Selling My Heritage?
I feel kind of sad. On Friday, to the disgust of a part of my family, I have accepted an offer for my house after it had been in the market for four months. According to the agreement I must vacate the house by the end of June.
Selling it was not easy. I have been living in this house since I inherited it 30 years ago but my memories for it goes much further. As a child I spent a lot of time here. It feels as if I’m selling a part of myself. This is where my mother and my grandfather grew up. It is as they are here every day and but I’m getting older now and the house is too big for me.
The property had been in my family for more than 250 years. Originally it was a farm. When part of it was proclaimed as part of the town, my grandfather sold it to a developer but he retained the house. The rest of the property he sold to a neighboring farmer. The new township developed around his house.
The original house had a thatched roof but it burned down in the middle fifties and my grandfather demolished the ruins and build a new house on the same foundations.
But it is not all sadness; in some ways I am very pleased to be departing from here. The small township I live in is surrounded on three sides by agricultural land and when the farmers clean the lands, we are invaded by mice. Being on the far edge of town, the cell phone and data signals are poor and we are often without electricity due to cable theft. For some reason I forgot to mention this to the various prospective buyers.
And now the big work starts; getting rid of the junk I have accumulated in 30 years and I have not found alternative accommodation yet. I will be residing with my sister for a few months while the furniture, appliances and effects that I opt to keep will have to go into storage until I have made up my mind about what to do with the rest of my life.
Something tells me I’m going to be very busy during the next month.
May you all have a wonderful day.
Comments (73)
I don't really want to sell out either but the house and the property it stands on is just to large for me. I did give my late mother's family the option to buy at the same price but they all declined. I dn't know why they are uptight now.
I wish that was what it was all about.
There are so many things to consider and my aging father is just one of them.
You are making it very difficult for me.
Admire your courage to change your life. Anyhow hope you all well.
Do you know J.M.Coetzee? I came across his works (Chinese version) at our local library.and very interested in reading them nowadays... from there can know more about your history and culture... but pity can't find English version.
I have met this crowned author twice before he emigrated but never read any of his works.
Yes, it is true but I got rather attached to some of my white elephants through the years.
I still have my cute little rubber duck and mickey mouse t-shirt frm when I was a toddler.
Although sad to sell a property that has been in your family for years and years...it is exciting this new adventure of yours...perhaps a travelling catfoot suits you...bon voyage!!
Thanks but although there may be some travel plans in the pipeline, I ain't going nowhere for the next few months.
So you will be staying at your sister's place for awhile...where are you going to settle once things are in place?...
I have been selling off assets since the beginning of the year with the idea to emigrate but the exchange rate leave with very little options. I will probably have to stay put. Emigrating will impoverish me to a very large extend. I will have to give it a hell of a lot of thinking before I do anything.
Property is about the safest investment in the country at the present and you can pick up a house like mine, depending on the area, for anything from US$500,000 to US$5,000,000 although five bed-roomed houses are a bit scarce.
As I explained in the blog, the original house was destroyed by a fire in the mid fifties and a new house was build on the same foundations. All the other houses in the township was built during the preceding 20 years or so. No historical value. We have many very old houses that have remained intact for the tourists.
I must refer you back to the blog as well. The original house was destroyed some 58 or 59 years ago. The house that stands here now is not yet sixty years old. The is no legislation for such 'young' houses.
The exchange rate is what...you can still live there but travel to another place to stay for 4-6 months out of the year...my parent do that...live in Canada in the summer and travel to Mexico and stay for 4 months out of the year...to avoid the cold...
I can only take R100,000.00 (US$10,000) p/a out of the country. I cannot sustain myself on that for any length of time. It would seem I'm stuck here for the duration.
No, it was there all the time.
Hmm and get a 100 family and friend to transfer the maximum each year and then refund them. Will only create tax problem for those helping me.
There are ways to transfer more than the max but that will entail additional taxes, levies and commissions leaving you wit zilch on the other side.
Diplomatic bags are tather hard to come by for us mortals. Only available to demi-gods like politicians and diplomats.
I'm sure it's hard to leave your home house, even if I'm not living at home anymore, I couldn't imagine not being able to go home. Both of my siblings live around there with my mum, so it's easy for me to drop in.
But if it's not home for your kids anymore and it's too big for you, no point in hanging onto it.
Best of luck for your move and wherever you will end up.
I seldom use pics on my blog and never anything personal. Maybe when I leave.
Both my daughters are far away. One in Oz and the other one in Pretoria which is a thousand miles away. I have been living here alone for about ten years and I need something much smaller.