Over The Hill And Far Away

So remember how i said i was trying to get all my ducks in a row? Yea, well - those ducks have officially flown off and deserted me. Gone north for the winter or something. Either way, those ducks are no longer lined up the way we wanted them to be, which means the dream of family home ownership is still not in reach.

There go my ducks... ( pic from here )

So - poo to that. Basically i went to the bank we are already with ( again - which bank? ) and basically got told we can borrow pretty much jack squat, and I got pretty basic customer service to go along with that little announcement. To be quite frank i got the feeling that i wasnt worth enough money to the bank for them to bother trying too hard to help me. So poo to the bank!

Then i went to Aussie Home Loans and spoke to a mortgage broker there who, despite telling me we could get a fraction more than jack squat ( which was better, but still not enough to buy a decent place ), was really lovely. She was really helpful - not only did she run the numbers to see how much we could borrow, but she also gave me some alternatives, and some advice in how to get moving in the right direction. Actually, she gave me such good customer service i think i might write a little thank you " Thumbs Up " into our local paper.

So basically - we arent in the position yet to sell my duplex and buy a family home. And where does that leave us, seeing as we are hoping to expand our family in the very near future? It leaves us with.... converting our garage into a third bedroom/playroom. I'm not sure whether it will add value to the property when we can afford to sell it but, seeing as we arent in the position to move, converting is what we need to do in order to have enough space for a growing family.

Have any of you converted your garages into "inhabitable " rooms? Any advice? Or anyone looking to donate a couple of hundred thousand dollars to a young family?