Lessons Learned (or not?)

May 2007: the lack of an electricity supply was still a major cause for concern and AP was becoming increasingly illusive, refusing to answer our calls. Then, we received a message from her (via our Property Consultant) informing us that she was fed up with the development and wanted to sell the other two unfinished houses on our plot. We saw an investment opportunity and at the same time a plan to resolve the electricity conundrum so we put in an offer well below her asking price. A condition of our offer was that she facilitate the installation of a full electricity supply.
AP accepted our offer and we became the owners of another half-finished house. This time we decided to complete the building work to our own design and spec; a good move given the time taken and poor quality finishing that we had experienced with the first two houses.
My sister and brother-in-law bought the remaining house and mum bought a share in one of the little houses so by summer 2008 our family owned a plot of land, in the tiny village of Pigi, with four lovely stone houses nestled in the lush foothills of the Taygetos mountains.
We commissioned an Albanian builder, Kostas, to finish off the stonework communicating in sign language, drawings and my very amateur Greek. He and his crew lived in the house that winter and worked hard building huge stone walls and paving the terrace and driveway. From the UK, I kept in contact with Kostas by text. He finished the work as promised in April 2008 and moved out making way for Russ, our all-round brilliant builder to get to work on the inside of the house, installing bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen and our woodburning stove. Russ transformed the house into a beautiful 3 bedroom home and even took me to Ikea in Athens to buy furniture (and assembled the flatpacks!). He and his wife Aileen have become great friends over the last five years and we are so grateful for the help and support they've given us in Greece. Each time I flew to Athens my suitcase was stuffed with lights, picture frames and all sorts of homewares but Russ took mirrors, garden tools and bigger  back to Greece from the UK when he came over to visit.
One particular time, Easter 2008, Russ came to my rescue when I arrived to find one of the houses flooded with sewage. I will tell that story later but will always remain thankful for his friendship and practical skills!