THE FIRST MONTH OF HOUSE SEARCHING

 As I've mentioned before, house prices in Perth have been rocketing up over the last 12 months. 25% increase compared to a 5% decrease in Melbourne. Even selling two properties isn't enough to buy the type of house we need in the suburbs we grew up in/lived in such as City Beach, Cottesloe, Claremont, Nedlands, Leederville and Shenton Park. This means that we have to go venturing both further north and further south.

It's not as if we're downsizing. We still need 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 living areas, a decent sized kitchen for Susan, single story, a shelted alfresco area and of course, the pool. We started looking as soon as I arrived and the first house was perfect except the pool wasn't big enough and it was in Gwelup which is almost too far north.

Although I don't know the area at all, I'm drawn towards the suburbs close to Fremantle. I love the village feel of Freo and we have more friends in the south than the north. There are also better/closer beaches in the south. But we may not be able to be too fussy.

During the first month, we inspected 17 properties which all technically met our criteria but there was always a but:

- too much garden

- only a plunge pool

- no separation of bedrooms

- bedrooms too small 

- too many steps

- tiny kitchen

- needs renovation

- too big

- too small

- no ensuite

- missing an effective second living space

etc, etc, etc

We have deleted a few suburbs that were initially on the list such as Gwelup, Stirling and Winthrop. Mind you, if we're still looking in 12 months time, they may end up back on the list.

In the meantime, we buy lottery tickets to see if that can solve the financial challenge. 

We're always racing up and down the coast on Saturdays but also head out for twilight viewings on Wednesdays and Thursdays and sometimes even Sunday mornings. I even did a video walk around of one house while Susan was on her hospital bed. It's one way of relearning Perth and exploring suburbs we've never visited before and a good excuse to visit beaches and farmers markets along the way.

Ann at Marmion Beach
The good thing is that we've got a nice home to come back to and a pool to relax in if it all gets too stressful.

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