Posted on behalf of Mr. H. O. Ransome (of ‘All-Embracing But Underwhelming’)
Flat-hunting.
It’s crap.
I’m currently in the market for moving and, like many a PhD student, I am also a pauper who can’t really afford to live in Auckland. The rental market here is dire, and for more than one reason. Aside from the price (ideally, you are told, you should pay less than a third of your income on rent; an average flat near the University takes up close to half of my income (and, yes, once you move further out the rents do come down but the price of transport goes up) you also have to deal with the fact that the Palangi who decided to settle in Auckland kept persisting in the idea that Aotearoa was a tropical paradise; our houses are not built for the cold and damp that make up our otherwise pleasant climate.
(It is, at least, better than that of Old Blighty…)
A further problem for the impoverished flat-hunter is the fear that Auckland’s housing market won’t crap-out spectacularly for a little longer, which means that whilst it looks bad now it’s going to be worse in a few months time. There is little point saving and scrimping because I’ll never have enough capital behind me to properly fund this little venture. Indeed, if I get a flat now I have about six months of safely locked-down rent…
Thus I am in a quandary; keep looking knowing that it will cause despair or just give up and stay in, the horror of it all, the North Shore. Hmm, even typing that makes me feel queasy…
So what, Mr. Ransome, you might well be saying. Trite truisms and pessism might well make a MySpace post but this is Brain Stab. We expect content (not that we ever get it, however…).
Well, tough titties, I say. Complaining it is. Anyway, Josh is either about to orgasm over the ‘Transformers’ Movie or cast aspersions upon it. Frankly, he can’t be trust; he liked ‘Return of the Sith.’