A new home!

Today’s going to be a bit scattered – which is a bit how I feel!

Firstly, we’ve been accepted to rent “home 2” listed as the evening showing in my recent post! This was the BF’s preferred place. When I initially sent the ad to him he said was too pricey, so I worked on not getting my hopes up.  But it is spacious enough, that I can see us being happy there for a long time.  And it’s a great area, in a small building close to shops.  I’ll just need to enjoy the extra blocks to the train station – but seeing I won’t be catching the train to see the BF, it shouldn’t affect me much! 😀 We looked it again on Saturday, and arranged all our paperwork ready to ‘apply’ on Saturday after the showing.  By about 10am on Monday we were told we’d been successful!!! (who wouldn’t want us, really?)

Wooden floors in living room
Wooden floors, and a balcony that might get enough sun I can grow herbs!

I am excited, but a little annoyed, as we can’t move in this Saturday.  This Saturday is the day the BF is moving his minimal furniture out (a sofa, a bed and mattress, a desk and a coffee table) of his rental.  I have measured up my place, and we’ll just store everything temporarily for a week, until we get the keys.

I’m also itching to pack up my house, but first I need to get it rented out! I have engaged an agent.  Did you know, they ask you on the rental agreement to disclose if there’s been a violent crime on the premises in the last five years.  I never saw that clause anywhere when I bought – so you renters, you get all the dirt!  In order to make this work, I’m getting my place photographed tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon.  Then the first showing should be this Saturday (hopefully early, so we won’t be waiting around to move the BF’s furniture in), and fingers crossed someone loves it! But I think it’s likely to be on the market/vacant for about three weeks.

I’ll be sure to share my own photos of the new place once we have moved in.  I’m a little conscious of over-sharing on the internet, so I won’t link to the listing, just to stay safe.  But you can have some of the sales photos:

New white kitchen open shleving
Fully stocked kitchen (during the sale campaign, we saw it empty)

Now to the scattery parts…

I found out a school friend had a heart attack and died.  Such sad news at 28.  She was married, and had twin sisters two years below her at school (which might seem like it might identify her, but my year in boarding school had MULTIPLE sisters in my year, with twins two years below – freaky huh?).  She was married, and I feel so deeply for her husband, but so pleased she’d found someone to share her (much too short) life with.  I spoke to a few girls from school last night, and then received a text from the boarding mistress (the Head of Boarding in modern terminology) this morning, so it’s nice to feel this community rally, even if it was 11 years ago since we all lived cheek and jowl.  I’m yet to know what the arrangements are, and how they might fit with everything else at the moment.

And back to the house… I need to do a budget!  Budgets aren’t something I don’t live by, instead I have a loose system that works, as I’ve explained here.  I budget my savings, and my ‘weekly allowance’ and everything else is fluid – I can steal to get a greater weekly allowance, or I can bump up a savings account as it suits.  But at the moment I’m having that moment of ‘ekk what have I done’ (not assisted by seeing the balance of my $26k by 22 Dec dip, as I track every week).

Lastly, I thought, me, the master list maker, would be immune to the stress of moving. Nope.  I’m busy thinking ‘can’t I just pack up and move, and everything nicely sync up to one day’. Sadly, not to be! So I’m going to sit back and pack once my place is leased.  At least until we get keys for the new house, and then boxed stuff can go straight there…

And at some stage, I’ve got to measure up for a fridge at the new place, as my existing one fits so snugly, I expect most renters will like my offer to leave it there.

Any tips to make this moving house business easier?  Less stressful?

24 Replies to “A new home!”

  1. Wow – I'm amazed you've got everything happening so fast! Nice places do rent very quickly in Sydney, so fingers-crossed you might even sign someone up this weekend.

    The new place looks absolutely beautiful. I can definitely see herbs happening on that balcony.

    Very shocking news about your friend from school. It must be a big plus of the boarding community that there is such a strong network to rally in such a time. But too shocking at such a young age.

    No real tips to make moving less stressful…unless perhaps if you can stretch to hire a cleaner to do the exit clean? Good luck 🙂

    1. OH there is a cleaner booked for the BF's place, and she'll also do mine (namely the bathroom and the oven which I semi refuse to deal with!).

      I can't believe we're signed so soon too, and in somewhere around the 2-5 August. We naturally want a weekend, but it seems like a weekday (Monday) is what's on offer. Great for moving out, not great for moving in!

      I hope my place moves fast, as my dad says things that are priced right, sell (or rent!). So we'll see what happens. I'll be sure to link people to it once I'm moved out! 🙂

    1. Thanks Lois, it's a sad time, and reminds me, I really should start my will.

      The new place is really bright in those photos – I wonder how retouched they are 😉 I'll soon see with my own place!

  2. How nice that things are lining up so quickly. Although there's the "hurry hurry, wait" factor in play now! The new place looks amazing.

    I am sorry to hear about your classmate. I think such news always makes us reevaluate our own lives.

    But I think you are on track to much happiness!

    1. Oh, so true, I could almost tattoo hurry hurry wait on me somewhere :p But I wouldn't. Thanks for the compliments and kind thoughts, especially on the new place, just wait til I get my stamp of style onto it!

  3. That is quite a lovely space! I love the floors and all the built-ins. The balcony is really nice as well. Most apartments here come with appliances! I would not like having to buy a refrigerator as they're pretty expensive. I am like you in that I budget pretty loosely. I'm good at not overspending on things and just trust myself with allocating expenses well. I'm sure everything will work out fine!

    I am sorry to hear about your friend from school, that is so young :(. I keep hearing stories from my coworkers about their friends around the same age passing from heart conditions, it's so sad and troubling.

  4. I'm sorry to hear about your classmate Sarah – so young. How awful.

    Your new place looks lovely – I love the flooring!

  5. I'm also moving, and I've found it easier to create one centralized (huge!) to-do list then break it down into weekly and daily tasks. I find immense pleasure in crossing things off, so I've been relishing the option to do so as readily right now. One other thing is to enlist friends/family–have a packing and/or unpacking party! Even if people just help to empty boxes and discard the paper, etc, it will make a huge difference in your ability to quickly settle in the new place. Take some time to fully enjoy the process! 🙂

    1. OH a huge list – swooning with the idea! I keep making lists, on different bits of paper and different places. It's nice to find them and strike stuff off.

      I sort of like the idea of a packing/unpacking party (cause I'd be up to help with that with others). They can be resolved of any true lifting, then people might be on board. Thankfully, I've tried to be as 'minimal' as possible (but I'm a big baker, so the pantry will be scary).

      I love how you say 'enjoy' – sigh… I do some days, other days I'm pulling out my (very short) hair!

  6. When I moved last I bought a package of stickers at the dollar store, they were circles in 4 different colours. Blue stickers went on boxes of kitchen supplies, green on boxes that needed to be opened immediately, yellow on boxes that needed opening soon, and red on boxes that could wait. It made the packing/unpacking process so much less stressful!

    1. Wow, that's a great tip! When I last moved, I'd clearly thought what had to be upstairs or downstairs, and used leftover yellow ribbon sticky taped onto anything for 'upstairs'. I did move largely alone, but it make me know quickly where to put things. I wonder if coloured markers might work just as well?

  7. Holly wow! Everything is happening so fast!!!!!! I think I'm stressed for you! I'm excited it's the house I like!!!!! Cuz, you know it's important that I like it ☺.

    Hum, the disclosure of a violent crime. Wow! What happens when someone suddenly dies. We had that in my building a few years back. My community was made up of people that have lived here since the community was built. When I moved in, the community was older and now, full of renters because the homes are inherited.

    Can't wait to hear how it goes!

    1. Totally important my readers like it – don't want to turn disgusted readers away :p And yes, I'm a little stressed, though I usually deny it!

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