Stuck forever in Oz...

[VERYSTORMY]

10 hours ago, Beckfield said:

Sounds great.  And they let you have your little dog there? 

Yes, even when we first arrived back and lived in the south east in some of the most in demand areas of the country (Windsor and Ascot) we had no issue finding rentals with a dog. The U.K. is much more dog friendly. 

[Beckfield]

20 minutes ago, VERYSTORMY said:

Yes, even when we first arrived back and lived in the south east in some of the most in demand areas of the country (Windsor and Ascot) we had no issue finding rentals with a dog. The U.K. is much more dog friendly. 

That's really nice to hear.  My little dog died 15 weeks ago but we have 2 indoor cats (indoor because we love the birds too!) and I miss my dog terribly.  Loved her to bits...  Anyway we thought we'd go to one of the rescue places and get an older dog in need of a loving home, but with the house not selling we don't know whether we're Arthur or Martha.  I like your rental idea.  Would they also allow 2 cats in a rental do you think?  One of them is 13 and we've had her since kittenhood.  We could never part with them.  Rentals in NY seem to be quite expensive from my research this morning.  I might broaden the search.  Thanks Verystormy.  Appreciate your input.  

[VERYSTORMY]

I don't see why cats would be an issue in finding a rental. 

If it is possible you will make the move, then I would wait till you have made the move to get another dog, particularly if it is an older dog. 

Do get a pet shipper involved at an early stage if you decide to make the move. The cats should be fine with the journey, and there is no quarantine, but it takes time for the rabies injections and things. 

[MARYROSE02]

On 2/17/2018 at 08:58, Beckfield said:

Hi everyone, well we have now officially given up on ever selling the house.  We did everything conceivably possible to sell it but nothing achieved a sale.  It seems we are stuck here.   "Devastated" doesn't even begin to describe how we feel.  We reduced it several times, it presented really well, did the gardens, on a double block, etc etc etc etc but it's in a country town where "slow" doesn't even begin to describe the real estate market.  If we reduce it further we won't be able to afford a house in England, so there's no point.  To be honest I feel like hibernating and licking my wounds, but wanted to relay our situation as so many people on this site have been very helpful and supportive.  Short of a miracle happening it seems we'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives.  It would be very easy to swear right now, but I'll refrain...    

Why don't you just rent it out? I rented my unit out in Sydney whilst I was living in England and I am doing the same to my UK house back in OZ.

[Beckfield]

39 minutes ago, VERYSTORMY said:

I don't see why cats would be an issue in finding a rental. 

If it is possible you will make the move, then I would wait till you have made the move to get another dog, particularly if it is an older dog. 

Do get a pet shipper involved at an early stage if you decide to make the move. The cats should be fine with the journey, and there is no quarantine, but it takes time for the rabies injections and things. 

That's good (about the cats).  Yes, won't get another dog in the short term.  Still missing the one I lost too much, but one day...  Yes, I organised a shipper and got the rabies needles done a few months ago.  We thought we'd be in England by early December last year.  Lol.  

[Marisawright]

@Beckfield , I'm sure you've watched all those shows on TV about preparing your house, but just in case...

THE most important thing is to "de-personalise" your home.  People are amazingly stupid, really - you'd think they could manage to ignore your decor and see the bare bones of the house, but an awful lot of people can't.  You'd be surprised how many people don't buy a house because the furniture wasn't to their taste.

So, you need to get out your packing boxes and pack (or throw!) away every single thing you can manage without for the next few months:

• Remove ALL photos or paintings of yourself or your family members (of course, you can keep them on display during the week, but they MUST all disappear when there's a viewing).
• Pack up all your ornaments, because ornaments are a matter of personal taste.
• Remove every stick of furniture that's not absolutely necessary (e.g. if you're packing up your collection of glassware then you can pack up the cabinet too).

Basically, the emptier your house is, the better - and you should get the real estate agent to take new pictures of your almost-empty house, too.  

Make sure the pictures don't make the rooms look dark. Ordinary photos often do, so they'll need to be photoshopped.   The big real estate agents bring in a professional photographer with high-powered lighting to make the rooms look bright!  They also use a fish-eye lens which makes the rooms look larger.  If your agent has taken ordinary photos, they probably look poor by comparison with other photos on the websites.   

Take a look at the wording on the website.   A country home may appeal to a city investor, but they need to know how much the place could rent for - so make sure that's mentioned.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Marisawright

[Beckfield]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

@Beckfield , I'm sure you've watched all those shows on TV about preparing your house, but just in case...

THE most important thing is to "de-personalise" your home.  People are amazingly stupid, really - you'd think they could manage to ignore your decor and see the bare bones of the house, but an awful lot of people can't.  You'd be surprised how many people don't buy a house because the furniture wasn't to their taste.

So, you need to get out your packing boxes and pack (or throw!) away every single thing you can manage without for the next few months:

• Remove ALL photos or paintings of yourself or your family members (of course, you can keep them on display during the week, but they MUST all disappear when there's a viewing).
• Pack up all your ornaments, because ornaments are a matter of personal taste.
• Remove every stick of furniture that's not absolutely necessary (e.g. if you're packing up your collection of glassware then you can pack up the cabinet too).

Basically, the emptier your house is, the better - and you should get the real estate agent to take new pictures of your almost-empty house, too.  

Make sure the pictures don't make the rooms look dark. Ordinary photos often do, so they'll need to be photoshopped.   The big real estate agents bring in a professional photographer with high-powered lighting to make the rooms look bright!  They also use a fish-eye lens which makes the rooms look larger.  If your agent has taken ordinary photos, they probably look poor by comparison with other photos on the websites.   

Take a look at the wording on the website.   A country home may appeal to a city investor, but they need to know how much the place could rent for - so make sure that's mentioned.

This is fabulous info Marisawright.  Thank you!  We had a massive cull and garage sale a few months ago, so we've dealt with the clutter, but looking around I think I can improve further on it.  So empty is good.  And here's me thinking I should put something in the second living area so it doesn't look so naked.  It's empty at the moment except for a bookcase.  Lol.   I'll put in place all these suggestions.  Here's hoping.  Thank you for bothering to pass on all this helpful stuff.  Very much appreciated.  

[newjez]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

@Beckfield , I'm sure you've watched all those shows on TV about preparing your house, but just in case...

THE most important thing is to "de-personalise" your home.  People are amazingly stupid, really - you'd think they could manage to ignore your decor and see the bare bones of the house, but an awful lot of people can't.  You'd be surprised how many people don't buy a house because the furniture wasn't to their taste.

So, you need to get out your packing boxes and pack (or throw!) away every single thing you can manage without for the next few months:

• Remove ALL photos or paintings of yourself or your family members (of course, you can keep them on display during the week, but they MUST all disappear when there's a viewing).
• Pack up all your ornaments, because ornaments are a matter of personal taste.
• Remove every stick of furniture that's not absolutely necessary (e.g. if you're packing up your collection of glassware then you can pack up the cabinet too).

Basically, the emptier your house is, the better - and you should get the real estate agent to take new pictures of your almost-empty house, too.  

Make sure the pictures don't make the rooms look dark. Ordinary photos often do, so they'll need to be photoshopped.   The big real estate agents bring in a professional photographer with high-powered lighting to make the rooms look bright!  They also use a fish-eye lens which makes the rooms look larger.  If your agent has taken ordinary photos, they probably look poor by comparison with other photos on the websites.   

Take a look at the wording on the website.   A country home may appeal to a city investor, but they need to know how much the place could rent for - so make sure that's mentioned.

They should photo shop the lighting too if they are any good.

Don't make the place look too bland. It's hard to sell an empty house. 

Have some flowers, bowl of fruit. A couple of cushions with colour that match. You do want to dress a house for sale. Probably isn't an IKEA close to you though, as they are great for vases and such. You want each room to clearly show its purpose. Many people have little imagination. A bedroom should have a bed. A study should have a desk.

If you have a viewing and you have kids, check the bathrooms etc to make sure they haven't missed.

We have paint pots for every room so we can easily touch up blemishes. 

We are putting ours on the market soon, and I've spent the last few months decorating.

[Beckfield]

Wonderful.  Thank you Newjez.  The paint pots idea is really smart.  I haven't heard of it before.  

[Wa7]

Have you been and had a nose at other peoples home opens?

This can give you a good idea of what works and what doesn't, then you can then go home and be really critical of your own style and make a few changes.

[LKC]

6 hours ago, Beckfield said:

That's really nice to hear.  My little dog died 15 weeks ago but we have 2 indoor cats (indoor because we love the birds too!) and I miss my dog terribly.  Loved her to bits...  Anyway we thought we'd go to one of the rescue places and get an older dog in need of a loving home, but with the house not selling we don't know whether we're Arthur or Martha.  I like your rental idea.  Would they also allow 2 cats in a rental do you think?  One of them is 13 and we've had her since kittenhood.  We could never part with them.  Rentals in NY seem to be quite expensive from my research this morning.  I might broaden the search.  Thanks Verystormy.  Appreciate your input.  

We were allowed four cats in our rental when we arrived back in the UK.  We just had it put in the contract that we'd repair anything damaged by the cats (they didn't damage anything) and that we'd pay to get the carpets cleaned.  The UK is much more pet friendly, in my opinion.

[LKC]

I agree with the above posters about clutter and so on.  When we sold our house in Sydney I went through and decluttered, de-personalised everything, got a few cheap cushions and throws etc in neutral tones, repositioned the furniture so that each room was shown to its best, painted throughout, did the garden, washed down the drive/patio/brickwork on the house etc and it really looked beautiful when we'd done.  It was hard work though.  I wouldn't have any empty rooms, dress them as if they are being used.  Maximise the potential, for example we turned our study back into a bedroom and then made up a study area on the landing, so that potential buyers saw bedrooms being used as bedrooms, but that there was also somewhere for a desk.

Good luck with it, and as the others have suggested you might want to think about renting it out and renting something over here.