edge and take some great photos. Then we wandered through town, had a coffee, bought some fresh rolls, stopped at a newsagents in Doune for a paper and got back to the cottage around 11 and *still* had to wake the kids up and make them get dressed…..
We weren’t just being cruel – they had plans for the afternoon. They were going to the new sports centre pool in Stirling with cousins Nikki, Amy and Ross so we needed to drop them off. Then we collected Auntie Una and Gran and headed out for a bar lunch at McQ’s where Uncle Jim was working behind the bar. It was very nice (gammon steak – yum!) and we dropped various relatives off at their respective residences then wandered off to go house hunting. Yup, we’ve been talking for years about whether or not we should buy a flat or small house over here to use when we visit (and possibly make some money on someday!) and now seems to be the time. The market here is like the one at home – lots of inventory, prices reasonable – and when we sell my mom’s condo, we’ll actually have some cash for a down payment.
So we were off to see what was available where, how much we might be able to afford in various neighborhoods and the like. We can’t actually do anything right now because we still have a condo to sell in Burke but it was very enlightening to see what the options are. Of course, in the middle of wandering through Stirling peering at the adds in the windows of estate agent’s offices, the skys opened up and we had to duck for cover. The rest of the afternoon was spend driving around instead!
Then we collected the kids and headed out to Cambusbarron to visit friends. Gilby and Jenny came to visit us a few years ago and we went to the Outer Banks for a week together. And they still speak to us! We hung out and caught up, ate Indian take away, had a few drinks (well…) and actually chatted about housing issues. Luckily Jenny just qualified as a mortgage advisor with a large building society here so I got an introductory lesson in British mortgages. Interestingly, there’s no such thing as a 30 year fixed here! You might find a 25 year fixed but they are few and far between. Nearly everyone does some kind of teaser plan for 2,3, or 5 years before renegotiating. Not quite a refinance but fairly close. It was quite the eye opener! I’ll have to see what the legalities are for this though: can we borrow from a British bank if we are non-residents? Will a US bank lend us money to buy foreign “investment'” property? I have some homework to do – to bad I don’t have a lot of free time to do it!
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Pedometer: 15, 353 steps or about 7 miles most of it without the teenagers!
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