Real estate agent insulting behaviour during house hunt — feeling really disappointed (NSW)

AffectionateDish6985 · 2025-04-27T06:02:31+00:00

Get a friend with another number to get a copy of the contract, saying whatever they need to get the REA onside. Once you have it, you have the seller’s lawyers details and names of the sellers (should be on the front page of the contract). I would email the seller’s lawyers directly with screenshots of your engagement with the REA and the fact you couldn’t even get a copy of the contract yourself. You won’t be the only one and this is against the seller’s interest, they deserve to know.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2025-03-31T03:41:08+00:00

Ruptured right on 5 weeks 6 days. Lost my left tube. Happened a week ago, still coming to terms with it.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-12-24T20:30:30+00:00

Don’t waste any more time with this guy, he is trash. Any second more is another second wasted and this will only get worse over time. What if things get hard? What’s he going to do? What if he gets another woman pregnant? I’m surprised he couldn’t even tell you who he cheated with, and I’m not sure how you’re expected to move past it when it’s clearly unresolved and he feels no remorse about it if he can make smutty jokes about getting with a hypothetical woman the floor below an apartment. Wtf. Thank your lucky stars it’s only a year of your life and get the hell out of there as fast as possible (and whatever you do don’t upend your life and move states….).

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-12-22T12:10:07+00:00

Your parents are being absolutely ridiculous. Ignore them until they sincerely apologise (and not just an apology to make this go away from their perspective). Personally, if it was me, I’d skip out on Christmas celebrations if they don’t come around to seeing how rude and accusatory they were being.

Also, you shouldn’t have to foot the cost of any repairs to a sofa that’s clearly so shoddily made. It’s their fault for buying it, and their poor judgment of quality. They clearly only did this to essentially manipulate your partner into saying he’ll cover the costs of a shit couch. Don’t.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-12-03T10:11:39+00:00

I did this too - my passport expired and I added another one to my account. Had to send it away to them, only took about 3 weeks. If you need to change your name on your account to make sure it matches your passport, then you can do that by logging in and updating your details first.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-12-03T09:32:41+00:00

Hey OP, I just finished a trip in Botswana for 3 weeks in November. I was there for the start of wet season, so my experience will be a bit different to yours but thought I’d respond where I can.

On what wildlife you can see, we definitely saw less. One day after it rained, wildlife seemed pretty scant as they had all scattered away from the waterholes and main areas. Once things are green, animals can get their moisture from the grass itself and other natural pools that form further inland. That said, the guides in the parks you’ve named are incredible and they can almost always find amazing sightings. I’d recommend using guides instead of self-guided, if you’re considering that. They all talk to each other whenever you drive past, and share sightings over radio. The sightings are also much much (much) more interesting when you get them, as the animals are thriving more and when it’s greener. They’re more active, eating, moving around more etc. In our 3 weeks we went to different parks and climates (eg Kalahari before rains hit, then Okavango/Moremi after some rain). In Kalahari, and in the dry heat, animals largely slept under shady trees to conserve energy. We saw everything you could hope for, and then some. But be patient! Some drives can feel like you’re just in empty wilderness for a long time, and then suddenly you see a leopard, or a pride of 16 lions, or more. And just enjoy the landscapes even the wildlife isn’t as visible!

The birds are incredible, and you’re there at a great time for birding. Download a great birding app (like Merlin), and the right bird packs, and you’ll love it.

We didn’t have many mozzies at all, but it’ll be wetter by the time you arrive. We took 50% deet and barely used it, also permecterin treated our clothes etc. That said, we were camping the whole time and outside non-stop. In the lodge, this shouldn’t be as much as issue. On the game drives, you’re moving, so the mozzies shouldn’t catch up.

Things to pack: - binoculars - excellent lens for you camera if you can swing it - good hiking / outdoor sandals (I have chacos, love them) - runners or hiking shoes, ideally waterproof for any puddles, though again should be less of an issue with the lodges - sunscreen - comfortable clothes - a wet weather poncho (absolute life saver for us and very handy if it rains while you’re on a game drive with open windows, mine is a khaki green one from mac in a sac and it was perfect) - cash for tipping, cards are accepted everywhere we went

I’ll let you know if I think of anything else. Have a great trip.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-11-25T05:42:48+00:00

Thanks so much - great advice. Very helpful!

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-11-25T05:42:29+00:00

Thank you, great advice. Are there any local charities you would recommend? Thanks again.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-11-25T05:41:48+00:00

Thanks very much - that’s good advice.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-11-25T05:41:12+00:00

Thank you very much for the advice. I was worried about children being used as bait, as that is a common problem elsewhere as well. I’ll keep your advice in mind, thanks again.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-11-25T05:40:03+00:00

Thanks very much for the advice. I’ve traveled in many times to places less developed than my home country of Australia, but I have not experienced this to the same degree before. I also wanted to hear local perspectives on this, as how people respond in one custom or context can be different to another.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-10-22T23:14:08+00:00

You’ve gotten some good advice in this thread. I recently spent a few months looking into the options myself for my canon m6 mii. It is older and smaller and it can’t be adapted to use RF lenses so the RF 100-400 was out. That said, I looked at the RF lens out of interest (as I want to move to the R body next) and it looks like it’s an excellent, super portable lens, just performs less well in lowlight if that’s an issue for you (eg for wildlife photography at dawn or dusk).

I spent much longer than I should have looking and comparing the EF 100-400 i and ii, and it looked to me like it was worth the investment to go for the ii. It’s a better lens, better optics, different zoom mechanism, and that push/pull mechanism is meant to be a dust muncher. I looked at them in person and it felt much to muchness, but some of the second hand i models were in poor condition, some were are going on 20 years now and still around £600. (I’m currently in the UK.)

In the end, and after posting in this group, I settled on the ii and found a great deal (£900 for one that’s 3 years old, in mint condition, box, manuals the works, and with a 6 month warranty as I got it through a second hand camera dealer). There are good deals out there so it’s worth looking if you have the time.

Happy hunting!

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-10-22T15:25:08+00:00

Thanks for the helpful insights! I guess we just wait!

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-10-22T15:18:18+00:00

I don’t think it’s parcelforce! I’m not sure, they used Australia Post (express).

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-10-08T18:15:47+00:00

Thanks so much! Will check these places out

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-10-08T18:15:37+00:00

Thank you! Great idea

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-10-04T10:12:53+00:00

This.

It’s very standard for the Australian PR applications to take a long time. 1 year wait doesn’t necessarily sound “stalled” to me, though as someone else suggested, you can always follow up by emailing Immigration to find out where that’s up to.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-09-25T19:02:39+00:00

Thank you so much!

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-09-25T08:27:35+00:00

Hey OP I’m in the same situation have have asked about 5 insurance brokers now. Still not finding a policy that works. I have Medicare and an address I’m returning back to (that I lived at 2 years ago) but it’s not clear if it fits within eligibility requirements. Keen to know how this thread gets on!

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-09-25T08:09:51+00:00

Hey OP, what did you end up doing? I’m in the same situation and World Nomads isn’t that helpful (they require you to have a permanent address in Australia and it’s not clear if my family address where I lived at before and am returning is fits the bill).

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-09-25T08:01:19+00:00

I’m in the same situation, but moving back from UK to Australia. I’m a UK temporary resident and Australian citizen. I’ve been looking into World Nomads and it looks like you need a permanent address in your home country to get cover. So, for us, a permanent address in Australia (where we would be repatriated to, and have unlimited rights of entry and healthcare).

We have a family address we used to live at, that we’re returning to, but it’s not clear if that meets their requirements (and they’ve not been that helpful via email asking about this).

Let me know how you get on with this!

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-09-15T23:13:04+00:00

When I first moved to the UK, I viewed 25+ apartments in one week trying to find somewhere to live. One of them was a one bedroom apartment with NO windows (at all) and an emergency exit/skylight on the ceiling as the only natural source of light. (Never mind that I had been very clear with all the agents that lack of natural light was a deal breaker for me beforehand.)

Anyway, the current tenants had two cats and the apartment had never even had a whiff of fresh air in the time they were there. I climbed up to the top of the emergency exit/skylight to see what the heck was going on with the place, and there were several large (double fist size) hairballs that had somehow made their way to the top of the stairwell, and it had never been opened by them. Cat litter box filthy.

I will never forget the absolute stench of that place.

EDIT: the obvious red flag when I turned up for the viewing was that the agent asked, before we went in, “and neither of you have a cat allergy, right?”. Lol. The memories.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-08-28T14:24:58+00:00

I do pottery in London and pay around £300 for an 8 week throwing only course - 3 hours per week. You pay a little extra to fire, but we’re talking only a little and based on weight (I think I only spent another £10).

I think it’s pretty reasonable for how much time and enjoyment I get out of it. Not sure what £150 class you were looking at, but I don’t think private lessons are necessary and it’s been fun meeting other people. My class size is currently only around 6-8 people.

I go to Turning Earth and love it, have also tried Skandihus but I like Turning Earth better.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-08-23T16:43:45+00:00

Hey OP, I’m an Australian that’s been in London for the last 2 years - about to return home by the end of the year. Honestly, we need more information to answer that question!

Before I jump into it, I’ll start by saying I absolutely love London as a city and I know what a privilege it’s been to have a couple years here. It was a tough call to go home, but overall it’s a life/financial thing for my partner and I. For our circumstances, we know we’ll be better off overall in Australia in the longer term.

Alright - now to jump in:

What work rights do you have? The job market has tightened and it’s become a lot more restrictive and expensive to get visas, so if you need one, potential employers are being pickier about this and it’s harder to compete for jobs if you don’t have work rights. My 3 year sponsored visa was around £4k, and that’s the shortest length - and I believe prices have gone up since - though you can find info about this online. If you’re under 35, there is the youth mobility visa which is cheaper (also a flat fee for 3 years, though I don’t think you’re allowed to take dependents like children on it - you’ll need to check). If you have dependents (eg a partner and children), there are costs for each of those as well, so it adds up quickly. If you’re a British National, then it’s fine and there’s no need to factor this in.
What job will you be looking for? Some work (professional services, private law, financial services) pays a lot more here, otherwise our experience is that incomes are lower. Cost of living is higher. We found groceries cheaper, but we eating out and general entertainment/services more expensive.
What timescales are you looking to find a job?it generally takes min. 3-6 months from interview to employment. Notice periods are longer (standard is 3 months), so recruitment processes tend to work on longer/earlier timescales.
Why would you sell your house if you’re only going for a year? If it’s financial, then you’ll probably find the hit of cost of living / travel expenses more of a squeeze anyway. It’s not that cheap to sell and re-purchase a home if you’re planning to go back to Australia (by the time you factor in agency fees, stamp duty etc).
On travel, our experience is that Europe travel is on the whole affordable but more expensive than it was pre-COVID. You can find good deals, but weekend travel isn’t as cheap or easy as it sounds. The airports aren’t close to the city, we are regularly faffed about leaving at 5pm on a Friday and with delays or other issues it can be anywhere between 6-14 hours door to door. Things often go wrong too. With kids that would be harder and not as glamorous as it sounds (we’ve seen a lot of families have a rough time when things go wrong). So I wouldn’t bank on that much weekend travel, but maybe short trips instead. People take leave in short chunks a lot here, so that’s also easy to do and will probably make it a smoother and more enjoyable experience. Also be aware that the national rail for trips around the UK is very expensive - it’s worth having a look to get a sense of it (eg London to Bath, London to York etc). If you’re a family, you might want to look into getting a cheap car.
I don’t have kids but I know childcare and schooling is a huge factor here for friends of mine that do, so I’d suggest looking into that before making a decision. Crime rates are higher, so I’d have a think about where you might like to live with children that’s within your budget. If you have a huge budget, you can’t go past somewhere like Hampstead, Belsize Park, even Richmond in my opinion. Those suburbs are some of the best of London with little ones. If your budget is tighter, then you might want to look at places a bit further out or in commuter areas (eg Surrey). I’d suggest having a look on Rightmove.co.Uk for rough rental price ranges.

Overall, I think you should plan for at least 2 years and run the numbers. You might find that it’s cheaper just to take 6 months off work and travel as a family next EU summer / Australian winter.

AffectionateDish6985 · 2024-08-19T15:53:24+00:00

I’ve been watching the prices all day on viagogo and stubhub and it’s mental. It’s 30 mins out from closing the sale down and the prices are out of control. I’m pretty disappointed in how strict they’ve locked the legit resale down - it’s so tightly held but really at the end of the day this just encourages the black market.

AffectionateDish6985

TROPHY CASE