@Karen Hodge, I hear you!! Sometimes I think the estate agent should carry quite a bit of the blame actually. If they do their job correctly like you see in the adds on TV, they should bring these discrepancies to the attention of the sellers, stand on their morals and say if you can't get it better than this, then you'll have to find someone else to sell your home!! I know you can't make everybody "house proud" but the saying "do unto others" springs to mind. I bet if these same people bought a house not up to scratch, "a current affair" would hear about it but they don't think it wrong to simply walk out on a house that isn't being left nicely for the next family!! I have some friends that recently sold a house in Essendon, Melb and whilst the buyers were back and forth selling their own home, my friends kept watering the plants and even did things like painted out the wardrobes because of the scuff marks made over time!! They cleaned the entire two storey house from top to bottom and finished by mopping the floors as they were exiting. The buyers were so taken by the entire home, they bought it with almost all the furniture that my friends had in it!!

Well done on you fabulous (Wow) location & extension! Can you secure the dog behind the deck railing & a small yard section to leave the beach front section open? The post & rope certainly fit the setting if you have to keep people out but a shame to have to do anything at all! The neighbours fence is so obvious & if you want privacy maybe try to do that with plants instead. You will also need salt & wind safe plants which suit your area so look around locally to see what is prospering for ideas.

Hi Catherine, the glass panes in a louvre window overlap to ensure an effective seal against wind and water. We sell thousands of louvre windows each year and sealing of blades has never been an issue. However, you should always check that the manufacturer you go with and products you select comply with industry standard AS2047:2014. Products must comply to this Australian standard for wind and water penetration and are independently tested, before they can be certified compliant. All A&L products are certified compliant with this standard.

Lyn Huppatz raises a very valid point with moving, particularly for those moving from the city to the country. It is very difficult to feel you are really living or belong in a place if you are not accepted and these barriers can be very difficult to cross. I've just traded city life for what I hope is some peaceful country living to see out my days and this aspect did cross my mind with thoughts of how to try to cope with it. Fortunately, I've chosen a wonderful place where everyone seems to be a newcomer, basically all escaping the city hustle and bustle so the welcome I've had is amazing with invites to join many local groups and clubs, I doubt I will have time for them all. Maybe instead of wondering about ourselves so much, we should also focus on how welcoming we make our own particular areas for newcomers - how much would we like others to say they have lived rather than just stayed.