She is 27 years of age. He is a year older. She works as a teacher and he is a printer. Both are serious, hard-working and happy in their relationship although not contemplating a formal marriage.

When we met she did most of the talking and her conversation was so fresh and honest that I opted to keep it flowing without undue interference from my side.

“My partner and I have been together for nearly 4 years now and it felt like it’s the next step in our relationship to buy our own place with the hopes of building our own family in the near future.

“Our main preferences started with the location and we first looked in areas like Gharghur, Mosta, Naxxar and Attard. Our second preference concerned the size of the property. We wanted a 3-bedroom flat (in a block containing no more than 3 or 4 other flats); or perhaps a maisonette (again with not a lot of surrounding buildings), with an actual space to hang clothes and with a separate kitchen.

“I am not at all happy with what is being built nowadays; mainly all these open plans with no space where to do the laundry. I also don’t like the dark small corridors and houses where from every window you can see what the other people are doing. Like with no privacy whatsoever.

“We went through all the operations one does before embarking on such a momentous stage in one’s life. We looked at all the adverts and spoke to various Maltese real estate agencies. Even at the very beginning it was apparent that a particular agent stood out because of the professionalism he displayed from the moment he was approached.

“With patience, and perhaps, a stroke of luck, we managed to find a 2 bedroom unconverted town house in Mosta with the possibility of building another floor for a third bedroom, a washroom and roof. It fitted our budget and since we decided that a house is always a bit more superior when compared to apartments and maisonettes, we eventually went for it.

“As a matter of fact I had given up hope of finding something which I really liked. Then one day I had this unexpected phonecall from our favourite agent. He showed us pictures of a property which had just gone on the market. He surprised us at the way he had been truly listening to what we had been talking about. This was an old town house with 2 bedrooms; and its own airspace which agave us possibility of building a third floor’.

“At the time my boyfriend was very negative, and truth be told, he didn’t even want to go to view it. I told him that we had seen so many places, what difference could there be with seeing another place? The amazing thing was that as soon as we walked in we both had the same feeling that this was it! This was place we always wanted! I really felt like giving our attentive malta real estate agent a really big hug for persisting with searching for the right place even when we were at the point of giving up.

“When we decided to go for it, the first things that popped into my head were obviously the bank loan (how we’re gonna pay it? Will we be able to manage, with all the expenses in today’s lifestyle, and the basic day to day running of a household?) Will MEPA issue the permit with no hassles or problems? And how long will it take before we would be able to start? Here again our trusted Malta real estate agent, which by now I had started to refer to him as ‘our guardian angel’ was a veritable rock. He guided us throughout and actually went out of his way to explain the sometimes baffling procedures one has to go through before clinching the deal.

“When we signed the first part of the contract (kunvenju), the Malta Property agent was responsible with persuading the owners to finalising the sale in 6 months time instead of the usual 3 month period. For us this was very helpful as we needed as much time as possible in order to save up a little bit more. Our good guardian angel helped us throughout by advising us on various issues even after we had signed the konvenju. These included commitments like tax fees, notary fees, architect fees, mepa fees, arms transfer of meters and so many “other small fees”.

“If I had to give advice to any first time buyer, I would say ‘Choose very carefully the agent who will be doing all the dirty work! Ensure that he is the truly professional person you would like to work with. Then be completely frank with him. It’s a bit like the way one would go about choosing his private doctor. And once that choice has been made, ensuring a frank and honest relationship is bound to bring about the desired results.”