When it all begins to take shape.

Sometimes plans take shape as expected, sometimes they fall apart.

We’ve had an appraisal done on our home and it’s now on the market—it was a strange feeling pulling into the driveway to notice a For Sale sign had been hammered in. It’s starting to hit home that we’re really doing this, and with that comes the inevitable flood of anxiety. The house has been great—far from perfect, but a good first home for us. One and a quarter acres, 4 years old when be bought, plenty of space both in and out, and overall a nice place to raise a family. But we are not attached to the house or the location. The reality is it was the 16th property we looked at, and the best that fit what we thought we were looking for within our budget. In fact, we had seen the house online and I wasn’t even interested—it steps down from the property next door, it didn’t have a shed, it wasn’t fenced down one side, and it had river stones as a driveway and surrounding the entire house. Turns out, the very things deterring potential buyers.

Between real estate and caravan sales, we have plenty going on to consistently elevate our stress levels. And what of caravan industry? Well it’s somewhat of a shit-show, really. We’ve been left to feel like caravan salespeople have taken the banner from the car salesman of old. As I last wrote, we went to a caravan show and, to cut the story a little shorter, had taken interest in a particular caravan. With wide, angled bunks, and a fantastic shower that actually makes for a bath, we were really excited about this van. If you know caravans and the industry in Queensland, you’ll know the brand and the supplier. We initially thought it was out of budget, but it turned out that by the time we spec’d up the cheaper van we were considering, it was only $3k more for a better-quality build. We explained that our broker informed us we aren’t in a position to finance a van, thereby removing all options other than selling the home. We were told that their finance guy works miracles and finance has never not been approved. Furthermore, if we were prepared to throw down a deposit that day, we could secure availability for 9 months’ time, as another buyer has just pulled out. This was coming off the back of the COVID fiasco, and van lead times for anything we’d be considering were still 12 plus months. We met with the finance guy, talked through our financial situation, entered the figures, and hey presto, “no problem guys, we’ve got your finance covered. So…happy to put down a deposit and secure that van?” Damn right we were—that gives us an option to consider hanging onto the house, and with it, a greater sense of security and a little less risk. We signed a contract, subject to suitable finance for us, the buyer, and put down our cash. We received a follow up call from the financier the next Monday, as planned, to officially run through the numbers and put finance in place, only to be told that there’s absolutely no way we can finance the van. Well no shit, we told them that at the beginning. We were sold on this van, all in as it was such a unique internal design. So, we were left to run with our original plan of selling the house to finance it.

A short time later we discussed progress with the supplier, also advising them that a we were still yet to have a contract on the house, to then be told that “…well actually, due to component supply issues, van delivery has been pushed out by at least another 3 months and that all orders are affected”. A search through social media and reviews showed that extended delays with this supplier weren’t uncommon and that in all likelihood, 3 months couldn’t even be guaranteed. Maybe we were being unreasonable, but there was no way we could push this trip out another 3, 4, 5 months longer than planned. We considered our options and came to the conclusion that we’d likely find a van on the second-hand market and advised the supplier that we’d like to cancel the order. Having had a decent clause on our contract we decided that, as we did not have a contract on the home, and since the van has been delayed, we’d like to cancel. They countered with “…what if we can guarantee your original spot?” It all seems like smoke and mirrors—all orders are delayed due to component supply, and yet they’ll now guarantee our spot. They’re either, let’s say, insincere, or will push someone else out to keep our spot? Either way, that’s not someone we want to put our trust in, or our money behind. We can foresee that in all likelihood, the order gets pushed out due to “circumstances beyond anyone’s control”, and we’re locked in to wait and ride it out.

And there we have it. The van order is cancelled and we’re now on the hunt for another home on wheels. In as much as we knew it, there’s no such thing as a sure thing—whether it’s selling a home, or buying a van, a deal is never done until it’s done!