Just on the topic of taxi drivers… (sorry to the many honest and hard working ones out there).

<Sorry everyone but I’ve decided to edit the details of the story. Basically a taxi driver took us the long way home when we were too out of it to save ourselves.>

Our fare was about five times what it usually would have been but it was a lesson. Even in a taxi there needs to be a designated passenger to ensure you get home safely!

Cheers
Sonja

Hi Conan6314214,

Just wondering if that is the chat club that runs in the Toongabbie/Seven Hills area of Sydney?

Cheers
Sonja

I looked into buying one of these transportable homes to put on a block of land as our PPOR before we found a free house that was going to be demolished for a development.

Some of them are VERY nice (also VERY expensive). The council here is OK with them but some of the new subdivisions have protective covenants that will not allow them unless you get brick venering done.

They range in price and size by a huge amount, also depending on the manufacturer – there are quite a few in Wagga and also a couple near Albury. I’ve also seen secondhand ones advertised for removal in the local papers.

The more I think about this idea the more I like it. In a smallish rural town I think there are a lot of reasons it could work if done well.

Cheers
Sonja

Where I grew up in Sydney there was something that sounds sort of similar to this.

A large triangular shaped block with three SMALL but self contained houses. It was originally designed and used as self care retirement homes by some church or another.

Around fifteen years ago the church either abandoned or sold it and the three houses sat vacant for a number of years. Local kids broke in and used them as somewhere to have parties etc.

About five years ago they were put up for sale (land value only) and all local people (my mum still lives in that street) thought that they would be demolished and a new development of some sort would be built. The clever purchaser didn’t do this but simply fixed the little houses up (amazing but they weren’t in too bad condition) and rented them out individually.

Although they are entirely self contained (with their own clothes lines and gardens) there are no fences between them, there is no off streeet parking (but it is at the very end of a quiet culdesac) and they are really minature houses.

They rent for about halfway between what a standard house and a unit would in that suburb. They are never vacant for long.

On the down side they seem to attract tenants who, in general, (may or may not be good from the owners perspective) have loud parties that go untill late at night and end up on the street, have unkept and/or undisciplined children who (depending on their ages) fight with other local kids, break & enter local houses and generally get into trouble, leave unregistered cars sitting on the road out the front for months on end – you get the idea.

As a final thought from someone living in a rural area, if you are going ahead with this IMO location will be crutial to the success of your idea. Make it close enough to town and in a nice enough spot and it may be a real gold mine.

Heaps of people around here (Leeton NSW) use relocatable buildings. Depending on where you are looking at they won’t be a bad thing in themselves as they seem to be far more common in rural areas than they are in Sydney.

Let us know how this goes for you – I hope it works for you and it sounds original.

Cheers
Sonja

Just what is the deal here? I’ve been in a blissful state of denial about my addiction and now you’ve made me go and face it!

Seriously though, it is like an addiction and I’m not sure if it is healthy. I suppose there are HEAPS worse things to be addicted to so I’ll (try to) log off with a smile on that note.

Cheers
Sonja

Yes, it appears that the newer models require less maintenance (ours is only 3 or 4 yrs). I am also led to believe that having a yearly “check up” is a good idea to be sure that everything is working the way it should. I am also told that with the older models the yearly maintenance is more of an issue. One thing to be careful of with evaporative A/C is that there should be a pipe that runs from the unit to the guttering. This is because there is a concentrated amount of salt in the water that is dumped when the unit is shut down. This can lead to rust problems both in and around the unit as well as the roof.

This is the info I have been given by asking around people I know – not professional advice.

Cheers
Sonja

I’ve got to agree with Aceyducey here. It is about harm minimisation. Sad but true.

Perhaps afghangirl, you saw a site directed at undermining the Liberal party. I’m sure that something along the same lines exists that is directed at pointing out all the damaging material available about the Labour party.

Let’s face it they both tell lies – for whatever reason they use to justify it. It just comes down to a question of who we will be better off with running the country.

Cheers
Sonja

PS Wouldn’t it be nice if a political party had policies strong enough to carry them to victory in an election without having to resort to defamation of their opposition? Just a thought…

Although I have not taken their advice, my PM reccomends REI landlords insurance.

Regards
Sonja

We originally bought it at a PPOR but work transfer fell through. We then had trouble selling so we decided to rent it out. Just luck and coincidence really. Like I said the more times you tried to repeat it the more likely you are to get that lemon.

Cheers
Sonja