Decisions....

Simon and Claire at the most westernly point of Portugal, near Sagres

On Sunday we had to say goodbye to our second lot of visitors, Claire and Simon.  It was most definitely a sad day.

The week did not start off with the best weather but we headed south for a couple of days and managed to find the sun and warmth, which we brought back up with us so all in all it was not bad. We do hope they had as nice a time as we did, and that they will be back soon.

Once our holiday with our friends was over, it was back to trying to make some decisions.  We now more or less know that building on our land is way off our budget and if we were to do so, it will be many, many years before we recover our costs, should we ever wish to sell. If we had an income and were 100% sure we wanted to stay for the rest of our lives, perhaps it would be an option.

We have been to view a few other places and have so far made one offer on a property further up north, which was rejected. We are currently considering making an offer on a place with a project in place (i.e. building permission has already been obtained) but in an area we don't really know. It is not too far from here and it looks lovely, but as we would build this one to sell and hopefully make a profit, we feel it is important that the area is attractive to buyers. From our personal point of view it would be perfect, as we could start the work straight away and get the caravan up there fairly soon to cut costs (but of course not until we have had our last visitors staying), so there are a few pros and cons....

Today we had an estate agent come to our land to value it, and it seems we could make a small profit. But it is still a tough decision to make, as it was not bought by practicality or with profit making in mind, but by the heart and for love of that particular spot in this world.  Sense, and most people we have spoken to, says to sell and leave all the hard decisions behind, heart says to keep... What to do?

We were hoping there would be an option of keeping the top bit of land and perhaps get planning permission to build there, or to buy the ruin next door to the plot.  Today, however, we found out that it is impossible to get planning permission for this part of the land, and also that the ruin next door won't sell, as it has multiple owners and they cannot agree on the sale.  Most of the time less options are good, especially if you are a female, but this time it was really two options we really wanted to keep.

So we have a few decisions to make and we need to make them fairly soon.  Hopefully the next post will bring some good news :-)