The best things in life are free
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Now give me money

Today we signed a second mortgage agreement on the property. What was supposed to have been a simple short term loan to cover invoices by the current contractors (excellent Polish builders) turned into a full mortgage application. Instead of the week or two we assumed the process would take, it’s been two months with at least another two weeks to go.

Hopefully the Poles can resume building by the middle of September, and if all goes well we might (might!) just be able to move in before Christmas. But as this is Belgium, optimism usually goes unrewarded…

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This past Saturday we had a meeting with the architect and our (former) builder. Not in a very friendly mood, our brick-stacking friend, but perhaps he was intimidated by the team of Polish builders on site now finishing his work at lightning speed. The long and short of it was that he doesn’t have the money to pay us back the full sum he owes us (being about €30,000). However, he is more than willing to pay the money back in instalments of €5,000 per month, over six months.

I can fully understand anyone not having €30,000 cash lying around, but if you don’t have access to that kind of cash I don’t see how you’ll be able to spare €5,000 per month. That’s a lot of money to have left after paying for rent and vittles. The first payment is due on 1 August, and I’m quite anxious to see if it materialises. I have a sneaking suspicion the builder’s enthusiasm for this scheme is merely a way of buying time.

Meanwhile, we need this money to pay the Polish builders. Their bills run at around €5,000 per week, so we’ll need to get the bank mobilised as soon as possible.

Categories: Construction, Finances
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So where are we? Somewhere up Shit Creek and arguing about who lost the paddle, basically. Our builder has, apparently, run out of funds, a sizable portion of which fleet-footed funds having been intended to finish this phase of our construction work.

So we have walls, which nearly reach the empty space where the roof should have been by now, and an impressive collection of rubble and bric-a-brac. We have a replacement builder lined up, but of course he would like to get paid as well.

The architect estimates the value of the outstanding construction work at around €30,000. Somehow, we have to find a way of transferring funds from builder 1 (who does not have them) to builder 2 (who would very much like to have them).

We have a meeting with builder 1 and the architect this coming Saturday, and we’ll see what can be sorted out. I don’t have high hopes, but presumably one of these options will be the outcome:

1. Builder 1 finds a way to repay us the full amount of the outstanding construction work.
2. Builder 1 and builder 2 agree upon payments directly between them in installments.
3. We instruct our lawyer to swoop in and try to squeeze the full amount from builder 1.
4. I bean builder 1 with the first handy bit of rubble I can lay my hands on, and hide the body in the windmill.

Of all the options, number 4 appears least likely to get us our money back, but should be the most satisfying of all by far.

Categories: Construction, Finances
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The Flemish Government have allocated a budget of 50 million euro to renovate older properties in Flanders. The subsidies will be allocated to houses older than 25 years, to a maximum of 30% of the cost of the renovations. The amount will be capped at 10,000 euro, so it won’t pay for a grand redevelopment like ours, but it will buy some wallpaper and a flush toilet. Whether knocking down a barn and building a house on the spot qualifies as renovating remains questionable, though. Some spin might be required.

Livios has information on other Flemish subsidies.

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I haven’t done much work on the mill for a while. We’re at an impasse with the building contractors of Ilze’s choice, as their quote came in at three times our budget. And then Belgians — and those who have lived here a while — shake their heads and say, “Never tell them your budget, they’ll always go higher.” But that’s why I told them my budget in the first place, so they won’t go over budget. I have nothing to go over into. But they went over anyway. By a factor of three. And the locals tut tut tut, and shake their heads, and appear to think that Belgian builders offer to do things for free as long as you simply don’t tell them your budget. Construction sites are filled with contractors and sub-contractors driven mad by the insecurity of not knowing what the magic number is, in much the same way as little old ladies of a certain good-natured Christian bent are driven to know that David Copperfield is demonically posessed because he can walk through walls and has devil’s eyes.

When, oh when, did I fall down a rabbit hole…

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Fortis approved our loan this afternoon. Ilze and I are now the proud owners of a windmill, albeit one Growweblaar and Akeva do not approve of on strict principles of windmills having sails. Time to break out the good champagne.

Categories: Finances
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And still the torture continues: do we have a bank loan or don’t we? Citibank have refused the loan application, presumably because their assessor did not estimate the renovated value of the property to be commensurate with the loan amount. Which is a pity, as I’m convinced that — if properly renovated — the property will be an excellent investment. Of course, Citibank have no guarantee that the renovations will be properly done, so I understand their reservations.

Fortis have yet to give an answer. Their assessor’s report was due at 14:00 today, but there’s been a delay. We have a contractual deadline to confirm our purchase of the property by today, which we can’t do without a bank loan. Our consultant at Fortis spoke to the seller, and convinced him to give us another 48 hours, so hopefully this is a good sign that Fortis are serious about the loan.

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Today is assessor day at the Crazy Windmill Ranch. Assessors representing both Fortis and Citibank will be visiting the property today, firstly to determine whether the amount we’re lending will be covered by the value of the property. Personally, I believe not only in the current value of the land, but in the future increased value.

A second part of the evaluation would be to determine whether the renovations we intend carrying out will sufficiently increase the value of the property. This is what I worry about most: will our megalomanic idea of living in a windmill be worth the money we want to borrow?

Update: the assessors have been. Both were optimistic about the value of the land, but it remains to be seen whether they were able to translate Ilze’s description of what we want to do with the place into actual value. We should know by Tuesday, and Wednesday is our deadline for paying up or breaking the contract.

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We went to see Fortis bank this morning to discuss what they can offer us. An interest rate of 3,1%, readjusted every 5 years, payable over a period of 25 years. Now we just have to wait for their assessor’s judgement: is the property worth the buying price, and will a renovated house on the property be worth the additional amount we want to borrow for renovations? It’s a question I can’t answer in all honesty either, so we’ll have to wait and see what the experts think. We should know by late next week.

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More thoughts on the loan (although I appear to be giving this much more thought than it warrants): we should go for the lower interest rate at Fortis, and dump Citibank. Our friend at Citibank will hopefully understand that a 2% difference on a large amount over many years isn’t something to underestimate. So we’ll be seeing someone from Fortis tomorrow morning, sign a loan application, and wait for their assessor’s feedback.

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