For Sale

And so it begins. Hippybro, wants his inheritance. So do I, so does Babysis, so does Babybro. We are four siblings, two are 'investors' and have a larger share, the other two receive a straight inheritance from the place where two of us currently reside.

My father died in September 2001 and we decided that the time was not right to sell. The place hadn't been rezoned for development so the four of us met and decided that we would hang on for a variety of reasons. A sale was not well timed, two of us still lived here, I had two teenagers in year 10 and 12, the market was slowly rising, so we agreed that we'd hang on.

The first hurdle was the provision of a rail corridor which would have demanded 150 metre width of our back property and all the hassles and devaluation that goes with housing around a railway line. I had meeting after meeting about a 'proposed' rail corridor that would have devalued our property. I (and a bunch of other residents) attended councils, lobbied Government and finally the rail corridor was removed. The process was exhausting.

In April 2003, my Babybro was considering capitalising on his renovated house and buying something else. The market was high and so he 'bought out' most of Hippybro's share and moved in next door. Hippybro moved up to the Blue Mountains and bought a block of land and had his architect designed house plans drawn. We all get along pretty well so it was no big deal.

In March 2004, we were gazetted into 21 x 700square metre building blocks along with our neighbours to the south. Our immediate neighbours to the north were zoned "Educational Facility" and have been bought with the intention of building a school.

We waited for developers to knock on our door with their bowler hats and suitcases full of cash but it didn't happen. Again, my southern neighbour rallied to the cause and we had meeting after meeting with developers. We approached them directly, we spoke with them, we negotiated, we set prices and conditions. We even had an offer that we accepted in 2008 only to have it withdrawn due to unmitigatable conditions. I was out of pocket for legal fees to the tune of $2,800 which at the time I could ill afford.

That brings me to 2009. Babybro and his family live next door, I live in a house built for two small children and now have two adults and a dog. Babysis bought a knock down which is still waiting to be knocked down and we have been on the market for five years. In hindsight, we should have sold when Hippybro wanted out but we didn't. We didn't see the housing market fall coming. We certainly didn't see the global economic crisis and the new 'lending' arrangements between banks and developers. In short, I think we were greedy.

We took anecdotal advice and really believed that our land was worth the asking price. I don't think it was. So now, we are in that uncomfortable, familiar and familial conundrum of how to sell. We'll drop our price. Babybro won't like it. I'll be comfortable as I have the largest share. Hippybro will take what he can and finally finish that house on his lovely block in the Blue Mountains. Babysis will knock down her 'knock down' and build her dream home and I will be free . . financially at least.

Time for a new round of letters to a plethora of developers, multi-list with an army of bloodsucking real estate agents and more exhausting lobbying to Council to reduce a very hefty 'contribution' tax put on the land which deters developers and hope that in the long run, our family relationships will remain intact.

How to go about it during a 'recovery'. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of a banner on the roof for helicopter bound speculators . . .Property for sale! Any reasonable offer.

Much as I'd hate this . . .


To be turned into this . . .

It really is time. Whatever we sell it for, I am eternally grateful to a 50 year old man who took a huge punt on a huge mortgage with a young family
to provide this legacy for his children.
I just hope we all remember that!