Monday 10thMarch 2008
Had a lazy day today waiting for business to turn up by courier, it turned up mid afternoon so it was to late to go out anyway. The sun was fierce again today although the temperature only reached 32C but it is due to be very hot tomorrow.
In the late afternoon Ian and the kids went shopping for food and swapped the car while they were out, the garage still haven’t done the final bit of detailing, and we haven’t cleaned the car since we got it so hopefully we will get a nice shiny car back by the end of the week. The Courtesy Car they gave us is a Toyota Camry Estate and is nice to drive.
Ian made the evening meal again, Roast Chicken with an assortment of salads, we can’t believe how much salad we’re eating out here, most of it has more flavour than in the UK but we think that it is only a matter of time before we get fed up with it, although it is too hot to muck around cooking vegetables at the moment.
Hopefully tomorrow we will get the offer accepted on the house and then we will be able to get everything rolling with the Business and the House. While we are waiting for paperwork to be moved around we cannot pack our things, get down there and start doing the groundwork for both House and Business.
Showing posts with label House Hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label House Hunting. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2008
Thunderbolts and lightening
Friday 7th March 2008
We got woken up at about 6am today when lightening started flashing and thunder started crashing, it was quite a spectacle really and we have never been in a thunderstorm that loud before it just boomed across the area and was amazing to listen to. The boys were woken up by it but were totally unfazed while Marisa who we were most worried about as she is in a room on her own slept right the way through it.
We got a call from the estate agent this morning and our offer was turned down again so we have increased it again and the agent is confident that it will be accepted this time but won’t know until Tuesday because wherever the Trustees for the house are based there is a Bank Holiday this weekend.
We went into Joondalup to sort out some banking and got upset with them because they wanted to charge us for a Transfer that we had originally wanted to do on line but couldn’t, because the bank hadn’t set up the account properly, so we just took out the cash, walked round the corner and deposited in the bank of the account holder that we had been trying to send the money to.
We had lunch in the Shopping Centre and had a look round the Mobile phone shops to check out deals for when we move to Busselton.
On the way back we did a bit of Food shopping and had a quiet evening in with a couple of tinnies.
We got woken up at about 6am today when lightening started flashing and thunder started crashing, it was quite a spectacle really and we have never been in a thunderstorm that loud before it just boomed across the area and was amazing to listen to. The boys were woken up by it but were totally unfazed while Marisa who we were most worried about as she is in a room on her own slept right the way through it.
We got a call from the estate agent this morning and our offer was turned down again so we have increased it again and the agent is confident that it will be accepted this time but won’t know until Tuesday because wherever the Trustees for the house are based there is a Bank Holiday this weekend.
We went into Joondalup to sort out some banking and got upset with them because they wanted to charge us for a Transfer that we had originally wanted to do on line but couldn’t, because the bank hadn’t set up the account properly, so we just took out the cash, walked round the corner and deposited in the bank of the account holder that we had been trying to send the money to.
We had lunch in the Shopping Centre and had a look round the Mobile phone shops to check out deals for when we move to Busselton.
On the way back we did a bit of Food shopping and had a quiet evening in with a couple of tinnies.
A blind woman gets a driving licence, nice photo
Wednesday 27th February 2008
We went into Joondalup today to apply for our Australian Driving Licences today, all we had to do was show our Passport and UK licence and take an Eye Test, there was a bit of a panic when Carolyn couldn’t see the chart on the wall when she covered the wrong eye first by mistake, fortunately she managed to bluff her way out of it by doing better with the other eye and then with both eyes. We then had our pictures taken for the licence and was told to expect them within 3-5 days.
Then we went to the bank to give them our Tax File Numbers, the bank deduct 46½ % tax on any savings until they receive a Tax File Number so it was important that they got it as soon as possible.
Then we went for lunch in a lunch bar just round the corner from the bank that is always busy and were not disappointed, the quality was very good and we all enjoyed it.
We then took the kids into the Shopping Centre to get them an Ice Cream as a reward for behaving themselves so far and a sweetener to try and encourage them to behave during our next meeting.
At 2.30pm we had an appointment with the Mortgage advisor, she went through all the fine details of the Mortgage and how it could be structured to be as tax efficient as possible and then we filled out the application forms in anticipation of some movement on the House and Business front. The kids behaved impeccably, and when we came out of the meeting we found out why, the receptionist had kept them topped up with water and biscuits.
At 5pm today the temperature was 42½ Degrees Centigrade, we were not in the mood to do much this evening it was even too hot to go to the beach until it was dark.
We went into Joondalup today to apply for our Australian Driving Licences today, all we had to do was show our Passport and UK licence and take an Eye Test, there was a bit of a panic when Carolyn couldn’t see the chart on the wall when she covered the wrong eye first by mistake, fortunately she managed to bluff her way out of it by doing better with the other eye and then with both eyes. We then had our pictures taken for the licence and was told to expect them within 3-5 days.
Then we went to the bank to give them our Tax File Numbers, the bank deduct 46½ % tax on any savings until they receive a Tax File Number so it was important that they got it as soon as possible.
Then we went for lunch in a lunch bar just round the corner from the bank that is always busy and were not disappointed, the quality was very good and we all enjoyed it.
We then took the kids into the Shopping Centre to get them an Ice Cream as a reward for behaving themselves so far and a sweetener to try and encourage them to behave during our next meeting.
At 2.30pm we had an appointment with the Mortgage advisor, she went through all the fine details of the Mortgage and how it could be structured to be as tax efficient as possible and then we filled out the application forms in anticipation of some movement on the House and Business front. The kids behaved impeccably, and when we came out of the meeting we found out why, the receptionist had kept them topped up with water and biscuits.
At 5pm today the temperature was 42½ Degrees Centigrade, we were not in the mood to do much this evening it was even too hot to go to the beach until it was dark.
More meetings and another offer
Tuesday 26th February 2008
We got up early today because we had loads to do including checking out of the Chalet and driving back to Sharon’s. Having packed the car, checked we haven’t left anything behind and picked up the deposit for the keys we headed for Busselton. On the way in we rang the Realty Agent to let him know that we wished to put in an offer on the house and we arranged to meet at 11.30am.
We stopped at Vasse Primary School on the way who confirmed that even though they have small class numbers at the moment the would not entertain the idea of taking in pupils from out of area.
We then went into town and confirmed with the Accountant that we wanted him to act on our behalf, he took down details of the Company name that we want and has confirmed that it is now reserved for us, HoJo Management Pty Ltd and he is going to check over the books and start work on building a Company and Trust set up for us.
Then we went to the Settlement Agents to let him know that we wished to use his services and then went to the Realty Agents so that we could fill out the form to make the offer on the house official.
At 11.30 we met the Realty Agent and we talked about our proposed offer and during the conversation we realised that we had got the wrong end of the stick when he said the Bank had put it on the market and that this is quite often the case when dealing with a Deceased Estate and the Beneficiaries do not live close by, so we had to quickly reassess the situation but decided that we would still like to submit an offer , only for the figure to be a bit higher than we had originally planned.
So, with the help of the Agent we filled out the Offer form and he told us that he would send it off that day and get back to us when he had a reply.
We were late for the other appointment to view a house this morning and we weren’t sure if the agent would be there but we thought that we had better turn up just in case he was. Fortunately we did go because there he was sitting patiently in his car waiting for us. Although we had put in an offer on another house we felt that we should look at this one as the viewing had been arranged the day before.
The house was immaculate, the rooms were big, the garden was big, everything about it was right except it was on the wrong side of the Highway, but that was why it is so much cheaper than the other house that needs work doing to it. If we went for that one, we would get very little growth out of it whereas the one close to the beach should hold us in good stead for the future.
When we had finished all that could be done at the today we started the long journey back to Sharon’s, stopping in Bunbury on the way to drop off one sacred set of Business Sales documents with the agent that could tell us nothing, and getting back just in time for an evening meal.
The Car Registration Document arrived in the post today.
We got up early today because we had loads to do including checking out of the Chalet and driving back to Sharon’s. Having packed the car, checked we haven’t left anything behind and picked up the deposit for the keys we headed for Busselton. On the way in we rang the Realty Agent to let him know that we wished to put in an offer on the house and we arranged to meet at 11.30am.
We stopped at Vasse Primary School on the way who confirmed that even though they have small class numbers at the moment the would not entertain the idea of taking in pupils from out of area.
We then went into town and confirmed with the Accountant that we wanted him to act on our behalf, he took down details of the Company name that we want and has confirmed that it is now reserved for us, HoJo Management Pty Ltd and he is going to check over the books and start work on building a Company and Trust set up for us.
Then we went to the Settlement Agents to let him know that we wished to use his services and then went to the Realty Agents so that we could fill out the form to make the offer on the house official.
At 11.30 we met the Realty Agent and we talked about our proposed offer and during the conversation we realised that we had got the wrong end of the stick when he said the Bank had put it on the market and that this is quite often the case when dealing with a Deceased Estate and the Beneficiaries do not live close by, so we had to quickly reassess the situation but decided that we would still like to submit an offer , only for the figure to be a bit higher than we had originally planned.
So, with the help of the Agent we filled out the Offer form and he told us that he would send it off that day and get back to us when he had a reply.
We were late for the other appointment to view a house this morning and we weren’t sure if the agent would be there but we thought that we had better turn up just in case he was. Fortunately we did go because there he was sitting patiently in his car waiting for us. Although we had put in an offer on another house we felt that we should look at this one as the viewing had been arranged the day before.
The house was immaculate, the rooms were big, the garden was big, everything about it was right except it was on the wrong side of the Highway, but that was why it is so much cheaper than the other house that needs work doing to it. If we went for that one, we would get very little growth out of it whereas the one close to the beach should hold us in good stead for the future.
When we had finished all that could be done at the today we started the long journey back to Sharon’s, stopping in Bunbury on the way to drop off one sacred set of Business Sales documents with the agent that could tell us nothing, and getting back just in time for an evening meal.
The Car Registration Document arrived in the post today.
3 schools and a house
Monday 24th February 2008
We got up early again today because we have got a lot to do and we are going back to Sharon’s tomorrow, we wanted to visit the Schools that we were happy with and try to fit in a couple of House viewings.
First stop Vasse Primary School, this is quite a quaint little school really, it used to be classed as rural working out of a couple of classrooms but had now become quite well developed with just over 200 pupils and plans in place to take more because it is situated right opposite a building site with hundreds of plots for housing just waiting to be sold. We had a look round the school with one of the Deputies and he answered our questions, we were quite impressed with it.
Next stop was Geographe Primary School, this is the largest of the Primary schools with just under 600 Pupils, it was hidden away behind a Sports Centre and difficult to find. When we went into reception the lady behind the desk was unable to give us much information at all really and there was nobody available to talk to us or show us around so we left. The place hadn’t felt right from the word go, it is a bit big compared to what the kids are used to and just didn’t have a very good aura about it.
On to West Busselton School where we were welcomed and had a chat with one of the Deputies who explained everything in great detail before showing us around, when we got to the Oval (playing field) we were standing under some Peppermint trees and told us that these were home to some Possums and that the children see them quite often. Well, you can imagine, the kids were swung over by this bit of information and when the Deputy pointed out a piece of Possum Poo on the path that was it they were ecstatic and desperate to start school immediately.
There is not a lot to choose between Vasse and West Busselton and we checked to see if you could live in one area and put the kids into school in another, but unless you send them private the State Schools will not entertain the idea.
We then went into the town centre and arranged to see a couple of houses in the afternoon before we went for lunch at the Olde Chapel Café. We went there because they have a wireless connection and we would be able to pick up our E-mails.
We ordered some food and drinks and while the kids read books on one table we checked our E-mails, Ian is not happy because he has just found out that Birmingham managed to nick a draw on Saturday, while we were doing this the Owners son walked over and gave Ian the phone saying that there was a call for us, caught on the hop a little bit Ian answered it and it turned out to be Kevin the Business agent, he had rung the Café to tell them that the buyer had pulled out and when they told him that we were having lunch in there he had asked to speak to us. Our offer has been officially accepted and we don’t have a clue how the system works but we’re sure it will be fun finding out.
Just to finalise the offer there were a couple of alterations to the letter of offer that needed to be initialled so we arranged to meet him at his house and finalised that.
We needed an accountant and one quite close to the Café had been recommended to us so we went there on the off chance that we would be able to talk to someone and had a nice long chat with one of the accountants there who explained the best way of operating a business from a taxation point of view and this was almost identical to what another accountant had told us a couple of weeks ago, only this one was a bit more personable and cheaper.
Then we had to find a Settlement Agent (conveyance solicitor) and after contacting a few we find out that there is only one in town that is qualified to do Business Settlements and he has upset the Owner of the Olde Chapel Café at some point so she is using an agent from Margaret River which has done us a favour. The agent is also licensed to do residential as well and as we will need to purchase a house we managed to do a deal for him to the Settlement on both.
After that we went to look at a couple of houses none of which were up to much so we arranged to meet the agent again tomorrow to see another one.
We then decided to go back into town to check out some more properties in the estate agents windows and while we were looking at one display, the agent who had been lumbered with doing the late shift came out to ask if we wanted any help so we told him we want something near the beach, cheap and near the right schools and he said I may have just the thing. He went inside and came back with details of a house that was a bit tired but has been put on the market by the Bank, we arranged to meet him there for a viewing about 15 minutes later, so we quickly bought the kids an Ice Cream to shut them up and met the agent.
The house is lovely, a bit old (30 years) and in need of some TLC but the layout would suit us, it’s got the right number of bedrooms and although it needs a lick of paint it looks structurally sound, it’s near the beach and it’s on the market at about $100k less than others in the area that have been kept tidy. Apparently the Owner died about 2 years ago and the family still use the house for holidays from time to time but the Bank as Trustees have now put it on the market for whatever reason, we are thinking if it’s a repossession we could be on a winner here. We had a good look round and love the place, it’s just a matter of how cheeky we dare be with the offer.
We had a look at the closest bit of beach, 200 yards we reckon, it is quiet and safe being fairly sheltered in the bay. We then head off back to the Chalet where we demolish most of what is left from yesterday’s picky bits and agree to put in an offer on the house in the morning. We have decided to go in with a stupid offer to see what the bank say after all banks in the UK used to virtually give houses away as long as they got their money out of it.
We got up early again today because we have got a lot to do and we are going back to Sharon’s tomorrow, we wanted to visit the Schools that we were happy with and try to fit in a couple of House viewings.
First stop Vasse Primary School, this is quite a quaint little school really, it used to be classed as rural working out of a couple of classrooms but had now become quite well developed with just over 200 pupils and plans in place to take more because it is situated right opposite a building site with hundreds of plots for housing just waiting to be sold. We had a look round the school with one of the Deputies and he answered our questions, we were quite impressed with it.
Next stop was Geographe Primary School, this is the largest of the Primary schools with just under 600 Pupils, it was hidden away behind a Sports Centre and difficult to find. When we went into reception the lady behind the desk was unable to give us much information at all really and there was nobody available to talk to us or show us around so we left. The place hadn’t felt right from the word go, it is a bit big compared to what the kids are used to and just didn’t have a very good aura about it.
On to West Busselton School where we were welcomed and had a chat with one of the Deputies who explained everything in great detail before showing us around, when we got to the Oval (playing field) we were standing under some Peppermint trees and told us that these were home to some Possums and that the children see them quite often. Well, you can imagine, the kids were swung over by this bit of information and when the Deputy pointed out a piece of Possum Poo on the path that was it they were ecstatic and desperate to start school immediately.
There is not a lot to choose between Vasse and West Busselton and we checked to see if you could live in one area and put the kids into school in another, but unless you send them private the State Schools will not entertain the idea.
We then went into the town centre and arranged to see a couple of houses in the afternoon before we went for lunch at the Olde Chapel Café. We went there because they have a wireless connection and we would be able to pick up our E-mails.
We ordered some food and drinks and while the kids read books on one table we checked our E-mails, Ian is not happy because he has just found out that Birmingham managed to nick a draw on Saturday, while we were doing this the Owners son walked over and gave Ian the phone saying that there was a call for us, caught on the hop a little bit Ian answered it and it turned out to be Kevin the Business agent, he had rung the Café to tell them that the buyer had pulled out and when they told him that we were having lunch in there he had asked to speak to us. Our offer has been officially accepted and we don’t have a clue how the system works but we’re sure it will be fun finding out.
Just to finalise the offer there were a couple of alterations to the letter of offer that needed to be initialled so we arranged to meet him at his house and finalised that.
We needed an accountant and one quite close to the Café had been recommended to us so we went there on the off chance that we would be able to talk to someone and had a nice long chat with one of the accountants there who explained the best way of operating a business from a taxation point of view and this was almost identical to what another accountant had told us a couple of weeks ago, only this one was a bit more personable and cheaper.
Then we had to find a Settlement Agent (conveyance solicitor) and after contacting a few we find out that there is only one in town that is qualified to do Business Settlements and he has upset the Owner of the Olde Chapel Café at some point so she is using an agent from Margaret River which has done us a favour. The agent is also licensed to do residential as well and as we will need to purchase a house we managed to do a deal for him to the Settlement on both.
After that we went to look at a couple of houses none of which were up to much so we arranged to meet the agent again tomorrow to see another one.
We then decided to go back into town to check out some more properties in the estate agents windows and while we were looking at one display, the agent who had been lumbered with doing the late shift came out to ask if we wanted any help so we told him we want something near the beach, cheap and near the right schools and he said I may have just the thing. He went inside and came back with details of a house that was a bit tired but has been put on the market by the Bank, we arranged to meet him there for a viewing about 15 minutes later, so we quickly bought the kids an Ice Cream to shut them up and met the agent.
The house is lovely, a bit old (30 years) and in need of some TLC but the layout would suit us, it’s got the right number of bedrooms and although it needs a lick of paint it looks structurally sound, it’s near the beach and it’s on the market at about $100k less than others in the area that have been kept tidy. Apparently the Owner died about 2 years ago and the family still use the house for holidays from time to time but the Bank as Trustees have now put it on the market for whatever reason, we are thinking if it’s a repossession we could be on a winner here. We had a good look round and love the place, it’s just a matter of how cheeky we dare be with the offer.
We had a look at the closest bit of beach, 200 yards we reckon, it is quiet and safe being fairly sheltered in the bay. We then head off back to the Chalet where we demolish most of what is left from yesterday’s picky bits and agree to put in an offer on the house in the morning. We have decided to go in with a stupid offer to see what the bank say after all banks in the UK used to virtually give houses away as long as they got their money out of it.
What do you mean Busselton is full?
Friday 22nd February 2008
Ian went on line this morning determined to find something for this weekend and found a 2 Bedroom Chalet on a Holiday Park in Margaret River, we left this morning and don’t go back till Tuesday.
While we were driving down Carolyn rang the agent from Bunbury who couldn’t tell us about a business to see if he could now tell us anything about it and he couldn’t.
She then rang Kevin the agent dealing with the Olde Chapel Café and arranged to meet him when we got to Busselton to look at a Lunch bar and a Juice Bar both of which were not right for us and we explained to him what we were looking for and the only thing he had on his books at the moment that fitted the bill was The Olde Chapel Café but he said that as far as he could see the sale was going to go through. We parted company and he drove off while we had a walk round the town.
It was lunchtime and the kids were hungry for a change so we decided to go to the Olde Chapel for a bite to eat, however as we were about to walk in we saw Kevin the agent chatting to the Owner so we thought better of it and went elsewhere.
After lunch we drove to the Holiday Park in Margaret River it is about ½ hour further south of Busselton and we are beginning to wonder when we are going to run out of land, Perth is supposed to be South West and only ½ an inch away from the South Coast, we have been driving South for over 4 hours and we still haven’t reached the Southern Ocean, the size of this place is going to take some getting used to.
On the way to Margaret River Ian remembered seeing a Cafe on the Internet, it was originally on about the same time as the Olde Chapel, looked like a good bet, a bit expensive but good returns and it had gone under offer at about the same time as the Olde Chapel, a couple of weeks before we came out here but it had just come back on the market again because the sale had fallen through.
The Café is called Sails, is right in the centre of Margaret River and as we drove past it on the way to the Holiday Park we see it looks quite presentable, so we have decided to go there for Breakfast tomorrow Morning to check it out.
We booked into our accommodation early evening and got unpacked before going out to do a bit of shopping, we didn’t need much, just Milk, Tea, Cereals etc. When we got back we got a call from Kevin the agent who said that as we are not normally in the area what he can do is take an Offer for the Purchase of The Olde Chapel Café from us subject to the existing sale failing to go through, which we think is a bit funny but if it gives us first dibs we will do it and have arranged to meet him in his office in Cowaramup just outside Margaret River at 9.30am tomorrow.
Carolyn has started to panic because while she has done some research into the Schools in Busselton she has only had a quick look at them to see if there is something obviously wrong with them she has not done the thorough research that she would normally do and we could quite possibly be committing ourselves to a future in Busselton tomorrow. On the Holiday Park there are no wireless connections for computers so we had to go and find an Internet Café in town where Carolyn had just finished checking out one school when the system crashed and she could not get into the other schools sites so it looks like an early start tomorrow to try and get through again.
We went out for a Chinese meal tonight, it looked like quite a nice place and it was busy but we should have realised it was not going to be a great experience when we saw a white waitress, nothing personal, but you should have a Chinese waitress in a Chinese restaurant. There was however a glimmer of hope, we had got a glimpse into the Kitchen and as well as being clean there were 3 Chinese looking people in there.
We were shown to a table by the waitress but not offered a drink or anything because she was too busy dealing with other customers and she was the only one Meeting, Greeting, Taking Orders and Serving. The people on the table next to us got up to pay after we had been sitting for about 10 minutes without so much as a glass of water and when she had finished taking their money she came over and said “if you can just hold on a couple of minutes I will lay up that table for you because can get more people on this table”, she couldn’t cope with the number of people she had so I can’t imagine why she would want more.
Anyway, table cleaned we sat at it and she brought us over a couple of bottles of water and disappeared again, as we were looking round the restaurant it was like watching a sketch from Farty Towels. The table of 4 behind us were receiving their meals one at a time instead of all together, obviously the chef couldn’t cook more than one meal at a time and the other 2 Chinese people in the kitchen must have been there for moral support, as the meals were getting to the table the 4 of them were sharing the one meal before waiting for the next one to come out. We waited over an hour for our food and while we were waiting we must have seen about 20 people get fed up with waiting and walk away.
Unfortunately for Ian his meal came out first and turned out to be by far the best but the kids ate most of it while they were waiting for their food to come out.
Meal finished it’s off to bed for an early night because we’ve got to get up early in the morning.
Ian went on line this morning determined to find something for this weekend and found a 2 Bedroom Chalet on a Holiday Park in Margaret River, we left this morning and don’t go back till Tuesday.
While we were driving down Carolyn rang the agent from Bunbury who couldn’t tell us about a business to see if he could now tell us anything about it and he couldn’t.
She then rang Kevin the agent dealing with the Olde Chapel Café and arranged to meet him when we got to Busselton to look at a Lunch bar and a Juice Bar both of which were not right for us and we explained to him what we were looking for and the only thing he had on his books at the moment that fitted the bill was The Olde Chapel Café but he said that as far as he could see the sale was going to go through. We parted company and he drove off while we had a walk round the town.
It was lunchtime and the kids were hungry for a change so we decided to go to the Olde Chapel for a bite to eat, however as we were about to walk in we saw Kevin the agent chatting to the Owner so we thought better of it and went elsewhere.
After lunch we drove to the Holiday Park in Margaret River it is about ½ hour further south of Busselton and we are beginning to wonder when we are going to run out of land, Perth is supposed to be South West and only ½ an inch away from the South Coast, we have been driving South for over 4 hours and we still haven’t reached the Southern Ocean, the size of this place is going to take some getting used to.
On the way to Margaret River Ian remembered seeing a Cafe on the Internet, it was originally on about the same time as the Olde Chapel, looked like a good bet, a bit expensive but good returns and it had gone under offer at about the same time as the Olde Chapel, a couple of weeks before we came out here but it had just come back on the market again because the sale had fallen through.
The Café is called Sails, is right in the centre of Margaret River and as we drove past it on the way to the Holiday Park we see it looks quite presentable, so we have decided to go there for Breakfast tomorrow Morning to check it out.
We booked into our accommodation early evening and got unpacked before going out to do a bit of shopping, we didn’t need much, just Milk, Tea, Cereals etc. When we got back we got a call from Kevin the agent who said that as we are not normally in the area what he can do is take an Offer for the Purchase of The Olde Chapel Café from us subject to the existing sale failing to go through, which we think is a bit funny but if it gives us first dibs we will do it and have arranged to meet him in his office in Cowaramup just outside Margaret River at 9.30am tomorrow.
Carolyn has started to panic because while she has done some research into the Schools in Busselton she has only had a quick look at them to see if there is something obviously wrong with them she has not done the thorough research that she would normally do and we could quite possibly be committing ourselves to a future in Busselton tomorrow. On the Holiday Park there are no wireless connections for computers so we had to go and find an Internet Café in town where Carolyn had just finished checking out one school when the system crashed and she could not get into the other schools sites so it looks like an early start tomorrow to try and get through again.
We went out for a Chinese meal tonight, it looked like quite a nice place and it was busy but we should have realised it was not going to be a great experience when we saw a white waitress, nothing personal, but you should have a Chinese waitress in a Chinese restaurant. There was however a glimmer of hope, we had got a glimpse into the Kitchen and as well as being clean there were 3 Chinese looking people in there.
We were shown to a table by the waitress but not offered a drink or anything because she was too busy dealing with other customers and she was the only one Meeting, Greeting, Taking Orders and Serving. The people on the table next to us got up to pay after we had been sitting for about 10 minutes without so much as a glass of water and when she had finished taking their money she came over and said “if you can just hold on a couple of minutes I will lay up that table for you because can get more people on this table”, she couldn’t cope with the number of people she had so I can’t imagine why she would want more.
Anyway, table cleaned we sat at it and she brought us over a couple of bottles of water and disappeared again, as we were looking round the restaurant it was like watching a sketch from Farty Towels. The table of 4 behind us were receiving their meals one at a time instead of all together, obviously the chef couldn’t cook more than one meal at a time and the other 2 Chinese people in the kitchen must have been there for moral support, as the meals were getting to the table the 4 of them were sharing the one meal before waiting for the next one to come out. We waited over an hour for our food and while we were waiting we must have seen about 20 people get fed up with waiting and walk away.
Unfortunately for Ian his meal came out first and turned out to be by far the best but the kids ate most of it while they were waiting for their food to come out.
Meal finished it’s off to bed for an early night because we’ve got to get up early in the morning.
Further Fremantle
Friday 15th February 2008
Early start, Ian contacted the Fremantle EHO who said there was nothing outstanding against the Carriage Café and that if we turned up at the Town Hall after lunch we could have a copy of a Safe Food Staff Training Video which we agreed to pick up.
Today we decided to have a look at a Café in what they call the E sheds, it is basically an old warehouse situated opposite the sheds where the £10 Poms used to queue up to enter the country having landed by boat. The E shed is now a market place, fairly busy and right by the waters edge but neither of us are convinced that it is right for us. We then decided to go House viewing in the Suburbs just south of Fremantle, we looked round 3 houses in total, 2 of them were quite nice but we do not feel totally comfortable with the areas, they are older than in the north of Perth, the roads are more patched up and bumpy (just like England) and generally the areas feel poorer I think we are turning into snobs.
We then went to into Fremantle to pick up the Training Video and were going to go for a coffee in the Carriage but it was a bit late and they were just closing up for the day. Instead we took a stroll along the Coffee Strip and had a wander around the Market which was quite good fun before going home.
Early start, Ian contacted the Fremantle EHO who said there was nothing outstanding against the Carriage Café and that if we turned up at the Town Hall after lunch we could have a copy of a Safe Food Staff Training Video which we agreed to pick up.
Today we decided to have a look at a Café in what they call the E sheds, it is basically an old warehouse situated opposite the sheds where the £10 Poms used to queue up to enter the country having landed by boat. The E shed is now a market place, fairly busy and right by the waters edge but neither of us are convinced that it is right for us. We then decided to go House viewing in the Suburbs just south of Fremantle, we looked round 3 houses in total, 2 of them were quite nice but we do not feel totally comfortable with the areas, they are older than in the north of Perth, the roads are more patched up and bumpy (just like England) and generally the areas feel poorer I think we are turning into snobs.
We then went to into Fremantle to pick up the Training Video and were going to go for a coffee in the Carriage but it was a bit late and they were just closing up for the day. Instead we took a stroll along the Coffee Strip and had a wander around the Market which was quite good fun before going home.
Buy my house or have a loan, whatever!
Tuesday 12th February 2008
Had to get up really early today the Banks Business Loans Specialist came round to Sharon’s at 8.30am to discuss our requirements. We sat down at the table and the first thing she did was pull out some plans for her house and try to sell it to us, only after we had explained to her that we wanted to live somewhere close to work and at the moment we didn’t know where we were going to work did she put the plans away and start discussing our business finance requirements, which were not a lot at the moment as we did not know which business we were going for, and all that we really required was some rough calculations and guidance.
Sharon took the kids to the local park while all this was going on and only came back when it started to get too hot.
We rang the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), these are the people who Sponsored us to come over here and part of the deal is that we keep in contact so that they know what we are doing. We rang to let them know that we are in the State and looking for a Business and to double check the criteria stated on our visa. On the visa it states that we must purchase a Café/Coffee Lounge in the Perth Metropolitan area and if you Google Perth Metropolitan Area it comes up with a map covering most of Western Australia so we just wanted some clarification. As luck would have it the nice young lady at SBDC informed us that as long as we remain in Western Australia we can operate any type of Business, anywhere as long as it is Legal under Australian Law and better still if we buy a business outside the Metropolitan area the requirements for our visa are less stringent.
In the afternoon we met up with an accountant that we first met on a Western Australia recruitment drive in London a couple of years ago, we chatted with him for over an hour and a half without charge and he advised us that he felt the asking price for the Carriage was a bit high, but there again I have never met an accountant yet that was willing to put his neck on the line and agree with a realistic valuation. We think we learnt a lot from him and will probably use him if we are still in this area but if we do end up using him it will not be cheap.
Had to get up really early today the Banks Business Loans Specialist came round to Sharon’s at 8.30am to discuss our requirements. We sat down at the table and the first thing she did was pull out some plans for her house and try to sell it to us, only after we had explained to her that we wanted to live somewhere close to work and at the moment we didn’t know where we were going to work did she put the plans away and start discussing our business finance requirements, which were not a lot at the moment as we did not know which business we were going for, and all that we really required was some rough calculations and guidance.
Sharon took the kids to the local park while all this was going on and only came back when it started to get too hot.
We rang the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), these are the people who Sponsored us to come over here and part of the deal is that we keep in contact so that they know what we are doing. We rang to let them know that we are in the State and looking for a Business and to double check the criteria stated on our visa. On the visa it states that we must purchase a Café/Coffee Lounge in the Perth Metropolitan area and if you Google Perth Metropolitan Area it comes up with a map covering most of Western Australia so we just wanted some clarification. As luck would have it the nice young lady at SBDC informed us that as long as we remain in Western Australia we can operate any type of Business, anywhere as long as it is Legal under Australian Law and better still if we buy a business outside the Metropolitan area the requirements for our visa are less stringent.
In the afternoon we met up with an accountant that we first met on a Western Australia recruitment drive in London a couple of years ago, we chatted with him for over an hour and a half without charge and he advised us that he felt the asking price for the Carriage was a bit high, but there again I have never met an accountant yet that was willing to put his neck on the line and agree with a realistic valuation. We think we learnt a lot from him and will probably use him if we are still in this area but if we do end up using him it will not be cheap.
Dodgy Dominoes
Sunday 10th February 2008
Went down to Fremantle again this morning, wanted to have another look at the Carriage, still like the look of it but Kel is still being over helpful and putting us on edge, we will have to keep looking until we find out what is wrong with it or are confident that it is right for us.
After lunch we drove north up the coast road towards Sharon’s house and stopped at a few Open House viewings along the way. We saw some lovely houses, some with Swimming Pools and some of them were even within our price bracket, it’s a shame we don’t know where we are going to work yet otherwise some of these might have suited us down to the ground.
It’s another hot day so we go to the beach for a swim at 6pm and stayed there until about 8.30 when we went home and ate what was probably the worst Dominos Pizza on the planet, we won’t be trying them again.
Went down to Fremantle again this morning, wanted to have another look at the Carriage, still like the look of it but Kel is still being over helpful and putting us on edge, we will have to keep looking until we find out what is wrong with it or are confident that it is right for us.
After lunch we drove north up the coast road towards Sharon’s house and stopped at a few Open House viewings along the way. We saw some lovely houses, some with Swimming Pools and some of them were even within our price bracket, it’s a shame we don’t know where we are going to work yet otherwise some of these might have suited us down to the ground.
It’s another hot day so we go to the beach for a swim at 6pm and stayed there until about 8.30 when we went home and ate what was probably the worst Dominos Pizza on the planet, we won’t be trying them again.
House Hunting and the Ocean
Wednesday 6th February 2008
9.30 am had our first house viewing close to where Sharon lives, we had only booked it to see what you could get for your money and I think it was a bad example to start off with, it was a pit and when the Rep realised that we weren’t totally impressed she offered to show us another only a little bit more expensive, another pit, they must think we have just fallen out of the trees or something, cut the price in half and stick the house in a nice area and they might have a chance of getting rid of it.
11.30am and it’s time to meet the Banks Home Loan Specialist, this was great, sat there chatting about how much money we could borrow and what little documentation we would need and we didn’t have to have an income to pay it back. We worked out that we could buy a House on the Seafront in Millionaires Row and get away with living in it for about a month after we couldn’t afford to pay the first repayment. It was interesting but it would be too easy to take the full amount and suffer later and the nice lady was going to arrange an appointment for us to see the Business Loan Specialist because although we would be looking at taking out a combined loan the different bank departments are not allowed to work together.
Came out of the Bank and straight in front of us was a big sign informing all that cared to look that the Chef in this establishment had just won the best Pie and Pastry competition, I think the competition must have been held in his Café and between him and the Cleaner because it was awful. We aren’t having much luck with this Australian Fayre at the moment but give it time I’m sure it will come good.
Looked at a few cars this afternoon but didn’t see much that we liked, all at such ridiculous prices although we did see one that we thought might do, a 2004 Holden (Vauxhall) Zafira but again very expensive, may go for a test drive tomorrow.
It’s been a hot day so Sharon, Carolyn and the kids go down to the beach for a swim in the evening, they stayed down there until about 8.30pm while Ian and Malcolm sat at home chatting and downing a few tinnies.
9.30 am had our first house viewing close to where Sharon lives, we had only booked it to see what you could get for your money and I think it was a bad example to start off with, it was a pit and when the Rep realised that we weren’t totally impressed she offered to show us another only a little bit more expensive, another pit, they must think we have just fallen out of the trees or something, cut the price in half and stick the house in a nice area and they might have a chance of getting rid of it.
11.30am and it’s time to meet the Banks Home Loan Specialist, this was great, sat there chatting about how much money we could borrow and what little documentation we would need and we didn’t have to have an income to pay it back. We worked out that we could buy a House on the Seafront in Millionaires Row and get away with living in it for about a month after we couldn’t afford to pay the first repayment. It was interesting but it would be too easy to take the full amount and suffer later and the nice lady was going to arrange an appointment for us to see the Business Loan Specialist because although we would be looking at taking out a combined loan the different bank departments are not allowed to work together.
Came out of the Bank and straight in front of us was a big sign informing all that cared to look that the Chef in this establishment had just won the best Pie and Pastry competition, I think the competition must have been held in his Café and between him and the Cleaner because it was awful. We aren’t having much luck with this Australian Fayre at the moment but give it time I’m sure it will come good.
Looked at a few cars this afternoon but didn’t see much that we liked, all at such ridiculous prices although we did see one that we thought might do, a 2004 Holden (Vauxhall) Zafira but again very expensive, may go for a test drive tomorrow.
It’s been a hot day so Sharon, Carolyn and the kids go down to the beach for a swim in the evening, they stayed down there until about 8.30pm while Ian and Malcolm sat at home chatting and downing a few tinnies.
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