House Hunting

In the beginning, a cozy flat overlooking the Swan River was all one could ask for: easy commute to work, shops and restaurants in walking distance, and of course the beautiful skyline view.

Now that we’re going to be here longer, it’s time to for something more suitable. Translation: A small apartment is okay for 6 months, but for the long-term I’d really like a gas stove, an extra bedroom for visitors, and a refrigerator larger than a suitcase. ;-> My foray into the real estate world has been interesting. Here’s some stuff you need to know if you want to rent a place in Perth.

1. Prices are listed per week, not month. So that penthouse with covered parking, huge balcony and a plasma TV going for $1,500? Nope, it’s over 4 times that -- not in the Vetter price range.
2. The “descriptive language phenomenon” (some would call it lying) is alive and well here too. The term "city glimpses” means that if you stand on tiptoe in the bathroom you can see a sliver of river and skyline. A “short walk to the shops and cafés” means about a mile. A "stroll" is about half a mile.. “Minutes away” means you can get there by car in around 5 minutes – which can get you halfway across the city most times. “Around the corner” means a 5-7 minute walk. Two bathrooms means that one has a shower/bath and sink and the other has all that plus a toilet. The term half bath doesn’t exist here. “Air conditioned” means there is a wall unit in at least one room, but not necessarily everywhere. That would be "fully ducted air conditioning." "Sweeping views" means that you can look out the window and see the river or skyline with no obstructions like trees or other buildings in the way. Naturally, those are in the most demand. 
3. There are interesting differences in construction. Besides the fact that everything is metric, in every home I’ve seen the door handles are a lot higher -- chest level compared with waist level. Counter tops (benches)in kitchen and bathroom are also much higher – around 32 inches. Most buildings are made of brick, which makes them durable but they do hold in the heat. And just try putting in a nail to hang a picture… perhaps that’s why I’ve seen so few decorations on walls. Towel racks have two small racks instead of one thick one, the better to hang those thin Australian towels on. Because we're in the city, yards (gardens) tend to be small.

Some real estate vocabulary:

• Robe – short for wardrobe, or closet. It can be anything from a freestanding unit like an armoire, to a walk-in closet. A built-in robe is the kind of closet with sliding doors, often mirrored. They're quite popular in apartments since they conserve space.
• Air con – air conditioning. Ducted air con is what we’re used to, reverse-cycle air con is the wall mounted unit. They're pretty efficient for what they are, but they only cool one room at a time.

The air con unit in our bedroom. You turn it on and off via the remote on the wall.
• Timber flooring – wood floors.
• Bench top - counter top.
• White goods -- large household appliances like washer, dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator. When you rent an unfurnished apartment, a modern unit will already have a dishwasher but you usually buy your own fridge and washing machine. For some reason dryers are often installed, which doesn't make sense because people are really big on hanging clothes on the line to dry here. You'd expect to have a washer and not a dryer, but hey -- this is a foreign country. I'm not supposed to understand it. :-);

White goods in our utility room. Washer below and dryer above.

In the past 2 weeks I've worked with 6 different real estate companies, researched 19 properties, visited 13, and made a shortlist of 5 to show to Vince. Real Estate agents can be a snippy lot but when you say the magic words "corporate lease" they become quite attentive. You can almost see dollar signs fill their eyes, like Wimpy (I'll gladly pay you Tuesday...) while thinking up his next get rich quick scheme. Pretty fun to watch! Why so many agents? Compare the Australian renting method to the American one. The last time I rented an apartment I visited a complex, talked with sales people in the management office, and was shown available units. That method doesn't work at all here. First, there is no management office for apartment buildings because people buy their apartments here. If they decide to rent them out, they do so through a real estate agent. So if you run across a building you like, the next step is to find it on the Internet, which is usually done via the REIWA (Real Estate Institute of Western Australia) site. All agencies post ads for the places they manage, and you can create a recurring search which will email listings to you daily. In this forest of agents, the trick seems to be narrowing it down to one or two who know the market and have lots of listings. In our current apartment building there are 64 units on 16 floors, and I've seen 6 of them on the Internet, managed by 3 different real estate companies! This is a good time of year to look, though. With an oil boom on, the summer will get very busy as expats come over after their children finish the school year.

So we will have a new place soon, and the vetteroo villa welcomes visitors. Just let us know when you're coming and we'll put the shrimp on the barbie!