Forced motivation

I was going to wait until the dust settled, but then I thought stuff it, you lot might "enjoy" the journey with me.

So we have been renting from family for almost 6 years. When we moved in, we had just moved home to Newcastle and the plan was to rent for maybe a year, then buy a place to live in. We did end up buying a place, but it already had tenants in there paying decent rent, so we figured we may as well stay where we are.

I am not particularly happy with the house we are renting - 5 people in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, run down house is a bit much - but the rent is (super!) cheap, the location is awesome, we are living next to (nice!) family on one side, and awesome neighbours with kids the same age as ours on the other. Apart from the cr@&^y house, idyllic really. I was keen to move at some point, but my wife is less motivated by physical surrounds, and would have lived there indefinitely.

I have been keeping an eye on property, researching, researching, researching, while we have been saving money and our IP has been appreciating (we somehow managed to buy in what in hindsight was a slump in the market!). And as coincidence would have it, a house in the street behind us came up for auction. Very nice, probably more renovated than I'd like, but we got the finance ball rolling in a very low-pressure way. Just going through the necessary steps to get our ducks in a row, and if approval came through in time for the auction, and the house went for a bargain, then jolly good!

Then our situation changed. There was talk about the inlaws' parents eventually moving in to where we are renting, but the parents had always been disinclined. Until about 2 weeks ago. We have not been given notice, and certainly no pressure to move, but our "limitless" tenancy now has a definite limit.

So, we will have to move. Our interest in the property in the street behind went from dis-interested, logical, investment potential, to emotional. Potentially bad! Fortunately we are pretty sensible people (mostly!) so we wont go crazy on price, and as a worst case scenario, we can move in to our current IP - but it is a whole 700m further away from school! Our biggest drama at the moment is how close our kids are with the neighbours kids - being able to jump the fence back and forth has been priceless, it feels like they are having an old-school neghbourhood experience!

Anyway, finance is approved up to our sensible limit. The auction is tomorrow morning. Barring Sydney money coming up and being silly, I think we are in with a shot. If we miss out, so be it, we will buy a few cheaper IPs instead!

I'll update y'all tomorrow!

Cheers,
Inertia.

 

Great attitude. I often reflect on my childhood compared to my childrens and find myself letting them do more of the stuff that I did as a result. Sounds like its an ideal situation.

 

Good luck, hope it works out.

 

Good luck mate, I hope it goes at the price you want and you are the winning bid .

 

Good luck! By the way you describe things, you really sound like a sensible person. All the best with the auction! scare them away with a powerful low offer expressed in a strong voice with conviction.

 

Best of luck.
Have you thought of offering to buy the place you are currently in?
If it's yours you can renovate it to how you want it and not have to move.

 

All the best

 

good scare tactics..

 

I like that! Might even use it tomorrow. Way better "advice" than what the selling real estate agent gave me, it went like this:
RE: So, do you have a strategy for bidding tomorrow.
Me: yeah, at the end of the auction I hope my limit is high enough to be the winner.
RE: yeah, but you've got to be confident! If someone out bids you, make a dominant bid way higher to show them you mean business! It's a theatrical event, and you have to be prepared to be dramatic!

um, no.

Cheers,
Inertia.
(edit - responded to wrong post!)

 

Yep, tried that! Even got our neighbours with kids the same age as our to put some pressure on

Unfortunately selling to us is not in their plan :-/

Cheers,
Inertia.

 

@inertia Absolute best of luck tomorrow! You're obviously switched on enough to not need any luck as you're not buying into the sales pitch made by Mr/Ms Agent - kudos to you for that.
Plenty happening in Newcastle at the moment, gentrification is occurring on a grand scale so I'm sure you're making a wise move.

 

Good luck!

 

Ask the auctioneer if the asbestos is a chattel or will be removed.

 

Is the place behind the property you are renting - or the IP ?

How close is it - I guess it is not physically connected to the IP.

 

All the best @inertia
Looking forward to your update!

 

How did it go today @inertia?

 

BWHAHAHAHAHAH!

What was I thinking?!?!?! The opening bid was above what we were prepared to pay! Started at <Dr Evil>ONE MILLION DOLLARS</Dr Evil> and went up from there. Finished at $1.19m.

Oh well, I guess we will be moving in to the IP. We will be given the tenants notice shortly. They are on month to month, so it may be 3 months before we can get access to do a few things (paint, carpet, kitchen, maybe bathrooms...) But gee I hate moving house!

On the other hand, finance already organised, so we can look at more (cheaper!) investment properties...

Cheers,
Inertia.

 

Geez... opening bid 1mil in Newcastle.... wow. Sydney boom has gone far north....