Saturday - Bike Testing

So we are so used to going to look for houses, that we decided to print off the list of inspections for the day to see what was out there.

We went to one - in Toowong, where I said I wouldn't live as it is too up and down and not very walkable. I liked the house (it had a pool) - it was old timey. The agent was from the agency where we had put in our first application. I asked her how you get an application approved. She said we would have a good chance as the landlord for this place wanted a family.

I decided we should drive to where we thought our new house was going to be just so we could map out bikes routes for Cyp. On the way, we passed the bike shop and decided to go in (as there was a parking spot right there). I went in and asked if I could talk to someone about a bike. Shane then proceeded to talk to me for about an hour - I guess he didn't see Cyp walking back and forth with more and more frantic kids. I took a test drive - was peddling down the street and was wondering why that stupid car was heading right for me - oh yah, I was on the wrong side of the street. Quickly corrected my position and tried to bike up a hill. I made it, but when I got back to the shop after my two minute ride, my legs were shaky and I was puffing. I told Shane I would buy it, but he wanted to talk some more and finally after a text from Cyp I was back on the road.

We drove by what we thought was our new home and saw two people going in for an inspection - huh? We phoned the agency, were told that Hannah, the agent we had been dealing with was at an inspection -yup, we knew that. We had a bad feeling. They hadn't returned any of our calls on Friday and it was always very difficult to get a message to Hannah. I started writing that place off in my mind - too far from the city cat, too much traffic, too big a hill.....

We then drove out to Bulimba so I could show Cyp the house I had looked at without him. I think he was equally depressed about the suburban feel of the street so we drove home in silence. Got home and phoned the agent we had seen that morning. She asked if we were interested in the house we saw as if so, she would put in our application to the owner that day. Oh - ok. Let me call you back. I talked to Cyp - we couldn't really remember the exact details of the house as we hadn't really been looking at it seriously. We did some quick internet searching and I phoned her back and said "yes please"

Man, this is stressful. Further research revealed that there were no closets in this house (did I mention it is old timey?) Oh well, no where for the spiders to hang out only to later jump out at you. I also thought the downstairs bathroom is perhaps a bit sketch. This is one of my main conditions - house has to have two bathrooms. I guess my main condition just went out the window. It does have air conditioning though and it is about a 4 km cycle for Cyp to work. So good all in all (although Ellis claimed he did not like it - Rowan does though - his arms were flapping when he saw the pool).

We will be paying $800 per week - it seems about what you pay for the area and type of house. People I have met here think that is a fortune (and when you do the math, it is really). We looked at a big range - from $450 per week to $925. I kept thinking it doesn't seem like much more, but then when you multiply the difference by 52.... well - I had to start telling myself - every $100 is $5200 for the year. So, the first one we put an offer on was $775, then $700 (I think that was why I was kinda excited about that house - I was imaging how I could spend our extra $100 per week). In fact, when we start thinking about how we are blowing that money on rent, we start thinking about buying a house - $800 per week is about a $600,000 mortgage. We could get a pretty good house.... but then we'd have to worry about it. Well - I could go on and on - it was a tough decision. So - everyone - you must come and visit before January 27, 2011 (our lease term) so you can enjoy our stunning views and pool. We got a bigger house so people would have somewhere to stay.

In the afternoon, we went to Cyp's bosses house for their solstice party. We basically hung out in their pool. Ellis jumped in lots and was very brave.