...And now we take a break from our regularly scheduled complaining about housing in Australia.
The first Tuesday of every November marks the most significant annual cultural event in Australia. It's a horse race known as "The Melbourne Cup" and, as you may have guessed, it is held in Melbourne. The race consists of 24 thoroughbred horses carrying 24 small men around a grass track for a bunch of money. The race is such a big deal that it is a public holiday (ie. day off of work/school) in the state of Victoria. Even in Western Australia it's big deal. At my office my company ordered food for about 500 people, set up live TV feeds on all of our floors and gave everyone a free hour off. Elsewhere, people took the day off of work and chose the event as an excuse to drink a little earlier in the day than they normally would.
Prince Charles and Camilla were in attendance at the race. There was an embarrassing moment when the horse handlers tried to lead Camilla into one of the chutes. Fortunately, an international incident was avoided. Otherwise, there was quite a bit of pomp and pageantry, complete with gaudy hats and loud clothing. The race itself, although short, was actually pretty cool to watch. It's quite a display of raw power.
The other big deal about the Melbourne Cup is the betting that takes place. Almost everyone places a bet on the race, either through the formal gambling channels or via an office pool. We had an office pool also with the top prize being $80.
Speaking of betting, gambling is very much a national pastime in Australia. There are commercials on TV and radio encouraging people to bet on sporting events, there are strip malls with betting outlets all over the city and of course there is the lottery. Gambling is a big part of the culture here. As a matter of fact, today is the draw for the largest lottery prize in Australian history: $100 million. As I write this it was just announced on TV that there were 4 winners across Australia that each will receive $28 million. Not bad. You can get a lot of gaudy hats with that kind of cash.
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Today, in preparation for our move on Wednesday and Thursday we bought a fridge, washer and dryer. Rentals in Australia don't generally come equipped with what they call 'white goods', although, our last home did. So, we are basically ready to move in. We can't wait. Just in time too. The weather is starting to warm up and the pool is beckoning.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Home-Sweet-Relief
The housing drama appears to be over for the next 12-18 months. We were successful in our application for the Peruvale home. That particular home is one that we saw about a month ago, went to the open house, got temporarily distracted by our dream house, and eventually applied for it only to discover that it had been leased. The lease fell through and we were the first to apply for it and we were successful. However, it wasn't without it's own drama.
When I called the realtor yesterday I was told that she was sick, didn't come into work and therefore wasn't able to process our application yet. As a result, the open house scheduled for 5pm that day was going to go ahead. That meant that, suddenly, instead of being the only applicants, we would have competition and likely quite a lot of it. Needless to say I was stunned that yet one more thing could go wrong with this whole process. The consequence of this was that we needed to make a decision. Our current temporary accommodation runs out on Thursday. The only other one we could find wasn't available until Sunday which meant that we'd have to stay in a hotel Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, if we didn't confirm the booking Monday night we would lose it. So, we had to make a decision.
As I was on my way to meet Nadia after work I got a call from the realtor informing me that we got the property. I just about evaporated with relief. We go in on Wednesday to sign all the paperwork and take possession. Then it's just a matter of taking the day off of work on Thursday to move our stuff from storage into the new place.
The house itself is near a park and about 2 km from the kids school. It has a 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, double car garage, 2 living spaces, a pool table and a pool! And it's a little bit cheaper than the rent we were paying on the last place. It's a touch older and not within walking distance to the ocean, but it's in a nice neighborhood and it has a little character. We plan to make this house our home until we either move, the kids move out or we decide to buy a house.
There is one small catch though. Right before we saw this home come on the market again we had applied for another property. That property, however, isn't available until Dec.6. On our application we wrote a condition that we wanted it for Nov.17 but we would lease it for 18 months. Some realtors use what's called an option fee, which means that when you put in an application for a home you have to include one weeks rent, in this case $900. If you are successful in your application for the house the option fee is applied to your rent. If you are not successful it is returned to you. However, if you are successful and you decide not to proceed then you forfeit the option fee. So, in a strange twist of fate, we are now hoping that our application for that property is rejected and we get our option fee back. We're not too concerned about it since it was a very nice place, there were many people at the open house and the current tenants were still living there. Someone will make an offer with a more suitable date than ours and we'll be off the hook. It's a weird feeling suddenly hoping that our rental application is rejected.
We're just so relieved that it's over and we have somewhere that we can call home. However, this is Western Australia which means that it will take 5-7 business days for the phone and internet to be hooked up. So, it will likely be another week before we're fully operational again. Now we get to go shopping for a refrigerator and washer/dryer for our new home. Ah, the joys of renting.
When I called the realtor yesterday I was told that she was sick, didn't come into work and therefore wasn't able to process our application yet. As a result, the open house scheduled for 5pm that day was going to go ahead. That meant that, suddenly, instead of being the only applicants, we would have competition and likely quite a lot of it. Needless to say I was stunned that yet one more thing could go wrong with this whole process. The consequence of this was that we needed to make a decision. Our current temporary accommodation runs out on Thursday. The only other one we could find wasn't available until Sunday which meant that we'd have to stay in a hotel Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, if we didn't confirm the booking Monday night we would lose it. So, we had to make a decision.
As I was on my way to meet Nadia after work I got a call from the realtor informing me that we got the property. I just about evaporated with relief. We go in on Wednesday to sign all the paperwork and take possession. Then it's just a matter of taking the day off of work on Thursday to move our stuff from storage into the new place.
The house itself is near a park and about 2 km from the kids school. It has a 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, double car garage, 2 living spaces, a pool table and a pool! And it's a little bit cheaper than the rent we were paying on the last place. It's a touch older and not within walking distance to the ocean, but it's in a nice neighborhood and it has a little character. We plan to make this house our home until we either move, the kids move out or we decide to buy a house.
There is one small catch though. Right before we saw this home come on the market again we had applied for another property. That property, however, isn't available until Dec.6. On our application we wrote a condition that we wanted it for Nov.17 but we would lease it for 18 months. Some realtors use what's called an option fee, which means that when you put in an application for a home you have to include one weeks rent, in this case $900. If you are successful in your application for the house the option fee is applied to your rent. If you are not successful it is returned to you. However, if you are successful and you decide not to proceed then you forfeit the option fee. So, in a strange twist of fate, we are now hoping that our application for that property is rejected and we get our option fee back. We're not too concerned about it since it was a very nice place, there were many people at the open house and the current tenants were still living there. Someone will make an offer with a more suitable date than ours and we'll be off the hook. It's a weird feeling suddenly hoping that our rental application is rejected.
We're just so relieved that it's over and we have somewhere that we can call home. However, this is Western Australia which means that it will take 5-7 business days for the phone and internet to be hooked up. So, it will likely be another week before we're fully operational again. Now we get to go shopping for a refrigerator and washer/dryer for our new home. Ah, the joys of renting.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Happy Anniversary?
In many ways it's hard to believe but it's been one year to the day that we arrived in Australia. Oddly enough, our circumstances have changed very little between Nov.5/11 and Nov.5/12. Last year at this time we were living in temporary accommodation in an inner city apartment. However, last year it didn't seem nearly as stressful as, back then, we had the underlying current of newness and excitement along with all of the uncertainty. Also, my employer was paying for the accommodation last year and was providing us some assistance to find a home. Also, last year at this time we had the Living Away From Home Allowance Tax break, which meant that our rent and part of our food living expenses were not taxed. This year we are treated as Australian citizens for the purposes of taxation with the exception of any possible federal tax rebates, in which case we are considered dirty foreigners.
And now a little good news...
Last Friday afternoon I was checking the real estate website (which I do about 4-5 times per day) and noticed that a home that was previously off the market was listed. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw it. In order to appreciate my excitement, allow me to provide a little timeline of recent homeless-related events.
Oct.l2: We return from Dunsborough and start our home hunting in earnest. We had been looking actively prior to this but all of the homes were available "now" and we needed a late October/early November date. We happen to see two properties that we like: "James Street" and "Peruvale" we'll call them. We arrange to see both of them and come away impressed.
Oct.13: Nadia meets a fellow canuck at an American Womens Club event. While there she learns that the she-canuck, named Karen, is looking to move out of her home although it has a year left on the least. While talking they discover that it's exactly the house we're looking for and in our ideal neighborhood, although it's at the very top of our price range. We'll call this house the "Glades". That night Nadia and I go to see the Glades home and tell them that we will take it. We're informed that they'll need to speak to the owners and that recently the owners tried to raise the rent, which would put it out of our price range.
Oct.14-18: The internet begins to dry up. James Street is leased, however, Peruvale is still available. We are in constant contact with Karen who is pushing the realtor, who in turn is pushing the owner for an answer.
Oct.19: We decide that we can't wait any longer. Nadia goes to put in an offer on Peruvale and is told that it was leased that morning.
Oct.20: We are told by the Glades realtor that the owner has decided to sell the property rather than continue leasing it.
Oct.21-22: Nothing on the internet. Panic is slowly beginning to set in.
Oct.23: A new house pops up on the internet. We'll call this one "Sorrento". It is half a block from our favorite beach. We make arrangements to view it that afternoon. We are the first people to see the property. Later that afternoon we put in an offer on the house. We believe we are the first to put in an offer.
Oct.24-25: Weekend. The realty market essentially shuts down because, you know, people don't need homes on Saturdays and Sundays apparently.
Oct.26: I call the realtor and am informed that there are two other offers on the Sorrento home. Panic.
Oct.27: While out viewing a terrible property we receive a call from the Sorrento realtor who informs us that, while our references were excellent and everything checked out fine, the owner, for whatever reason, chose another applicant. PANIC.
Oct.27-28: We continue to scour through the non-existent properties on-line. Meanwhile, we start looking for a storage unit and temporary accommodation.
Oct.29: We book a storage unit but are having trouble finding temporary accommodation.
Oct.30: We finally manage to find temporary accommodation but it's only available for 1 week, Thursday to Thursday.
Oct.31: We start cleaning our current house and filling the rented truck. We take the first load to storage.
Nov.1: The carpet cleaners arrive, we fill the last load into our truck and finish cleaning the house we've lived in for the past 11 months. We hand in the keys and move into temporary accommodation. We see an open house on "Seaward".
Nov.2: I put in an application for "Seaward". Unfortunately, it's only available for Dec.6. However, we put Nov.17 on the application and add that we will sign a 18 month lease to help our chances. Unfortunately, this particular realtor uses a system where you have to pay one weeks rent to make the application. If you don't get accepted it's refunded. However, if you pull out of the deal it is not. Later that afternoon I look on the internet one more time and happen to see Peruvale listed. I don't think much of it at first because some unscrupulous realtors here keep their listings on for weeks after it's been rented. They do this for advertising. There is one in particular that is terrible for this. We hate her. I look a little closer and see that there is an open house scheduled for Nov.5 at Peruvale. I do a double take and frantically call the realty office to confirm. They tell me that the previous deal fell through and it's back on the market. The irony is that for the last two weeks we've been referring to Peruvale as the 'one that got away'. We were distracted by the Glades siren song when we should have jumped on Peruvale at the time. Within 15 minutes I email them the application and inform them that we are able to move in "tomorrow" if that suits them (our temporary accommodation is booked until Nov.8).
Today: There is an open house at Peruvale at 5pm. We are desperately hoping that they accept our offer (which included the option of an 18 month lease) or nobody notices that the home is back on-line. I'm fairly certain that we were likely the first and only ones to put in an offer on Friday since it was before the home open, the home wasn't listed as new and it wasn't even on the first page of the website. Fingers crossed. Today may be the day that our luck changes. If not, we have to find new temporary accommodation for Thursday and keep hoping something decent becomes available.
To top things off Zaren and Cyrus have their final exams this week and Cyrus is quite sick. Sleep has been at a premium for the last couple of weeks. Sure, it's not the end of the world and ultimately these are very much 1st world problems but there are moments where it's just a little too much to take.
Happy Anniversary?
And now a little good news...
Last Friday afternoon I was checking the real estate website (which I do about 4-5 times per day) and noticed that a home that was previously off the market was listed. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw it. In order to appreciate my excitement, allow me to provide a little timeline of recent homeless-related events.
Oct.l2: We return from Dunsborough and start our home hunting in earnest. We had been looking actively prior to this but all of the homes were available "now" and we needed a late October/early November date. We happen to see two properties that we like: "James Street" and "Peruvale" we'll call them. We arrange to see both of them and come away impressed.
Oct.13: Nadia meets a fellow canuck at an American Womens Club event. While there she learns that the she-canuck, named Karen, is looking to move out of her home although it has a year left on the least. While talking they discover that it's exactly the house we're looking for and in our ideal neighborhood, although it's at the very top of our price range. We'll call this house the "Glades". That night Nadia and I go to see the Glades home and tell them that we will take it. We're informed that they'll need to speak to the owners and that recently the owners tried to raise the rent, which would put it out of our price range.
Oct.14-18: The internet begins to dry up. James Street is leased, however, Peruvale is still available. We are in constant contact with Karen who is pushing the realtor, who in turn is pushing the owner for an answer.
Oct.19: We decide that we can't wait any longer. Nadia goes to put in an offer on Peruvale and is told that it was leased that morning.
Oct.20: We are told by the Glades realtor that the owner has decided to sell the property rather than continue leasing it.
Oct.21-22: Nothing on the internet. Panic is slowly beginning to set in.
Oct.23: A new house pops up on the internet. We'll call this one "Sorrento". It is half a block from our favorite beach. We make arrangements to view it that afternoon. We are the first people to see the property. Later that afternoon we put in an offer on the house. We believe we are the first to put in an offer.
Oct.24-25: Weekend. The realty market essentially shuts down because, you know, people don't need homes on Saturdays and Sundays apparently.
Oct.26: I call the realtor and am informed that there are two other offers on the Sorrento home. Panic.
Oct.27: While out viewing a terrible property we receive a call from the Sorrento realtor who informs us that, while our references were excellent and everything checked out fine, the owner, for whatever reason, chose another applicant. PANIC.
Oct.27-28: We continue to scour through the non-existent properties on-line. Meanwhile, we start looking for a storage unit and temporary accommodation.
Oct.29: We book a storage unit but are having trouble finding temporary accommodation.
Oct.30: We finally manage to find temporary accommodation but it's only available for 1 week, Thursday to Thursday.
Oct.31: We start cleaning our current house and filling the rented truck. We take the first load to storage.
Nov.1: The carpet cleaners arrive, we fill the last load into our truck and finish cleaning the house we've lived in for the past 11 months. We hand in the keys and move into temporary accommodation. We see an open house on "Seaward".
Nov.2: I put in an application for "Seaward". Unfortunately, it's only available for Dec.6. However, we put Nov.17 on the application and add that we will sign a 18 month lease to help our chances. Unfortunately, this particular realtor uses a system where you have to pay one weeks rent to make the application. If you don't get accepted it's refunded. However, if you pull out of the deal it is not. Later that afternoon I look on the internet one more time and happen to see Peruvale listed. I don't think much of it at first because some unscrupulous realtors here keep their listings on for weeks after it's been rented. They do this for advertising. There is one in particular that is terrible for this. We hate her. I look a little closer and see that there is an open house scheduled for Nov.5 at Peruvale. I do a double take and frantically call the realty office to confirm. They tell me that the previous deal fell through and it's back on the market. The irony is that for the last two weeks we've been referring to Peruvale as the 'one that got away'. We were distracted by the Glades siren song when we should have jumped on Peruvale at the time. Within 15 minutes I email them the application and inform them that we are able to move in "tomorrow" if that suits them (our temporary accommodation is booked until Nov.8).
Today: There is an open house at Peruvale at 5pm. We are desperately hoping that they accept our offer (which included the option of an 18 month lease) or nobody notices that the home is back on-line. I'm fairly certain that we were likely the first and only ones to put in an offer on Friday since it was before the home open, the home wasn't listed as new and it wasn't even on the first page of the website. Fingers crossed. Today may be the day that our luck changes. If not, we have to find new temporary accommodation for Thursday and keep hoping something decent becomes available.
To top things off Zaren and Cyrus have their final exams this week and Cyrus is quite sick. Sleep has been at a premium for the last couple of weeks. Sure, it's not the end of the world and ultimately these are very much 1st world problems but there are moments where it's just a little too much to take.
Happy Anniversary?
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Hey Mister, Can You Spare A House?
As we feared, the worst case scenario has come to pass. We were unable to find a new rental and are now in temporary accommodation. It's a two bedroom(the kids are sharing a room), 1 bathroom, 2 storey furnished apartment that's relatively close to the city and right on a strip of restaurants and cafes. It's actually a pretty nice spot. However, we are only able to stay in this place until next Thursday because it's already been booked by someone else. As a result, we rented a truck and and storage unit and moved all of our earthly possessions into a 6x3x3 furniture coffin. We all took a day off of school/work to help move out of our house, clean it and move our stuff into the coffin.
In the meantime, we have put in two more applications for rental properties. We are starting to get desperate. If we don't get approved by Tuesday we will need to book additional temporary accommodation. Even that's not easy in this city. We've been struggling to find a place to stay that still allows the kids to take public transportation to school. We may have to go to a hotel for a couple of nights.
We are pretty frustrated about the whole scenario but we're are trying to keep our spirits up and treat it like a little holiday/adventure. Hopefully within a few more days we'll have someone elses home that we can call our own until they try to jack up the rent. In the meantime, we're exploring the new part of the city and living very much like we did when we first arrived in Perth about 1 year ago. It's funny how similar our circumstances are now to when we first arrived here. We were in a furnished apartment, close to the city, with all of our belongings in boxes and with our future uncertain. The big difference, however, is in our attitudes. Back then we were just starting a new adventure and we were prepared for some discomfort. Now it's just a pain in the ass. One thing I can guarantee is that we will not be going through this again.
Our internet is very limited at the moment so we are not in a great position to be returning emails, going on Skype, etc. So, if you can't reach us is not you but it is most certainly us.
Possible Preview of Next Blog: "Still Homeless After All These Days"
The Klames of Oz chronicle their epic journey as they struggle to find a four bedroom, 2 bath home (preferably with pool) in the central northern suburbs. Will they find a home? Will they celebrate their 1 year anniversary in Perth on the streets of Perth or even the beach? Stayed tuned for next weeks episode of The Klamers of ?...
In the meantime, we have put in two more applications for rental properties. We are starting to get desperate. If we don't get approved by Tuesday we will need to book additional temporary accommodation. Even that's not easy in this city. We've been struggling to find a place to stay that still allows the kids to take public transportation to school. We may have to go to a hotel for a couple of nights.
We are pretty frustrated about the whole scenario but we're are trying to keep our spirits up and treat it like a little holiday/adventure. Hopefully within a few more days we'll have someone elses home that we can call our own until they try to jack up the rent. In the meantime, we're exploring the new part of the city and living very much like we did when we first arrived in Perth about 1 year ago. It's funny how similar our circumstances are now to when we first arrived here. We were in a furnished apartment, close to the city, with all of our belongings in boxes and with our future uncertain. The big difference, however, is in our attitudes. Back then we were just starting a new adventure and we were prepared for some discomfort. Now it's just a pain in the ass. One thing I can guarantee is that we will not be going through this again.
Our internet is very limited at the moment so we are not in a great position to be returning emails, going on Skype, etc. So, if you can't reach us is not you but it is most certainly us.
Possible Preview of Next Blog: "Still Homeless After All These Days"
The Klames of Oz chronicle their epic journey as they struggle to find a four bedroom, 2 bath home (preferably with pool) in the central northern suburbs. Will they find a home? Will they celebrate their 1 year anniversary in Perth on the streets of Perth or even the beach? Stayed tuned for next weeks episode of The Klamers of ?...
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