Dreams and nightmares

My rent was due and when that was paid I had $15 left in the bank. There’s a little petrol in the car, enough for a few carefully selected open inspections. I spotted a property at Chapman in which the write up seemed interesting. It was across the road from a couple of burnt out blocks with remnants of houses on them. The remains of Canberra’s bushfire.

This property was to be auctioned, and by the looks of the place would be miles too expensive for me. Just a short distance down the road was a very ordinary looking house advertised for $510,000. The property that was up for auction was very well finished by comparison. So I suspect it’ll go for something higher than that. We can have dreams.

While waiting for the agent to arrive, I walked onto one of the two ‘vacant’ blocks the bushfire had attacked. There was no sign of the inferno on the land, except for the fact that the driveway went nowhere, the level spots where the house used to be, and the empty swimming pool in the back yard. A few of the larger trees on the nature reserve at the back adjoining the block of land had clearly been ablaze, still showing charred trunks. It takes a long time to heal.

I felt a chill through my spine walking on this land, trying to imagine what it would have been like during the inferno. I have goose pimples on my arms while I write this just thinking about it.

There was a hell of a good view over Canberra from that block. My, oh my, was that a magnificent panorama.

I had a look at a few properties in Dunlop, that’s one of the newer northern Canberra suburbs. There are some very nice houses but generally on very small blocks which in turn have been covered with as much concrete paving as space for garden. I was shocked to see a property where the gutters seemed to be touching the neighbour’s house. There was a gap between the two brick walls of each building, but only barely wide enough to fit a broom. What a joke. How can builders get away with that? It’s not a design feature I’d be happy with.

I spent some time tidying up my new digs after my shift. I found some gold coins as I was going through my stuff; a few dollars of actual money. I’ll be able to buy some petrol and be able to get to work confidently. I’ll have enough cash until pay day. Isn’t this pathetic? If it wasn’t so serious it’d be funny.

Hard times

The days are beginning to blend. It’s been so busy at work that I’d liked to have been able to flake out at the end of the day. There were heaps of problems at work that I just didn’t need. But it’s been busy at home too. Tonight it was moving day and clean up.

So, I shifted the remainder of my stuff to my new address, down the street. It was surprisingly tiring. Of course, I had to give the bathroom and toilet a good clean to make it sparkle. Signed off on the bond, and with the money in my pocket for just a day, passed it along to my new landlord. He was pleasantly obliging. I’m being made to feel so welcome. There are some decent people around the place.

My new room was smaller than the one I had last, and it has a single bed instead of the double, but I still had my own toilet and bathroom. There is a fabulous big kitchen, and the house is very comfortable. I find I can talk to him easily. I think its going to be good.

In Melbourne, our house was to be advertised from Thursday as being up for sale by tender at the newly reduced price. The agents got their way. S is getting really fed up with things, and feeling lonely. With all the problems at work and extra time I’ve been putting in at work I’ve worked up a few days of flex time. S didn’t think it worthwhile coming across to Melbourne, but I think we both need a cuddle and each other’s company. So, I’ll be heading off again, soon.

Neither of us have much money this week. S’s phone ran out of credit, and I couldn’t afford to put more credit on it for her. I rang Optus and they were able to transfer some credit from my phone to her phone. Oh, the wonders of modern technology. Mind you, I was on the phone for about half an hour talking to someone in India while it was organised. That’s ironic.

Kind people

The buyer of my landlady’s house signed the contract, and wanted the 31st March as the settlement date. I was to be homeless in a few weeks.

There must have been a family discussion; a celebration I dare say, of finalising the sale. Well, you can imagine, when the contract is signed it’s a done deal. A commitment date set, money in the bank, and plans to be made for the future. It seems that my landlady’s mother considered offering me board at her house, realising I’d be homeless. That was thoughtful. Though, there wasn’t much room in her house, as she would also be boarding her daughter. She hasn’t been looking for another property and wasn’t fussed about the settlement date, leaving that at the buyer’s discretion. And until she finds another place, she would be living with her mother.

When the excitement eased, conversation may have fallen to the subject of my situation. As a boarder in her house I would be lost for a place to live. Of course, you can always come up with some arrangement even if I had to rent an onsite caravan until I found something. My landlady’s brother lived nearby, as it happened. I wasn’t aware of that. I had met him on the occasional visit to his sister’s place. He seemed pleasant enough, and I must have made the same impression on him. Unbeknown to me, he had suggested that if I wished I could move my things into his place and board with him for as long as I wished.

I was very touched by the kindness and consideration of people.

A humdrum weekend

Eight people came through the house on Saturday, and one came back for a second look. It’s good to see the interest in the place.

I had a look through a few rental properties, now that my days in my current digs are numbered. It was just the room I wanted to rent. One was an okay place but had no furniture. A second place seemed fine but there was no storage space available and they wanted a long term client. Perhaps I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. The next place I visited was owned by an old man in a large house, which could have been okay, but he said he’d promised the place already. Pitty. I have to keep looking. It was all a bit depresssing as none of the properties, nor the people renting them, particularly inspired me.

It was hot. Both S and I went to the movies. We checked the web to find something that was showing at about the same time. She went to the flicks in Melbourne at the local Hoyts, and I was at the cinema here in Canberra.

S is concerned about me renting, and suggested I not rent in Canberra, but buy a house. Any house. We can get something else later. I wondered if that might be difficult; raising a deposit if nothing else. Perhaps rent a property with a view to purchase when we sell our own.

D-day minus one

S and I were editing the text that was to appear in the ad. The convenience of email, with S in Melbourne and me in Canberra. Though, with the first open insepction tomorrow I can't help but wonder if the real estate agent has left all this stuff a bit late. We got the term ‘rustic’ out of the text quickly. Why do people use that word so often? I think everyone puts a different meaning to it. So it doesn’t really mean anything anyway. S was relieved when they hadn’t used the “first home buyer” phrase. Curiously, we had both chosen the same photos to be used in campaign. Poor S is finding it a hard slog, and is considering an all night session of cleaning.

• The bedroom needs a tidy up
• The shower and sinks need to be cleaned
• The laundry needs a tidy
• There are piles of boxes stored in the end bathroom that have to go
• The study is neat but has a few boxes remaining, and
• Everything needs to be vacuumed

The widows need to be washed, perhaps tomorrow, but with that line up there may not be time nor the energy left in her body.

My landlady has seen her solicitor, and is signing papers for the sale of her house – the contract. They will then contact the buyer’s solicitor. As far as I know, there is no firm date set for settlement, other than a possible end of the month.

I rang the mechanic. No car until possibly Wednesday. There was no gasket provided, hence the delay.

A reprieve

This was the day that the photographer didn’t come (again). This is no drama, as the extra time will be welcome. It took ages to get the brushed wood sideboard that’s in the lounge looking good, and S knows her efforts may not be well regarded by the stylist, who has some pretty definite ideas on what looks good and what doesn’t. Apparently, the study still needs a lot of effort.

No more news on the sale of my landlady’s house; the place that I live. Presumably the sale is still going ahead. It would be nice to find our new dream house, rent it until our house sells, and then complete the transaction. I’m not sure if such things are possible. Do people rent the property they are about to purchase?

A few developments

S was beginning to flake out with the workload of tidying the house constantly, and finding it difficult to find places to put everything. The photographer was delayed and couldn’t come, which is probably a blessing in disguise as there is now more time to tidy up.

At work, I asked my boss (by email) about extending the period for claiming removal expenses. He was confident it wouldn’t be a problem, but asked me to raise the subject again later, whatever that means. That’s not the most reassuring of responses, but at least I got a response, and its good to have these things in writing. It’s a great help that the company will cover some of the cost. The HR department said that I must make a claim for the funds within six months of starting employment. Not a chance of that, and I don’t want to miss out on the money just because I might exceed the deadline.

I felt lost without the car. The garage said they wouldn’t be able to get to it until Friday. I went to the National Library of Australia on the weekend, using Canberra’s bus services. It’s strange using the buses after so many years. The library has a rather nice café – now that’s a lovely idea. This library was a strange place. There were hardly any books on public shelves, most having to be retrieved by staff from storage. Though it resolves the problem of books being incorrectly re-shelved, but it limits your browsing ability. The 30 minute wait for materials to be delivered seems a bit much. All the books are referenced by an online catalogue, which is okay in that you can check things out from your home computer if you need to, but was a problem in that you have to compete with the web sufers who sit monopolising the computers, preventing others from using the catalogue. It's easy to whinge. I shouldn't really as it's a wonderful place and must see for everyone.

My landlady has had an offer on her house and a deposit has been paid. The sale will be pending the sale of their own house, and the settlement is expected to take place at the end of March. Now this is a problem. I’ll have to find somewhere else to live. Anyway, it was on the cards and mentioned when I moved in. I was rather hoping that I’d be in my house before she sold her place. That’s the way things go. It does go to show that private house sales do work. She said she got a price she’s happy with and has no agent’s fees to pay. She said when first put on the market not so many people showed interest. A few punters came by, but it wasn’t until she posted the house for sale on the allhomes web site that things took off. And, if that was her only cost then that’s not bad indeed.

Just getting started

So far my house-mate has almost been invisible. In the last few days I haven’t seen a soul. She leaves for work early and I don’t see her in the evening. It’s as though I have rented a house for the cost of a room. This means things are a bit quieter than I expected, but there are no fights over who watches what on the telly.

There was a house in the next street to ours in Melbourne that was up for sale. I had a look at the photos of it on the web, and it seemed a tad run down; particularly the kitchen. S went to the open inspection and thought the place was much worse than the pictures showed. It’s good to have a look at the opposition; to help set the price. Don’t just rely on what real estate agents might say. They can be wildly wrong, either setting the price too high or low to suit their own ends.

The kitchen cabinets were pretty bad apparently, but looked mostly okay in the photographs. I wonder if they were touched up. So there’s a concern: how do you advertise your place, which includes photos as well as the description, that shows it off well but doesn’t exaggerate. In some ways the photographer needs to use a wide angle lens to capture everything that’s on offer, but sometimes when you get to a place thinking it was a certain size only to discover the reality is vastly different. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, because everyone else does it. Do you do anything to get the punters coming around and risk them being disappointed, or do you adopt a more honest approach and show pictures that are as true as you can get them. I don’t know if there is an answer to that. No one is going to point out the flaws when selling, but I would err on the side of honesty in my descriptions.

A place to live

Up early on the weekend, packed the car ready for the move, and checked out of the motel; it’s funny how you can never repack things the way you had them before. When I arrived at my new home in Dunlop I found that a double bed had been put into the room. So, I’m unpacking my stuff, and was getting some sheets and blankets out to make up the bed when I discovered it already had been made up with matching sheets and pillow slips. There were also towels in the bathroom. Later I found a mat in the bathroom. I’m being fussed over. I felt quite touched.

S had been cleaning up the back yard at Warrandyte. She laid a new brick path in the veggie patch. There was a pile of old bricks that had the mortar chipped off them and they became pavers. She suggested we buy a new ute, pointing to the advantages of a reliable car and perhaps leasing it. I’ve never been impressed with new cars. I think used cars make much better deals any day.

Boarding

One of my new work colleagues, on hearing that I didn’t have a permanent place to live suggested putting out a request via email at work. I did this and very quickly got in touch with someone. So, I took a drive out to the northern Canberra suburb of Dunlop to see what might be my new home. The young woman seemed pleasant, and seemed happy to have me. It was all very casual and informal; which kind of surprised me. Well, I was a stranger, after all. Of course, she pointed out the obvious, “Well, I know where you work.” So we agreed that I was to move in on the weekend. I was good for both of us. She had her house on the market and I moved in on the understanding that I might have to move out at short notice. It was a dicey arrangement, but there wasn’t much else for me to do. She had a very nice house, and that made the decision to stay so easy.

I took the car to a local repairer, and got it fixed. A new tyre did the trick. The suspension wasn’t about to fall off the car, after all. The problem turned out to be a tyre fault. Part of the steel belting that runs through the tyre’s construction had popped through the tread, or a fault in the tread had exposed it; one or the other or both. It’s a wonder the tyre remained inflated. Presumably, as the damage got worse it reduced the speed that I could drive. I can only guess that each time I stopped that car on the trip that I had stopped with the dodgy part of the tyre on the road surface, and out of view.

I was generally impressed that this repairer didn’t see me as some out of towner and soaked me for work not done. He also seemed to think the turbo might need some work, and a turbo repair job might be in the order of $1200. That would be a bill that I don’t need at the moment. The turbo had been noisy for some time, but I always drove carefully.