RedPanda Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Ehrm... Guys, OBD has just started a thread about Fallout4 (in Chit-Chat), he accidentally addressed it to me, but wants anyone who feels like it to comment.I'm making the announcement here, since I think this thread attracted the highest number of gamers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted November 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 So it begins...We have now had two agents come and have a look at our house with two more to go today and tomorrow. Then when I have all the info, we really need to make a decision as to who to give the mandate to so that the house can go on the market... I just informed the bank that we are going to cancel the mortgage in the next couple of months...The guys are coming in on Friday to install the laminate flooring (this should have been done when we bought the place I know, but hey at least we can enjoy it for a couple of months ). Just can't find @#$%&^* tiles to fix the gap where the previous owner built a brick bar in the braai room... @#$%Now as they say, @#$% is getting really real. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Sit skouer aan die wiel!My aunt and her husband also did a renovation of their house (many years ago) just before they sold it and moved over. I'm guessing it's kinda strange to go to all the effort to 'fix' your house, just to sell it to someone else? Luckily we're just renting at the moment.Baie sterkte met die werk wat voorlê! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraDee Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 go for a dual mandate. Dont stick to just one. That way your chances are doubled, they work quickly against each other. Also only give the mandate for a month then open it up to all agents. I found agents that had potential clients waited for your mandate to end before bringing their customers though so they dont have to share commission. Every agent will try and sell the sole mandate story about how it is in your best interest but really it isnt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 So the house is on the market... signed the mandate on Friday and had the first viewing yesterday. The ad is not even live yet... Feels damn weird having strangers walking through your place... Even though it won't be our place for long, it will always be OUR place. It's the first place my wife and I bought together... If anybody knows of someone looking for a place in the Kraaifontein area, I know a agent who would love to hear from them Next on the chopping block is my bike... I have a guy coming around to look at it this afternoon. Maybe this will be one less thing to get rid off.Speaking of getting rid of stuff, turns out we might be taking more stuff with us then I originally thought... just hope it does not turn out to be too expensive...Anyway as they say... ever onwards... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Moving like this is one of the best opportunities to 'shed' stuff. Make very sure that you really want the stuff you're tagging along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmNew Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Crossing fingers your house is snapped up quickly. Good sign that yo have had feet through the door before going live with the advert.I know what you mean re "our house" - your first home as a couple will always be special, even when you move onwards and upwards to better.Yeah , the culling list is an organic thing - ever changing. Our personal experience was to be ruthless as soon as possible. If we initially thought we should sell it / donate it etc, we did. It is a liberating experience. You think you can't live without it, but you can. For our last 2 weeks in RSA we had an empty house, bar our mattress, a handful of crockery / cutlery, towels etc. We innovated when it came to cooking. It was fun. We even had friends over and we all sat on the mattress chatting, eating take out pizza. We shipped crockery, cutlery, some linen, books, and personal items. The one item of furniture we did ship was our tv unit, as it was a good solid wood one, and I haven't seen one here with same layout / storage. I did do extensive research months before we shipped re replacement costs of items in Aus vs shipping all, and we did manage to set up within budget and at similar cost as it would have been to ship all. So either way you are going to spend the money. You just need to decide to you love it so much that you want to / can keep it indefinitely and then ship it, or if you have any doubts/ need to replace soon anyway, ditch it and replace when here.All the best for this next phase. The phases do end, I promise ... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted December 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Ok so the bike is sold... Â Just wish the house will go as quick... Had the first open house yesterday. Agent says there were some very positive feedback and very strong possibility of an offer (verbal confirmation of intention to make an offer), but anything other than a signed OTP I take with a big pinch of salt... who knows, maybe by the end of the week we will have a signed OTP. That would be such a load off before the end of the year... with that done we can just focus on finishing the prep for the packing. Â On that note, I contacted EconoMove to find out when they get back from break next year so I can get them to come do a quote on the stuff we are thinking of taking with. Â Also the first of our money has been sent over with the help of FX Capital (damn exchange rate, hope fully it recovers a bit before the bulk of our funds have to go over...) now I am just waiting to see it actually reflect in my Aus account... Â Anyway that's the micro update for today, better get back to work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmNew Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Hope the verbal interest translates into a signed black and white OTP! ( ours did, so crossing fingers yours does too ) Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted December 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 JZ is a total  idiot. His latest bright idea has just  the exchange rate. If he keeps going on like this what little money we will be able to take over won't be worth the paper its printed on.   useless POS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 So if you have an Aussie bank account, transfer your savings asap, as much as you practically can. (We have our savings in shares, so they are not affected by the exchange rate, but they are also not very liquid) I'm also watching the exchange rate go rolling down the hill...lalala... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015  !!! I just saw that we now pay R22,67 per Pound, and R10,80 per $(AUD)... I hope it stabilizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmNew Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 I am seething at the moment. I couriered important signed docs to finalize our financial emigration on 27 November. They left Melbourne's Aussie Post on 28 November and arrived in Johannesburg on 2 December where a local courier was supposed to take them to Cape Town. They sat in JHB for 7 days !!!!! I chased up yesterday, and finally they were delivered to my bank at Tyger Valley. Just in time for closing for the day and JZ's announcement..... Bye bye any value the money had left.........  i I feel your pain.....  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 I have no idea how much money you have to transfer, but as a quick reference, if the exchange rate went from R10:$ to R10,80:$ then the loss on R100k would be (100k/10)-(100k/10,80)=$740,74 less that you are receiving in Australia. That's half a month's rent, for every R100k you take over.... (I see we don't have a "RAGE" emoticon..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Although the recent exchange was closer to R10,50:$, so it's not quite that bad yet, $264,55 loss. Still, I don't like losing money because of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwerty Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 We just sold our house and will have to wait out the 3 months it takes for the transfer...hopefully the ZAR doesn't continue to weaken come March  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEMS Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 When we started this process, a little over a year ago, the exchange rate was around R7 to the AUD. I transferred over money yesterday, the last of our big SA money, and got quoted R10.64 to the AUD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrendanH Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) Yep. We have always been on a tight budget. Since budgeting our move, six months worth of savings while we find a job has dropped to four months. Getting really worried. Â Edited December 10, 2015 by BrendanH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 7 hours ago, JEMS said: When we started this process, a little over a year ago, the exchange rate was around R7 to the AUD. I transferred over money yesterday, the last of our big SA money, and got quoted R10.64 to the AUD. It must have been before I started following it. When we went on LSD trip in Jan 2014 we got about R9,20 : $AUD. But when my aunt first moved over 15 years ago it was around R5 : $AUD. Anyway, we all know it's going one way only, and it's one of the reasons many of us are moving in the first place. But it's still vexsome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Selling our house at the moment is like me going fishing...lots of nibbles and no bites...  Anyway...  To all the crazy (but lovable ) people that reads my ramblings may you have an great Festive Season and may 2016 bring you more joy than sadness .  If you are on the roads or in the air during this time be safe.  See you in 2016   2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted January 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Lift off in T-Minus 93 days...  So yesterday for me was the first workday of 2016. It was also the day the I handed in my resignation. My last workday will be 15 March and then we fly out on the 7th of April. Lots to do still. Hence me ending on the 15th just in case there is still stuff to do by then.  I must admit that I am getting a bit worried about selling the house, time is getting short and the offers we have had is nowhere close to our asking or what houses have sold for in our area in the last couple of months... maybe I should take a page out of our agent's book as he is still very optimistic about getting the price range we want...  Other than that worry and the big one of going over without a job, I guess there is not a lot that is stressing me too much about the move at the moment. I still need to start getting guys in to quote on the stuff that we want to take over, but then again we still need to finalise what we want to take...  The only thing that I am really not looking forward to (no one that goes over really does I think) is the goodbyes with the families. We had my wife's Grandma and aunt with us for a week just before Christmas and saying goodbye to her Grandma, maybe for the last time was really hard on my wife. I think I have found a way to get around the airport goodbye situation... At the moment it looks like we are driving up to Centurion from Cape Town (if we do we will make a pit stop to say a final goodbye to my wife's gran) . So we will visit my parents for a couple of days at the end of March to say goodbye. Then we will be with my in-laws for the last couple of days we are in RSA. But and this is a big but, they will not drop us off at OR Tambo, our flight is at 10 at night so we will gladly hop on the Gautrain for the ride in to the airport [in my opinion no one should drive between JHB and Centurion that late at night...] (and in the process tick that of the list of things to do in RSA  ). This hopefully means a bit less emotions just before we get on the plane... but those last days with our families will be the hardest part I think...  But hey, as they say "Kyk Noord en  voort" or in this case East .  PS  May 2016 bring more joy then sadness to all of you guys still reading this journal post.   5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmNew Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Happy 2016!  Must be a weight off your mind to have the resignation part over with - especially if it was a complete surprise to employer / colleagues etc. Hope that you get some peace of mind with a great offer on the house soon! Then that countdown - what a mixed bag of feelings! Hope you manage to get in everything you want to do, everyone you want to see, AND take some much needed time out for yourselves.  I dreaded the good byes at the airport - we had friends and family insisting on coming to CTIA to see us off. I didn't like it at all. It's a horrible image, looking back and seeing unhappiness as you depart. We didn't put our foot down though , as the departure is a 2 way process - one party leaving, another letting go, so I felt at the time that both side's wishes need to be accommodated, even though with hindsight I wish we had insisted on no-one. It's an image that is seared into my brain now. We had a rental car though, so we at least drove ourselves to the airport, met everyone at a designated point, and set a time upfront that we would leave them to go through security. We checked in our bags before the meetup, to have one less thing to stress about ( although since read that to avoid 'window shopping' by ACSA employees, you should check your bags in as late as possible.....)  All the best, and many Blessings for the adventurous year ahead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 @SDTCPT, I am not saying this is you, but with 90days left you have to get the magnifying glass out. Friends of mine (no kids) was all set to move to France, but their house in a great area in RSA just wasnt selling. Houses around them were flying off the shelf and they were heading towards the nasty territory of slashing the price. What nobody could get over their hearts to tell them was that their house was presented in a very specific, personal way. Thus putting off 99% of buyers. Lovely as most of the rooms were, (the house was spacious) there was a room for their tarantulas, one for their snakes and one room just for cats. The cat room was very "special" because they had, connected to the window, a tunnel leading to a ingenious outside cat-run, so their precious cats could never escape and be run over by cars in the road. Brilliant, but oh so off putting for a house viewer. With 90 days, you have to get people in to tell you the truth, make the changes and get it sold. This could be your agent, a property stylist or a very direct friend with good taste (preferably a woman, cough). It might be as simple as starting to pack away your non essentials and putting it in temp storage. Because what you are currently doing is obviously not working. If you are correctly priced and its not an area issue, you have to look inside. Good luck! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Hi Rozelle,  Thanks for the advise. It is all stuff that I have thought about as well, regarding selling of the house. The Home Chanel is definitely your friend when it comes to prepping a house for sale . We have tried to keep the house as neutral as possible (even got rid of some seriously ratty carpets, that we were planning to replace since we bought the house in 2014...). Our agent is happy with the way the house is prepped for viewing at the moment.  I think the house is priced well for our area. The agency we are using sold the house next door in Nov last year just before we put ours on the market so they know what the market will stomach. There is another house still up for sale in our street and all three of the houses are within an couple of grand of each other. Maybe the fact that there are three houses up for sale (1 sold now) is worrying some people... I don't know...  Another contributing factor I think is the holidays. Even our agent is still on holiday. Hopefully things will pick up again once every one is back. As soon as he is back I plan to have a sit down with him to thoroughly discuss the process so far and if there is anything else that we can do to get the house sold. The feedback from the viewings we've had from him so far is encouraging, it just has not turned into offers close to our asking price yet.  I know we want to sell the house asap, but I also know what we and the agent think is a fair price for the house, so I am not willing to entertain any chancers....     1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDTCPT Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Some good news...  Had a full price offer on the house. Signed to accept the OTP on Tuesday (wife's birthdays as well)... now we just wait to see if the buyers will qualify for the additional bond as our price is just a 100k more than they already qualify for with just the wife's salary...  Too bad you only have 4 thumbs and big toes to hold onto in situations like this... I'm only human and not a alien... damnit 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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