Would very much appreciate it if everyone would send good thoughts our way regarding the rental situation. We'd applied for every place we could find that was A.) available and B.) allowed pets and of those only one hasn't gotten back to us yet.
The others have all responded and needless to say were all negative. It is looking like a very real possibility that we'll have to board the animals and stay at a motel, which freaks the living daylights out of me. I do NOT want to put them in kennels and heavens help me but Hope is also entered in a bunch of shows since I thought we were going to negotiate the other place down... and the cost for boarding 3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 ferrets and 4 small birds until we get a rental that accepts animals is just under $1000 per week at the least expensive place. Not including what it'd cost to stay at a motel and store our stuff at a storage place. We've applied to a bunch more places but not sure what will happen with that so crossing fingers and trying not to just give way to the nervous breakdown that's half impending.
Meanwhile our buyers agent is looking for stuff but has found bupkiss. We decided to branch out into other areas besides the Dandenongs, looking out towards Pakenham. I have to go see the areas as I don't know what they're like except that I've vaguely heard they're near other places that erm... are of a very different atmosphere than I'd want. I love the alternative lifestyle vibe of Belgrave area. Lots of yoga places, homeopathic/wholistic places, healthfoods, eco-aware stuff etc, new Montessori place opening up and many of the people are very alternativey as well. I've only been to Packenham a few times and never went further than the scrapbook store that's maybe 100 meters off the train station but it has a very different feel from what little I saw. Cranbourne itself is not what we're looking for I think. We did look at a house in Cranbourne South which I have to say the atmosphere in the two places we looked at (right next to eachother) wasn't what we'd consider. So on one hand it'd be nice to be near a lot of dog stuff but on the other hand it's much further from L's school, possibly too far, which is tearing me to pieces.
That said, much as I'm tempted to dismiss the idea outright, our Buyers Agent found a place in Packenham Upper which is actually quite nice. Beautiful late Victorian farmhouse, sympathetically renovated, big mature gardens, 3 bedrooms, study, big kitchen/family living area, formal loungeroom, bathroom, laundry and 40x30 shed with electricity etc on 5 acres cleared FLAT pasture. It's a fair whack more expensive than we'd wanted... probably somewhere in the $670,000-680,000.00 or so when you add up stamp tax, GST etc. when we wanted to spend no more than $550,000 and avoid having to take out a loan. So we'd have to take out a loan which I don't even know if we can do because Nic has only been working at this job for a relatively short time. I feel like I'm tip toeing onto thin ice... it's unknown territory as I've always lived without having loans over my head, excepting a few relatively mild student loans. (Was mostly covered by scholarships...)
We're also packing everything into boxes and getting ready for the removalist. More money. I'm wishing we'd never have sold at this point. Okay, so not REALLY but I will miss this place as there's a tremendous amount of history in this house and better this place and secure than facing this. And yes, I'm also aware the blame for it lands squarely on my head for not beating Nic with a common sense stick harder, stuborn mule of a man that he is he has to learn everything the hard way refusing to listen to me until he's in up to his ears before admitting perhaps my several years more of experience mean I might just have a clue or two.
The others have all responded and needless to say were all negative. It is looking like a very real possibility that we'll have to board the animals and stay at a motel, which freaks the living daylights out of me. I do NOT want to put them in kennels and heavens help me but Hope is also entered in a bunch of shows since I thought we were going to negotiate the other place down... and the cost for boarding 3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 ferrets and 4 small birds until we get a rental that accepts animals is just under $1000 per week at the least expensive place. Not including what it'd cost to stay at a motel and store our stuff at a storage place. We've applied to a bunch more places but not sure what will happen with that so crossing fingers and trying not to just give way to the nervous breakdown that's half impending.
Meanwhile our buyers agent is looking for stuff but has found bupkiss. We decided to branch out into other areas besides the Dandenongs, looking out towards Pakenham. I have to go see the areas as I don't know what they're like except that I've vaguely heard they're near other places that erm... are of a very different atmosphere than I'd want. I love the alternative lifestyle vibe of Belgrave area. Lots of yoga places, homeopathic/wholistic places, healthfoods, eco-aware stuff etc, new Montessori place opening up and many of the people are very alternativey as well. I've only been to Packenham a few times and never went further than the scrapbook store that's maybe 100 meters off the train station but it has a very different feel from what little I saw. Cranbourne itself is not what we're looking for I think. We did look at a house in Cranbourne South which I have to say the atmosphere in the two places we looked at (right next to eachother) wasn't what we'd consider. So on one hand it'd be nice to be near a lot of dog stuff but on the other hand it's much further from L's school, possibly too far, which is tearing me to pieces.
That said, much as I'm tempted to dismiss the idea outright, our Buyers Agent found a place in Packenham Upper which is actually quite nice. Beautiful late Victorian farmhouse, sympathetically renovated, big mature gardens, 3 bedrooms, study, big kitchen/family living area, formal loungeroom, bathroom, laundry and 40x30 shed with electricity etc on 5 acres cleared FLAT pasture. It's a fair whack more expensive than we'd wanted... probably somewhere in the $670,000-680,000.00 or so when you add up stamp tax, GST etc. when we wanted to spend no more than $550,000 and avoid having to take out a loan. So we'd have to take out a loan which I don't even know if we can do because Nic has only been working at this job for a relatively short time. I feel like I'm tip toeing onto thin ice... it's unknown territory as I've always lived without having loans over my head, excepting a few relatively mild student loans. (Was mostly covered by scholarships...)
We're also packing everything into boxes and getting ready for the removalist. More money. I'm wishing we'd never have sold at this point. Okay, so not REALLY but I will miss this place as there's a tremendous amount of history in this house and better this place and secure than facing this. And yes, I'm also aware the blame for it lands squarely on my head for not beating Nic with a common sense stick harder, stuborn mule of a man that he is he has to learn everything the hard way refusing to listen to me until he's in up to his ears before admitting perhaps my several years more of experience mean I might just have a clue or two.
To make things even more impossible, L had a high fever the other day and night so NO ONE is getting any sleep except him. He spent (literally) the whole day and whole night curled up in my arms, hot and miserable, dozing but not able to get into a good sleep. Makes getting anything done impossible! He's better now, just looks like he has circles under his eyes big time but now *I* need the sleep!!!
1 comment:
Just a thought - even though I am sure you have already checked out the area, but have you looked at Silvan? It isn't too far away from Belgrave and certianly not too far away from the CBD. Just thought i'll throw it out there as when I was searching the net yesterday there *seemed* to be a few places out there :). Like I said - i'm sure you've already checked *everywhere*.
Good luck anyway and i'm thinking of you! Let me know if I can help out in any way :-)
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