On a roll now, let's get this show on the road

Public holiday here today (jeune federale) but hasn't stopped me making a million phone calls...to Australia.

Been doing some real estate research and last night came across a Buyers Advocate website in Melbourne. After reading her website got excited about this being the answer to our (one of many) prayers. So first thing this morning I rang her (Melissa Opie from KPI, from her photo and name I'm sure I know her...did we go to school together?) and had a longish chat. Yep, she could do pretty much everything - put us onto a mortgage broker, find us a house (rental or to buy), go to auction for us. The lot. For a fee of course. She'll send us through the mortgage broker info, then we might make a time to meet her when we get back to Melbourne. She could really minimise our workload and timeframe, I imagine.

Then rang Storage 2000 in Adelaide. Giving our brand new cot and change table to Georgie so want her to have access. They were also able to give me a quote to have all the contents moved to Melbourne ($3500!!!!). Rang the property manager for our house in Adelaide - time for a rent review? yes. Plus they can arrange an valuation on the house. Then rang a bunch of other removalist companies in Adelaide to get quotes for our stuff to go to Melbourne. Rang MK's parents (ok if we store our stuff at their place for a while? yes, of course). Rang Georgie - she and James will check out the storage unit on the weekend and see if they can pull out the cot and change table then and there. If not, might need to go back when the removalists are there.

Phew. I'm on a roll and a bit buzzed. Who else can I ring?

Schools? Dad's opinion is to choose a house/area based equally on two criteria - location to MK's work and a good school for Lily. My criteria is somewhere within a 30 min commute to Moorabbin, good access to Mum and Dad's side of town and of course a beautiful house with a big backyard (!). I find the whole school thing a bit overwhelming at the moment. Somewhere like we had Lily enrolled in in Adelaide would be good - a low fee paying independent school with a good reputation. But looking at the map of Melbourne makes my head explode. It's so big. And I'm so unfamiliar with it. But Lily is due to start school three months after we arrive home. Arrggghhhhh.

Even more reason to engage this buyer's advocate. My dream (which I thought was unattainable) is to buy a house before Lily is due to start school so she only has one major move. Not two (rental to the house we buy). I don't know....help!!!!