After relocating with a new job I moved into rented accommodation while I found my feet and worked out where might suit me longer term before making my first investment into home ownership. My job also involved a lot of travelling by road and rail and I had a dog so access to some decent walking would be high on the list, too.

As time went by I started to narrow down the options. Salisbury would be good for the office and the train station but getting in and out of the city via its infamous ring road was always challenging other than in the middle of the night. And then there was the dog walking. Of course there are parks but that wasn’t really the type of walking I had in mind.

One day I picked up the local newspaper and a property for sale in a Nadder Valley village was featured on the front page. It was a sweet red brick cottage tucked away behind the High Street. My interest was piqued. I was vaguely familiar with the area as a friend had worked on an estate nearby. Memories flooded back; the walking was fantastic, there was a shop for buying essentials and despite being a small place it had a mainline station into London and good access to the A303.

I booked a viewing for as soon as possible and by the end of it I’d moved in. I could live with the unusual shaped bath and the decor – both could be changed in time: as far as I was concerned it was the perfect first home in an ideal location. Wanting to get on with it, I offered the guide price and being new to the game I presumed the rest was a formality. It felt very grown up, terrifying and exciting all at the same time.

To this day some 15 years on I will never forget the phone call from the selling agent telling me my offer had been exceeded by another party. I was in complete and utter shock. How could that happen? It was mine. Unable to speak I remember the agent saying ‘hello - are you still there?’ It felt as if my world had ground to a halt; all my plans for the future were in tatters. I then felt sick as I remembered I had given notice on my rental property. Where was I going to live? I put the phone down and with blurry eyes took the dog for a walk. At least she was happy.

Having hardly slept that night, the following morning I headed to the office full of disappointment. The day dragged on and it was difficult to concentrate. Then the phone rang. It was the estate agent, who started by saying how sorry she was about what had happened, but there was some good news: a sale had fallen through on a property she felt would suit me much better. The vendor was keen to find another buyer as soon as possible, would I like to view it?

I decided there was no harm in going to have a look – and the agent was right. It was even better than the property I had thought was perfect. Yes, it too needed decorating throughout, but the bath was a conventional shape, it had a wood burning stove, which I knew would make the cottage really cosy in the depths of winter, and it was £10,000 cheaper. It was a very happy home and my perfect introduction to home ownership.

LR, Wiltshire

Further information

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