Buyer beware.

It seems that in the past few months, the price of land has gone up, and the size of block has gone down. And if we truly want to build our dream home, most of what we are looking at - in budget - provides serious challenges that involve steep slopes and difficulty installing onsite sewer systems, while still leaving space for you to build a dwelling.

I can hear what you're saying from here: "There is no flat land in the mountains!"

Well there is... but it's probably out of our price range. And last Saturday's lesson in the importance of Due Diligence, followed by a chat with the onsite toilet system bloke today, has cemented the idea that if we want a true mountain home, we might be constricting ourselves.

A lot.

In fact, if the bog bloke's information is anything to go by, most of what is now in our price bracket is there because the vendors failed to get systems passed by Council before a deadline of June 1st 2014, and the new rules simply prevent them from building on the block at all.

Buyer beware. A Geotech really is essential before you sign. It's now clear that the block we attempted to purchase was one of these blocks. My condition in the contract: "Subject to geotechnical survey" was most likely the cause of the vendor taking their time to get back to us. And thank heavens they did. They're not going to tell you that they can't build on this block. They're just going to hope that you're as silly as they were (c'mon.... They were silly... the neighbour told us they tried to build a straw bale house in the Flame Zone...) , and leave you with an unsellable $85,000 hole in your wallet.

This is not the block you were looking for...

What's a Pre-Open Open?!

Here it is!

Terry just dropped over the flyer he's been given to put in his RE Agency window. We're having a "Pre-Open Open" on the 9th August at 2:30pm.

What's that? Well, technically, we're not allowed to clean up. They want to show the house in the state it's been shown previously. This is what they'll be using to gauge what people are prepared to offer for our house before the renovations are done and they have a proper Open House with the new look.

So I'll be cleaning up. Because no matter how we live, I never show my house to potential buyers without vaccuuming and doing the dishes. Or putting my undies away in the drawer...

But the unfinished renovation and the peeling paint does speak for itself, rather. ;)

Still, it's getting exciting!

Happy Dance!

Just got off the phone from Melissa, and we're on! We're going on Selling Houses Australia!

 Dates for filming aren't locked in yet, but it will either be the end of August, or early September. That puts us back a bit, but I don't care at the moment! It means we have a fighting chance of getting our asking price for our house, and moving on!

I figure we've lost one block of land, and found another we love (but it's on the edge of a flammable area and this also raises questions of building costs).... But we both realise that there's little point if we have no money. The right block will come along when we need it and have the money for it.

Now, excuse me while I go back to dancing!

Sitting on Tacks

Must. Not. Be. Impatient.

I'm not the world's best example of patience at the best of times. Just ask Karl.

But we're both sitting on tacks here. Still no solid news from Selling Houses.  They've been wonderful. Mel asks us to wait just a few more days for a verdict. I know she's keen!

 Just a little nervous that we may miss the boat somehow and not be able to get our renovation momentum back.

Thinking positive thoughts. It will all be worth it!

Inside my wardrobe door...

Karl said to me last night that we should make a wish list for our Grand Design (I'm starting to think of it like that, because we're fans... but also because when - yes when -  we get on Selling Houses Australia I want them to think we're so awesome that they follow through and put us on Grand Designs Australia as well...).

Of course, that was just as we were getting into bed. So that didn't happen...

Backtrack a bit...

For the past several years, I've set goals every 31st December.

Then I print them all out, and blu-tac them to the inside of my wardrobe door, right where I can see them and remind myself that I have things to work towards. and underneath those, I have a very important quote (for me):

"Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being frightened, and then doing what you have to do anyway" - Jon Pertwee, the 3rd Doctor Who.

Yep. I'm a geek. Deal with it. There's a lot of inspiration to be had from your heroes.

Sometimes I get so busy I don't look at that list. But I often see the quote! It's a good bucking-up when I feel down, which can be often, especially when my depression kicks in (but that's another story).

Thinking about it here, in a bit of spare time at work though, I know there's the beginning of that wish list. Right there, on my goals list... Now I'm wondering if we're on the right track...

I'd better check that out when I get home. Stay tuned.

Designing my Life

Where do I want to be in a year? Five years? Ten?

For a long time now, I've been putting myself last in line of priority, after... well, mainly, keeping food on the table and supporting my family, actually.

And it shows.

I'm not healthy: My back hurts and I can't deny I'm heavy enough to feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I drive everywhere, and I'm always rushing home to pick up the kids...

While I have lovely, helpful and supportive employers, I work all over Sydney from the Mountains to the Upper North Shore (that's going to get harder when we move, for a start). And it's not really my passion, selling guttering. That's the downside, though I am really grateful for the fact that I can take my laptop along with me, and work on just about anything I please (from programming my Girl Guide Unit, to writing my thesis) as long as I have an internet connection that works.

But it can't last like that forever. I'm not fully following my passions, and I need to be taking this time I have as a means to an end - being truly, positively, myself.

So, here's the "me" wish list for the next twelve months.

These are the changes I want to see in myself and my lifestyle. Heck, at least I can look back here at the end of Financial Year 2014-15, and see if I've got anywhere at all, or if I need to look harder at myself to make the changes.

I'm putting it in the most affirming way possible.

In the next twelve months to 30th June 2015 I will:

• Build a new home which caters to and nourishes all my needs (and that of my family)
• Enjoy my husband and children
• Grow more of our own fruits and vegetables.
• Keep chickens
• Walk more
• Dance
• Sing
• Play more piano and guitar
• Listen to more nurturing music
• Meditate, at least once a week.
• Pick up Yoga, Pilates, Riding. And stick to it.
• Teach for money
• Learn: either by beginning my Masters, or shifting into a field that gives me better life balance. Or both.  
• And get my outdoor qualification for Guides, somehow (so I can camp in the outdoors with my girls).
• Earn good money in my own fields of passion and interest: Design, costume, arts and creativity.
• Raise my energy levels, through all of the above, but also through service to others.

That's a lot to live up to, but I can't tell myself that. I need to be gentler. And I need to realise that a good chunk of the next twelve months will be taken up by the build, and laying the groundwork to make it possible to do all of the other things.

But there it is. Out there in the public domain for all to see.

Are you there with me?

PS: if you like the pic at the top, it came from this blog which is kind of relevant and cool anyway.

Exploring the Alternatives

While we're waiting for news on the Selling Houses front, Karl thought it would be a good idea to check out affordable building methods, and alternatives.

He's been looking at fitting out steel sheds as homes for a few weeks now, and this seems to be heading in the right direction with Blue Mountains City Council, but one of our biggest concerns, with our tiny budget, is how we're going to build cheaply, and not just quickly. The less time we have to spend renting in between properties (preferably none at all...) the better. How to get that past Council?

It's always been a bit of a dream to have a reclaimed train carriage as either guest quarters, or as workshop space. Having spoken to a few friends about AirBNB, that's looking like an enticing source of income, as well. So he went looking...

And he found a place in Londonderry that reclaims railway carriages, sometimes restoring them, for people to buy and use for just these purposes.

What a fun afternoon! We took Cara with us, and spent a happy few hours clambering over carriages ranging in age from around 114 years, to the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The 1928-built, restored Sydney "Red Rattler", from the club of the same name, is the one that caught our eye. With it's steel sides, it should pass fire regs in the Blue Mountains. That's a must. I'm personally not sure about the amount of space, or the price... but I'm definitely liking the overall idea of using something like it as a starting point.

Alternatives include a very Art Deco-looking 1940s rail motor, in blue livery, with handy luggage racks on the walls. If we could have had the gutted 1913 carriage, I'd have been in 7th heaven. But, sadly, too flammable...

But food for thought!

Interviewed...

We met the lovely Melissa, a producer from the Selling Houses Australia team this afternoon.

She took a tour of the house, and then got the whole disaster on camera to show the head honchos. It could take a few weeks for them to decide if we are to go on, but it should be worth the wait!

So, in the meantime, I guess it's back to looking for blocks of land, and thinking about what we would like to build.

If they never take a nicer photo of the St Marys House...

Taking pics of the whole St Marys disaster for Selling Houses Australia production team... Except I think this is officially the nicest pic of our house ever taken!

So here is is, for posterity.

And hopefully it'll look even better by the time they finish with it. If they do.

I spoke to the executive producer this morning, and it looks like she'll be coming over tomorrow to have a squiz, and interview us. Eek! Okay, I know I've worked in film, theatre and TV type work for a while, but this is big.

Cross fingers for us?

Excitement!

Umm...

Just got home from my Girl Guide meeting, to an excited Karl, who's just had an excited Terry from Real Estate 1 show up on the doorstep at 9:30pm (I guess that's not really unusual in itself. He shows up at all hours and gardens. In the dark. Have I mentioned how awesome our real estate agent is?).

He said "Stop everything! Don't do another thing! I've just got off the phone from Selling Houses Australia and I think we can get you on!"

Righto!

Well Karl went and put the lid back on the paint can, since he was about to paint the kitchen...

I guess we'll be taking photos tomorrow, then!