Moving and New Beginnings

A lot has happened the past month and if you have been following me on instagram (@themommyroves) or we're facebook friends, you'd know that after being granted our permanent residency here in Australia, we have immediately looked for a new rental property in line with our plan to move to a 2 bedroom.

I'm not sure if I've told you, but the main reason why we moved to our very first apartment in Rosehill is that it was the most decent, most beautiful and the newest among the numerous apartments we have inspected in the Parramatta / western suburbs area. Based on the budget we have set for our rent, (which is $400-$450/ week) that new, modern 1-bedroom apartment was then offered at $420/week. It was one bus ride away from the Paramatta Station, which was less than 30 minutes away from Paolo's job in the city. New 2-bedroom apartments would usually cost $500 and up, depending on where you are in the area. Of course, the lower your budget, the older the apartment will be and farther you'll be from the city.

It was then an ideal situation until I became employed in North Ryde. I have been commuting 90 minutes one way to and from work. It was very difficult and expensive as I had to spend $13/day just for OPAL (the transport card here). We have been wanting to move for a while but we waited for our permanent visa grant cause moving may delay the visa processing as we had to pull out the papers to update the details. Literally, when we received the good news last 27th of September, the first thing I had to do was to scout for rental properties in realestate.com.au

 

The first thing we had to consider - Location

Paolo and I made a decision to move to a place that's closer to my workplace. Since Pao works in the city, we can live in any area cause there's always a bus and a train to go to the city. Mas flexible sya. However, from where I work in North Ryde, transport is a struggle as the train station is currently being repaired and for it to be accessible, you either need to drive a car or live close by. Hence we searched for properties in Ryde Area

The next and most important, the flooring.

Majority of the houses here in Sydney have carpeted floors. Parang yun yata ang basic flooring. We had to be very particular cause the past year, Leon has been getting sick because he was allergic to dust and pollen. Living on carpet wasn't helping at all. Hence, finding a non-carpeted house would definitely help in lessening his upper airway infections.

Of course, space.

Now that Leon is getting big, we also wanted a bigger space for the family. We have been co-sleeping for 4 years now and I think its about time for him to get his own room. More than that, we also wanted to move to a bigger space - a size where we can move freely and Leon can run around.

The House Hunting 

As I've mentioned, we hunt the rental properties on realestate.com.au, there, we select the area we want, the space we need and any other special features we need. The houses are not always available to inspect, as there would be set inspection times that the agent would set. You have to go to that 15-minute inspection time to check the property. If you like it, you apply online. If not, find another house. Usually, the photos online doesn't match the real property so minsan nakakaloko talaga.

It was 6th of October, Saturday. We have listed 10 properties to check that day in Parramatta, Carlingford and Ryde area. The house in Lane Cove Road was the 3rd property we had to check that day and we fell in love at first sight. We felt like we saw the house that we're looking for. For the $450/week budget we have set, we are getting a small house, with 2 bedroom, wooden floors and 10 minutes away from my workplace. It was perfect.

The Application Process

We had to ask permission from our landlord (who eventually became good friends) to let us go a month earlier than our contract. Fortunately, our kindhearted landlord allowed us to go without fines (and even wished us luck) earlier. Once we got the approval, the day after, we immediately applied for to rent the property. Hindi pala porke may pera ka pang downpayment or pangbayad ng bond, makukuha mo agad yung property. We had to submit relevant paperworks - COE, Bank statement, IDs, tenancy history and even give character references. We also had to write an answer why we deserve the property na parang pang beauty queen dapat ang sagot to get approved. In fact, they had to do a background check.

The Approval

The Monday, 8th of October, the real estate agent had to do a background check with my manager. Talagang chineck e ano? After reviewing our papers, we got the approval that afternoon. Ang bilis. IT WAS DEFNITELY MEANT FOR US

The Move

Since we had to do everything in a week - vacate by 15th October and move in 13th October (Saturday) packing was the hardest. We had to pack the clothes, dismantle our furniture, among many others. Glad we had friends who helped us dismantle the furniture. We also had to book our movers and cleaners, as we need to empty and vacate the apartment looking clean and brand new.

To make our move fast, we had to load all the small boxes (clothes, etc) and small appliances in the car. All the big items goes to our triple AAA movers, who charges us $75/hour. Kailangan mabilisan as time is gold. I think we have spent more almost $300 just fort the movers. Then we had to spend roughly $200 for Jimm's cleaning. Although we can do it ourselves, we opted to hire cleaners kasi walang wala na kaming energy.

Settling in became easy for us because our friends, Pen and Ria helped us assemble our furniture and clean the house. In fact, they helped us declutter and arrange the house to make it look like a home. 

We have been here for a month now and we can say that we have never been this happy and content since we moved to Sydney. Leon has now moved to a different school and we are enjoying the convenience of living near school and work. I have saved so much money from commuting ($300/month) as I now bring the car to work. Most importantly, I have saved so much time as work is 20 minutes away (on traffic). Paolo would only need to ride 1 30minute bus ride one way to work. This new move may cost more and Leon's school may be more expensive, but the time we save and we're able to spend together is something we cannot get.

Hope you liked this post.

Much Love, The Mommy Roves