decisions, decisions
So apparently, I'm a goody two shoes. My parents would probably disagree.
be sorted @ nimbo.net
And thinking of my parents, they've gone and done me a favour and now I have even more decisions to make! Damn them!
Specifically, my Mum calls me yesterday after she's seen my email about me moving again (this will be the 4th time this year after all, not including Europe) and says "Have you thought any more about buying a place?". Which I hadn't, because I don't have the deposit together yet and thought that to buy a house that's livable and isn't in the sticks, I really need to combine my income with someone elses. Then there's the apartment equation. Yes, I could always buy an apartment, but I'd want one that allowed pets, or at least cats, and I'm not sure that apartments retain their value (comparatively) as well as houses. But at least I can afford a fairly nice one. But not before I get the deposit together.
So Mum kicks in with, "you know, we can lend you the 10% deposit..." and continues on to tell me that I wouldn't have to pay it back quickly, but maybe if I rent out any spare rooms in whatever I buy, I could put that towards paying them back.
As if I didn't have enough decisions to make before! Bugger! I mean, thanks Mum, but bugger! I was all prepared for the fact that I couldn't afford to buy yet and was going to spend my savings on a trip to SE Asia next year and now she's gone and got me all thinking about growing up and being responsible again. But of course, no pressure.
Anyway, after stressing about this for most of the afternoon yesterday, I finally gave in and had a look at exactly what my buying power is for my substantive position's wage (as opposed to the higher duties I'm doing now or the mid-way positions that I've applied for and I think I've probably got a good chance of getting), and what sort of property I can get for the mortgage I can afford. Turns out, I can probably afford a fixer-upper in the Carina area (where the circle is on this map), which isn't too far out, and a fairly decent apartment in New Farm, which is in nice and close. And a bit of research has shown that apartments in New Farm, particularly the converted warehouse ones, have generally retained their value because it's one of the "trendy" areas of Brisbane. So I'm thinking about it.
But not yet. I've decided that I'll try and find either a sharie flat or a one-bedder for less money and maybe not as nice and look into buying in the next 6 to 12 months. That will give me time to really check out the market and try to make some decisions on what I want to do with myself over the next 5 or 10 years. My Mum's really keen to see me put down some roots, but I'm really a bit of a gypsy at heart and I'm not sure that buying into the property market is such a good idea for me.
And thinking of being a gypsy and moving around a lot, bloody ING!. I have one of those savings accounts with them that are completely online but have a better rate of interest. So I tried to transfer some money into the account this morning and it wouldn't go through. No explanation, just told to ring this number. Which after a few tries to see if it's just a computer glitch, I do and am told that my account was frozen because a piece of mail was returned to them. Just one piece of mail! And I'd place bets that it was either improperly addressed or sent to my residential address rather than my postal address (where all mail for that account is supposed to be sent), because my postal address is still accurate and hasn't changed for about a year and I've certainly been using that account in that time. And no contact to tell me this was happening or to check that it wasn't just an Australia Post stuff-up! It's not like they don't have numerous phone numbers and my email address (which also haven't changed)! And when I tried to explain to the girl on the phone that my mobile number is the most accurate number for me because I change homes and jobs regularly, she tried to make out that it was banking regulations that they have a home number! I pulled her up on it until she admitted that it was just ING regulations. Honestly! Don't they train these people?
Okay, I'm finished now. I think that may be the most exclamation marks I've ever used in one paragraph.
Oh, but here comes some more exciting news. My sister-in-law rang me yesterday to tell me that she's now officially pregnant. Of course I knew this, but it's now official in the sense that she's told her parents and my parents because they've decided to have the baby. It turns out she was further along than she thought she was and the baby was old enough to have survived all of the nastys she went through with my niece. It's due in May, so I'll have another little niece or nephew then. I suppose I should be excited, but I'm finding it very difficult after all of the hassles of the last couple of months.
And I've bought my season pass to Woodford. I thought I'd better do it now while I have money.
Listening to: Ben Folds - Live
be sorted @ nimbo.net
And thinking of my parents, they've gone and done me a favour and now I have even more decisions to make! Damn them!
Specifically, my Mum calls me yesterday after she's seen my email about me moving again (this will be the 4th time this year after all, not including Europe) and says "Have you thought any more about buying a place?". Which I hadn't, because I don't have the deposit together yet and thought that to buy a house that's livable and isn't in the sticks, I really need to combine my income with someone elses. Then there's the apartment equation. Yes, I could always buy an apartment, but I'd want one that allowed pets, or at least cats, and I'm not sure that apartments retain their value (comparatively) as well as houses. But at least I can afford a fairly nice one. But not before I get the deposit together.
So Mum kicks in with, "you know, we can lend you the 10% deposit..." and continues on to tell me that I wouldn't have to pay it back quickly, but maybe if I rent out any spare rooms in whatever I buy, I could put that towards paying them back.
As if I didn't have enough decisions to make before! Bugger! I mean, thanks Mum, but bugger! I was all prepared for the fact that I couldn't afford to buy yet and was going to spend my savings on a trip to SE Asia next year and now she's gone and got me all thinking about growing up and being responsible again. But of course, no pressure.
Anyway, after stressing about this for most of the afternoon yesterday, I finally gave in and had a look at exactly what my buying power is for my substantive position's wage (as opposed to the higher duties I'm doing now or the mid-way positions that I've applied for and I think I've probably got a good chance of getting), and what sort of property I can get for the mortgage I can afford. Turns out, I can probably afford a fixer-upper in the Carina area (where the circle is on this map), which isn't too far out, and a fairly decent apartment in New Farm, which is in nice and close. And a bit of research has shown that apartments in New Farm, particularly the converted warehouse ones, have generally retained their value because it's one of the "trendy" areas of Brisbane. So I'm thinking about it.
But not yet. I've decided that I'll try and find either a sharie flat or a one-bedder for less money and maybe not as nice and look into buying in the next 6 to 12 months. That will give me time to really check out the market and try to make some decisions on what I want to do with myself over the next 5 or 10 years. My Mum's really keen to see me put down some roots, but I'm really a bit of a gypsy at heart and I'm not sure that buying into the property market is such a good idea for me.
And thinking of being a gypsy and moving around a lot, bloody ING!. I have one of those savings accounts with them that are completely online but have a better rate of interest. So I tried to transfer some money into the account this morning and it wouldn't go through. No explanation, just told to ring this number. Which after a few tries to see if it's just a computer glitch, I do and am told that my account was frozen because a piece of mail was returned to them. Just one piece of mail! And I'd place bets that it was either improperly addressed or sent to my residential address rather than my postal address (where all mail for that account is supposed to be sent), because my postal address is still accurate and hasn't changed for about a year and I've certainly been using that account in that time. And no contact to tell me this was happening or to check that it wasn't just an Australia Post stuff-up! It's not like they don't have numerous phone numbers and my email address (which also haven't changed)! And when I tried to explain to the girl on the phone that my mobile number is the most accurate number for me because I change homes and jobs regularly, she tried to make out that it was banking regulations that they have a home number! I pulled her up on it until she admitted that it was just ING regulations. Honestly! Don't they train these people?
Okay, I'm finished now. I think that may be the most exclamation marks I've ever used in one paragraph.
Oh, but here comes some more exciting news. My sister-in-law rang me yesterday to tell me that she's now officially pregnant. Of course I knew this, but it's now official in the sense that she's told her parents and my parents because they've decided to have the baby. It turns out she was further along than she thought she was and the baby was old enough to have survived all of the nastys she went through with my niece. It's due in May, so I'll have another little niece or nephew then. I suppose I should be excited, but I'm finding it very difficult after all of the hassles of the last couple of months.
And I've bought my season pass to Woodford. I thought I'd better do it now while I have money.
Listening to: Ben Folds - Live
posted by OLS |
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 | 10:34 am
2 Comments:
Brissy is a buyer's market right now. Hopefully it will stay that way for the next few months while I undergo a crash course on the market.
I've had a lot of great advice from T&S and they are collecting any real estate pamphlets and lift-outs that they come across for me, since they live in the area that I would probably be buying in if I buy a house.
I actually thought I'd be a Ravenclaw (it's what I selected on the last question), but apparently not. Maybe it's because I chose a lion as my favourite animal.
- OLS
I in Ravenclaw too. Everyone I know including me picked Griffindor as the house we thought we were in.
Good luck with the decision on buying - maybe its because we are already in the market but I recommend getting in asap. I think buying a house is like getting a job in government. It doesn't mean you have to have the same house/same job for the rest of your life - if you want to you can rent it out/get seconded elsewhere and someone else acts in it but its always there in case you want to return to it. And if you want to move on you can pull up roots completely and sell it and get a new one. In the meantime, your paying money towards something that will eventually be yours so its a savings/investment as well.
Your very lucky - I wish our parents had offered to help us with the deposit about 8 years ago we would be so far ahead by now on the current mortgage.
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