Another day, another builder!

Well, one more builder, Dan Duffy, to be precise. Perhaps Michael should be blogging about the meeting as I had to run off to a Focus group meeting half-way through, but he's busy trying to fix our Media Centre which died last night so he's off rummaging for spare parts!

I find it very interesting how different people are in their approach to things. Dan's been involved in some fairly 'green' buildings in the past, including for the local Steiner school in Coffs Harbour, which is about as whacky as buildings get locally. So he wasn't at all phased by our ideas. We want a timber frame? No problem. Want a square set finish to the interior? Fine. Double glazing? Expensive, but a good idea and it will pay for itself if we're in the building for long enough? But the really great part of the discussion (which, of course, I missed) was that he reckoned on a brief look at our plans and a lengthy talk to Michael that it might be possible to do the house and the office/studio for around $350,000 which is much more like the size of our budget! I'm not going to hold him to it, mind, and he needs to go away and do a proper costing of things, but it is a figure that gave us renewed hope in a week of major depression about the fact that we have to leave here and we might not have enough money to build ourselves a new home! And that is a large difference in price: $350,000 works out at about $1,150 per metre square instead of $1,500 per metre square...

Michael and I have been feeling quite stressed out about having to move. Again. Into our third home in two years and with all the associated cost and sheer inconvenience, just when we were relaxing into thoughts of Christmas around the pool! It's crap, really, and we are very upset about it. The rental market is difficult round here at the moment: apparently some houses have thirty or so people going to see them, and agents are holding 'open days' for rentals which is something I've only seen in big UK cities before. Now admittedly we might be looking towards the top end of the market in order to find something sufficiently large for us both to be able to work from there as well as live, but even so it isn't good news.

It's been amusing in a slightly embittered way to talk to the two agents who will be trying to sell this house. Our landlord is clearly aware that he's treading on eggshells with us at the moment and he has taken some trouble to ensure both agents realise that they must NOT, on ANY ACCOUNT, annoy me! So anyone being shown around will have to be pre-approved, to deter sticky-beaks (a lovely phrase!), and I'm to understand that viewings will be at my convenience. I must say it's nice that he's taken the effort to say all this. Of course he's also saying that he'll ensure a long settlement period so that we can rest assured we'll be able to stay here until after Christmas, but frankly I can't see that happening, and I can't rely on it being the case because it is out of his control. Who in their right minds is going to pay $840,000 (who indeed!) for this house and then say, yeah, fine, the tenants can stay in it until next year? More likely the place will sell just before Christmas and we'll be out on our ears just at the worst time of year when any family that's going to move moves because it's the long school holiday and they can get their kids into school at the beginning of the academic year... and it's also peak holiday season so houses are snapped up on short-term lets for families holidaying in the area, and other houses that might become vacant aren't because the tenants understandably don't want to move house over Christmas.... I know I'm being really whiny, but the situation just feels grim, and I am SO fed up with it!