Where we live - 1

How long after we move out of it is the rear flat of 125 Glynburn Road, Glynde, going to get knocked down for townhouses?

My guess: six months.

So today we went to see the real estate agent and signed the paper that says we're moving the settlement date up by a week. So we should be able to get the keys sometime after noon on the 15th. And we had a couple questions about the house, so he said, "Do you want to go have a look again?" So we said yes. And we got to experience for ourselves just how good a job the air conditioners do of cooling the house. The temperature today was 35 C/95 F, and we walked in, and it felt a little warm, but really not bad. And he turned both the coolers on, and within minutes even that warmness was gone from the two rooms they service. Even the back of the house, which faces north (and remember, folks, we're in the southern hemisphere so the sun's in the north), didn't feel hot. So we must have some pretty good insulation in the house.

We saw two bits of fence that'll need attention at some point, because they're falling over a bit. And the tap for the rainwater is in the laundry room. And there's only ONE power point in the soon to be computer room. But that's okay, we have an electrician in the family.

The big shed is smaller than I remembered, and the little shed is bigger, so it all comes out pretty even. And we definitely have an orange tree, and a lemon tree, and as for the other fruit trees, I don't think they're all apricots. Unless there's two different varieties of apricot - one with fuzzy skin, one with smooth skin. Otherwise I think some might be peaches or nectarines. Whatever they are, they need a drink. It's been a dry year.

Oh. And that doorbell has GOT TO GO. A simple "ding-dong" is fine. But this one plays Brahms Lullaby. And it goes on forever. And it's not exactly at a soothing volume, either. I think it was meant to wake the dead.

The official word is: settlement on the 15th of December. 11 days and counting....

Yeah, so this is the stuff we have to do before we move house.

• Arrange for phone disconnect/connect - done
  
• Arrange for electric disconnect and electric/gas connect - done
  
• Arrange mail fowarding - done
  
• Notify Internode (our ISP)
  
• Tell the landlady we're leaving - done
  
• Clean the house
  
• Change address with the bank, insurance companies, work, etc.
  
• Send out Christmas cards with our new address - working on it!
  

So our settlement date is getting moved up, from the 22nd of December to either the 13th or 15th, a whole week earlier than originally planned. So possibly moving all our earthly belongings as early as that Saturday, the 16th, meaning we have two weeks to get packed instead of three. All the better, really. The sooner I can get into some air conditioning, the better.

Yeah, so the first time we saw the property online was the 16th of November, and we could be allowed to move in as early as the 13th of December. That's a whopping 27 days total - 21 days from making the offer to settlement. Not bad at all.

Okay. That was quick.

The valuer went through the house YESTERDAY. Today our loan consultant rang and said that the loan has been officially approved. The house is ours. Yeehaw.

So I just have to get the insurance organised tomorrow, and we have to send back all these forms to the conveyancer - six of them, one of which needs to be witnessed & stamped by a justice of the peace. And then more paperwork from the bank, and if all THAT goes quickly as well, we could very well have the keys by the 15th. After all, the contract we signed was dependent upon the bank approving finance by the 8th of December. They've approved it, and the 8th is still a week away....

The house is being valued today. Also got a call from the conveyancer, and they're sending paperwork out today to get to us tomorrow.

I have to say, I didn't expect things to go so quick. I hoped they would, but I figured since there's a bank, real estate agent, conveyancer, vendor, and who knows who else involved, it would be a matter of people waiting to hear back from other people before they can tell still other people to do their work...you know, the usual bureaucracy. And okay, it's still early, but it's moving a lot faster than I expected.

So maybe we will get in before the settlement date, who knows....

Packed heaps more last night. More books, all the DVDs & videos, the small amount of baby stuff we have already, and some odds & ends. Of the 15-20 boxes Darrin brought home last night, we used all but I think 4 or 5. And we still have heaps left to do.

Hanging out with Darrin at work today. Too hot to stay home when it's going to be 38 (just over 100F), and I'm already feeling warmer from being pregnant, and there's little or nothing we can do about the temperature in that place.

So the deposit has been handed in, and so has all the paperwork for Homestart. Now we just wait for the valuation. And pack some more. Darrin's bringing home a whole pile of boxes from the library that they were just throwing out.

And it's going to be 38 degrees tomorrow, so I might tag along to work with Darrin. Mmmm, air conditioning....

So we're in the 2 day cooling off period. Which is technically 4 days since the 2 business days are Friday & Monday. And we've got all this paperwork to read, and more paperwork to fill out, and sign, and get back to the bank on Monday. And then they send out the valuer, and do the final approval of the loan, which our loan consultant said usually takes 3-4 days. So we might have that by next Monday, but we'll see. After that we have to get insurance, sign more papers, and wait. And then get the keys, and move in, and pay all the fees, and move our phone/internet/electricity accounts, get our mail forwarded, unpack, yada yada yada.

So we've also started packing. I did two big boxes of quilts, towels, and other bedding, plus five smaller boxes of books. Darrin did three boxes of books. And we're not even halfway through the books yet. Yep, we're geeks. And let's not even talk about all the books I still have in my parents' basement....

Anyone got more boxes?

Okay, this is the SECOND time I've tried posting this. I just tried hitting "save" and whaddya know, stupid Mambo logged me out for inactivity. THE NERVE! I'm sick to death of Mambo.



I'm okay now. Really.

Anyway. Tonight we made an offer on this house. And two hours later, about 15 minutes into my recording of House, we got a phone call from the agent saying the vendors accepted our offer. So as long as the financing, valuation, and everything else go according to plan, we'll be in there by the 22nd of December.

Floor plan here. I've taken some pictures but they're not up yet; should be in another day or two, whenever we get the time.

Some other details of the house:

• There's a chicken shop right across the road. It won't win any awards, but it's edible. And the chickens are pretty small. But still...edible.
  
• 5-10 minutes walk to Fasta Pasta, KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Haven, Red Rooster, Subway.
  
• There's a rainwater tank already installed - something we were thinking we'd put in anyway at some point.
  
• The laundry room is HUGE. Big enough to hold washer, dryer, cat food/litter, and a freezer.
  
• The bathroom is also HUGE. It doesn't have a bathtub (just a shower) but there's room for one.
  
• The "study" mentioned in the advertisement really could be a third bedroom. Or a computer room.
  
• There's a smallish lemon tree, and another fruit tree, only we're not sure what type of fruit it is. Plums, maybe.
  
• There's a bottlebrush in the front yard.
  
• I realise real estate agents sometimes, um, embellish things, but this is what he's said about the house: old lady, died about a year ago, the family has kept the house but now they're ready to sell. There hasn't been anyone living in it all that time. And from looking at it, it doesn't really look lived in. It just looks like a little old lady lived there for a long time.
  
• There was a neighbour's cat sniffing at the agent's car when I got there yesterday.
  
• Being just off the Salisbury Highway, yeah, there's a bit of traffic noise. Not much more than where we are now, what with the doctor's office next door and people pulling in & out all day.
  
• Darrin can get to/from work in 10 minutes (if he has to wait for a train) or less, or walk to work in 30 minutes (most people would take closer to 45).
  
• There's enough space to add on a couple bedrooms out front in, say, 10 years.
  
• There's already a roof TV aerial/antenna installed.
  

So. The two out of three? That was in reference to this post about things I wanted to do this year. Got the residence. Got the house. Don't got plane tickets. Ah well...maybe next year. With a 9-month-old baby. Or not.

We went for a drive in the hills today and have decided we like Mount Pleasant. Did a time trial on the trip to Darrin's work and it took UNDER 40 minutes. True, this was on a Saturday afternoon and not in the morning rush, but it can't be much more than that. The most stressful part will be the last 5 minutes.

So. Why did we like Mount Pleasant better than the other towns in the area?

1. It has a hospital. This is a plus if you're planning to have kids someday and need a place to birth them. I'd kinda rather not have to drive for 15-20 minutes to the next town to do so.
2. It has a primary (elementary) school. Also good for future kids.
3. It has TWO pubs instead of the standard one. Not for drinking at (at least not us), for eating out.
4. It's bigger than the other three towns we drove through (only 600, but that's semi-big for an Australian country town).
5. It's serviced by one of the country bus services.
6. The houses there look nice, but not so nice we'd break the bank trying to pay for one.
7. We can still get DSL there.
8. There is a water treatment facility in the area so the water may actually be drinkable.
9. The oval (where cricket is played), and the town in general, looks nicer than the other towns.
10. We drove past one of the houses we've seen online, and it looks like it's empty. If it stays empty for several months, the owners will be more likely to sell for a lower price.

Walkabout - Mount Pleasant
Total Travel

We are starting to do some research into buying/building a house.

At the moment the Adelaide housing market doesn't look good for anyone with a single income, because there's been a housing boom in the last year and a half or so. And the "experts" are predicting prices will continue to go up, although not as sharply as they did in the last year. And apparently a crash is expected in the next 6 to 24 months, so basically we're hoping that happens rather soon. We have talked to a mortgage-finding service and know what our budget is, so we're keeping an eye out for anything in that range. But of course nothing much is in that range, except houses in dumpy suburbs like Elizabeth and Davoren Park. Or little towns an hour from Darrin's work.

I've done some number crunching and we can't really do anything till about a year from now, or a bit longer. But maybe that'll allow enough time for the prices to come down enough so that we can get something nice. If that doesn't happen, or doesn't happen quickly enough, building may be cheaper. I kinda like the idea; Darrin doesn't. Apparently building in a new development usually means rules on what you can & can't have in your garden (yard), and it also means that sure, you can plan the size of the house, but you're on a tiny block of land. So unless you dig a basement (not common here at all, and probably expensive) or put on a second story (very unpopular because you can see into your neighbours' yards, and they don't like that), you're left with a little strip of land around each side of the house, which isn't really enough for anything but a clothesline. If we buy an existing house, it'll possibly be on a more useful block of land (a big plus from my point of view, having grown up on 7 acres out in the country).

Anyway. Like I said, we can't actually DO anything for another year, but we're keeping our eyes and ears open. And it's fun just looking at houses online & figuring out what I might do with them, and if the kitchen's big enough, and hey, there's already a shed for the servers, and that wallpaper will HAVE to go....