The Surgery

Got the call yesterday - the surgery will be done on Monday. So much to organise before then!! I'll be in hospital for almost a week and at home for a month - not even allowed to drive :(
The pic on the right is what they are doing to my spine:

The Building and Pest Inspection

Apparently the house passed inspection, as we expected. It's only two years old and we kept up the regular termite inspections. No nasty ants found.

The Sister I Always Wanted

Having a little brother is nice and all but I did always want a sister too. So here she is, my new sister-in-law and fabulous mother to my niece Madison Rose. She's a wonderful addition to our little family group and I look forward to spending as much time with her as I can.

The Contract

So we signed a contract this morning. Now for the 14 day wait till it becomes unconditional. If all goes well settlement will be the 11th of January....

The Offers

Well it seems our agent has been working hard. We have two offers on the house now - both worth considering. We are waiting on one final couple who are still looking today but will know tomorrow whether they will put in an offer. After that we will most likely accept one and the scary stuff begins... So come this weekend we should have a tentative moving out date.

The Fourth Open Home

We're at the Adelaide airport now, waiting for our flight home. We've been away for the last few days so weren't around for the last open home. And last it probably will be. For some reason the fact that we turned down the previous offer of $496K didn't mean anything to our real estate agent as apparently this weekend she took an offer for $480K. Which means, not only is she wasting our time, she's wasting other people's too. We had to point out that we had repeatedly said we wouldn't look at anything under $500,000, that we didn't have to sell because I would be having surgery in December so we could always wait til next year and try again. I guess I'm annoyed because she was my choice and she doesn't seem to be listening to us.

On the positive front - here's a pic of my beautiful niece we went to visit.

The Third Open Home

We sat on the next door neighbours balcony and watched the proceedings. I couldn't help get excited when it seemed that the place was full of people at one stage. Apparently it was only 6 interested buyers but that seemed promising. But of course it wasn't. Everyone's budget was $450k. I don't even know why they are bothering looking at our house then. I just want to stand at the front door and remind people that it's not a theme park so if they can't afford it, don't come in.

The Question

We put the house price at $515 and someone asked if we would take $430. I think Bryan summed it up well with “are they mental?”.

The Price

So our plans are all kind of fizzling out now. There's no interest in the house and with 7 other houses in the estate for sale and countless others in the area, there just doesn't seem much chance of selling it.

So we stuck a price on the house of $515,000 to see if anyone is interested then but in all honesty there are at least 30 other similar houses around here at far less - some even $420K.

I guess we need to have a plan B now, that involves staying in this house.

Maybe we will get a chance to use all 8 dining chairs now.

The Waiting Game

I hate this waiting. No-one has expressed any serious interest. Mostly the answers are that they have seen 12 other houses as well. There is so much for sale in our area it's insane and makes it so much harder for us. Yet another house in our estate has gone up for sale which makes the total 7 inc ours and there's only 2 streets. It was off to such a good start with that first early offer and now it's turned into a bit of a fizzer. We're keeping the house pretty tidy which is nice but i do miss having the dogs inside during the evening and they seem to miss coming in.

The Second Open Home

We were out today helping the cousins move when the second open home occurred. Only three groups through this time but one was a couple from last week who this time brought their parents through. Hopefully this means they really like it! There is an inspection booked for tomorrow also at 10.30am. I'm looking forward to accepting an offer so we don't have to keep the house soooo clean!

The Withdrawal

We received confirmation today that the potential buyers had withdrawn their offer. There is another house in our estate that has just gone on the market and it certainly seemed to be what they were after, more so than our own. Now, we just have to hope for another offer.

The First Offer

You brace yourself for it. You know it's going to be low but you secretly hope that it will be more than you want it to be - that the offer will exceed your dreams. Does it ever? It certainly didn't for us. In fact it was one big flop. Not even within $30k of what we would take. Counter-offering seemed a waste of time given the vast price difference. But that's what you do. If they come back with something else we will probably wait it out til after this weekend's open home, hopefully there will be more interest after that. As Bryan says "it's only been 4 days - be patient".

The First Open Home

Seven groups came through but no-one bought it. The people that seem to like it only have $450K to spend. Of course they'd like it for 450. Who wouldn't like it for 450?? Maybe we will have better luck at the next open home. It would be good to at least get an offer, something that says someone wants it. I just want it to sell so we can start organising the next step.

The Listing

The house is now officially advertised for sale - see the listing here:

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=106070719&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=79514274&s=qld&snf=rbs&tm=1255649284

The Photos

The photos are back from the professionals. Makes you wonder why we are selling it! Let's hope people see them and want to come to the open home - this saturday.

The Landscaping Finished

It's done! Thanks to some wonderful helpers - it's done. And the inside is clean! The professionals are coming tomorrow to take photos - let's hope it scrubs up well.

The For Sale Sign

The sign is up. It was there when we came home today. A big sign. You can't miss it.

Our house is officially for sale.

The Landscaping II

We did allow ourselves till Xmas to finish the landscaping but Bryan worked so hard on the weekend and I pottered along and helped where I could. We finished the side of the house and mulched 3 of the 4 garden beds. We did it all ourselves and still found time to party Saturday night! Thankfully we will have help next weekend to finish it off. The change is really amazing.

Photos of before and after:

The Appraisal

So, we thought we'd get an appraisal, see if we've done enough landscaping and if it changed the value of the house. The idea was to get a few agents around and hear what they have to say. I wanted to meet with Toni McHugh from Century 21 as I had spoken to her previously and thought she would be what we were looking for in an agent. Turns out she was because she came over last night and we ended up signing a contract with her to exclusively list our house. Pic of Toni attached and here's the link to her agency http://www.century21.com.au/westside/

Everything seems to be moving so fast, I'm not sure how we got from "getting some ideas" to "exclusive listing" and admittedly I cried when signing the contract. I've never felt at home in the house until we returned from a trip away in August - that's only 2 months of liking it and the more work we do the more I feel at home. Anyway we have to finish the last part of the landscaping, then let her know and she will list the house and start open homes. I've also got to do some paintings for the bare walls in the house, move furniture around, borrow an outdoor setting yada yada yada...

At some point I'm going to stop and think "what the hell are we doing....."

The Landscaping

The issue of the dogs has been put on the back burner for a while. It's one of those "we'll jump off that bridge when we come to it" things. There's a process to follow and we must first sell the house before we can even think of leaving. And to sell the house - we must finish the landscaping.

We've finally got grass after a year and a half and the plants are slowly being purchased and planted. It seems that every weekend we are free from now until xmas will be dedicated to completing the yard with a goal of being finished before xmas and placing the house on the market in the new year. So far, the more we do, the more we love it. Rolling around on the grass outside with the dogs is a novelty that we are well enjoying. I do want to go to China but if I could just take the house and the dogs......

We have to keep reminding ourselves that as great as the house is looking we were always planning on selling it. The neighbourhood is far more suited to families and we certainly are not. But the more effort we put in to the yard, the more we are enjoying living there. I guess our next house will have to be pretty fantastic - with a few acres, just so we don't miss this one.

The Dogs

A year and a half ago, when our house was finished being built, we went to the RSPCA to choose a dog to join us in moving into our new home. We managed to narrow it down to two who had been there quite a while and ended up taking home a beautiful four year old Dalmation x Greyhound who we named Jedi. A month later we found out that the other dog, Pepper, a six year old Staffy x Cattle Dog was still there, so we went and picked her up too.

Having no other real family, we’ve always considered the four of us to be a family unit. The dogs are beautiful and fit in easily; we take them on holidays with us and enjoy our time together. Leaving them behind is just so hard to consider but after doing some research, taking our dogs just isn’t an option.

I will not return them to a Shelter and I will not euthanise them. We have no family and the only friends we have that like/want dogs, have two already. It seems that re-homing them is the only option but it just seems like so many things could go wrong. How do you know they are going to be taken care of? I know they will be fine without us, they love us and are happy with us, but they are not bonded as such and the times we have gone away without them they have been perfectly happy to stay with friends (not a permanent option unfortunately) and aren’t that fussed by our return!! It seems that as long as they are cared for – they don’t mind where they are and I presume this mentality comes from having been at the RSPCA for quite some time. I honestly feel that I will be more heartbroken then they will.

And I have so many questions. What if we go and we hate it and we come back in two months time? Is it possible to find someone who would have them temporarily so that once the one year contract for work is up we can come back and all be a family again. Can we have our dogs back? Do we deserve them back after leaving them behind in the first place? Or what if we find a temporary home and then we choose to stay in China – what then?

I’m really at a loss and can’t think straight.

The Information Night

We went to a TESOL information night last night. It pretty much confirmed what we knew and had already researched. We still think China is the best option for us and the only thing stopping us is what to do with our dogs. I just cannot bring myself to leave them behind - but the alternative, to take them, seems purely selfish. Is it okay to put them through a 7 hour + flight only to be placed in quarantine and I can barely imagine how difficult it will be to bring them back into Australia. And it's one thing to say it's just the dogs stopping us but there are soooo many other factors we just can't put into place. We know the only option is to sell our current house, but what if it sells really quickly or really slowly or not at all? Do we buy another house here, or a townhouse so we have something to come back to. Do we buy a house to allow for if we still have the dogs or the more affordable option of a townhouse that would rule out the possibility of keeping the dogs? Do we leave the house fully furnished and rent it that way so we have something to come back to or unfurnished which is generally the easier option? Do we sell everything and use the money for right now or put it in storage so that we have everything when we return? And what if we don't return - do we have to come back just to sort out our furniture? Do we start the training now so that we are ready to go but face the possibility of never going and having wasted all that money, or wait till we are ready and packed to go but then be stuck here trying to finish the training courses? And why didn't we think of this option 3 years ago - before we built a house and got Jedi and Pepper? Then we could have gone over, had our experience, THEN come back, built a house and got our dogs....

The Beginning

We made the decision to change our lives today. Possibly by moving to China. It wasn't as quick as it sounds. It's not as if we woke up in the morning and said "we'll move to China". It was on the way home from work in the car that we decided. The suggestion was made a week or two ago and we've been umming and aahhing, as you should about such major moves. But action has always been my preferred method of thinking so here we are, about to start another adventure. Other options also include buying acreage with a small house or traveling / working around Australia.

I've always felt a little out of place, like I haven't quite found my 'niche' in life, particularly in terms of a career. I've drifted from job to job, changing my mind every 6 - 12 months about where I'm heading. Those that know me, know I'm not a "people person", inevitably clashing with someone in all situations. Those that have managed to get to know me well, know that I hate this fact. Marrying my husband was one of the few paths I chose that felt "just right". Lately I keep coming back to the feeling that I'm not making the most out of the time I've been given.

So a change is definitely in the wind. Will we move to China - that remains to be seen, but we are taking the steps to be in a position to do that. First step is to start downgrading our posessions and exploring our options.