We had the real estate agent around today to let us know how much our house should sell for and what to do to get that price. It was a pleasant surprise on both accounts. As our house is in the “Renovators Delight” category it’s in the lower end of the market so there’s no point in putting a lot of money into things that people will probably want to rip out anyway. Di gave us a few tips that wouldn’t cost much at all and even said not to bother with some things that we suggested so we were happy with that.
For those of you who don’t know we’re going to be building next door to Bev and John’s house next year. (That’s Paul’s parents.) We’ll just be round the corner from here in Upwey where we have lived before. It’s a perfect location as it’s opposite the train station and shops and just near the high school so Bill and Bridie can walk. Bev and John have been wonderful to us over the years, moving up here after we got Beth’s diagnosis and looking after the kids whenever we need them to. They pick Bridie up from kinder on either a Thursday or Friday for me depending on what appointments I have (and sometimes even better, when I don’t have any), and did the same for Bill and Beth before that. I’m more than happy to help out in kind if needed. And I think Bev and I have one of those rare mother/daughter in law relationships in that we’re really good friends!
We were originally going to stay where we are while we built. We had a bad experience with renting a few years ago when we had to rent for a little while. We moved up to Emerald as we figured as we were renting it would be a good way to suss out the area as lots of people from school lived there. We made the mistake of being a bit too far out of Emerald and didn’t enjoy it at all. Also it was a nightmare with Beth as you can’t modify a home that isn’t yours. There wasn’t much available so we ended up with a house that didn’t have a good view of the backyard and not great fences. Beth broke all the flyscreens because she could open the windows and pushed the flyscreens out to get out. The rooms were up the other end of the house so I’d have to keep checking on her to make sure she hadn’t escaped and run off up the road. It was a horrible time. Mind you that was 4 years ago. She’s a lot better now and I’m planning on checking out houses a lot earlier so we can find something suitable.
During the fire season last summer we realised how bad our house was location wise. It’s on a steep block and the road is narrow so you have to pull over if somebody is coming in the other direction. Coming home from swimming I saw a mushroom cloud of smoke so headed straight to Bev and John’s with the kids. It was horrible trying to think whether to come back and get the pets but in the end I did. It was so scary coming back because I could hardly breathe and all the roads were blocked off. We all ended up at my sister in law Kathryn’s, Me, Paul, Beth, Bill, Bridie, Bev and John. Along with Minka the dog, Henry the cat, Sasha the rabbit and Tweetie Pie the budgie! We’ve decided to hire a storage box (thanks for the idea Bec) to put all the stuff in that we wont need ’til our proper house is built. At least then even if we are still here over summer we can put our valuables like photos etc in there anyway. We’ll be much more prepared this time if necessary.
It’ll actually be nice to be in a rental house while we’re building because I find it quite depressing coming home and constantly thinking of all the things that we should be doing. I’ll be able to relax, especially as I’ll have my Bridie at school. And the good thing is that this time we know what the end result will be and that’s something that we’re all looking forward to.
