Without its shell the hermit crab will quickly perish. It can only remain homeless for so long before the harsh effects of the sun dry out its flesh. Yet, the eviction is unavoidable: time forces the crab to seek out new shelter to accommodate its growing body.
We, too, searched for a home, spending our weekends and days off scurrying between inspections and open homes. Predators lurked, wearing suits and driving Mercedes convertibles. They gave us handshakes with heavy watches and whitened teeth.
It’s a seller’s market. We would expect the property to sell at the upper end of the price range.
We’d crawl back each night to our temporary accommodation. Eating at us was the growing sense that who we were and where we lived could not be separated. A turtle cannot be split from the home it carries on its back. It’s not something it wears but an extension of its skeleton.
Brought up on the dream of the quarter-acre block, we learned to settle for a roof and running water.
Are you pre-approved for a mortgage?
We spent hours scanning apartment listings, scrolling further to the city limits to find something affordable. We noticed when they cropped the carpet stains out of the picture of the living-room, or how clever camera work could turn a cupboard into a “home study”. We learned to add $100k to the prices agents quoted.
There was no avoiding thinking about it. The news was nothing but the housing crisis, inflation rates and worsening mental health. Boomers told us to cut back on spending. A café date became laced with guilt. We tracked every dollar we spent, but it never seemed to be enough to compete against older buyers with deeper pockets.
Is this for an investment or your first home?
After another auction where we were outbid by another a middle-aged investor, we took a long drive to the sea. It was hard to shake the feeling that things would ever change.
Living always in spaces that belong to others, we felt like intruders. Fish and visitors go off after three days. We tried to stay invisible, out of the way. We dragged ourselves along the sea floor, searching.
The strata report is available for purchase on our website, and there’s an additional fee if you are the successful buyer.
We’d married in uncertain times. Unemployment, the pandemic, lack of housing supply and soaring interest rates conspired to keep us swimming between the homes of our relatives. We held each other on the fold-out bed and reminded ourselves that we were the lucky ones. Our parents had opened their doors to us without question.
We are the lucky ones. Why, then, do we feel so unlucky? There are more homeless on the streets every day, turtles prised from their shells.
You’ll need to sign a 66W to waive your right to a cooling off period.
We dream of the nest we’ll build. Locking the door behind us, our bodies will begin to take shape once more.