paisleylass

Thanks! We have found new listings of interest really petered out the past few months, and so many people at inspections, seems to be an undersupply just now, depending what & where you're after? Lots being snapped up after the first open home, crazy.

Good luck, it's hard finding the perfect home. We've compromised a bit on location, but schools and cafes aren't important - having a spacious and comfortable home matters more to us, so we're happy with our choice

Offer accepted :-) fingers crossed the building and pest inspections go considerably better than the last lot! We feel a lot more confident as we know more what to look out for on a superficial level, and hopefully no major issues here.

We already have a solicitor Roberta, got a great team helping us out there! And stamp duty and other costs already accounted for, I have an app on my phone that calculates all the upfront costs, I even included a grand for removals. We should have enough left to install solar and add the all important pool heater, I might be swimming again by mid August!

Gympie and Sandgate roads fortunately won't be part of the commute, it's mainly Beckett Rd and other twists and turns to airport link for hubby, and I'll get a lift most mornings! It's just over 1km to closest bus stop when I need to be 'independent' but we had that living in Chermside, no big deal.

Back in action again after our holiday! Seen 5 houses this week, now on a reduced budget courtesy of Brexit! In spite of this, we have found a house we love albeit not in as convenient a location as would be ideal, but very private and peaceful with parks and reserve close by.

It has a gorgeous pool with modern equipment (most we've seen have a crappy pump setup), huge main bedroom with amazing en suite with glass brick shower enclosure (my dream!), low maintenance gardens, and big kitchen with immaculate appliances.

Offer is in, there were loads at the open home, fingers crossed!

I wouldn't mind a gas hob, but probably not worth the hassle and cost! It seems the majority of homes we're looking at have no gas supply, listings often make a big deal of it when there is gas, but we can live without.

Still looking for a house to buy, very few coming up for sale, none of any interest to us for weeks!

Yep, split system goes on when it gets chilly!

Go Matilda (GM Tax) can certainly help! You can find contact details online. We ended up completing our own CGT declaration as it was a straightforward capital loss, if you have made a gain it's probably a bit trickier to get right!

So sickened, I saw this first thing this morning and just wept. I grew up in the Kirlees area. Sure there were grumpy old buggers being casually racist, which was stupidly less frowned upon in the 70s/80s, but not this kind of atrocity.

Seemingly this is a product of the emotions stirred up by the EU referendum, and is a shocking manifestation of the divide among the UK population now. Whether the guy is purely mentally ill or just got carried away with his BF affiliation, this is highly disturbing and an extreme act of hatred.

Never seen the appeal of M&S undies. I buy the seamfree undies from K Mart, got a drawer full, they last forever!

So glad things are working out so well for you! Our experience is similar, though we've been here 4.5 years and only just looking to buy a house.

Thank you for bringing your cats, I'm sure they are happier staying with you than being rehomed. We only have one (for now) but I would sell all my possessions to keep him with me!

Got our ballot papers Wednesday, and they were posted yesterday. So glad they arrived in good time, as we are on holiday from tomorrow!

Thanks Rebecca, to be honest our attitude is if we find a place we love and don't feel it's overpriced, we'll buy. We aren't investors and plan to live wherever we buy for many years, so it doesn't feel risky. Figures on house prices are really generalised, and don't take into account condition and features that are of interest to us. We're looking well above the median anyway.

There are current warnings of a price crash in SEQ, but that applies to apartments which will soon be in massive oversupply. We actually want a stand alone house on min 600m2 which will be pretty rare in the future, in some areas already are rare, so should be appealing whenever we do sell!

Cheers Jimbo, good to hear some first hand experience! Yep, I've heard they can be slow to heat the pool, but we'd definitely use a thermal blanket when not in use so the idea is to maintain a constant 27° as much as possible, though a huge rainfall like we had last week would no doubt cool things down!

Taking a hiatus from house hunting as we go on holiday this weekend for a fortnight, will resume early July. By the time we actually buy a house we won't need heating til next autumn anyway heh!

I just phone my bank for payments to new payees, easy peasy. Is that an option?

I miss Oat So Simple bars! We have kind family who have brought and posted them over for me, they get through customs no problems, as do my hubby's bombay bad boy potnoodles!!

None of us think about driving but air travel is still massively the safest method of transport

Absolutely, I say this to people I know who are afraid of flying but quite happy to drive. Makes no difference to them.

I don't drive so am only ever a passenger in cars, and frequently have anxiety attacks, I hate car travel.

Yep, used ours pretty much every day September to April, and even a few times in May and August. I'm a big swimmer though - if you just want somewhere to cool off in hot weather it's far less worth it.

Just moved some cash over, believing the rate may have spiked, then it goes up again! Ah well, more to come. Maybe I've been sensible given the current uncertainty!

Wow, thanks Marisa! Makes me feel better. Hopefully we've signed our last lease!

Indeed Marisa. We've been here nearly 2 years, paid on time every week, kept the place well - the pool guy even said it's the cleanest he's seen the pool since our landlord moved out! I don't see why we should be compelled to sign even another 6 months (if he agrees again), rather than just go periodic. But the worst thing would be if we refused to sign a lease and were given notice to quit. We don't want to go through the massive upheaval of moving to another rental when we're quite happy here! (as renters that is!) We just want to buy a house without potentially being $1000s out of pocket having to pay rent as well as a mortgage!

Erm, what? We've found a huge diversity of people with various backgrounds and lifestyles, what's to 'fit in' with? We have friends scattered around here in Brisbane and also Melbourne and Sydney. Most are Aussie born, some are British, one Kiwi, one American. Few have kids, most don't, that doesn't really make much of a difference, though it does influence how we socialise.

I remember reading, probably here on PIO, that Australia is really family oriented, if you don't have kids you'll struggle to fit in and make friends. What nonsense. Even at work, the split between family types and those who have chosen not to have children is roughly 50/50. Even in real estate listings, we've noticed that while many blether on about kids playing on trampolines and teenage retreat, some agents actually use wording such as "appeal to families and couples alike". Still doesn't account for loners heh, and we do know a few people who are single and live alone too.

What we see is real life, not some Stepford Wives dystopia. Lots of differences. Really nothing to 'fit in' with.

We already changed to 6 months, amazingly! Still not that useful, but it does help reduce our potential losses if we buy a house with time left on the lease.

We are finding it impossible to plan anything as home buyers. Our purchase has just fallen through and it could be weeks to months til we find a house we like again. There actually seems to be better availability of rental places, which aren't so much of a commitment, so of course you could live with compromise and imperfections.

Deffo checking out this lease renewal businesses with the solicitor!

I have no idea, but I know it's a common demand in QLD! Maybe I should forward the next renewal letter to our solicitor, now we have one, and get her opinion! I can easily see us still searching for a house to buy when the next renewal comes up.

The last two lease renewals, the letter we received stated that if we don't sign a new lease, we have to vacate by the end of the current lease. It's very harsh and inconvenient as we want to buy a house which is impossible to time well. We are likely to have to try and break the lease.

Hmm, well both of our tenancies, we've had to renew for fixed periods after the initial contract, and they usually insist on 12 months. Must be different in NSW!

A couple of months before the end of your current lease I reckon. The REA will probably start badgering you to sign a new lease around 6-8 weeks before the current one expires. You may end up with overlap of a few weeks, we find that is just part of renting!

Thanks Cal! Yeah we will, deffo worth shelling out for top spec inspections, so many issues we could never have spotted, though the reports give us a few clues what to look out for in future! Onwards...

Lastonealive, we do enjoy inspections but we're feeling a bit burned out now. There's only one open tomorrow that is of interest, we *might* go.

I want my own pool dammit, got the cash ready to buy year-round heating but no pool to install it in! Lol.