Loose end tied up

We handed possession of our house in Sale over to its new owners today. What a relief. The first sale fell through in September last year and then this one was being delayed by a bolshy pair of first-time buyers at the beginning of the chain. We've had a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge since before Christmas, waiting for this moment. It's just about at the right temperature now.

Owning the house was like having an anchor attached to our new life here, holding us back financially in terms of being able to start new projects, but more significantly, being a constant background source of stress. Being part of a fragile will-they-won't-they house-buying chain was part of it, but there was also the worry of being the owners of an empty house in Greater Manchester. It was broken into, two weeks ago, which was almost inevitable, given that it has been empty for nine months. Luckily no major damage was done, but it was something we could have done without.

So tonight we're raising our glasses to the new owners and hoping that they'll be as happy there as we were.