esmaspäev, aprill 10, 2006
Corps Building
It's been a roller coaster ride of a day!
Several weeks ago we found a building that we felt was a good place for the corps. It is a former carpet shop in the ground floor of an apartment building that is only a five minute walk from our house. It is also newly renovated and needs no real fixing up, which was unlike any of the other places we saw. The Chief Secretary from our territory came down to see it at the beginning of the month and also felt it was good, and so signed the preliminary papers to begin the purchase process.
The only condition for the purchase was that all 60 people who live in the building had to sign a paper saying that they agreed that the use of the space could be changed from a shop to a church. Without this, the city would not approve our use of the building and we could not purchase it.
So today the Chief Secretary and Territorial Commander came to Tartu to sign the papers to finalize the purchase. The TC looked at the building and agreed that it was in a good location, in good condition, and an adequate size for the Army's work in Tartu. But when we asked if we had all of the signatures from the people in the building, we were told that there was one who was still thinking about it and that she would decide at the end of the day. That left us in a bit of a dilemma because by then, we would have signed the papers and already owned the building which we might not be able to use. With some reluctance, the TC agreed to go ahead with the signing.
Then the next turn on the roller coaster began. In order to secure the purchase, the money from Finland had to be transferred into the bank account of the notary who was finalizing the transaction. The transfer had been arranged, but for some reason had not made it to the notary's account. They waited all day for this to happen, but finally they decided to spend another day in Tartu and finalize the purchase tomorrow, when the money should be there.
This gave us time to be sure that the final resident of the building signed the paper as expected. I went with our real estate agent Ermo and the agent for the people selling the building to meet with the woman and assure her that we would be good neighbors. When we got there, even though we had an appointment it took quite a while for her to come to the door, and when she did she greeted us rather gruffly and with no explanation said that she would not sign! When we tried to ask why, she just repeated that she would not sign, said goodbye and shut the door. This left us with quite a dilemma. After talking together for quite a while, Ermo and the other agent agreed that they should go back in a few hours and try to talk to her again and hope that this time she would listen and sign.
Evelyn and I went out to dinner with the TC and CS shortly after this and told them the news. They agreed with us that if there is no signature, we could not make the purchase. We were thankful for the bank delay because it might have saved us from a big problem! So we were left with waiting to hear if we had the signature, and if we didn't get it, try to look at new properties before they had to head back to Helsinki.
At this point, I was ready to get off of the roller coaster; a bit too much excitement for me!
After a few more hours of suspense, the ride finally came to an end: Ermo called to say that the other agent and the man selling the property visited the lady and she agreed to sign. We breathed a sigh of relief.
So now here I am eating a kohuke (an Estonian treat kind of like--but much better than--a small chocolate covered cheese cake) and rejoicing in the experiences the God brings our way. Tomorrow they are scheduled to sign the papers and if all goes well, the Tartu Corps will have a new home by the end of the day.
If you would like to see what the building looks like, click here (scroll down for pictures).
--Tim
Several weeks ago we found a building that we felt was a good place for the corps. It is a former carpet shop in the ground floor of an apartment building that is only a five minute walk from our house. It is also newly renovated and needs no real fixing up, which was unlike any of the other places we saw. The Chief Secretary from our territory came down to see it at the beginning of the month and also felt it was good, and so signed the preliminary papers to begin the purchase process.
The only condition for the purchase was that all 60 people who live in the building had to sign a paper saying that they agreed that the use of the space could be changed from a shop to a church. Without this, the city would not approve our use of the building and we could not purchase it.
So today the Chief Secretary and Territorial Commander came to Tartu to sign the papers to finalize the purchase. The TC looked at the building and agreed that it was in a good location, in good condition, and an adequate size for the Army's work in Tartu. But when we asked if we had all of the signatures from the people in the building, we were told that there was one who was still thinking about it and that she would decide at the end of the day. That left us in a bit of a dilemma because by then, we would have signed the papers and already owned the building which we might not be able to use. With some reluctance, the TC agreed to go ahead with the signing.
Then the next turn on the roller coaster began. In order to secure the purchase, the money from Finland had to be transferred into the bank account of the notary who was finalizing the transaction. The transfer had been arranged, but for some reason had not made it to the notary's account. They waited all day for this to happen, but finally they decided to spend another day in Tartu and finalize the purchase tomorrow, when the money should be there.
This gave us time to be sure that the final resident of the building signed the paper as expected. I went with our real estate agent Ermo and the agent for the people selling the building to meet with the woman and assure her that we would be good neighbors. When we got there, even though we had an appointment it took quite a while for her to come to the door, and when she did she greeted us rather gruffly and with no explanation said that she would not sign! When we tried to ask why, she just repeated that she would not sign, said goodbye and shut the door. This left us with quite a dilemma. After talking together for quite a while, Ermo and the other agent agreed that they should go back in a few hours and try to talk to her again and hope that this time she would listen and sign.
Evelyn and I went out to dinner with the TC and CS shortly after this and told them the news. They agreed with us that if there is no signature, we could not make the purchase. We were thankful for the bank delay because it might have saved us from a big problem! So we were left with waiting to hear if we had the signature, and if we didn't get it, try to look at new properties before they had to head back to Helsinki.
At this point, I was ready to get off of the roller coaster; a bit too much excitement for me!
After a few more hours of suspense, the ride finally came to an end: Ermo called to say that the other agent and the man selling the property visited the lady and she agreed to sign. We breathed a sigh of relief.
So now here I am eating a kohuke (an Estonian treat kind of like--but much better than--a small chocolate covered cheese cake) and rejoicing in the experiences the God brings our way. Tomorrow they are scheduled to sign the papers and if all goes well, the Tartu Corps will have a new home by the end of the day.
If you would like to see what the building looks like, click here (scroll down for pictures).
--Tim
