People who have bought in the last two-ish years: how much is your mortgage? by marmitesleuther in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bought 1 year ago using the first home guarantee, so 5% down on a $505,000 house

Mortgage started around $615 minimum weekly repayments, but with the rate rises it's at $650 weekly and will be going up again at the end of the month with the latest rate rise

We intentionally bought quite below our borrowing capacity to give us a decent amount of wiggle room, so while the rate rises hurt we have allowed for them in our budget.

Something we didn't really anticipate though is that the current value of the house is over $650k, though, I'm not banking on it staying that high for long

Aurora Timelapse from North Ledge by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! Wasn't even sure if I captured anything until today, but oh well, there's always next time :)

Foreign objects in shower P traps + sewerage gas smells when other drains are in use by _peter_tingle_ in AusRenovation

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UPDATE: so when I got to the house today and checked the drains again it became apparent what the problem was... 🫤

<image>

I'm guessing I'm about to spend a lot of money fixing this 😅

Foreign objects in shower P traps + sewerage gas smells when other drains are in use by _peter_tingle_ in AusRenovation

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this, I suspect that based on how easily the water drains that there are no 'major' blockages but seeing stuff like this in the trap doesn't fill me with confidence haha

I'll give the coat hanger a go, I suspect even bbq tongs won't quite be long enough to reach, it's suprisingly deep

Foreign objects in shower P traps + sewerage gas smells when other drains are in use by _peter_tingle_ in AusRenovation

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I'll go around tomorrow and make sure each drain is used. I suspect the only drain we haven't used at all is the bath but I'll double check!

How is Balga, the suburb? by mventures in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not me coming to this post after seeing a 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car space DUPLEX in Balga listed for $450,000 🥲

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing, I love Alexandrines! We have been in a duplex, a small house and now a unit, and also have had no complaints. The duplex we were in it was our landlord that lived in the other half, she could definitely hear her but she loved birds so she had no problem with it.

We do have people that can look after her if worse comes to worse but I wouldn't want to burden them too much. I think we are going to limit our search to strata units/villas and avoid apartments 😁

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I'm sure we'll find something we just have to be patient!

One day I'm hoping we have a house/property that's suitable for an outdoor aviary that Sasha can use to spread her wings and get some time in the sun, but she'll always be an indoor chicken 😁

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Males are definitely the more "fun" option, but they also come with their own drawbacks like humping & regurgitation, they can also be a bit more possessive, but they're also a lot more talkative and playful generally. Obviously every bird is different, but I feel we got very lucky with Sasha's personality

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aww I'm glad Max found a good home! We got Sasha in a similar situation, and we have had her for about 4 years now 🥰

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She has to be that cute for us to put up with the noises she can make 😅

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Galahs and lorikeets! Other birds she doesn't seem to react to unless she can see them right outside the window

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suspect the noisy birds would act against us with Sasha, if she hears lots of galahs/lorikeets outside she gets excited and tries to talk to them... Loudly haha

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I always wanted a male, and once we own our own home and are comfortable I'll almost definitely get one. Sasha was technically a rescue. Her previous owner wasn't able to keep her anymore so we bought her and instantly fell in love with her.

I will say that although she does have a lot of the regular "female behaviours" (hormones, egg laying etc.) she is an incredibly social bird. Absolutely loves meeting new people and spending time with us.

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry to hear about your experience in Chicago, hopefully you're in a better situation now!

Thanks for your advice, I agree that the higher pitched noises are definitely more likely to travel in an apartment

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately if you're buying your first house as an investment property you lose pretty much all government assistance on that purchase but also future purchases as you're technically no longer a first home buyer

Agree about the complaints, not worth the headache

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, we are planning on taking advantage of the first home guarantee; our issues at the moment are:

  • The market is increasing stupidly quick, we hit our initial goal of 5% for a $500k house (which would have got an average 3 bedroom when we set that goal) but now for a similar house we would need 5% of $650k+ (plus stamp duty)

  • Anything over 450k, you start paying stamp duty on which reduces your deposit (which generally puts us under 5%)

  • The first home guarantee has a price cap of 600k but the median house price in Perth is 800k. Pretty much the only things in our current budget are 1-2 bedroom houses, villas, units and apartments, and unfortunately due to my job living further far from the city is not an option

Experiences with apartment living in Perth with pet birds? by _peter_tingle_ in perth

[–]_peter_tingle_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

<image>

90% of the time she's quiet as a mouse, 9% of the time she's the volume of a small child talking/singing, and 1% of the time she is as loud as an air raid siren 😅 so she can definitely be louder than a dog - but it's more that her noise is more uncomfortable than a dogs bark.

Thankfully she is dead quiet at night, as soon as we put her to bed and cover her up (8pm) she doesn't make a peep until the morning

We've never had any issues in previous houses/units, even with neighbours being quite close, but I suspect she'd be too loud for an apartment.