I hope they were helpful Khahn.

So true. And so bloody disappointing. The least effort and quickest sale seems to be the motivating factors for most agents. I actually just had a really positive experience with a lovely REA in Adelaide though! She has done a fantastic job, always transparent and honest with me and has made an effort to get me the best price. I got a fantastic offer just yesterday after 6 days on market and she's chasing up better counter offers now. I'm really lucky it's a hot market to sell, which helps a lot. I'm considering writing letters to people in streets I love and doing a letterbox drop. I figure I've got nothing to lose and I know people who've bought houses this way! I think that people's distrust of REAs might make an off market sale appealing to some. Who knows...worth a try!

HI everyone, I am soon undertaking a renovation to my freestanding home in Sydney's Inner West, knocking down the walls and redesigning the space to become more open plan. I will also be adding a second storey with extra bedrooms and bathrooms. Can anyone recommend a good interior architect? I don't need help with choosing furniture, but rather the carpentry, floorboards, tiles, lighting, doors, windows, cabinetry, placement of powerpoints etc. We're working to a modest budget—not looking for the cheapest materials, but something in the middle. Thanks in advance!

All good ideas! The first thing I thought was definitely to move the carport to over the driveway to the rear garage. Still on the fence about having a carport on the side, as it's irregular shaped land and the house juts out over the driveway. The red brick and tiles may not look amazingly contemporary, but there is something to the fact that it's stood for decades with pretty much no cosmetic change! I've seen rendered houses all around here that are starting to crack, and roof paint jobs that are peeling away. I'm fascinated to see what other people have done with these specific red brick houses.