Some two or three months ago, Bearsy and I decided to move – again. We’ve moved a lot of times since we’ve been here in Australia: Darwin, Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and two and a half years ago, to Brisbane.
Buying and selling a house here is somewhat different from the UK we left – although it may have changed there. Here estate agents charge three arms, three legs and all one’s future savings for selling a house and they charge the vendor for all advertising. In Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide houses are open for inspection for an hour on Saturdays, Sundays and occasionally on weekday evenings. Prospective purchasers (and those who are bored with walking around shopping malls, those who want to see how the other half live or those who simply want to get ideas about what to do in their own homes) get in their cars at about 8.30 am and start driving. It’s not a bad system since as a vendor one only has to have the house spruced up for an ‘open house’ one hour a week, a purchaser can get some idea of what is being asked for what and for the estate agent – well since he’s charging three of everything he’s entitled to work all day Saturday and Sunday.
Before we came to Brisbane we sold our rather super four bedroomed double storey pad (most are single storey) in Adelaide and drove to Brisbane with lots of potential dollars in our grubby little paws, certain that the estate agents here would be as delighted to see us as they would have been in Adelaide.
They couldn’t give a damn. They had a selling boom on their hands and all they had to do was put a house on the market for it to be snapped up – at whatever ridiculous price they were asking. Phone back? Forget it! Open a house on any day other than Saturday? Forget it: “You’ve got half an hour on Saturday to acquire this magnificent run-down property and I’m going to laugh all the way to the bank with my ‘commission'”.
Things have changed – with the end of a Government subsidy for first-time home-buyers and Aussies being a lot more wary after the credit-crunch property prices are dropping and people are not buying. . Some vendors are aware of this, most are not – they are still of the opinion that they can buy a house and two years later, having done nothing to improve the property, expect a cool hundred grand ‘profit’. They are pretty stunned when their house sits on the market for two, three, four or many more months.
Some real estate agents are aware of this, others are not. Thank heavens for those who have woken up. They return our calls, take us around houses at a drop of a hat and have virtually told us, nay begged us, to offer fifty or more ‘k’ under the asking price.
So why has it taken us so long to find a suitable house? Well, we seem to be pretty fussy.
I don’t know about you, but my idea of a ‘room’ is that it has a ceiling, a floor, four walls and a door. An en-suite is a bathroom entered by way of a door from a bedroom. It is far more economical to heat / cool a small area than a large one – and sometimes (indeed often) it is a “Good Thing” to shut the door on a mess until one can clean it up later.
Australian house designers have quite different ideas.
I will own that they are extremely creative in their use of the internal space of a house. But somehow we can’t quite get to grips with the idea that a ‘room’ is a space differentiated from another ‘room’ simply because it has a bit of carpet on the floor. Nor can we appreciate the notion that looking at an open en-suite (and all that goes on therein) whilst lying in bed is a sight worth looking at. Fancy cut-outs in internal walls leave us cold as we wonder how the sound of Bearsy’s cricket will mingle with the sounds of my historical documentaries – clearly, we are expected to factor the cost of ear-phones into the purchase price…
For any interested in looking at Aussie houses here is a link.
We finally saw a house tonight that we would really, really like, but because it is ‘up for auction’ and we cannot bid, having not yet sold, we may not get it. Keep your fingers crossed that it is ‘passed in at auction’ and we can step in.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Good luck – I know it can be a very stressful business. Second only to a bereavement, it is said.
Good luck on the house, Boadicea.
When we, (as we were then,) bought this place in Cyprus, we overheard the agent asking the vendor, ‘Does it have doors? 😀
Good luck. Mrs FEEG and I hate house changing. Also, we have been fortunate to be in jobs that have not moved around too much. That is why we have not moved many times!
In Britain if you create an extra room in your house, in the attic for example, but don’t put a door in it, it is not counted as a separate room for rating valuation. Perhaps that’s why there is all this “open space” design. Good luck with the dream house. Btw tell Bearsy he can watch cricket with no sound. He wouldn’t get a running commentary if he were at the ground, would he? I prefer watching tennis and snooker with the sound off.
There is a programme on ITV tonight about Poms who have moved to Australia, and the first part is about the Gold Coast. I’m looking forward to watching it.
Blimey! Again! Still in Brissie? Good luck!
Estate agents the world over are the same. They don’t even need any qualifications or have any cope of practice here. Crooks the lot of them. I’ll sell mine next time over t’internet.
Code of practice even.
Interesting, Sheona – our rates are based on ‘unimproved land value’, so the specification of the house has no impact. We reckon that our builders leave walls out just to save money. 😦
Terrible place, the Gold Coast. Full of Poms and South Africans, corrupt cops and drug dealers.
I exaggerate, but only slightly.
Yup, about half an hour up the track towards Bee Gee land, Cuprum.
B and B, Good luck with the house hunting. I was surprised to hear about the recalcitrance of the realtors there, here in the eastern US the depressed real estate market has caused them all to modify their approach considerably. Most commissions are negotiable, down to 1 or 2% in some cases, houses will be shown at the potential buyers request including nights, weekends and public holidays, it is totally a buyer’s market and the realtors are fighting for business.
I have just sold the house in the UK in which I grew up, that was quite an experience, energy audits, endless lengthy questionnaires concerning modifications made and planning permits received, Land Registry paperwork, senseless questions about location of drains, boundary disputes, rights of access, notarized statements, surveys and more.
Not having lived in the house for forty years (My mother lived there alone for most of that time) meant that some of the questions were not answerable, I was told (threatened) at one point in the process that I may have to “Return the house to it’s original condition” in order to close the transaction. I responded that I would be happy to do so, the house was built in 1815 and originally had no services at all and no indoor plumbing, I could probably get good money for all the copper in the house. I was made a full price offer in six days but it took over six month to close, children have been produced in less time.
Here’s something that may help you in your search. Caveat Emptor.
What the REALTOR says: What the buyer sees:
Hip neighborhood A lot of kids
Exciting neighborhood A lot of bad kids
Pet friendly Reeks of cat pee
Amazing views Interior shot
Recently renovated Interior shot, but painted
Great curb appeal They painted the front
Charming Dank
Historic Dank, with lead paint
Charming, Historic Very Dank, with peeling lead paint
Period fireplace Fire hazard
Quiet neighborhood Compared to very busy street nearby
Close to Downtown Bad neighborhood
Great neighborhood Police sweeps recently completed
Starter home Not exactly finished, but started
Move-up house Needs to be jacked up, sinking
Fixer-upper You don’t want to know
Great amenities They replaced the 1970s fridge
Exciting opportunity They didn’t replace the 1970s fridge
Good schools Ignore – everyone says this
Near parks Near parking lots
Ready for your updates Beat up
Well-loved Beat to Hell
Close to Universities Tiny, possible fire code violations
Active condo association Insanely high association fee
Low association fee Hello “special assessment”!
Motivated seller In foreclosure
PS Sorry about the formatting it looked OK when I posted it.
I too hate these ‘open plan’ homes. The USA, especially new housing, is obsessed with these hideous low cost rubbishy built shacks. No privacy, no walls no decent millwork/second fixings/joinery, call it what you will! Round here you have to buy pre 1930 to get any quality.
As you know I am singularly unimpressed by both Australian and American housing in both design and execution.
I have an open plan hall, formal living and dining area. It is impossible to open the front door without three dogs roaring out into the garden. I make all friends call at the back door where there is a utility room with a REAL door. I like to be able to shut doors to keep dogs in or out etc.
We only bought this place as a temporary toe hold in the area and we are still here 8 years later.
To sell here costs 6%! Maybe you could get it a bit cheaper, but not that much here in the NW
How I wish I could import the house from Pembs. 2′ stone walls and solid oak doors on every room,real wet plaster walls and real radiators. How I hate this blown heat/cooling, so drying to the skin even with humidifiers fitted.
I’d go home tomorrow if I could afford the taxes! (DOUBLE here, literally)
Anything to live in a decently built house that actually looks like a house not some wretched
wooden pig sty. I know plenty of horses in Wales that live in far better built accommodations!
You have my sympathy, but I wouldn’t set my heart on anything going to auction.
I shouldn’t have read this now I shall be irritated all day by looking at it!!!
Location location location. It’s very true… buy a place where you like it and you can alter the finer details. Add a porch and a real front door. Re-divide the interior area.
This house has been altered beyond recognition, on the inside mostly.
Agreed,
There are a bunch of repeats here on channel 5 billion and summit called A Place in the Sun Home or Away. A couple coem up with a budget and ask for 3 places to look at in the UK and 3 places some place furren. In every case, the UK houses are nothing more than an en suite rabbit hutch while the overseas gaffs usually have 3 or more postal codes.
The property market is a joke, I am very happy that the morons who helped create the farce are now stuck with several addresses which are not worth the skin off my porridge.
Hiya, Boadicea – You don’t like estate agents very much do you. 🙂
Cuprum – For the record, every angariador in Portugal has to be licensed individually with the professional governing body by way of lectures and examinations and is then required to undertake ongoing training to keep their licences valid.
Ferret – I think you will like The Cave.
Low Wattage – You missed ‘bijou’ meaning not big enough to swing a compass never mind a cat and ‘five minutes walk to all amenities’ meaning yes it is, if you run like f*ck.
OZ
OZ,
I warn you now, while we are delivering your pen, we will be assessing the region as a possible site for relocation, on a permanent basis. 🙂
Aaaaarrrggghhhhhh!
OZ
Ooh, exciting stuff, Boadicea.
Good luck.
I detest this open plan nonsense. I like solid walls and doors too.
The estate agents here are supposed to have some qualifications. To be fair the guy who sold our house in Adelaide was great – but we chose him because he managed to sell it to us in the first place! We’ve found two here who seem to have got the hang of the changed market.
The guy who took us around yesterday freely admitted that most agents haven’t got a clue what houses will fetch now and that’s why so many are being put up for auction – let the market decide. We’re not holding our breaths…
This house has no cut-out walls, and doors where there would normally be holes. However, the main bedroom ‘flows seamlessly’ into the en-suite and, if we get it, will have doors put in tout de suite!
Damned expensive having all those minor jobs doing I can tell you. I got rid of £35,000 without trying doing a few bits and pieces in the Pembs place! (I salvaged the doors, had them refinished and rehung.)
Christina – we know!
We’ve put doors in every house we’ve bought here, new kitchens, lighting (Australian houses are probably the worse lit I’ve ever seen) and all sorts of other ‘bits and pieces’ – it certainly adds up. We look at all houses with the knowledge that we’ll have to do some work and budget accordingly.
Some of the colour schemes people choose make my hair stand on end – and I’ve been known to remark (frequently) that the vendor’s choice of colours knocks at least $10,000 off the price…
It all sounds so ghastly and expensive and all the fag and expense of putting a new place right is it worth it? Do you have to move?
We face a similar dilemma, I feel the garden is becoming a bit insurmountable and would like to move to somewhere more manageable and a bit nearer town, 1 acre max, but all the moving, redecorating, new carpets etc etc is so daunting, we may well end up rotting here by default!
And if you saw my garage and barn I mean rotting, spousal unit will NOT throw anything away!
(I’d call a skip.)
Did you hear about the bloke who took up growing bonsai trees as a hobby? He was so successful he had to look for a house with a smaller garden. 🙂
OZ
Christina
No we don’t have to move – but we downsized here and it isn’t working! Also we didn’t know the area all that well, and while this is a ‘good’ area – that’s all it is! I’d like to be a bit nearer proper shops and a library…
I hate hoarders – if one hasn’t used something in a year then one is unlikely to use it again. 🙂
Like it OZ!