I think I’m way overdue for a blog post. 

So what have I been doing since my last post? Aside from dinning out and creating a backlog of restaurant reviews, I bought a new house in June last year (yay!) along with a new car (double yay!).

I have moved out from the CBD, where I rented for over 4 years, and now live in a much quieter and close to some new favourites down at Waterloo - rated 2009′s #5 in Sydney on RP Data’s list of ‘hot suburbs’ – (triple yay!)

Let’s start first about why I decided to move?

Rent in the city wasn’t bad and I admit, the apartment was absolutely convenient, 24-receptionist meant that security wasn’t an issue, it was close to shops, transport and a walk to work. However, interest rates were good and the government grant was quite appealing – which made it easier to repay (when comparing to how much rent was in the city!). And, of course I based my calculation on interest rates going up and factored to about 14%.

So, aside from rent as a motivator, the other reason was noise. I faced Castlereagh and Liverpool streets, which have fire brigades screaming down every few hours – not ideal for relaxing at home after work. The apartment was also fairly small, and I felt more space would be a much more satisfying feeling. And worse of all was the ridiculously small outdoor area – and I have been craving for a proper outdoor setup with furniture for a very long time.

So why Waterloo?

It’s one of those suburbs that is not very much heard off – it’s like when you say “I live in Waterloo” – people give you that look of “Where now?”. It’s not far from Surry Hills, Redfern and Zetland – I bet now you’re thinking – “ohh, I know where that is!”

More importantly though, was the apartment itself. It’s one of the those places that you walk into and go ‘Aaah – this is what I want to buy’. The apartment is completely open planned - you enter on the top level where the living, dinning and kitchen areas are and then walk down to the bottom level which has the bedrooms & bathrooms – keeps it nice and private when you have guests over.

So with the location and apartment selected, I must say I didn’t have a bad experience with the bank (St George) nor the Agent (Raine & Horne) nor my solicitor (Philip Soo, Westside Law). All were absolutely helpful - making settlement a breeze.

The day I settled (on a Wednesday), the following day all the furniture from Nick Scali arrived – dinning table, chairs, centre table, sofas, and a bed. On Friday came the mattresses, as well as the fridge and washing machine. On the weekend I moved. By Sunday night I was settled in and prepared for the old place to be handed back to the owners.

Moving out from my old apartment wasn’t bad either - 4 trips in my new Mercedes A170, and I was all done. Yep, the A170 has a fair amount of room when you drop down the back seats – more importantly my previous rented apartment was fully furnished, so I had no furniture besides a little shelf from IKEA.

I must admit that buying a house during the end of financial year sale was perfect for loads of bargaining power – including the negotiation power when I bought the car too.

Do I miss the city? A little, but the advantages there are now replaced by others that makes me feel a lot more comfortable about my new home.

I’ve got some restaurant reviews backlogged – so I’ll make sure to post them soon. A sneak peak at the list includes:

- Tetsuya
- Becasse
- Marque
- A Tavola
- Le Pelican
- Toko
- Wah Wah Cafe