An apartment for four.

It was a miserable holiday, that much is certain.

So much phlegm. So much rubbish in our hire car at any given moment. So many moments of family fracturing. The Canberra winter as our backdrop, there waiting for us every morning as we set out to another open house. The market may have been saying now is a great time to be a first homebuyer, but the screaming children and stress of it all suggested to us it was anything but.

Moments of doubt were many. Another apartment, another spa. What was it with the 90s? A helpful briefing by a friendly real estate agent intercepted by our two year old declaring it was poo time. Plastic smiles concealing deep alarm on the parental faces. No, it wasn't really cute. Generously, she allowed us to use the bathroom, and perhaps even more generously, our little lady gave the most extensive commentary to date on the process, including a toilet paper evaluation and post-mortem. No doubt, all people over the age of two, were at that point thinking I just want to get the *&*^ out of here.

As the days passed and our winter colds settled in to well and truly debilitate us all, we came closer and closer to making an offer. Each night my investment partner and I would rehearse our cutting edge Gordon Gekko-esque negotiating lines. These agents would not know what hit them. They would never have met such cutting and sharp first homebuyers in their lives. We would get a place for 200K, so weak was the market, and so desperate were people to sell. This was our time.

We rehearsed our offer over and over and over and over. I got handed the phone, as it were, every time. My partner scurried under the rug. It was hard to talk without laughing. We had no idea what we were doing.

Offer day arrived. There we were with the agents, our two children, walking amongst what was to become our new residence. Stern looks on faces, yes please, we just need a moment alone to deliberate. Giggle giggle. You talk! No, you do it!


Somehow our starting offer came in 15K higher than we had both agreed. How? We have no idea.

In any case, we obviously had a great perception of what 'the market' wanted as our offer was accepted. After a request to touch it up with a few more thousand, of course.

Take that vendor!

Sold.

Our new home awaits. We are thrilled. And even better, it will be summer time when we arrive.

Hello lifestyle.