Another step, another day closer
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Its the end of the month now...another day, another step closer to the end of this year..this year has been pretty eventful for us, mainly the moving to our apartment.
February saw us leaving our rented place in Fairfield and moving on to our fully owned apartment in Glen Huntly. A 2 bedroom apartment, close to uni and amenities and a comfortable living for 2 people. We also went back to Singapore for a week to celebrate Chinese New Year with our families and friends though we wished we could take a longer break but since we only just started in our jobs, we did not have sufficient leave hours for a longer period.
April saw the a new change in the development of the apartment estate..needless to say it wasn't good. Things were not progressing and it left some people with a bitter taste in the mouth. For us, the nightmare was more of the moving of accounts (internet, phone etc) to the new place...one thing we have learnt is that if it wastoo good to be true, it probably was. Never go for a company that does not have a base locally...that was what it was for us when we went to a lesser known internet provider (the speed was good actually but the service OMG!!) and the things they made us go through, it was worth cancelling the subscription and good riddance to this company.
June gave me a full time work opportunity which was too good to miss. I wasn't happy in the previous job anyway so it was a good change. No doubt things in the new place has somewhat improved a bit but still the feeling of alienation can be strong at times. Wonder how long it will last or whether I can be happy in the long run. Will wait and see.
August made us decided to look for a bigger house for our future. Our current place was only suitable for just 2 people and we began to research for safer suburbs, relatively good schools and properties which fell within our budget. After we ahve shortlisted the areas we liked, we then went to home inspections and looked at the amenities around. We missed out on a good opportunity on a property we liked but guess God has a better plan for us later which came true. Then it was time to look for bank loans and to compare which bank was better. We went clueless to a home expo but came out more knowledgeable and ready to talk to more people. After the incident with the internet provider, we knew that the loan provider we were to go with must have a base here in Melbourne. We were lucky to meet our mobile banker and she was a lovely person to work with. She made sure she updated us on the status of our loan applications and any queries we had she managed to get back to us within a short time.
September saw us made an offer for the place that we liked. Initially the offer was rejected as the sellers wanted more ($8K more) from the offer. We refused and the sellers withdrew the property from the market which left us perplexed. It left the agent pretty upset we would say as she has put in time and effort in selling the place as well. Have we missed out on a good opportunity due to our refusal? We were not sure but after discussing with our families and friends, we relented but only increased the offer by another $3k. Again the sellers were in 2 minds and told the agent if we increased the offer by another $1k, the house would be ours. This time we put our feet down and said "No", and we were successful in our stance coz we got the place! We also decided to put our current place for sale too and still pending for offers.
October was a month that went in a blur of activities. Emails and calls were constant exchanges between us, our mobile banker, our conveyancer, housing agent to name a few and the weeks that went back were pretty tiring for us. We had to arrange for sufficient funds in our loan account so that when the settlement day came, we would not be penalised for funds shortfall. However we underestimated the amount and it was a mad scramble to bank in more monies to the account and guess I would say thank God for extended bank hours and for choosing a local bank for the loan. Anyway we managed to get the funds in on time and when settlement day came, it was a sense of excitement and anticipation. When our conveyancer called and told us we got the house now, we were very very happy :)
Now as we step into November, its another month of activities as well...new paintwork at the new place, moving of stuff, arranging of accounts changeover...its like reliving February all over again..hopefully the transition will be much smoother and easier for us..wish us luck!
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ThE DonGSteRs at |9:54 AM|
