I’m putting my toe into the sea of house hunting. The internet is a hotbed of available properties in green areas. Prices have dropped 10 percent, interest rates are at an all-time low, there is a first home buyers’ grant available. There’s a need for stimulation of the economy. And all of this disaster is catnip to me. I shall wait until May and see what’s still on the market. A quiet non-wooden house away from the ‘burbs and on the edge of the green hills, preferably with a pool (G and T around a pool sounds super, but not as wonderful as exercising in it on hot and warm days), with guest quarters and on a tar-sealed road and at the right price (mortgage already approved) … it seems like too much to ask. But might just be available. 40 minutes from town – but the drive (if the cars don’t overheat, as they have been) or train trip (if the trains are on) is spectacular. Of course there are the fire areas to avoid (10 houses in places I’ve not heard of yet were obliterated today by fires, along with one of my favourite second hand bookshops in Lygon Street).
