House Hunting Hell Continued...
Aiva and I went to our first house auction in Sydney yesterday. We weren’t there to bid but more so to eavesdrop and get a feel for the process. The real estate agent had been telling people “offers above $650,000” so we weren’t particularly surprised when the bidding started at $680,000. After several tense moments, the bidding eventually fizzled out at $736,000 and that seemed like the end of it. Oh wait, except the owners had a reserve price of $750,000 so the deal didn’t go through. No sale despite the auction. Something seems very wrong about this whole process. Agents are setting the minimum price way below the minimum that the owners will accept. In this particular case, $100,000 too low.As I tossed and turned last night, I thought about all the houses that I have walked through for the last few months and couldn’t imagine buying any of them, let alone buying them for $100,000 more than the listed price. The ones in our price range are either so far outside of the city that you might as well not call Sydney home or are described by agents as “renovators delight”. Aiva laughs at me when I even mention buying a hammer so I’m not sure that my ego could withstand a full kitchen renovation even if the price was right. I’m not sure that I even want to look at houses any more that are described as “cozy, humble or rustic” because that actually means a “cramped embarrassing shitbox”. And let’s be honest here (don’t tell Aiva), my renovation skills consist of the ability to call a contractor and even then I’ll just go to either the first in the phonebook or the one with the biggest ad.
So as our imminent move gets closer to reality (calendar wise) we have decided to give things away instead of having to move them later. We gave away 14 bags of books and a few bags of DVD’s to a charity that will sell them and use the proceeds to help fund a suicide helpline. That’s not a truly altruistic move though. The helpline could be a big service when we do buy a house only to realize the size of the mortgage and have a nervous breakdown. I also emptied my closet and managed to find 4 garbage bags of clothes that I either don’t wear anymore or are too big now. Those will go to the Salvation Army so we probably have some good karma for the next little while. Hopefully that helps us find a "charming, period home with potential".
PS – Aiva says my next blog needs to be a happy one. Read More...













