Day 2: House Hunters International in Perth

Yesterday we went house hunting.  Part of the package was a relocation expert to look at houses for a day and schools for half a day.  So we combined the search yesterday until we need to go and register Emilia.  So we started at 9:30 since the first appointment was at 10am.  Our criteria was north of the Swan River with good public school, close to transportation since I don't want to drive to work and 3 bedrooms/2 bath.  Apparently its difficult to get showings so we were lucky to get so many instead of just drive-bys.  Appliances like refrigerators and washers/dryers also need to be purchased for the houses but they have hook-ups.

First house was a 3 story duplex.  It was huge.  Too much house than what we need.  There were 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car carport, a study with built-ins, the whole 3rd floor could be a gameroom with a wall of bookcases and desks.  But it was pretty dated.  Pink laminate counter tops in the kitchen and the stove was 2 burners and a wok. It just didn't feel like where we wanted to live for the next 2 years. http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-nedlands-409528619

Then we went to a more traditional Australian style house.  These are like the Craftsman style one-story.  I liked this house.  There was a decent kitchen with gas stove.  It was older too but Emilia and I found it charming.  There was stained glass windows and a kids part in the back with 2 rooms and a small gameroom along with 2 more bedrooms towards the front of the house.  But the bathrooms were pretty dated with brown tile and a brown toilet.  There were a lot of common rooms but it was choppy.
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-nedlands-409609075

The next one was nice with wood floors in the living room and a fountain with goldfish in it.  There was a 4th bedroom downstairs with its own bathroom.  There was another full bath downstairs and an eat-in kitchen.  Upstairs had 3 bedrooms but the only bath was in the master and it was tiny.  This was Chris's pick before lunch.
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-nedlands-409609071

So we drove by some a few more houses and some schools next.  Nedlands Primary has a really nice, large playground that is shaded by many mature trees.  So we really liked this school from the outside.  School is out for summer break right now and so registration can be done starting on the 29th.

We took a break for lunch and then had our next appointment at 2:30.  Next up was the house that I liked from searching the internet.  It's what we envisioned when making our budget and deciding on how much furniture to take.  I was disappointed when it disappeared from the listings but was happy when it popped back up last week.  We were early but a handy man was tinkering with the wall of window doors in the back and preparing the porch for new paint.  He said that we could take a look through until the agent got there since we were half an hour early.

This house didn't disappoint.  There was a front porch.  The ceilings were high.  The bedrooms and bathrooms were spacious and updated.  The master closet reminded me of a smaller version of the American one and would hold all our clothes.  The wood floors were great.  There was no carpet.  Each bedroom and the living room/kitchen had an AC/heater.  The street has mature trees and just is picturesque.  The house literally has a white picket fence (and so does the one next door).
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-shenton+park-408965907

The next house was a closer to the school but farther from public transportation.  It had carpet in the bedrooms.  They have heating in the floors, solar panels, water barrel.  It had great, natural Australian plants for landscaping.  I should have loved this house.
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-shenton+park-4094760955

We cancelled the appointment for our last house since I didn't care for the location.  It looked onto the backs of the next street's houses and just didn't give a very friendly vibe.

So of course we put in an application last night for the 1st Shenton Park house.