House Hunting…Pain in the ****

Forgotten how tiresome estate agents are, never mind letting agents! Still, feels a bit like we made some headway today, going to see them in person rather than relying on what they get around to posting on t’internet…

Seen all the main agents in Johnsonville (which also serves Newlands, the key area we’re interested in), even though if possible it’d probably make more sense to just rent somewhere - so far we’ve only got one rental lined up to go and see on Monday which will potentially allow dogs! Talk about being forced into buying!!!

Not that I mind buying somewhere as long as its realistically priced and mortgages are available to suit budget: and there lies the problem - the financial services industry here is way behind the UK, and apparently interest-only mortgages are only available to those on low income (!) and also attract an even higher rate! Not that borrowing money here is cheap anyway, the base interest rate just jumped up 1/4 point to 7.5! Meaning lenders are offering 8.5 and above on average, and then you have to take out a capital and interest mortgage!!!

Hmmm…

Not defeated yet though, we’re going to meet up with a broker on Monday and should be able to figure out how to work a way around the noddy financial market here.

Seen a couple of reasonable places anyway, got some more to see over next few days but its tough going and need to get over a few hurdles before we can start to enjoy things much.