No for an answer

I am being ardently pursued by a posse of desperate real estate agents and it’s a bit exhausting.

I’ve discovered that giving actual reasons why I don’t like the apartment they are spruiking is a big mistake.

If I tell them it’s because I don’t like all the stairs or the size of the main bedroom or the busy road they will argue with me about why my concerns are flimsy and irrelevant.

I looked at a place on Saturday that had a shoebox for a main bedroom. When told the agent that was one of the reasons I wasn’t interested, he suggested I use the second bedroom as the main and the family bathroom as my en-suite. Ah, no.

So I’ve started saying: “It just didn’t speak to me.”

I find that shuts them up.

My current property paramours are both called David, which gets a bit confusing when they call me.

And they call me a lot because things are getting pretty hairy out there in home ownership land.

The media is filled with stories about people being in “mortgage prisons” because they borrowed heavily at the height of the pandemic housing boom and now prices are falling so fast that they are being tipped into negative equity and can’t refinance.

So the pressure in rising for vendors to get out while the going is still vaguely good.

One of the Davids keeps going on about what a bargain his unit is and how much more his unit would be worth if it wasn’t up three flights of stairs from the garage and on a busy road.

Yes, David, that’s all very well, but it IS up three flights of stairs from the garage on a busy road and I’m not convinced that’s my idea of a fun home-owning time even if I’m getting a bargain.

Although I do love the neighbourhood …

The other David is begging me to make an offer, any offer.

Saying no is not one of my strengths. I hate letting people down, so I feel very bad for both the Davids, even though they are complete strangers who are pressuring me to spend my life savings on the properties they are valiantly attempting to offload in a falling market.

And today is RBA rate announcement day. Is that going to make it harder or easier for me to find my next home?

Either way, I feel very fortunate that I’m not in a mortgage prison.

Song of the day: Rolling Stones “I can’t get no”