It's Official......We're Moving Out.....

So last week I had a meeting with Homeswest (government housing here in Australia) as we've just found out Chris is now earning too much money to stay where we are. Apparently there are a wide variety of options open to us but we now have six months max to move out and to decide what we'll do and where in town we'll go. We don't really want to move away from town as everything we need and use on a regular basis is here and it's all just so close no matter where you live in town.

Now the journey really begins, do we stay in the renting market and pay someone else's mortgage and worry about damage done to a house by kids and toys and dirty foot prints on the walls and not to mention finding a place that allows pets, more and more people are saying no pets in the private rental market which makes things hard. Or do we look at buying established/build and know the house is ours, so whatever dirty footprints the kids put on the wall from messing around going to sleep doesn't matter as much?? And we can still have the dogs and cats that are part of the family. Some of you might be thinking well you're already renting and the house isn't yours anyway. To that I say, I have been a homeswest tenant since I was 16yrs old and they are quite flexible about what you do to the property as long as you look after it and both parties are of the opinion that once you're in the house it's YOUR property. In my last house for example I was there 10 and a half years and put in ceiling fans, had the kitchen re-tiled, painted throughout more than once, fought for a new oven and for the bathroom to be re-tiled as those floors were dangerously slippery. So yes while we might be renting with homeswest, the house is considered OURS until such a time as we choose to move out and leave or until Chris is earning too much money and then we're asked to move out, which is the case now.

I have to admit it feels kind of sudden as I've only been in this house for just under two years. We moved down from Perth to Busselton in March 2010 and now we'll be moving out by August so all in all we'll have been here just two and a half years. And yet on the other hand I'm looking forward to moving and settling somewhere for longer than 2 years so I can really design and freshen up the house to the way I want it. Sounds like I just made a decision didn't I??....hehe.. Even though I've been here two years and Chris has been here just eighteen months, the house already holds a lot of memories, it's where Chris and I decided to get married and spend the rest of our lives together after losing so much time together, it's where we had our wedding reception with family and friends, it's where I welcomed Chris, Eva and Bec into my home and my life (along with James, Luke and Lauren welcoming Chris and the girls too of course), it's where we decided to have a baby, it's where Chris decided to give up smoking and most importantly it's where we have made all our big decisions so far and now we have another decision to make, buy or rent?!

I'm sure over the next few months we will do lots of investigating to see what will be best for our family and I'll make sure I keep you all up to date on what's happening. We already have a couple of ideas up our sleeves but I'll fill you in a little later on those ideas, we need to see how they pan out first.

Our home in Busselton for six more months. Taken this morning.