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?

Rental wish list

quirky apartment features

Remember, I share a post about things I’d like in my future home?  Well, now that I’m looking for a rental, some of these might be ‘for real’ soon enough.  Though I think the fireplace is highly unlikely in inner city Sydney apartments…

quirky apartment features
From top right: out of our price range, quirky and a building I almost bought in, sunshine, and a potential cross breeze

Here’s the list I drafted with the BF

  • sunshine: my dark loft is just too dark.  Sunshine makes me happy
  • train station proximity: we both prefer trains to buses, and my work is on a train line
  • 2 bed or 1 bed + study: the premise for moving from my place to our place is to gain some space (or a location I can escape the snoring!)
  • crazy: the bf’s way of saying x-factor or character.  Something that makes the place better than ordinary
  • car space: the bf’s car is lovely, and street side parking has already resulted in some damage
  • grocery adjacent: given how good I’ve got it now, I know I’m unlikely to enjoy such an easy walk to all the shops!
  • secure: my current neighbourhood isn’t known for it’s safety!  The bf wants to be sure we feel safe
  • storage: I’m used to a full height pantry AND a linen closet, and then a storage niche.  I’d like to be sure I can relocate all these items easily into a new place
  • big kitchen: we currently trip over one another when cooking in his U shaped kitchen, so it’d be great to have something more open
  • cross breeze: the bf’s rental had a great summer cross breeze, that beats any fan.  I don’t like the chances of finding the same again, but it’s something to be mindful of.  And I would love a bathroom with a window, but realise they are uncommon in inner city apartments
  • air conditioning: I think that snuck onto the list when I wasn’t looking. Tut tut.  And we’d talked about double fans (when we combine ‘stuff’)
  • easy to move in/out: yeah, no body loves moving, but this isn’t our ‘forever’ home.  If it’s easy to move into, it’s easy to bring groceries home…

The bold options are the non negotiables and a starting point.  The rest will act as a guide.  But, guiding as they may be, places go FAST in Sydney, so we might need to up our ante. I started looking on Monday morning, and when I called Tuesday morning, the place had two offers and they wouldn’t consider more applications, or show it again.  Talk about fast! They didn’t even list an inspection time online (which is usual).  Anyhow, I did ring her, offer to drink with her (it was in context) and otherwise befriend her – cause there’s no harm in building rapport!

This was going to be the end of the post, but then we looked at two properties (one is pictured above). Both are in warehouse conversions, but in neighbouring suburbs.  Both happened to be on the building’s top floor (3rd or 4th story, not super high) For my thought process, I’ll share these with you:

Daytime property viewing

Positives

  • lots of light, especially downstairs
  • good kitchen storage & gas cooktop!
  • a linen closet!
  • a block to the train (and opposite my close friend’s house)
  • 2 bathrooms
  • both bathrooms have windows (light + ventilation)
  • exposed wooden beams upstairs in the bedrooms and bathroom
  • beautiful wooden stairs and entry
  • vacant – could move in anytime
  • air conditioner in the bedroom
  • cross breeze possible downstairs
  • within our discussed budget

Negative

  • midget sized wardrobes – due to
  • sloping rooflines
  • small bedrooms
  • a bit of a walk to grocery store
  • no window coverings
  • no power, so couldn’t check light fittings (known to be bad in this building)

Evening property viewing

Positives

  • HUGE generally
  • new kitchen with drawers
  • new bathroom
  • more wardrobes than I could imagine ever needing
  • new wooden floors in living areas
  • warehouse conversion
  • close walk to a shopping centre
  • lovely leafy neighbourhood (I’ve always said ‘I want to live here’)

Negatives

  • just ‘a bit too far’ to the train station
  • may be dark (we’ll go back for a daytime viewing)
  • priced a little higher than we budgeted (but not above what we could afford)
  • small bathroom
  • no dryer provided (yet)
  • difficult to access washing machine taps (just a one time bother)
  • carspace less safe
  • small bedroom windows

So which way will we go? Or will we abandon both and look at some more?  Either way, I’m sure to share photos of my new home in due course!  Oh, and pick which one you think I prefer…

I interrupt regular broadcasting…

… to bring you breaking news!

I’ll soon have one more person living in my place 😀

The BF’s lease is up in two short weeks (sort of caught him by surprise), so he plans to move to my place to buy us some time while we hunt for the ideal rental.  We both think it’d be best to have ‘our’ place, rather than ‘my’ place, cause let’s face it, I know I can be a little particular!  There’s so much to organise, in the next two weeks, and then looking forward from there, I thought I’d share my list with y’all

The next two weeks

  1. Get spare cardboard boxes from work/fruit & vege shop for the BF to pack
  2. Make space in my wardrobe for his clothing
  3. List all BF’s bigger ‘stuff’ (furniture etc) with measurements
  4. Make space in my house for his furniture (and a plan for what’ll be at mine in the short-term)
  5. Speak to my parents about temporarily storing some of the BF’s furniture
  6. Go to open for inspections – see the places, but review the leasing agents…
  7. Make inquiries with agents about renting my place, and the likely rent
  8. Make a budget – rent I’ll receive, bills for my house, bills for a new place, rent I can pay out, savings goals
  9. Work out suitable rent/cost sharing between me and BF in the interim period Half of what my neighbours pay
  10. Speak to my cousin about borrowing his trailer for move day 1 Find a car with a toe bar first!
  11. Collect details on utilities etc for BF to cancel/change his address
  12. Book cleaner to do ‘final clean’ at BF’s place (then I’ll likely want to stay there!) Saturday/move out day
  13. Book in accountant (for tax) and discuss best $ options with house/loan etc
  14. Bore readers with inventory posts 🙂
  15. Share my new rental ‘wish list’ with readers, and my ‘what I (inadvertently) love about my current place’

After finding a new place

  1. Procure even more boxes
  2. Start packing up my house
  3. Patch holes and paint (ie Lack hanging shelves, maybe hanging birdcages?)
  4. Switch-a-roo washing machines (? Leave bf’s at my place, and take mine to new place, perhaps)
  5. Set up new utilities
  6. Advise all of change of address (yikes, but I’m good at it now!)

I’m sure there’s more for this list – so suggest away! And ask questions too, cause that’ll prompt my brain!

Future house wish list

I love my loft apartment, mostly.  But I can’t help thinking ‘one day’, I’ll move and these are the things I wish my house to have

  • lots of natural sunlight: a loft with a single double height window doesn’t allow a lot of light, and given the orientation of my place, and the garden beds, I don’t get a lot of light, and only for an hour or two in the morning.
  • a fireplace: Sydney gets cold!  And I love the smell of other people’s fires in winter.  And it’s a great way to dispose of paper/tissues/wood
  • In a modern homesource:eliteproductionsintl.blogspot.com
    In a modern home
    source:eliteproductionsintl.blogspot.com

    In a more traditonal housesource:www.bluboxfireplaces.com.au
    In a more traditonal house
    source:www.bluboxfireplaces.com.au
  • a garden: even with a bigger, sunnier balcony I could go back to growing things, I loved growing sweet peas (the flowers and the vegetable!), and keep seeing awesome little ways to grow other things I’d love to have on hand
  • gas: for both cooking as well as heating/water heating.  Currently I only have it for water heating.
  • natural ventilation: firstly a bathroom window! The style of my loft makes that impossible.   It was on my wish list when I was househunting, but some things you have concede.  My next place will hopefully have more than just a bathroom window, but windows everywhere!

And hopefully it’ll have things I already have in my little loft

  • a good sized pantry
  • a linen cloest
  • an entry area – with places to store ‘grab and go’ items (umbrellas, name badges, coffee cup), somewhere to process mail, dump handbags, put things for delivery when next out etc.

What do you have on your future home’s wish list?  What did you used to wish for, and no longer need/want/wish for?

Things I achieved in 2012

*Published in 2019, but back dated to be ‘year end’ summary*

In line with the 2013 summary I published, I thought I’d take the time to review each year since I was at school, as a record of my life.  Things get hazy as time goes on, and it’s not going to get any better as I age!  So here we go!

In 2012

  • My parents live in Toulon, France from Sept 2012 to Jan 2013
  • I visited my parents in Toulon, but we met in Marrakesh and visited Casablanca too, in Oct/Nov 2012
  • Visited Duabi alone, shopping up a storm and going hot air ballooning over the desert
  • I flew business class on Emirate from Paris to Dubai to Sydney at my cost on an A380 and a 777
  • I started dating “The BF” at the start of October 2012
  • Prior to “the BF”, this was my year of dating!  A good friend spent a lot of time awkwardly setting me up!
  • Memories of brunches with Mr DIY and his GF
  • My first year living the apartment I bought (the loft), having settled on 22 Dec 2011
  • I equipped a whole home with living furniture – sofas, kitchen stuff etc
  • Hosted a Thai birthday banquet for myself at the new house
  • Recarpeted the upstairs in the early days, meaning I lived in my living room when I moved in!
  • Had the loft painted (un)professionally
  • Updated the tapware (thanks Aldi!)
Toulon harbour
Toulon harbour

 

Selfie from a hot air balloon in United Arab Emirates
Selfie from a hot air balloon in United Arab Emirates

 

Dubai location shot
Dubai location shot

 

The view from my Paris hostel
The view from my Paris hostel

 

Royal Air Maroc
Royal Air Maroc