Moving our things over wasn't too bad. We just put most of the boxes in the lounge as we had no furniture to worry about and what we could take upstairs we put in the spare room. Everything was labeled clearly and we had Crowne's master copy so we could kinda guess what was in what box and that made it easier for sorting out.
Then we went to IKEA. After no lunch and moving all day, clearance weekend on a Sunday afternoon at IKEA is NOT a good idea. We were warned, but did we listen? Of course not. Ken & Penny had warned that it is a place best avoided on weekends, long weekends in particular and public holidays. There was a serious case of shopping rage coming on by the end of it, where all I could see was red and the frustration was getting to the point that I could feel the tears starting to well up. The whole situation was not helped by the fact that everything bar the TV table and odd bits and bobs, was unavailable. Frustration abounded. No couch, no bed that we wanted, only the 2 things we wanted most of all naturally. All of the really expensive things were available, but that's not we could afford at the time. We really wanted to take advantage of the van but couldn't really. We were going to have to come back and pay for delivery.
And lastly, we went to the supermarket. That had to be the 2nd best moment of the day. We had decided to do a massive shop and stock everything up because we did have the car and some extra cash. So we set up the pantry. Spices, oils, fruit, veg, meat, dry goods, rices, pasta, everything. Every aisle. God it felt good. After living on $100 a week total for the last 6-8weeks, it was an awesome feeling of not having to make everything stretch. Sure we could have done it bit by bit, but this was much more gratifying, and the last stop was finding the bottle store and stocking up on beer and wine!
The car got unpacked, the fridge and pantry packed, dinner cooked and then the best part of the day - we sat down and had a cold beer. We set the TV up in a free corner and watched whatever required the least amount of thought. Then all we had to do was blow up the bed and crash!
The amazing thing was as bad a feeling as I'd had about moving into the last place, I had such a great sense of relief and being settled straight away in this place.
Meanwhile we were still paying rent at the last place - had paid for a whole month, and so I went back to do the last little bit of cleaning and get the carpets cleaned. The crazy lady, and she will always be remembered as, told me I hadn't cleaned the carpets, and I showed her the receipt. Then she started complaining about having to call and give the legal 24hrs notice before she had so show someone around once she discovered we'd moved out. I told her we had the place until the 26th of the month and if they wanted it before that she could refund whatever was left of the month and were more than welcome to take it over sooner rather than later. She waited and stopped moaning. Interestingly they put the rent up by another $20 a week - greedy buggers!
And we began to unpack. Each day I did a little more, but I did get the kitchen unpacked and livable that first day, and we'd bought a washing machine and book case on eBay so I got onto that too. We were also able to pick up the cats on Monday, and it was great to have our furry friends back! They thought the maze of boxes was quite overwhelming and far too much fun to even worry about going outside at that point, which was a good thing as we kept them indoors for a couple of weeks to get accustomed to their surroundings. We have a courtyard so they did get supervised outdoor visits when we were home.
The following weekend we went to IKEA early. I had picked up the wrong thing the week before, so we needed to return that first off and also organise the rest of the furniture we needed. We had a very helpful man at the returns desk to actually checked to see if everything we were looking for was in stock. They were! Victory at last. No car this time meant we needed it delivered. Handily, IKEA does next day delivery and the cost is proportional to how much you spend. It cost us $75and was at our house at 8am the next morning.
Marty got straight to work on the couch and then the bed. Having space for these 2 items had been a major incentive for unpacking boxes during the week. When he left for work I attacked the drawers we had bought. It took about an hour and a half to do the 1st set, and only about 45 minutes to do the second.
Unpacking the house was like Christmas - I got to see all our things again, and unpacking the clothes was even better. Especially when I hit my shoes! We bought another bed for our spare room eventually from J & D when they left for Shanghai, and have slowly filled the house up and replaced some things like the crappy washing machine, fridge and bookshelves we bought at first with new and better ones. We've furnished our courtyard and the garden looks good depending on how much inclination we have for it on the weekend. In summer there's some veggies and herbs growing so it gets a lot more love and attention then. Those 1st couple of months were extremely stressful, but on a residential side we're pretty sorted now!
xx
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Disaster Story #1
In a lot of ways, Disaster story #1 is an incorrect title, because there hasn't been a disaster story #2. This is a precautionary tale for all those who rush into a rental without properly thinking about it, and to those who don't follow their gut! Please, please don't do this. It cost us time, money and stress. We did end up with a great place at the end, and we've just signed on for our 3rd year there.
Staying with friends was great, but we really didn't want to overstay our welcome, and we had just enough money for bond and the first month's rent. I had just got a job and we'd seen a place that I loved. It just felt right. Beautiful wooden floors, great open, sunny kitchen but right at the top end of our price bracket and no cupboards except in the kitchen and 1 linen cupboard. We applied for it, and got it, but we were told it wouldn't be available for another 2 weeks, even though it was advertised as an "available now". The reason being, they were finishing off the bathroom. Great, was what I was thinking, new bathroom, nice little place, outside area, but Marty didn't want to wait and we didn't want to be over stayers. Then, through a private landlord found another place. It was the top level of a house that the floors had been split into 2 apartments. It was huge, loads of cupboard space, cheaper, 5 minutes from work, but no outside area. Available now. Thinking practically and dismissing the intuition that was kicking in and jumping up and down inside of me with a big, red, flashing sign saying, "NO!NO!NO!", we said no to the 1st and yes to the 2nd. Big mistake. Huge.
Through all of this remember our cats are still in New Zealand, and we're only able to get them back when we have a place. We go to sign the lease and the landlord says -"You know you can't have any pets right? I don't think it's fair on them or us." And we lie of course, because no one allows you to have pets - another reason the place was better because there was an outdoor area. And I can just feel the stress and tension welling up and that frenzied 'NO!NO!NO!' reaching fever pitch. Yes we signed the lease, yes we moved in with no furniture just an airbed (loaned), sheets, pillows, duvets (borrowed), plastic cutlery, crockery, a camping fridge and a computer in the week of the actual Melbourne heatwave. Our things hadn't arrived yet and we didn't have an ETA as yet. Ken and Penny took us to the airport to pick up the moggies. The temperatures hitting 42-46 5 days straight didn't help a situation with high tension. We fought about everything, and to top it off money was running very low and neither of us was working. I was starting in February and Marty was doing intermittent days.
The landlady and her husband lived down the road, he managed the downstairs flat and she managed ours. They'd said they would come and water the gardens occasionally. With the heatwave he was there everyday and we'd catch her wandering around and checking up on us. If you don't know, this is a breach of the tenancy contract because they're supposed to leave you private, uninterrupted living. In one of her snooping exercises she caught the cats, rang and told us to move them out ASAP. Back to the cattery they went for about 4 weeks until we could get everything sorted out, and that was another few hundred dollars. We decided that:
a) we needed to get out
b) we needed some money quick because we'd have to come up with a bond, 1 month's rent, as well as rent for the month we were going to have to go into at our current place and the cost of breaking the lease.
Hence why I'm not recommending this course of action to anyone!
House hunting resumed, bank loan applied for. Now banking in Australia leaves much to be desired. After 5 business days from my application I was on the phone trying to find out what was happening, only to be told that it would take 3 - 5 days to process, and no one seemed to understand that it had been longer than that already. I completely lost my cool, and after eventually demanding a manager, my loan was miraculously processed within a couple of hours. After some false starts in the house department we found 1 that Marty went to and liked. By this stage we'd both started working, and it was getting tougher to get out to places. After applying, I realised we hadn't put our written reference in with the application, so not our best foot forward. A lesson to be learnt as 2 days after the inspection it went back up again for inspection. Obviously we hadn't got it, and here's where a little tenacity and persistence paid off. I ran the property manager dealing with the rental, told her about the reference, faxed it through and we were approved in 3 hours. We were seeing the the light at the end of the tunnel and not a moment to late! It was our rental anniversary that day and on the way to work - and all this faxing drama - I had dropped off our notice to vacate to the landlords.
I believe very strongly that when you make a decision to do something and really act on it, the whole universe conspires to make it happen and works for you, particularly when this decision is based around positive energy and good karma. No, I'm not getting all spiritual and incense-burning on you, but when you do things that you know are wrong and hurtful, don't you notice how the enjoyment is gone, things go wrong and haywire. Whereas wen you make a positive decision to take a step forward then things start to work out. I mean we wanted to throw eggs at this woman, but handled it professionally and did everything that was asked of us. In turn we have a great little place with a property manager that leaves us alone except for the yearly inspections.
Within all this time, our loan had come through, we signed the lease and our things arrived from Christchurch. This was when I wished we'd brought our bed! We barely unpacked as we were going to move in 2 weeks and we wanted everything as transportable and easy as possible. Marty hired a van for the a day and we moved in on a Sunday. He'd picked up the keys on the Saturday and I met him there after work. This was to be the first time I'd seen the place and the only thing I was hoping was that the carpets wouldn't be brown! Well, he'd definitely made the right decision about the place and the carpets were brown, but I've learnt to love them!
I was so happy about the decision I could have cried! A good night's sleep and then moving day. We were up at 7am, moving by 8am and didn't stop till 8pm, but well worth it!
Staying with friends was great, but we really didn't want to overstay our welcome, and we had just enough money for bond and the first month's rent. I had just got a job and we'd seen a place that I loved. It just felt right. Beautiful wooden floors, great open, sunny kitchen but right at the top end of our price bracket and no cupboards except in the kitchen and 1 linen cupboard. We applied for it, and got it, but we were told it wouldn't be available for another 2 weeks, even though it was advertised as an "available now". The reason being, they were finishing off the bathroom. Great, was what I was thinking, new bathroom, nice little place, outside area, but Marty didn't want to wait and we didn't want to be over stayers. Then, through a private landlord found another place. It was the top level of a house that the floors had been split into 2 apartments. It was huge, loads of cupboard space, cheaper, 5 minutes from work, but no outside area. Available now. Thinking practically and dismissing the intuition that was kicking in and jumping up and down inside of me with a big, red, flashing sign saying, "NO!NO!NO!", we said no to the 1st and yes to the 2nd. Big mistake. Huge.
Through all of this remember our cats are still in New Zealand, and we're only able to get them back when we have a place. We go to sign the lease and the landlord says -"You know you can't have any pets right? I don't think it's fair on them or us." And we lie of course, because no one allows you to have pets - another reason the place was better because there was an outdoor area. And I can just feel the stress and tension welling up and that frenzied 'NO!NO!NO!' reaching fever pitch. Yes we signed the lease, yes we moved in with no furniture just an airbed (loaned), sheets, pillows, duvets (borrowed), plastic cutlery, crockery, a camping fridge and a computer in the week of the actual Melbourne heatwave. Our things hadn't arrived yet and we didn't have an ETA as yet. Ken and Penny took us to the airport to pick up the moggies. The temperatures hitting 42-46 5 days straight didn't help a situation with high tension. We fought about everything, and to top it off money was running very low and neither of us was working. I was starting in February and Marty was doing intermittent days.
The landlady and her husband lived down the road, he managed the downstairs flat and she managed ours. They'd said they would come and water the gardens occasionally. With the heatwave he was there everyday and we'd catch her wandering around and checking up on us. If you don't know, this is a breach of the tenancy contract because they're supposed to leave you private, uninterrupted living. In one of her snooping exercises she caught the cats, rang and told us to move them out ASAP. Back to the cattery they went for about 4 weeks until we could get everything sorted out, and that was another few hundred dollars. We decided that:
a) we needed to get out
b) we needed some money quick because we'd have to come up with a bond, 1 month's rent, as well as rent for the month we were going to have to go into at our current place and the cost of breaking the lease.
Hence why I'm not recommending this course of action to anyone!
House hunting resumed, bank loan applied for. Now banking in Australia leaves much to be desired. After 5 business days from my application I was on the phone trying to find out what was happening, only to be told that it would take 3 - 5 days to process, and no one seemed to understand that it had been longer than that already. I completely lost my cool, and after eventually demanding a manager, my loan was miraculously processed within a couple of hours. After some false starts in the house department we found 1 that Marty went to and liked. By this stage we'd both started working, and it was getting tougher to get out to places. After applying, I realised we hadn't put our written reference in with the application, so not our best foot forward. A lesson to be learnt as 2 days after the inspection it went back up again for inspection. Obviously we hadn't got it, and here's where a little tenacity and persistence paid off. I ran the property manager dealing with the rental, told her about the reference, faxed it through and we were approved in 3 hours. We were seeing the the light at the end of the tunnel and not a moment to late! It was our rental anniversary that day and on the way to work - and all this faxing drama - I had dropped off our notice to vacate to the landlords.
I believe very strongly that when you make a decision to do something and really act on it, the whole universe conspires to make it happen and works for you, particularly when this decision is based around positive energy and good karma. No, I'm not getting all spiritual and incense-burning on you, but when you do things that you know are wrong and hurtful, don't you notice how the enjoyment is gone, things go wrong and haywire. Whereas wen you make a positive decision to take a step forward then things start to work out. I mean we wanted to throw eggs at this woman, but handled it professionally and did everything that was asked of us. In turn we have a great little place with a property manager that leaves us alone except for the yearly inspections.
Within all this time, our loan had come through, we signed the lease and our things arrived from Christchurch. This was when I wished we'd brought our bed! We barely unpacked as we were going to move in 2 weeks and we wanted everything as transportable and easy as possible. Marty hired a van for the a day and we moved in on a Sunday. He'd picked up the keys on the Saturday and I met him there after work. This was to be the first time I'd seen the place and the only thing I was hoping was that the carpets wouldn't be brown! Well, he'd definitely made the right decision about the place and the carpets were brown, but I've learnt to love them!
I was so happy about the decision I could have cried! A good night's sleep and then moving day. We were up at 7am, moving by 8am and didn't stop till 8pm, but well worth it!
Friday, May 6, 2011
The 1st weeks - Househunting Part 2
So how did we remedy this? How did we get ourselves moving forward? Through some connections - yes, it really is about who you know - Marty got a 'job', and then thankfully, after interviews and trials so did I. Once a contract was signed, they were happy. I'll get back to the job situation eventually, but back to the beginning, and property!
We revised our search too. We started looking at specific areas and changed our price bracket to a little higher.
In that1st week we were far from this point, and it looked like it was the Park Bench Hotel for these 2 wary travellers. The other adjustment was our body clocks, we were 2 hours ahead, getting up early was fine, but we were with people on Melbourne time so getting to bed early was hard. Top that with the most uncomfortable mattress in history and e were functioning on very little quality sleep. By the end of the 1st Friday, we were shattered. We really were in dire straits, so Marty's folks put us up for the weekend in a hotel down Toorak Rd, till the following Tuesday, and they headed home on the Friday. As Christmas presents for ourselves we had got tickets for the 1-day International Cricket game between South Africa and Australia, so off we went, got back to our hotel that night and crashed on the supremely comfortable mattress and slept most of Saturday.And quite a bit of Sunday. By Monday we were ready to rock 'n roll again.
I'm sure you're just tired reading about that first week - well, it makes me tired just to think about it.
We ended up staying with some true guardian angels at this point - Ken & Penny. The other people who added some sanity - and some much needed advice - were Julie and Dave. I don't know what we would have done without these people. It was the generosity shown to us, in their different ways, that set it very clearly in my mind that we had to be people who could help others when they relocated here. Moving countries, no matter how close or far (this is my 3rd move, my parents have made 2 major overseas moves too) is hard without someone to be able to extend a hand. Even if it's as small as a BBQ, a vino and some home goss, or as big as offering a room and bed.
A few other points to help:
xoxo
We revised our search too. We started looking at specific areas and changed our price bracket to a little higher.
In that1st week we were far from this point, and it looked like it was the Park Bench Hotel for these 2 wary travellers. The other adjustment was our body clocks, we were 2 hours ahead, getting up early was fine, but we were with people on Melbourne time so getting to bed early was hard. Top that with the most uncomfortable mattress in history and e were functioning on very little quality sleep. By the end of the 1st Friday, we were shattered. We really were in dire straits, so Marty's folks put us up for the weekend in a hotel down Toorak Rd, till the following Tuesday, and they headed home on the Friday. As Christmas presents for ourselves we had got tickets for the 1-day International Cricket game between South Africa and Australia, so off we went, got back to our hotel that night and crashed on the supremely comfortable mattress and slept most of Saturday.And quite a bit of Sunday. By Monday we were ready to rock 'n roll again.
I'm sure you're just tired reading about that first week - well, it makes me tired just to think about it.
We ended up staying with some true guardian angels at this point - Ken & Penny. The other people who added some sanity - and some much needed advice - were Julie and Dave. I don't know what we would have done without these people. It was the generosity shown to us, in their different ways, that set it very clearly in my mind that we had to be people who could help others when they relocated here. Moving countries, no matter how close or far (this is my 3rd move, my parents have made 2 major overseas moves too) is hard without someone to be able to extend a hand. Even if it's as small as a BBQ, a vino and some home goss, or as big as offering a room and bed.
A few other points to help:
- January is a difficult month to find somewhere to live because everyone else is doing it too. All the uni students are coming back and people are relocating for work, so competition is fierce. Try mid-late February and March. although there are less places, you're more likely to find and get something because instead of 90 people there's only 10-15.
- If you have a written reference or 2 from your previous landlord(s) bring them and put them in with your application. It shows a good renting history, and you won't have 1 here if you've just moved over.
- If you don't have to rush into something, don't. Making rash decisions that don't feel right end up costing you more in the long run, and make for a tense situations. More on that later - Major Disaster story #1.
- The Saturday papers, especially The Age, which has the Domain section are invaluable, as are their websites, because they also list private landlords. Some are great and reasonable, others crazy - wait till you hear about ours! www.domain.com.au
- You'll find lots of inspections on at the same time. Be really realistic and specific in your search criteria, so hopefully you get the right place. This is where that earlier advice of using the time before you start working to see as many places as possible.
- www.realestate.com.au is the most comprehensive rental and purchasing website we found. They have an area that's 'Open for Inspection' so you can get to see the places that are available and open to look at each day without having to wade through thousands of ads each day. Set up your account with them (it's free) and get regular alerts as soon as places go on. Bear in mind though that pictures can be deceiving.
- Most places are open for inspection 2 weeks before they are available to rent. That's the earliest allowed by law. There will be places available straight away because they are empty. If you can, go to the property managers and pick up keys for those places that are empty. Especially if you have a week day off, because it allows you to see more places at your own pace and time. They normally want a $50 deposit and photo ID and you have an hour to get there and back with the keys and check it out. As most keys are held at the office in the area that the property is, it isn't that hard to do. We managed to do 3/4 in a day once or twice, and worked through a lot of No's. We managed to look at 20-30 places in the middle of a heatwave - Not fun!!
xoxo
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The 1st weeks - Househunting Part 1
Our 1st week in Melbourne was...interesting. We were lucky enough to have Marty's parents staying in Melbourne for the 1st 5 days we were here, so they had organised accommodation in South Yarra which was very, very convenient. Our 1st couple of days they also had a car so for a few house inspections we were able to drive there. I will say though, if you're not planning on having a car for a while, DON'T drive to inspections. You need to be able to see how good the public transport is in the area and how you're going to get around - to and from work/play/home/friends, and how long this is going to take you from door to door. The other thing is - and I know I'll bring it up again - take the opportunity when you're not working to see as much as you can, because when you're working it is harder. In the same vein, you need a job to get a place! More to that later.
We hit the ground running the 1st day because there were inspections already lined up - aah the power of the Internet. I'd spent weeks looking at rentals, running back and forth from our map to get a sense of locality. Nothing prepares you completely for the real deal though, especially from somewhere small like Christchurch to somewhere large like Melbourne. I'd also applied for a few jobs and got a very positive email back from the recruitment agent. I emailed her as soon as I had a new number - purchased at the airport - and she contacted me that day to set up the initial interview. The one you go to the recruitment agency for and they go through the CV, all the questions and then match you up with some jobs and set up interviews, and it was the next morning!
And then began our manic rushing around looking at places! The positives that came out of that week of manicness were that we had a very good understanding of what not to do, I learnt the public transport system very quickly, and we got exceptionally good at reading the map book. Melways, like London's A-Z, is indispensable. A real must-have that is as important as your toothbrush and train ticket!
The pure and simple fact about house-hunting in Melbourne is: No job=No house. They don't care if you're textbook, model tenants with the best references, if you don't have a job, you can't show a steady income and therefore can't pay the rent every month. Even if you have enough in savings to pay your bond and 1st months rent, they want to be able to see that you'll be paying the 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... because you're signing a 12 month lease. It's that simple, and not something anyone ever told us. Maybe everyone else had a job before they got here, or neglected to mention it. It was actually a property manager at a property we really wanted that said our application was good, and had better references than he'd seen; but simply, with no fixed income he had to decline it. Harsh reality began to set in.
The other truth about property in Melbourne is, it is more expensive than Christchurch, unless you're very, very lucky. For us to have what we had in NZ for $300 a week we'd have to pay $450+. And when something is in a fabulous area and very cheap, there is something wrong with it!
There are some faults we can deal with, and some you just can't! I have to start by telling you about the 3rd place we looked at because this was just a doozy! The 3rd place we got to look at that week was very reasonable and on a lovely street, in a lovely area - Armadale. Think: beautiful tree lined street with gorgeous, well-maintained Victorian homes. and then think of the ugliest 4-storey apartment block on the corner. The property manager hadn't been there for months, and there was still supposed to be tenants in it for 2 more weeks. She unlocked the door and you could see the horror on her face. Firstly, she was so apologetic and told everyone that the move-in date would need to be shifted 2 weeks to give them time to repaint, clean and relay carpets. Secondly, you could smell it was going to be damp and disgusting before you even walked in. But it was 3 bedrooms for around $320 a week and we were curious. Overall the place was huge, but being on the ground floor in a dark corner, with trees hiding the windows and only a small terrace, you knew it wasn't going to get much natural light. There'd obviously been 1 clean person in the house, because 1 room was fine. There were rubbish bags in every other room, graffiti on the wall, filth, food and disgustingness in the kitchen, a dirty bathroom and the final nail in the coffin - someone's business in the toilet! If I could have run screaming I would have. I think I dissolved into a fit of giggles from the shock when we got back in the car!
Actually, the 1st place we looked saw was just as bad. Very cheap (under $300 for 2 bedrooms), dark, damp but cleanish. The 2nd place was the one that scared us the most because it ticked all our boxes. It was well-priced, right in the mid-range for us and well-maintained. What scared us was that it ticked the boxes for almost 90 other people inspecting it. The property manager had to be a door-bitch and only allow 5 people in at a time. I didn't like our chances to say the least.
To be continued ...
We hit the ground running the 1st day because there were inspections already lined up - aah the power of the Internet. I'd spent weeks looking at rentals, running back and forth from our map to get a sense of locality. Nothing prepares you completely for the real deal though, especially from somewhere small like Christchurch to somewhere large like Melbourne. I'd also applied for a few jobs and got a very positive email back from the recruitment agent. I emailed her as soon as I had a new number - purchased at the airport - and she contacted me that day to set up the initial interview. The one you go to the recruitment agency for and they go through the CV, all the questions and then match you up with some jobs and set up interviews, and it was the next morning!
And then began our manic rushing around looking at places! The positives that came out of that week of manicness were that we had a very good understanding of what not to do, I learnt the public transport system very quickly, and we got exceptionally good at reading the map book. Melways, like London's A-Z, is indispensable. A real must-have that is as important as your toothbrush and train ticket!
The pure and simple fact about house-hunting in Melbourne is: No job=No house. They don't care if you're textbook, model tenants with the best references, if you don't have a job, you can't show a steady income and therefore can't pay the rent every month. Even if you have enough in savings to pay your bond and 1st months rent, they want to be able to see that you'll be paying the 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... because you're signing a 12 month lease. It's that simple, and not something anyone ever told us. Maybe everyone else had a job before they got here, or neglected to mention it. It was actually a property manager at a property we really wanted that said our application was good, and had better references than he'd seen; but simply, with no fixed income he had to decline it. Harsh reality began to set in.
The other truth about property in Melbourne is, it is more expensive than Christchurch, unless you're very, very lucky. For us to have what we had in NZ for $300 a week we'd have to pay $450+. And when something is in a fabulous area and very cheap, there is something wrong with it!
There are some faults we can deal with, and some you just can't! I have to start by telling you about the 3rd place we looked at because this was just a doozy! The 3rd place we got to look at that week was very reasonable and on a lovely street, in a lovely area - Armadale. Think: beautiful tree lined street with gorgeous, well-maintained Victorian homes. and then think of the ugliest 4-storey apartment block on the corner. The property manager hadn't been there for months, and there was still supposed to be tenants in it for 2 more weeks. She unlocked the door and you could see the horror on her face. Firstly, she was so apologetic and told everyone that the move-in date would need to be shifted 2 weeks to give them time to repaint, clean and relay carpets. Secondly, you could smell it was going to be damp and disgusting before you even walked in. But it was 3 bedrooms for around $320 a week and we were curious. Overall the place was huge, but being on the ground floor in a dark corner, with trees hiding the windows and only a small terrace, you knew it wasn't going to get much natural light. There'd obviously been 1 clean person in the house, because 1 room was fine. There were rubbish bags in every other room, graffiti on the wall, filth, food and disgustingness in the kitchen, a dirty bathroom and the final nail in the coffin - someone's business in the toilet! If I could have run screaming I would have. I think I dissolved into a fit of giggles from the shock when we got back in the car!
Actually, the 1st place we looked saw was just as bad. Very cheap (under $300 for 2 bedrooms), dark, damp but cleanish. The 2nd place was the one that scared us the most because it ticked all our boxes. It was well-priced, right in the mid-range for us and well-maintained. What scared us was that it ticked the boxes for almost 90 other people inspecting it. The property manager had to be a door-bitch and only allow 5 people in at a time. I didn't like our chances to say the least.
To be continued ...
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Preparation - Final Steps
Our next step was to get our cats organised. We used Donquest on Jessons Road in Christchurch http://www.donquest.co.nz/ and they were fantastic! They have a great boarding facility which was crucial for us as we didn't know when we would have a place and where. They kept the cats and we were to email when we were ready for them. Then they popped them on a flight and we just picked them up. For New Zealand cats there is no quarantine when coming into Australia, just all the normal shots and vaccinations that are required when putting them into boarding. It was also important that the cats weren't at home when it was being packed. They are helpful little monkeys who LOVE boxes! Can you just imagine if 1 got stuck in a box? Too terrible to even think! But, I digress. I cried like a baby when I said goodbye to them, and was overjoyed when my troublemakers finally landed in Melbourne. When it comes to moving pets, be aware that it is not a cheap exercise, and you have to be prepared to keep them inside for a couple of weeks - cats mainly, dogs probably can't climb the way they do! They need to adjust, and if they were like ours who had been in boarding for ages, they needed to get back to everyday life with us.
The rest of our preparations involved a lot of Trademe hours, lots of sorting out of what we were or weren't taking, and finally a major wardrobe cull with my besties. On top of that, we tried to fit in as many catch ups with friends as possible, but also decided that a big barbecue the weekend we were leaving would actually be the easiest to ensure we got to see as many people as possible.
After our house was packed we cleaned like demons, then had The Kick-ass Garage Sale. Whatever was left needed to be sold, donated or thrown out. We could have sold a hundred fridges, but Trademe got those, probably about 50 washing machines, but that was a loaner. We did sell a kettle for $20 and then 3 hours later our old tumble dryer for about $10! Bags of clothes were heading out the door for $5, boxes of magazines likewise. There were the professional bargain hunters out there also, a few that tested one's patience. My favourite was the young couple (reminds me of us when we first moved in together 8 years ago) who came with his parents and a trailer. They got old cupboards, brooms, crockery, all kinds of things for just $25. Good day I say! Considering much of what we were selling was $1, and at most a bag full of things for $5, we made almost $200. That paid for a little duty free, our departure taxes and eventually a SIM card when we arrived. Everything that wasn't sold was taken straight to the recycling station at the dumb. We packed a big Subaru station wagon from top to bottom, back to front with everything left over.
After that was the fabulous BBQ with our friends to say goodbye. With all the prep, work and excitement don't forget to get everyone together to say goodbye, relax and have a drink! We couldn't take any opened spirits with us and there were some bottles of wine there too - perfect excuse to get through everything. Lots of laughs were had and plenty of teary goodbyes, but it was well worth it.
And the next day? A hangover, an early dinner and a good night's sleep before we were off in the morning on our biggest step yet.
The rest of our preparations involved a lot of Trademe hours, lots of sorting out of what we were or weren't taking, and finally a major wardrobe cull with my besties. On top of that, we tried to fit in as many catch ups with friends as possible, but also decided that a big barbecue the weekend we were leaving would actually be the easiest to ensure we got to see as many people as possible.
After our house was packed we cleaned like demons, then had The Kick-ass Garage Sale. Whatever was left needed to be sold, donated or thrown out. We could have sold a hundred fridges, but Trademe got those, probably about 50 washing machines, but that was a loaner. We did sell a kettle for $20 and then 3 hours later our old tumble dryer for about $10! Bags of clothes were heading out the door for $5, boxes of magazines likewise. There were the professional bargain hunters out there also, a few that tested one's patience. My favourite was the young couple (reminds me of us when we first moved in together 8 years ago) who came with his parents and a trailer. They got old cupboards, brooms, crockery, all kinds of things for just $25. Good day I say! Considering much of what we were selling was $1, and at most a bag full of things for $5, we made almost $200. That paid for a little duty free, our departure taxes and eventually a SIM card when we arrived. Everything that wasn't sold was taken straight to the recycling station at the dumb. We packed a big Subaru station wagon from top to bottom, back to front with everything left over.
After that was the fabulous BBQ with our friends to say goodbye. With all the prep, work and excitement don't forget to get everyone together to say goodbye, relax and have a drink! We couldn't take any opened spirits with us and there were some bottles of wine there too - perfect excuse to get through everything. Lots of laughs were had and plenty of teary goodbyes, but it was well worth it.
And the next day? A hangover, an early dinner and a good night's sleep before we were off in the morning on our biggest step yet.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Preparation - Getting packed and moved
We started researching moving companies, my parents had moved with someone else, and I had a friend who worked for Crown, so we decided to get a quote from them. Their 1st quote was a little expensive so we thought we'd think on it and look at other options, but they came back to us with a significantly reduced 2nd quote and we made the decision to go along with it. They also advised us on who to was a good pet carriers.
There are definitely mistakes we made in our preparation and in the move to Melbourne, but going with Crown was not one of them. The Christchurch branch was amazing to deal with, and on the moving day all we had to know was what we wanted packed. 2 Guys came in and packed it all. Yes, everything except our suitcases and any valuables we wanted to take with us when we flew over. It was the easiest 'moving day' I've ever had! To make their lives simpler, and ours too we put everything that was staying/being sold/getting thrown out in the garage and left everything else in the appropriate room to be packed. Advise from my mother that was greatly appreciated by the packers. They told us some stories about how they've packed houses with the kids still asleep in bed! We must have been a better organised day for them!
The bonus of all this is that although we weren't transporting a whole house of furniture, we still had a significant amount of belongings to fill part of a container, and if they pack it then yo don't have to deal with customs. And it's a door-to-door operation. You can actually pay extra for them to unpack and assemble for you too!
There are a couple of things that we should have thought of more clearly, and if you're doing the same as we are, pay heed:
There are definitely mistakes we made in our preparation and in the move to Melbourne, but going with Crown was not one of them. The Christchurch branch was amazing to deal with, and on the moving day all we had to know was what we wanted packed. 2 Guys came in and packed it all. Yes, everything except our suitcases and any valuables we wanted to take with us when we flew over. It was the easiest 'moving day' I've ever had! To make their lives simpler, and ours too we put everything that was staying/being sold/getting thrown out in the garage and left everything else in the appropriate room to be packed. Advise from my mother that was greatly appreciated by the packers. They told us some stories about how they've packed houses with the kids still asleep in bed! We must have been a better organised day for them!
The bonus of all this is that although we weren't transporting a whole house of furniture, we still had a significant amount of belongings to fill part of a container, and if they pack it then yo don't have to deal with customs. And it's a door-to-door operation. You can actually pay extra for them to unpack and assemble for you too!
There are a couple of things that we should have thought of more clearly, and if you're doing the same as we are, pay heed:
- We didn't take any of our large furniture, in particular our bed. Our bed was only 18months old, recently paid off and amazing, but it was going to cost an additional $500 to bring over. Quotes from Crown are not based on weight but space. We were hoping to sell it for a lot more, but ended up desperate and selling it for $500. We made this decision partly based on reports that furniture was drastically cheaper and also that it would take 3 - 12 weeks for our boxes, etc to arrive. We ended up paying more for an average bed here - where furniture is cheaper, beds seem to be relative - and our boxes arrived in 4 weeks.The moral of the story is if you have expensive, good quality or antique furniture that you can afford to bring over, do. It's still going to cost you on this side. You may get a great deal, but it's inconvenient, and not that much cheaper. the other option is quite simply sell everything and start fresh. That way you're not paying any shipping costs.
- We didn't read the fine print/weren't told that there would be additional costs on the drop-off side for a 'harder job', e.g an extra man or a double storey. They ended up not charging us for an extra man, because there wasn't one, and waived the 2nd-storey fee for something else because most of it was stored in the ground floor garage. Be strong, make sure a bill is accurate.
- What we learnt most from the movers, regardless how good, you need to bargain with them. They are like car rentals at airports, they throw in hundreds of dollars of hidden and extra charges, so make sure you're upfront with them and get them to do the same.
The Preparation - Taking the 1st step, booking that flight.
For anyone looking for a few tips, hints and some real help on their move to Melbourne this could be it, for others hopefully it'll be a good read. Although this is about our move so specifically from Christchurch, New Zealand to Melbourne, I'm sure there is some sound advice you can glean from this! Plus it feels good to write about it! We got a great deal of help and information from http://movetoaustralia.net/, the information is more specific for New Zealanders, but it is clear, concise, practical and well-organised.
This is more anecdotal in large, but helpful I promise. Even if you do nothing more than read it and NOT do some of the things we did, it'll be helpful. There is a lot of information, facts and figures out there;and some of them, especially government websites, are quite difficult to muddle through or understand. There are a lot of fantastic sites out there to help too, as mentioned before, and also for those moving from the UK there is http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/ which offers some very practical help.
So where to begin for us? A long time before we actually set sail that's for sure! In 2007 we decided we needed to make a change, and that Melbourne was going to be our next step, however we had just booked a trip back to South Africa, with a week stopover in Oman, and then got engaged to so we couldn't leave in the July of 2008 as planned. Instead we got married in October 2008, and after our honeymoon set about planning the next step. The 1st stop was the Internet where we searched forever for information and came across the 1st website I mentioned. Next, I started checking out flight deals. One morning there was a particularly good special for us to leave in January '09 and I promptly booked a ticket.
We had been researching and savings for this, but something needed to happen. The last thing I wanted to be was one of those people who others would say - "I'll believe it when I see it" about. I wanted us to take the leap, and booking a 1-way ticket to Melbourne was how we were going to!
Marty had just been there for work, and had set up a bank account for us. This is really easy by the way as you'll only need:
This is more anecdotal in large, but helpful I promise. Even if you do nothing more than read it and NOT do some of the things we did, it'll be helpful. There is a lot of information, facts and figures out there;and some of them, especially government websites, are quite difficult to muddle through or understand. There are a lot of fantastic sites out there to help too, as mentioned before, and also for those moving from the UK there is http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/ which offers some very practical help.
So where to begin for us? A long time before we actually set sail that's for sure! In 2007 we decided we needed to make a change, and that Melbourne was going to be our next step, however we had just booked a trip back to South Africa, with a week stopover in Oman, and then got engaged to so we couldn't leave in the July of 2008 as planned. Instead we got married in October 2008, and after our honeymoon set about planning the next step. The 1st stop was the Internet where we searched forever for information and came across the 1st website I mentioned. Next, I started checking out flight deals. One morning there was a particularly good special for us to leave in January '09 and I promptly booked a ticket.
We had been researching and savings for this, but something needed to happen. The last thing I wanted to be was one of those people who others would say - "I'll believe it when I see it" about. I wanted us to take the leap, and booking a 1-way ticket to Melbourne was how we were going to!
Marty had just been there for work, and had set up a bank account for us. This is really easy by the way as you'll only need:
- ID (Passport is best)
- An address - we actually used our New Zealand 1 and we had 3 months to get back there and change it to a Australian one. Perfect.
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