Project New Home: Homes Viewed = 18

Jonathan and I decided earlier in the week that considering the small glitches and tentative steps we've made with the dream home in Denistone, we would continue attending open house inspections until we have exchanged contracts on the Denistone villa.

With that in mind, we found 2 properties to inspect, both in Marsfield. The first one was in the same complex that I lived in for 6 years prior to moving to St Leonards! My unit was at the front of the complex, and this townhouse was at the back of the complex, so it was a lovely trip down memory lane to visit the old stomping grounds.

The villa was quite lovely, with spacious bedrooms and a lovely courtyard about the back. The kitchen was smallish, but not tiny. The living / dining space was quite small, with a sunroom between the living space and the courtyard. The layout was a bit odd - the sunroom felt disconnected with the townhouse, which meant that the sunroom felt like it was to be used for "formal" occasions only.

The master bedroom was a very good size, and the other rooms were quite big too. Only the master bedroom and one other bedroom had built ins though.

The courtyard shared a fence with the Stamford Hotel North Ryde, with some of their rooms overlooking into the courtyard. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!

There was a single lock up garage that had access through the sunroom. And to top of it all off, there was a full bathroom, and an extra toilet in the laundry at the back of the townhouse. The clothes line was also on the back wall of the townhouse, in the shadiest part of the property.

The property was listed with a price range, and we expected the property to be able to fetch the higher end of the price range, which was out of our range in any case. We thanked the agent and headed to the next property.

The next property was very close to Epping Boys High School, and we arrived a tad early, so we walked along the footpath for a bit and Mina picked some yellow flowers from the lawn. At the appointed time, we headed down a fairly steep driveway to the townhouse.

I had seen this property advertised for over a week without any addresses, and only received an email from the real estate agent after 3 separate emails. That was the first sign of trouble.

As we headed down to the property, we walked past the little sandwich board out the front of the complex, noting that "this property has been sold". Jonathan and I debated whether we should still head down to look at the property, and upon seeing other people heading down, we too took a chance and joined the others.

After giving our contact details to the agent, we asked him what the sign out the front of the property meant, and he said "well, the property is actually under contract, but if those purchases pull out, then we will have a list of people to contact to see if someone else might be interested". Um, WTF??? If the property was under contract, then in my opinion, it is a really bad business practice to continue showing the property. While it's not illegal, we found it very unprofessional and very unsettling.

Oh, if you want to know who the listing agent is, click here. The guy showing the property appears to be the son of the proprietor. The property in question is here - if you're looking for a property in Marsfield, skip this one as it has been sold. And if you choose to contact the agent, he's only after your contact details to expand his database. Jerk.

There were so many nice things about this property, but we won't bother listing them. The whole experience left a really bad taste in our mouths. If we had been seriously looking, it would have been a huge waste of time for us.

As we were leaving, another couple was also putting their shoes back on, and they expressed their disgust at having wasted their time inspecting a property that was already sold. We totally agreed.

Hopefully, these are the last properties we will inspect for now. We hope to have some good news by mid to late next week regarding the Denistone villa. Cross everything for us!