Nick Stuart
That's a big question. One we will probably come back to as well!
My number one reason is that I wish PiPA had existed when I bought my last home.
It's not because we made a bad decision, or even that we felt we had missed out on somewhere else, or even because of the amount of time it took to find Beckenham and then our house.
It's because I can remember vividly the first time I walked into the house as its owner and I wish that feeling had lasted longer. That incredible surge of emotion; the opening of a door onto a new chapter, a fresh opportunity, walls to be painted, pictures to be hung and meals to be cooked.
Jen was teaching, I had taken the day off. It was July 2013, the sun was shining and I remember the train journey down precisely because absolutely nobody else seemed to care I was the owner of a new home! I'd packed a bag, beers, picnic blanket and champagne for when Jen arrived. I collected the keys from the estate agent and excitedly walked to the house.
Keys jangling in my hand, broad smile on my face, thinking this is a really good day. Slowly opening the door, that feeling of a new beginning, a fresh piece of paper, a brand new house. Walking through the rooms, leaving the garden til last. An actual garden, with grass and everything.
I walked outside, put the blanket down, cracked a beer, put the cricket on the radio (First Test, Trent Bridge, England were batting) and relaxed into this incredible euphoria. Moving into a real house, that was ours. The opportunity, the freedom, the possibilities. Something that was ours and of course that garden.
This feeling lasted all of about twenty minutes (or one beer), I then walked back through the house (at tea in the cricket) and started to notice all the things you don't notice on a viewing:
"Oh, I thought that room was a bit bigger".
"We should have bought the curtains off them!"
"Ah, that's why they had an enormous rug over the carpet".
"Should we have negotiated harder, it had been on the market a while?"
And then that horrible temptation of looking back at the portals to see what else is for sale now!!!
Those nagging fears that never really give way until a long time after and you know that you made the right decision. It was about two years after we had moved in and a friend asked the pretty simple question "pleased you moved here?" and we took stock and realised that yes, yes we were. We'd made the right decision, the home is perfect for us and we love the area. We experienced a second wave of happiness at owning our home but this one was fuelled by relief!
Fear took the edge off that first experience. Uncertainty spoiled the party. It took far too long to remove those nagging doubts. Maybe it's just me but I would have loved a reassuring pat on the back from a wise old head and a quick "good decision, you'll love it here".
I believe that with PiPA we can banish fear, remove uncertainty and let the euphoria last much, much longer. Or at least until the close of play and the unpacking starts.
