Rhonda Bracey: At Random

The boxes are a nightmare… Sometime in the morning we decided we’d better go into town to collect the accumulated mail from the PO box, pick up some basic groceries and meat and bread. What we expected to take about 30 minutes took well over 2 hours… and we hardly know anybody yet!

Why did it take so long?

Well, we’d just walked out of the Post Office when we ran into the Property Manager (she’s been an absolute gem in organising all the trades to do work on the house in the 3 weeks it was vacant). So we were chatting to her and inviting her and her husband to dinner on Friday night as a small token of appreciation, when the handyman who’d done work on the house walked by on his way into the post office. My husband knew him, as did the Property Manager, so I met him too, and we chatted about other work we’d like him to do.

Then it was off to the local supermarket. As we walked in, my husband said “hi” to at least two of the servers who he’d met when he was here painting the house. And the server we had after we’d got our groceries used to be a tenant in the house a year or so ago! So we chatted to her too (we’d met her one time when we came down to do an inspection).

Then we introduced ourselves to the butcher, Greg, who was happy to chat. Then off to the bank where we met Gina and Lauren, who were also happy to chat and welcome us to the town. Next was the bakery where the person behind the counter wasn’t nearly so chatty!

Last stop was the Mitre 10 store (hardware) where there were more people to meet. So it was 2 hours before we got back to “Box City”! My parents had told us of this country town phenomenon, but we thought it would be some months – years, even – before we experienced it. Nope. Day 2. And it would’ve been Day 1 had we emerged from the house and all the boxes!

So far, absolutely everyone has been friendly and welcoming. Unbelieveable – and so refreshing after living in Perth. We haven’t met our immediate neighours yet, but then we only knew the people either side of us in Perth… and we lived in that house for 16 years!

On Monday, I woke around 3am and didn’t get back to sleep – the mind was going like a train! We got up at 5am as the removalists said they’d be there sometime between 6 and 7am, and there’s all that last minute stuff to pack – bed linen, clock radio, etc. Anyhow, we were done by 7am; the guys turned up at 7:15am. It took three of them four hours to pack the truck! And even then some things just couldn’t fit so they were relegated to the skip bin. Our cars were choc-a-block full, and the computers were going separately with the PC Guru guys, so even more would’ve been tossed had we not already packed up stuff for us and others to take.

After the four hour trip south, the removalists got to Bridgetown and the first stop was the storage unit to drop off some of the stuff. Bridgetown is REALLY hilly so I had to give them an alternative route to our interim house as the usual route is just up and up and up the biggest hill in Bridgetown! Even with the stuff for storage removed, it would’ve been a struggle for the removal van…

Some ?? hours later, all was unloaded and dumped in the rooms where it was sort of to go. We didn’t realise they pack furniture first, then boxes, which means that boxes come off first and get dumped in rooms, then the furniture has nowhere to go! A bloody nightmare of boxes and furniture! We’re calling it “Box City”.

The guys got back on the road for the 3.5 hour trip back to Perth some 12 hours after they’d arrived at our place this morning, and we started the arduous task of unpacking the boxes… We got a few essentials done then had dinner around 10pm and crashed – for the best night’s sleep either of us has had in weeks! No more worrying about how (or if!) everything will fit. Add to that the bright stars (yes, we can see a plethora of stars from our bedroom window!), and the silence, and we slept like logs.

I still can’t believe how much STUFF we have, even though we’ve given a lot away to charity, to friends and family, and to the great garbage disposal in the sky. Currently, we have a 2 cubic metre ‘skip bin’ out the front to take all the last unwanted stuff from the garage/workshop, and already it’s about one third full. If we’d saved up all the other stuff we’ve already thrown out, then we’d have needed a much bigger skip bin!

Despite all that purging and tossing and relocating, the garage is FULL of boxes. We’re not big on acquiring stuff – or so we thought. It must breed of its own accord. When I think about what we’ve got that was hidden away in cupboards etc., I’m reminded of our friends in Chicago. Their place was chock-a-block FULL of stuff! And you could see all this stuff. We took a look in their garage and basement one day – you couldn’t move in either place for STUFF. We knew we didn’t register on their STUFF scale, but hell, it’s still surprising at how much there is. At last count, some 55 boxes are earmarked for the storage unit! Scary.

Oh, and my darling other half informed me last night that there are some 40+ cases of wine! (And he’s bought almost none for the past 4 months…)

Well, the big move is nearly here. One more full day in our house, two more sleeps… And still there’s packing to do… not so much to go now, but it’s relentless!

Tomorrow (Sunday) we get disconnected from our broadband plan sometime during the day, so I won’t have access to this blog, the internet, or email. Hopefully I’ll cope… The PC Guru guy is scheduled to come at 8am Monday morning to pick up the ‘puter equipment and take it to their offices where they’ll do full backups etc. Then he is scheduled to drive to Bridgetown on Wednesday to install all the equipment and set up the office with the new broadband connection. That’s the plan! Let’s hope it all works according to plan…

I took yesterday and today off work to finalise the packing in preparation for the move down south on Monday. Settlement is booked in for Tuesday. So you could say the pressure’s on!

Way back in December I spoke to our mortgage broker about security for the other loans we have now that the main asset is being sold. I knew the bank would want their pound of flesh, either in repayment of some of these loans, or the Title for them – they won’t leave loans floating out there without security against an asset. He checked with the bank (Westpac in case you’re interested) and was told at least twice that all was fine. And he informed me of that. Meantime, Settlement was booked by the bank, which was even more ‘evidence’ that everything was OK at the bank’s end.

So you can imagine my surprise, anger, and panic when we got a phone call on Wednesday evening, telling us that Settlement may be delayed because those looking at these things in the bank’s Mortgage Processing Centre realised that we’d have unsecured loans. Well, hello!!! As I told this guy, we’d confirmed all this with the broker way back when and all was meant to be OK. I listed the other properties we own with approximate values, and gave him the contact details for our mortgage broker. Then I sent off a very quick email to the broker, and we went out to dinner, arriving late because of this call. (Like, who calls someone at 6:30pm on Valentine’s Day evening????)

Anyhow, we forgot about the call during dinner with our very long term friends as we were talking about the move and life from here on in, reminiscing about old times, and saying our goodbye’s for now.

Yesterday (Thursday) we’re beetling around doing some last minute stuff in between packing, and we get a phone call from the boss guy at the Mortgage Processing Centre. To cut a long story short, for Settlement to occur on Tuesday and not be delayed, we have to put a (very big) sum of money into a Term Deposit with them for up to 2 weeks while they get valuations done on the other properties and get Title to them. (BTW, the bank has known the date of Settlement since December, but chose to call us 5 days before!)

This means that the lump sum we intended putting into my husband’s Superannuation scheme will be split in two – half on Settlement, the other half into this Term Deposit with it being available after some 2 weeks (yeah – try a month!). Oh, and the bank said we’d get the interest on this deposit – how kind of them – but we’d have to pay $165 each for the valuations on the other three properties. They screw you every which way…

That’s the upshot. But it took 4 hours to sort out yesterday! 27-page faxes going to and from, numerous long distance phone calls, a trip to the bank to get the documents witnessed, faxed, and the originals sent to the Mortage Processing Centre in Adelaide. Phone calls to and from the mortgage broker, contacting the Settlement Agent to get a revised Disbursement of Funds Authority. And of course the old thermal fax machine ran out of paper in the middle of this, so I had to go find another roll in the boxes stacked in the garage… (don’t ask…)

We sure didn’t need this! We’re furious at the bank’s incompetence; the mortgage broker is furious at both that and the information he took on faith; his contact at the bank reckons the MPC people are a mob of d***heads. Not that that changes anything. The reality is that the bank needs security – I understand that, which is why I queried it back in December and why my mortgage broker followed it up. But for them to drop this on us a few days before Settlement just reeks of gross incompetence and lack of ‘ownership’ of the case by the bank. All these valuations etc. could have been done in January and we wouldn’t be in this situation.

Bloody banks (which is not what I said, but I think you get the picture)! Today’s the last business day before we move, so here’s hoping everything is sorted now.

Lots of stuff going on on a daily basis which is why I’ve hardly posted for a while…

The ‘stuff’ includes packing/purging, organising the move (how many places do you have to change your address? HEAPS! and they all have different rules. Except for the privacy issue, it’d be nice if you could just change them all in one place and be done.)

Then there’s the stuff happening at the ‘interim’ house we’ll be living in. The tenant moved out last weekend – so far, the electrician has been in and installed extra power outlets (more still to come), the painter (with my husband as his TA) is still going and will be for a few more days yet, the plumber has checked all the taps and hot water system and gas connections, the air conditioning guy has measured up the place where the a/c will go, the guy to install the extra TV and telephone outlets has been, the phone guy came, other trades etc. have all passed through, the garden crew have done a HUGE cleanup of the garden and back yard. Next week the plasterer comes, then sometime soon the security fly screens and doors go on, the new hot water system goes in (you guessed it – the old one has carked it!), the a/c gets installed, etc. etc. And in a few weeks the painter comes back to paint the plastered walls…

And it’s hot. At least I’m at work today where it’s air conditioned – but the guys are doing lots of physical work down there with no fans, no a/c, and it’s well over 36C, and expected to be more tomorrow.

Meantime, I’ve been in Perth working, packing more boxes, dealing with the computer guy who seems to have fixed my computer issues (I hope!), trying to sort my internet connection (that’s been the most difficult so far), trying to get changes of address done etc. I haven’t had dinner the past two nights as I’ve been busy dealing with other people -like the computer guy who turned up at 7:30pm just when I was about to cook dinner, and didn’t finish until after 10:30. Too late to eat then.

Tonight I’m going out to dinner with a girlfriend. I’ll take a break and drink large fishbowl margaritas with her at a Mexican restaurant in Freo (Fremantle). Tomorrow’s going to be another scorcher (40C+) and I’ll be in and out of the garage hauling boxes…. so a brief respite will be nice.

So that’s why I’ve been a bit quiet lately! Don’t expect too many more posts in the next couple of weeks until we’ve moved and settled in to the ‘interim’ house. (I’m gonna have to give that place a name – anyone got any bright ideas???)

Just got the phone call from the real estate agent… the final hurdle in the house sale has been overcome – the purchasers had their finance formally approved by the bank, so it’s SOLD! Yay!

One of the tedious tasks when moving house (and boy, had I forgotten just how tedious!) is informing respective utilities and providers of your change of address. In the case of utilities, this also entails making sure that final readings are done for water, gas, electricity, etc.

So today I thought I’d start on a couple of easy ones that don’t rely on the ‘unconditionality’ of the “offer to purchase”. Like Optus… to check what happens to the long-distance arrangement we have with them on our Telstra phone; the redirection of water bills to us instead of the property manager for the house down south; and arrangements for the transfer of the electricity into our name at the house too.

I figured Optus would be the easiest. Right in theory – wrong in practice! First you’re taken through this 20 questions thing with a recorded voice and have to reply to it (it’d be quite clever if it worked as I expected it to). Then you get put on hold and finally a ‘customer service’ person comes on the line. But despite you answering the 20 questions to the recorded voice, they have no clue who you are and you have to repeat yourself all over again. I did this FOUR times! Twice I was cut off (once immediately after getting to a real person; the other time I got lost in the ether somewhere), then I was routed to the wrong division and “no, they couldn’t transfer me – I’d have to call another number”. Ummm… Hello! Optus is a TELECOMMUNICATIONS/PHONE company – and they can’t transfer me??? Give me a break… Finally I got a real person who was helpful and dealt with my enquiry in about 1 minute – after I’d repeated myself to the recorded voice answering the 20 questions, and being on hold for a few more minutes, then verifying my date of birth etc. with the real person.

“Service”? Optus don’t know the meaning of the word!

I girded myself for the next ones – Synergy (the power company) and the Water Corporation. Both experiences were great. I got through quickly to a real person who was helpful and answered my questions and got the transfers done in a matter of a few minutes. Thank you Lorraine (Synergy) and Rachel (Water Corp) for ‘serving’ the customer.

The last call was to my ISP (iinet) to ask about transferring the phone, switching my broadband plan from ADSL2 to ADSL1, what were the charges with VOIP, etc. Well, now there’s a shock! I had a helpful sales person (Lester), but the news is not good. Not only will I be on a MUCH slower connection (1500 thingies compared to 24000 thingies), but they’ll charge me MORE! About another $30 a month more for the ‘privilege’ of going slower, and that’s not including VOIP at another $10 a month. Hello??? Lester said it was because it was cheaper for them to provide ADSL2, than ADSL1. Well, that’s all well and good, but in the country YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE! ADSL2 is NOT an option; no providers have ADSL2 to regional areas – only ADSL1. So where does iinet get off penalising a 10+ year customer with extra charges for LESS service? I’ll be investigating other ISPs, even though I didn’t want to change initially as, with all the other changes associated with moving, changing ISPs was not something I wanted to do consider now.

Harrumpph! It’s not been a good day…

Well, we signed the Offer and Acceptance form on our house this afternoon! We ended up selling for a little less than the figure we had in our heads, but we should make that up by parking the money for the next 6 months or so anyway.

So, it’s sold! And now comes the hard part of packing up, throwing out, storing some 16+ years of STUFF we accumulated while being here! We’ve done some already in anticipation, but there’s still a way to go. But now that the house is sold, there’s an extra incentive – not least of which is that Settlement is at the end of January!

I feel good about this -and I know in my gut that we sold at just the right time. The market peaked a few weeks ago, in my opinion, and had we not accepted this offer (the ONLY offer) then we could still be hanging out for our price in 3-6 months time… and not getting it. I think the market has turned, so I believe we sold just after the top of the peak.