Fortunately for them, it was passed in and later that afternoon the couple's lawyer rang with the magic word "unconditional". They made an offer on the St Marys Bay property; selling and buying in the same weekend.
"It was quite a busy day, but also exciting," James recalls. He says as well as the attraction of the pool, they also liked moving into a home where all the hard work of renovation had been done. "To find a house that's done up and suits you is quite hard. We moved in, put some blinds in and central heating."
Deanna adds: "It is such a sunny home and the pool is fantastic for the kids. They are real water babies and it's especially good at their age because it is so close to the kitchen."
You can see why the pool - at roughly 11m-long - is popular. With the spa pool in the corner, the play slide that means the children can land in the pool and then the breakfast bar and stools by the kitchen bifold windows, Frankie and Liam can line up for a snack without wasting too much precious swimming time.
The couple believe their weatherboard villa was one of the first homes built on this road just before the 1900s; and while the shell is intact, the interior has been made over.
Coming in from the street you have the pillared porch entrance flanked by palms and cacti in river stones. Stained glass panels on the front door hint at more stained glass in the staircase, veranda and bedrooms. Inside, there is a guest bedroom on the left, a bathroom on the right, the stairs plus internal access to the garage, then the open-plan lounge, dining and commercial-look stainless steel kitchen with granite benchtops, two extra-wide ovens with gas hobs and a scullery. French doors from the living area open to the deck and pool, which has an outside fireplace plus barbecue.
Back inside, stairs lead up to next level with the master bedroom - walk-in wardrobe and en suite - the children's bedrooms and a lounge/playroom. The master bedroom plus Frankie's bedroom and lounge all have access to the verandas with the harbour views.
A further flight of stairs climbs to the attic office. Then, all the way down, and past the pool, more stairs lead down to the media room ... a great place for the children to chill out or James to watch sports on TV.
"The kids have a ball in here," say Deanna,"and so does James. He calls it his man cave."
The couple are selling because they have bought a section to build on. They imagine their home will appeal to other families."It's not really an older couple's house," says James, "and, to be honest, it's a bit big for just a couple."
