I'm amazed that this discussion has carried forward for nearly two years! In that time I have moved to another coastal area (cooler climate and better proximity to children) and this time found most of the discussion still rings true. Finding another home here was an incredibly frustrating journey made all the worse by a mad investor rush in the area just when we arrived to start our home search. That search took the best part of six months and in the end there would only be three or four houses to choose from in any week. Result? A rushed purchase, a desperately inadequate building inspection and failure on my part to notice poor bathroom tiling, shortage of closet and storage pace, just how small the lounge room really was, and etc. I disappointed myself because I had let the pressures beat me and now we are trying to resolve all of these issues in a home designed and built by one of this states most respected project home builders 25 years ago. Having now studied the floor plan with more care I realise it was put together (designed) in modular fashion - most bedrooms have similar dimensions and the living areas are all approximately the same size as if the designer simply juggled three boxes of one size and four of another size and then worked out traffic flow. Then he must have thrown them all in the air to see how they would land and that was design number two! And etc and so on. This house aside, we looked at a great many during the six months because we had to broaden our search above and below budget trying to find something. There were massive termite problems, leaky roofs, asbestos galore, gazzumping at every turn, almost all but the most expensive properties suffered at least one substantial fail for the most basic of needs and to top it off the best home in our price range just happened to be built on flood prone land - approved by council who put the flood signs up less than five years earlier. We live and learn. Then there were the real estate agents, but that would take another two years and I doubt the internet has enough free page space available!!! OK, I hear you, they're not ALL bad...

There's currently no indication of street lighting on engineering plans, so we don't know yet. Given the curve in the street, if I was planning it, it'd be the most logical, although we'd love it if the light went on someone else's property. Upside if it was on our land is that it'd help with security.

Laundry drains can really pong when they're seldom used - the water in the trap can disappear and you get a vile sewer smell. Before going to expensive and highly caustic chemicals try 1 cup of bicarb of soda and half a litre of white vinegar down Let it sit for an hour then follow up by pouring boiling water down the sink and see if that helps - you can do it a couple of times - I do mine every few weeks (kitchen and laundry). You could also run your washing machine (empty) on the hottest possible was with a good amount of bleach in it to help. If it's the rangehood - don't be surprised so many people forget to clean them - pull out the filters and wash them (mine go into the bottom rack of the dishwasher on the highest temperature setting).

Before replacing your curtains as this can be quite expensive for such a large window, if they are in good condition, add a band of extra fabric to the bottom in what ever suits you, your existing curtain track can then be moved up to the ceiling for good looking full length curtains without the large round eyelets, could save you a lot of money, I would look at replacing/removing the sheers cheers