New Digs

It is wonderful to have the delightful friends and family we enjoy. Not bragging, I just think y'all are the best! We feel greatly complimented that so many of you want to come all the way down under to visit us. Just one problem - where will we put you? Our two-bedroom crackerbox is cute, but not very practical for more than a couple of people at a time. Since our apartment lease expires in May, this is a great opportunity to find something more suitable for entertaining guests from near and far.

View from the southwest balcony of our new apartment

I've been searching for about a month and learned all kinds of things in the process. It is common to rent apartments for 6 months, and 12 months is considered a long lease. Lease contracts specify a termination date and you must move out on that day, unless you request in writing that you want to stay longer. Almost all renting is done through real estate agents, and the system works very differently here. In the States, you look in the real estate section of the paper, or go online, or ask a friend, or just drive around until you see a location or apartment building you like. Then you go to the management office, fill out an application, and if you are accepted you negotiate a move-in date, which can be up to 3 months in advance. Not so here. First, the majority of listings appear online. Apartment buildings do not have management offices. Most of the apartments are owned by individuals. Some occupy them, others buy them as investments and rent them out. The owners choose the real estate agent they like best to manage their properties. I found this rather bewildering when I started my search. For example, the building we live in now contains 64 apartments. Six of them are currently for rent, through 4 different companies. So if you want to see different apartments in the same building, you might have to visit several different real estate agents.

Vince checking out guest bedroom #1

This can be convenient, though. If you are looking for an apartment in a certain price range and/or location, you can pick a real estate agent, tell them what you want, and they will show  you properties which fit your criteria. The different agents don't often share listings, though, so you still might have to work with more than one agent in order to see everything on the market. That's what I did. I looked online, found 19 properties I liked and visited 13 of them, which required talking to 6 different agencies. (I only dragged Vince to see 5 of them ;->) The result? A perfect fit -- a 3-bedroom apartment on the sixth floor of an 11-story high-rise on the crest of Mill Point Avenue, just a few doors up the street from our current place. The building is less than 2 years old (our current one is closer to 50), the apartment has never been lived in, and it has two balconies -- one overlooking the north bank and the other looking southwest. We're across the street from Perth Zoo, which means we can open our windows and hear kookaburras and other animals in the morning if we want to. We're vlose to two sets of shops and cafes, and we're still near Mends Street, home of good restaurants, nightclubs and boutiques.

In Australia, "unfurnished" means no fridge or washing machine. However, the current renting market is slow, and we were able to negotiate a bit. The owner agreed to provide both items before we move in.

Vince tries out the baby grand in the elegant foyer.

A pretty place to come home to.

Happy to have found a place to call home for the next couple of years!

We signed the lease today and we'll move in after we return from our US vacation (5 days til we leave!). I've already started packing things up!  So... if you can make the trip to Perth, we'll leave the light on for you. No, we'll meet your flight and show you the town. You'll have a place to stay and we'll throw in breakfast on the balcony. We hope to see y'all soon!