January 31, 2006
Going, going gone
One slightly less 'fun' routine that we've instigated is the regular weekend of house inspections. Houses here in Melbourne are usually sold by auction, on the street in front of the house. For weeks prior to the auction, your house will be 'open for inspection' and hordes of hopeful singles/couples/families will traipse through it, inspecting every nook and cranny, commenting on your taste in furniture and shrieking at the photo of Great Aunt Nelly on the mantelpiece. Many of these people will just be your neighbours being nosey. Some of them will then return on auction day to make outlandish bids and argue under the gum tree growing out the front about maxing out the 5th credit card so that they can make one more bid.
As Ron and I want to live in areas we can afford to live in only if we somehow get rid of Jacob we are now in the position of seeking the 'perfect compromise'. This will not end well. What we want is inner city and cosmopolitan with all the benefits of a nice big block and the traditional aussie back-yard for Jacob. It is possible to find combinations of the two but not within our budget!
Its amazing how your more recent experience is abandoned and the ideas you grew up with re-assert command. What I would have considered a perfectly decently sized yard in Amsterdam for at least 4 kids I now pronounce impossible and not big enough for a dog to live in let alone a kid. No matter how hard I try, there is a minimum a kid needs in my mind to happily make a mess!
So, we are now spending our weekends traipsing through other people's houses with a view to establishing just exactly where the boundaries of our compromise will lie and where it can be found. If other people's experiences are anything to go by then this may be our primary weekend activity for six months or more.
The news that Melbourne is now in the Top 20 in the world for unaffordable housing is only the icing on what is turning out to be a rather stale and lumpy sort of cake. When I grew up the Great Australian Dream had been a quarter-acre block and your own home for most of the 20th century. Now, its more like the Great Australian Delusion!
What is also different about Melbourne is that whereas in other parts of the world people expect a bargain if a house is sold at auction here it is the reverse. Houses that are 'sold privately' are usually those that didn't fetch the price expected at auction or where the owner needs a quick sale and is willing to take a bit of a loss.
House-hunting it seems defies the tyranny of distance as back in Amsterdam, our friends Jaap and Edmee and Peter and Vanusa are also engaged in the same activitiy, even if it does take a slightly different form.
Posted by Faith