May 2019 after living in the middle east for 6 years my grandmother got very ill and my husband (who is Moroccan and only ever visited Australia a few times) decided that we would move to Sydney and give life there a go. Unfortunately by Oct 2019 she passed.....
March 2020 ... Covid.... the world changed.......
My Husband (Najib) and I never really found our groove in Sydney and were stuck living in a 2 bedroom apartment that you could hardly see the sky from - pre Covid we would go for long walks and beach days but we had just been through the bushfires prior to Covid and still hadn't really fallen in love with Sydney. (Don't get me wrong - it is one of the most glorious cities in the world - and I am proud to have been a kid from the Eastern suburbs but - fires, floods and then Covid... it was to much)
The apartment managed from the same agents above us went up for rent for $100 less than what we were paying and yet they would not negotiate with us at all on a price reduction or our lease renewal in a few months time..... things were looking miserable - my job was great and paid well and lucky was able to work from home... My husband is a chef - so it was hit and miss with work and as soon as shutdowns happened he was first to be 'let go" not in a job long enough for any assistance from the government so we were a single income house with no sky - in a city we didn't love. Najib (husband) and I had been looking at buying in Sydney - small 2 bedrooms 40 minutes or so out of CBD at least - maybe even further down the coast - but now with Covid it changed everything.
We had visited Brisbane once on one of our trips to Australia and we both fell in love with it - for some reason we had it in our head that we would always end up here... we loved the big open roads - everything was slower - I took him to the Ekka - he meet some Aussie cows and sheep and Karnis - we even went to the Goldie - we just loved it - it was retirement stuff...... dreams .....
One day - Najib started looking at rentals in Brisbane and we nearly fell off our chairs - we could get 4 bedroom houses with swimming pools for less than half what we were paying in rent in Sydney! So the plan started to hatch ..... but then we thought - why rent when we can buy - it's dead money ..... there has to be a better way even if we airbnb (with 2 cats) and then move in we will be better off (ANY idea on time frames or ANY idea on how long it could take!? Short answer is ZERO)
I mean....... I love watching The Block and Selling Sunset, Flip or Flop, love or list it, Grand Designs any other property show there is - I mean really ...... How hard can it be!!???
Do we know where we are going? - No
Do we know where we want to live? - No
Do we have a Mortgage Broker? - No
Do we have ANY clue on buying houses in Brisbane? - No
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