Yet Another House Upgrade!

Sam and I have now been living in our new house for two weeks. I was quite apprehensive about this place when we did the initial viewing, but we didn’t have much of a choice being that the first two places we viewed and were interested in fell through, and the landlord for the other place I was really interested didn’t get back to us in time. It hasn’t been as bad as I was expecting, but there are a few niggles I still have about it.

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• Our landlords had bought the property in October last year and had spent a fair bit of time renovating it. This means that we have to be much more careful than we were in our last place, which was quite a bit more beat up. This means that hosting events involving alcohol and/or more than about 6 people is pretty much out of the question.
• While it’s not been terribly cold in here, it is quite damp. Before purchasing a dehumidifier for the laundry room, it took FIVE DAYS for my washing to dry indoors¹. Only the ceiling is insulated, but at least there’s a rangehood/extractor fan which is ducted to the outside as well as a fan in the bathroom.
• We live only one neighbour away from some friends of ours. This is good for a short walk home after drinks, but I feel bad for essentially “invading their territory” and even worse for being super paranoid about hosting drinks here because of the point I made up there.
• I’m pretty sure the landlords are going to try and raise the rent on us once our year of fixed-term is up. This is because they’ve actually got the place advertised as being available in January of next year (our term ends in April) for $40 more than what we are paying now… which is also $20 more than we wanted to pay originally. Sam is convinced that they’d rather we stay, so they won’t put the rent up, but after what happened with our last landlords, I’m erring on the side of suspicion.
• The landlords are still in the process of completing the renovation (outside, mostly on the garage) so they will be coming around occasionally until it is finished. This means I need to keep the place relatively tidy at pretty much all times because they may need to come in and use the bathroom. They are also using our power, which can’t be helped but is still a little bothersome.
• Walking to university from here involves hills. While I am doing internet papers this semester and don’t have classes to attend, I am now seeing my doctor on a regular basis and I’ve just started seeing a campus counsellor as well. I can’t make Sam come home and take me to all of my appointments, but my health is so awful at the moment that walking that distance, especially uphill, will probably lay me flat on my ass for days.
• And these things are minor, but still irritating: the clothesline is WAY too low for me and it’s not adjustable², the shower is a real bitch to get to sit at the right temperature, the water supply is low pressure, the bedrooms are at the front of the house, and the carpet is dark so all of the bits and pieces (which we call greeblies) show up quite badly³.

There are definitely some good things about this house though.

• It’s a NICE house. It’s not “grotty” for want of a better word.
• It’s within a walking distance I’m capable of to a shopping centre and a service station.
• Like I mentioned before, it’s REALLY close to friends of ours which is helpful for those times when I don’t feel terribly well and need to go home. I don’t have very far to walk, and Sam doesn’t have to walk me home any more. Haha.
• UFB (Ultra Fast Broadband) is being put in on our road. It won’t be available until August, but the option of having faster internet is a pretty sweet bonus.
• We actually have somewhere to use our outdoor furniture now. Not that autumn/winter is a good time to sit outside but we’ll be here for spring and summer.
• The kitchen has much more bench space than our last… um, four houses.
• It has two toilets. This means that if someone has pooped in one and you’re busting for a wee, you don’t have to endure the smell of the poop. It also means you don’t have to wait for the other person to finish.

So yeah, that’s our new house. I may change my mind about a few things as it has only been two weeks, but so far it’s okay. Now, if I could just get my health to be okay too, I’d be much happier… but that’s a whole other blog entry which I’ll save for another day.

1. It has rained almost every day since we moved in.
2. I almost decapitated myself a few times hanging out the washing today.
3. I would have to vacuum every day to keep it looking good.