We a bit sad that our neighbours to the front of us have sold and moved away. They have lived here for about three years and she gave birth to two boys in that time.
They paid around AU$1.3 million for their apartment, spent about 100K on modifying the apartment, raising the cost to $1.4. We knew they overpaid at the time. They have sold for $1.1 million, a loss of $300,000.
They were nice and friendly neighbours, he being a doctor and she being a school teacher. The first son was and is challenging, the second, an angel.
Today, Wednesday, they moved out. I saw him in the lift and had a nice chat. I said it will be a bit sad to not see the boys grow up. He said, you guys have been great. Thanks. Good luck, I said as we parted.
But there are silver linings. Maybe the next people won't be window openers, especially the window one metre from our balcony. With the window open, I feel like I am invading their privacy and they, as I heard, feel like they are invading my my privacy.
When the couple moved here, they had a wolfhound that soon died. They then bought a Welsh Terrier and I guess fed it on the balcony. This attracted the evil Indian Myna birds. One time we had five lots of bird crap on our balcony. I started chasing them away, and the birds did learn that our balcony was not a good place to visit. R said I was being ridiculous. Really? No more bird crap on the balcony. As soon as our neighbours moved out, the birds disappeared, thank goodness.
R met up with his former workmate whose father died last week, along with a couple of former clients. He was away from 9.30 until 4.00. I caught a 58 tram to South Yarra Station and then one of our marvellous new trains to Oakleigh for a bite to eat.
Eaton Street Mall was crazily busy with lunch time diners...a great atmosphere. For lunch I had a chocolate mousse, bad, and a cup of coffee. I caught the train back to Murrumbeena Station to buy four frozen meals from Katrina's Kitchen, and then the train and tram back home. I had the roast lamb for dinner and R had the tuna patties. Very nice.
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I cannot imagine keeping a wolfhound in a high rise apartment! Poor animal.
ReplyDeleteMay your new neighbours be peaceful, well behaved and generous with their hospitality.
JayCee, it is a large apartment and the dog was very old. Yes, fingers crossed about the new neighbours. So far we have been quite lucky.
Deleteit is sad to see good Neighbours move away. I used to enjoy fabulous Greek food on Eaton St.
ReplyDeleteEaton Street is rather unique in Melbourne, and of course it was my grandparents local shopping centre.
DeleteYou can't choose your neighbours - it's all in the lap of the gods. I hope your new neighbours will be friendly and pleasant.
ReplyDeleteJB, that's all we ask, and be quiet.
DeleteLet's hope your new neighbours are not into boom-boom music, drumming and breeding hyenas.
ReplyDeleteYP, while we don't hear anything from other apartments, a few floors away was someone how played doof doof very loudly and it were reverberate through the concrete floors and walls. I sure there is a building rule about breeding hyenas.
DeleteI felt it hard to compute that they had kept a wolfhound in a flat of any sort and Myna birds on the balcony are definitely to be avoided if possible. Good luck with the new neighbours.
ReplyDeleteGraham, you have to realise they are large apartments the size of some houses, and as I mentioned in another comment, the dog was very old. We shall see with the new neighbours, fingers crossed.
DeleteHere's hoping your new neighbours are a quiet couple getting on in life with sedate pursuits. And a love of public transport and eating out.
ReplyDeleteMerlot, rather like us then. Six months ago new neighbours moved in to the rear of us and we didn't really know if anyone was living there or not.
DeleteHope the new neighbors are quiet and fun.
ReplyDeleteSo do we TP, so do we.
DeleteI could take everything but the Myna Crap!
ReplyDeleteBob, they are an imported pest species here and not nice birds.
DeleteKnowing the neighbours is a great idea. I met our neighbours when WE moved in.. in the 1980s, but THEY have all moved on since then. Thankfully many of the retired women in our street go to the same coffee shop!
ReplyDeleteHels, you are the last couple standing in your street. That's nice that there is coffee shop socialising.
DeleteMyna birds sound so exotic to me -- it's hard to imagine them as pests! (I feel the same about cockatoos, which I know are also a curse there.) I hope whoever bought the apartment is quiet and neighborly.
ReplyDeleteSteve, Mynas drive other birds away, will take on birds twice their size and are very noisy. Cockatoos in the city aren't a real problem, like they are to farmers.
DeleteMixed bag of former neighbours here, I have stories. Poor wolfhound though. I hope the new purchasers are more accommodating in their boundaries. What a loss on the real estate though! Wow!
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
WWW, it is a shocking loss and they really needed to do better homework before buying.
DeleteNew neighbours are always a crap shoot. I hope you get nice quiet people who keep their window closed.
ReplyDeleteWe do hope that too. The cost of living here does make it less likely to have bad neighbours, but who knows.
DeleteGood luck with your new neighbours. That is a big loss on the departing neighbours apartment. One that I am sure has been repeated across the country.
ReplyDeleteEC, yes losses are occurring, apparently quite a lot in rural areas. But they will go up again, as they always have.
DeleteThat is a big financial loss, but maybe they really needed to move to access better childcare or schooling?
ReplyDeleteI don't see how you feel being on your balcony would be invading someone's privacy when they open their window. They know you are there and choose to open the window anyway. Do you never open your windows?
River, their move was mostly related to work opportunities for him. Schooling and childcare is excellent around here.
DeleteWe do open our windows at times, but they easily blow shut and I don't letting in cold air if it is cool, nor warm air if it is hot. I have a wooden chock to keep my bedroom open when a cool change comes through after a hot day. Cool air then blows straight through the apartment with the balcony door open. It is easier to just leave the aircon on.
Lovely neighbours in one way but not so good in another. We can't help our neighbours when living in the city and houses are rather close these days as is your highriser with that window only being 1 meter away, wow, that is close. Hope your new ones are good all round.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, really they have been great neighbours. Because it is not cheap to live here, there isn't much riff raff. Shared apartments rented by students can be a problem.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope you get good ones. Take photos of them secretly when you do get new ones, so we can judge.
ReplyDeleteOnly if there is an attractive man, Strayer.
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