What I (perhaps foolishly) assumed was that as this was the advertised price, it was what the vendor would sell the house for. How little I know!
Today we attended our first house auction. We had no intent of making a bid, but thought we'd take the chance to see what happens at an auction. I found it both enlightening and a little depressing.
Let me set the scene.
This house is in Heathmont, one of the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It is well situated with schools and public transport in walking distance, as well as easy access to EastLink, a freeway. It wasn't much of a house by most standards, but looked comfortable enough. Clearly the current owners have worked on the property to make it comfortable and practical. Well done them.
The house was advertised at $460,000 plus, so I expected that the final price would be above that.
The bidding opened at $450,000 and sat there for a while. The agent then offered a vendor bid of $470,000. It seemed that it would finish there, until it got to $480,000. Then suddenly someone offered $500,000 and the bidding went nuts! At $530,000 the agent announced he was going inside to talk to the vendor to receive further instructions.
We left at that point.
Two things left me speechless. The first was the perceived dishonesty of advertising. Remember the house was advertised at $460,000 plus. But when the bidding was around $520,000 the agent was asked if the house was now 'on the market' and he said 'No'. What!! If you are not going to sell the house for less than $530,000 then advertise this as the price. Nothing is gained by advertising a lower price.
Secondly, how is it possible that a house that is nothing spectacular by any means could be worth more than half a million dollars!!!! Staggering.
So we came away all but convinced that owning a home of our own is beyond "the impossible dream".
A final comment. The agent in his opening address urged those gathered to "be brave" which I think could be loosely translated as "buy the house!" Is it reasonable for a real estate agent to be urging people 'be brave' regardless of your financial limits? I think not.
Update
After some thought and reflection, here are a couple more thoughts. Firstly, I am grateful that in a life of ministry we have always had a house to live in. My thanks to the churches that have maintained these houses. Secondly, in those times that we have not been in a church house, we have been able to enter a house. These houses have been workable for us.
Thirdly, I take seriously the promise of Jesus about those who give up all to follow him. And I am thankful to those who have opened their homes to us for meals, for rest, or with invitations to stay.
But it would be nice to be paint walls or plant trees or make repairs without needing permission from others.
