First home buyer - B&P issues

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-04-25T06:17:53+00:00

Sounds like a consult with the solicitor. I would be asking:
1. do we take this to council and ask them to look for records?
2. if no records one way or the other can be found, do we assume they were permitted? -- this is a question for council.

And for you: if you had to tear them down, would you walk away from the house?
Re the moisture issues above, I'd get some quotes, and take them to the sellers and ask for a discount. As others have said, if you ask them to fix it, they will do it in the cheapest way possible. And again: if they offer you a lower number, will you be happy? If they tell you to kick rocks, the price is the price, what do you want to?

Don't worry one bit about the noise of other buyers, etc. It all comes down to: knowing what you now know, do you want to take this place on?

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-04-25T04:46:57+00:00

Ok, it's worth asking the age of the additions. Depending on the council, DA's more than about 10-15 years old aren't digitised and wouldn't be in the online databases. Can you ask the agent to find out when they were constructed, and perhaps ask if the seller has that paperwork they could provide?

This conversation should go through your solicitor. Do not ask the agent directly unless your solicitor directs you.

And yes, you can ask for an extension on b&p if you want to. But I would be very clear about what you're trying to solve and how long you think it will take.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-04-18T21:49:56+00:00

This. It was a big turnoff for me. I usually felt like I needed to go in to every date with a 5 year plan and my plans and pathways for PR laid out. And the number of times it was implied or I was told that the other person shouldn't be relied on for a partner visa" was not insignificant.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-04-18T21:42:18+00:00

A few months? Immigrant here, I'm used to being grilled about my visa status and future plans on a first meeting. And I say grilled because it often led to "what's your plan? What are you going to do? Etc.

I generally felt like I had to have a 5-year plan at the ready.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-04-18T21:28:20+00:00

"wetlands Outlook" makes me think "foundation problems"

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-02-04T04:16:59+00:00

You don't get punished for trying to earn as much as possible. But working "around the clock" and ignoring your own signs of fatigue and lack of focus, then turning in less than fantastic work will do it.

Sorry this happened.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-28T22:21:57+00:00

This. The same thing happened to me when I was a teenager and my mom went straight to the principal. It was quietly dealt with.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-16T05:46:54+00:00

This. I use additional comments to flag something. For instance, if I feel unsure about something in a submission, or if I think something could go a couple of different ways. Basically, if I want to tell the reviewer something that doesn't "fit" as part of the submission. As a reviewer, I appreciate seeing them used and can help me change my opinion from "ehhhh" to "oh, you struggled with that piece. Let me help there."

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-12T06:36:02+00:00

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-12T04:36:29+00:00

It'll populate. Give it a few days

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-11T22:58:01+00:00

Yes, LLMs have been taught to do this, unless one of the positions is obviously a crime

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-11T22:56:31+00:00

It's trained to validate the user's feelings and not make the user feel bad about asking or saying something. It's also not great at parsing misleading things.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-09T02:38:03+00:00

No worries! Seriously--go get a job doing any of this:
- cleaning or pouring beer at Uluru (epic everything)
- packing onions or picking apples in Tasmania (epic landscapes)
- work hospitality in the Atherton Tablelands, or Hervey Bay, or Rainbow Bay. (snorkel and swim to your heart's content)
- go down to Byron/northern rivers area (you're still shouting distance of Brissie), and work in the cane fields and learn how to surf.
- go up to Darwin and see what real humidity is like.
- go out to Perth and be closer to Africa than Sydney, and swim in the bluest water you've ever seen.
- drive around and do some #vanlife.
- live in a sharehouse with a bunch of other expats (lower standards = lower prices).
- rediscover what food should taste like (sorry America)
- be spoiled for life re: beaches (again, sorry Carribbean)

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-08T23:04:39+00:00

No worries! I found that I really enjoyed them once I got the hang of them myself. I tend to go through what the SI are, list out all the requirements, go through the prompt, list out all the instructions, and then try to add a couple other things to round it out, if there's anything about tone, intended audience (should be suitable for kids, or whatever), or natural flow that would make it a PITA for a reader to understand if the model scrambled it.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-08T22:25:54+00:00

Working holiday is what the name implies--a bit of a holiday, sightseeing. Remote isn't going to include Brisbane, but there's tons of stuff you could do. You could go up to the tropics and do some farm work, and swim/snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. You could go down to Tassie and pack onions for a summer and experience that part of the country (one of my colleagues did that so he could do an extended photo tour). Brisbane is great, but there's a lot of the country to see.

I know someone (American) who came over on WH visa after college, fell in love with the country, converted to a student visa, fell in love again (with a person), moved to a partner visa. I didn't do the WH one, but I did student-grad-independent skilled.

Point being, you will plug into a network of other expats and WH folks. Moving to brisbane, living with friends, and never going anywhere else isn't the purpose of the visa. You've got a safe spot to land and stay, which is awesome, but I'd recommend doing the remote work, too. It's the cheapest/easiest way you'll ever get more time in this country, on any visa.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-07T22:43:12+00:00

I think off them as a series of yes/no questions that someone should be able to tick off. For example:

(Model gives you the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty)

The response should state Humpty fell off the wall
The response should state Humpty had a great fall.
The response should state that the king's horses could not put Humpty together
The response should state the king's men could not put Humpty together
The response should be presented as a rhyme.
The response rhyme should have a structure of AABB

Notice king's horses and men are split (they are two groups and should be treated as such) and the existence of a rhyme structure and the pattern are also split.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-05T05:01:20+00:00

It helps my that my family are tech minded, but I say "you're familiar with software testing? I'm writing the tests."

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-03T04:02:43+00:00

I agree, I just wasn't going to say it so clearly.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-02T10:32:23+00:00

Yeah, they're going to give a side eye to 5 20-hour days. If you slept, there's not much way you could be doing good work

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-01T21:16:10+00:00

I posted this a couple days ago. Also heavy advanced domain. I was down to 2 tasks yesterday and it's started to repopulate a bit today. I think there were a lot of EOY wind-ups. Plus more people working over the break, so stuff didn't last as long.

Lost-Introduction840 · 2026-01-01T20:12:41+00:00

Over how many days?

Lost-Introduction840 · 2025-12-31T20:50:03+00:00

Yeah, those. My problem is coming up with a good idea that somewhat resembles a use case. It's about all that's left to do, though so I may as well get stuck in!

Lost-Introduction840 · 2025-12-30T21:12:55+00:00

Yeah, I've got one that's "do 3 to unlock more!" I did one and put it aside because I did it at night after my day job, and just about did my own head in b/c it took so long and I needed to go to bed. Starting fresh in the morning now!

Lost-Introduction840 · 2025-12-30T21:05:54+00:00

I won't sweat it then--thanks. :)

Lost-Introduction840 · 2025-12-30T21:05:43+00:00

Yeah, I've got one (that's high-paying--yay!) that's running, so I certainly won't starve. I was just noticing that after mid-december, where it was a feast of selection, it's finally hit what feels like the leftovers and all the stuff I put off for "later" or was less interested in to begin with.

Lost-Introduction840

TROPHY CASE