Finally!!! We are now at the house hunting stage and lemme tell ya, sister is keen to nest and nest quickly after 18 months of limbo. I'm over renting and paying for someone else's mortgage especially at this current rental.
When we first moved up in 2015 we had the dream rental with a nice big wraparound deck overlooking the valley and mountain peaks that can be viewed from the sun room. 聽High up amongst the old established trees, we frequently had many different birds who came to visit and I made friends with.聽
Fluffy enjoying his old view.
And of course we got lucky with our neighbors too they were all lovely.
That house, that location, sold the Blue Mountains to us and it became the benchmark.
And then the house was sold and we moved to this crappy rental and we realised not all parts of the Blue Mountains is as lovely, quiet and picturesque as the last place.
Where I'm at right now.. I have about 5 other houses looking into my back yard, the reserve in front of me, and dogs all around me who bark, cry and howl at any given time of the day or night, though they enjoy the simultaneous chorus in the early morning hours best.
I've emailed the council, spoken to the Rangers, have done a letterbox drop and still nothing.
Not surprisingly there are always houses around my immediate area for sale. Next door, two houses down, a few houses behind me, and a few all along what I like to call Hells Parade.
Which made me think....
Is there a way to find the good and bad areas by observing the frequency of supply of houses and their location?
I set about observing the market on both domain.com and realestate.com noting that no one willingly sells their house at the good side where the dream rental was.聽
In 18 months there has only been 3 properties for sale on that stretch of road. Resident satisfaction is high over there. For someone to sell their house on that road it must mean they have no other option - like our previous landlord.
Over this side however.
People can't sell them quick enough or low enough. There is always a cluster of homes for sale in this section and I mean ALWAYS.聽
What to look out for?
Disclaimer! I am not an expert. I am only sharing things from my perspective and observation. You go do what you want to do. 馃挆
When looking for a house I suggest you research the area carefully and watch for streets that always have homes for sale.
Can you see the 3 red dots in a line? That's one of the streets up here that consistently has homes up for sale. Just like my little corner of Blue Mountains hell and just like a section of Katoomba, that street has problems.
When you see multiple For Sale signs on various types of houses (really nice, ok, ugly etc sort of houses) on the same street/area. I'd be wondering what's going on if all these people don't want to live here.
The great side is easy to spot.
Look out for the spots in your chosen suburb that very rarely has a house for sale. Why? Because people who love where they live don't ever want to sell, and people who love where they live, love it for a reason.
No one wants to sell at the good side and when they do you can bet you'll be making it worth their while to move.
Join the community group on Facebook.
Maybe it's because we pretty much have nothing up here that we like to get into each other's business and discuss everything with everyone in the social group. Fortunately that includes naming which suburbs/streets have problems and which agents to avoid.
Make sure you search for the street name of the house you're looking at in the group search bar to see if there's anything going on in that neighborhood.
Get on that VIP list.
I don't know what it's like everywhere else but up here some of the Real Estate Agents have VIP lists.
These are emailed list of houses that are not live on the Domain and Real Estate websites.
I've seen several houses sell on VIP listing and with the market being INSANE right now you want to be on the VIP list before the other vultures begin circling a house.
Go to those inspections.
There's several reasons why I like going to the inspections.
To get a feel for the neighborhood. Buying a house is a huge deal and for most people they buy their houses to live in and build families in. Being in a good neighborhood is important for me.
Listen. Listen to the sound and hope someone's walking their dog at the same time or if you want to be proactive bring your dog along. You'll soon find out if there are other dogs in the area. We've rocked up to an inspection early one time, was falling in love with the area and then someone walked their dogs around the block and that's when they all came out of the woodwork. Told the agent no thanks.
Going to inspections allows you to fine tune your likes and dislikes and you find your deal breakers and get perspective along the way. We did our first round of inspections last weekend. It was an exhausting yet eye opening experience. I honestly didn't realise how fussy I was until I heard myself ripping a house apart lol to be fair it needed a full renovation which was impossible for us considering their asking price.
You get to meet all the agents and get your name down on those VIP lists. Remember those VIP lists!
Be prepared.
When I said it's INSANE out there, I wasn't exaggerating. There has been a few houses we've liked that did not even make it on the 2nd week of inspections and you cant put an offer down if you haven't seen the house. (Here's another reason why you need to go to inspections.) I have also heard of VIP listings going on a bidding war while in VIP. It's crazy over here.
My plan is to hassle our accountant and our lender so we can start going to inspections knowing we have our pre-approval sorted.
I also like to get the contracts before hand and read them. Not that I really know what I'm looking for, but I figured after reading enough contracts I'll eventually pick a few things up.
Our conveyancer already knows we're on the prowl. Our mover has been on stand by since June.
That grid is still granting wishes. I swear you guys. This house has no other option but to show up so we can buy it and get settled in.
Wish us luck this weekend!
馃挆Arly