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Thermo-Gel is an innovative product, created to save lives and property from fires. It is a concentrate, which mixes with water to create a fire-preventing and heat-absorbing gel. This gel is spayed on the walls of the house, the glass windows, any types of surfaces and that way a barrier is created to protect the house from fire. It can even be sprayed on plants, trees, shrubs and other kinds of vegetation and works very effectively to save them from fire. It is not affected by low humidity and works much better than foam that uses an encapsulated air. It is very water efficient, non-toxic and minimizes the time it takes to contain the fire.

As a matter of fact there was a ‘cool’ test performed to show exactly how effective Thermo-Gel is. They burnt down a house No, I’m not kidding. One half of the house was treated with fire-protective foam and the other half - with Thermo-Gel. Then they burned fuel for 10 minutes and used a fan to simulate wind. After 10 minutes the foam side was a total wreck and Thermo-Gel side … remained just the way it was before the fire, untouched. Unbelievably, even the window pane didn’t crack from the heat.

Not only houses and vegetation can be protected - but also power poles, pumps, supply lines, fuel tanks, etc. When you no longer need it, either wash it off with a strong jet of water pressure or just leave it on - it’s biodegradable. There’s no need in any training to apply it, just use the nozzle in the home kit to spray it over the surfaces you want to protect.

Have a look how simple it is (they have a video on YouTube)

And if this product has helped you save your property, I’d love to hear what you think - so that together we’d help more people do the same.

Photo source

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Although I have started to search for a house 3 months before the end of my current lease, the time was quickly passing and I just couldn’t find a rental that would agree to have us as tenants. I was applying for 2-3 houses every weekend and all of the agents were rejecting my applications.

Starting to feel a little bit desperate I resorted to several techniques to try and enhance my chances. Suspecting that they were deciding on “first come, first served” bases I started to arrive to inspection with all the necessary documents photocopied so that I only had to fill out the application and then I could submit it on the spot. That didn’t help me one bit and my applications were unsuccessful again and again.

Then I started to offer references from the previous agent to prove that my dog is house trained, well behaved, quiet and won’t be a problem. Again, no luck, and a few more houses were rented to other people.

Out of desperation I started to offer more than the advertised rent. For example, if a house was advertised for $250 a week, I would call the agent and offer $260. I was confident that this technique will work, and was very disappointed when it didn’t.

There were only a couple of weeks left till the end of my current lease when I finally realized that I need to adjust the price range or I will end up living under a bridge. I compromised on the price and on the quality of the house and finally we were able to rent an old house in a poor condition for $280 a week. On top of everything else we had to pay a higher bond because of the dog to cover possible damage to the property.

The house wasn’t so great, but the location was - very close to the tram, and yet in a quiet street, close to the shops, to the market, to cafes and restaurants, walking distance from a shopping centre. Thanks to that we didn’t need to buy a second car, so paying a higher rent was worth it. Let alone the car, the time itself that I saved because of the proximity of the amenities would justify the extra $20 a week.

Moving home this time was more complicated - we had some heavy white goods that wouldn’t fit into our SUV. Being very creative, my partner has bribed his apprentice at work with a six-pack of VB (a popular beer in Victoria) and borrowed his ute (small pick-up truck). This time instead of 2 suitcases we had 2 car-loads of stuff - amazing how much a person accumulates in as little as 6 months!

And here is the bit you were waiting for. Going through this whole ordeal I was learning so much about how the real estate world in Australia works that I just couldn’t help wondering: am I the only one who doesn’t get this system? Am I the only one who needs a vocabulary to read the darn real estate ads? One morning I was riding in a tram on my way to work and decided to document my real estate journey, from a clueless beginner to a confident consumer. This is how Homeiown.com was born. I have chosen the name “Home I Own” because it is the Australian dream, to own a home. I too was dreaming about owning a home and was willing to work very hard to achieve it. For every single step I’ve made in that direction, there is a post right here, in Homeiown.com.

To be continued, come back to read the next part and find out how we bought a house during our second year in Australia.

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I want to punch in the face every one of the real estate vultures for trying to buy land for less than it’s worth in the disaster areas like Kinglake and Marysville, using other people’s misery to their advantage. Those pricks just make me sick, trying to build wealth on dead bodies.

I have put together a list of resources for people who want to help. Help doesn’t necessarily mean money - it can be blood, clothes, blankets or furniture, every little bit counts.

If you’d like to help the fire victims, here is what you can do:

1. Donate to the Salvation Army

Why? They provide support, counseling and financial assistance to the victims. They give people money to buy clothing and other personal necessities for themselves and their families. Their volunteers provide food and refreshments to our fire fighters. They help in hundreds of places in many ways and they need us. If you need another reason to donate, donations are tax deductible.

Donate money - call 137258 from Australia or visit http://www.salvos.org.au

Donate goods - blankets, furniture and clothing, at Salvation Army collection points or fill the online collection form.

2. Donate to the Australian Red Cross

Donate blood - call 13 14 95 to make an appointment.

Donate money to the Red Cross State Government Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund, here is how:

- Call 1800 811 700 to donate on the phone

- Make a Direct Deposit to National Australia Bank: Name Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund - BSB 082-001, Account number 860-046-797

- Make a Direct Deposit to Westpac: Name Victorian Bushfire Relief Appeal - BSB 033688 - Account Number: 379004

3. Offer accommodation and wildlife assistance.
ABC Melbourne created a page with a number of ways how you can help the bushfire victims here.

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Now it was time to think about a car. Not for commuting, but for exploring. I think that the public transport in Melbourne is great and I have been using it a lot, but both my partner and I love the outdoors. So to be able to properly explore our new beautiful surroundings we had to have a car and choosing one became our next project.

Finding a car online was easy - getting there to take it for a test drive was not so easy. The absurd thing is, that in Melbourne you need a car to buy a car. A lot of car sellers are located in places unreachable by public transport. To them it makes sense - the further away from the center, the cheaper the rent is, but to us it was a nightmare. The place where we bought our car was 2 hours away by train and then we had to call someone from the car agency to come and pick us up. When we stood there waiting for him, a thought had crossed my mind - if he won’t come, we have just wasted 4 hours commuting, for nothing.

With a car, things looked much better. Our dog was released from the quarantine and the three of us started to really enjoy this beautiful country, introduced ourselves to bushwalking, went camping on weekends and visited many beautiful nature spots. We had a great time before it was time to think about moving home again, 6 months passed really quickly.

Contrary to my expectations, searching for the second rental was much harder. I was working full time and could only go through the ads in the evening. There weren’t many houses available; the demand for rentals was at its peak. Most of the properties I rang about were already let, and others didn’t accept pets. Many inspections were scheduled in the middle of working day and I had to get out of work to see those houses, which meant that I had to stay and work later that day, when I needed that time to keep looking for more houses.

Initially I thought that I could just apply for any house and then, if they accept me as a tenant go and have a look, to me it would have been a huge time saver. I mean - why bother looking at a house if you don’t end up getting the chance to rent it. However, it turned out to be illegal to apply for a property one didn’t inspect. No shortcuts.

Most of the inspections I went to looked like auctions. There was a crowd of 30-40 waiting outside the door for the agent to arrive and let them in. People were snatching the application forms from the agent’s hand, rushing to fill and submit them on the spot, competing for a place to live. Seeing this whole situation made me feel so powerless, even desperate.

The story goes on, come back and find out how my house hunting ended.

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One day I was going through ads in the local newspaper and saw a couple houses advertised for rent. There was one particular house that “jumped at me” because it was only a 6 month lease (normally the houses are let for a year). I called the agent, he said that the landlord didn’t mind pets, then we met and he drove us to inspect the house. It was a big, nice looking house with shiny polished floorboards and the rent was sensible.

Renting for only 6 months also made sense: on one hand we wanted to get out of the tiny hotel room, on the other we didn’t want to commit to a year-long lease in that area. The landlord had difficulty finding a tenant for only 6 months because most people don’t like the idea of moving twice a year and once we said: “we’ll take it”, the agent looked very happy.

It sure wasn’t the house of my dreams. The area wasn’t the safest or the friendliest. The street outside our windows was very busy and the noise never stopped, day or night. It was very hot in summer and freezing when the temperature was dropping. Still, the location was close to the tram, the train station, the shops, the market, and that was important. You have to start somewhere.

Another reason why I think we were lucky to find that house is that all the estate agencies expect to see a renting history. They expect references from the previous renting agency, referees to verify that you’re of good character, pay slips to see that you’re earning a stable income, bills with previous address to make sure you’re not homeless and so on.

We had none. A couple in their thirties, who have been 2 weeks in the country, don’t have even a debit card yet (because it’s still being processed), no mobile phone, no car, no job, nothing. The only thing we had was a statement from the bank with the amount we transferred into our account and lucky for us it was enough to convince our desperate landlord that we can afford the rent.

I will always remember the day we moved, because moving home has never been easier. I don’t think there are many people who can move home in a taxi All we had to do was transporting two suitcases and that was it, for better or worse. Initially we had no bed to sleep in (or even a chair to sit on), and the first couple of nights were spent on the floor. We were sleeping on a pile of clothes and towels. I don’t know which part was worse, sleeping on the floor or being stuck with a dial up Internet before Telstra got around to connecting our landline and broadband. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have one Spartan bone in me and am used to comfortable living - but sometimes circumstances are just getting a little out of hand.

I kept on looking for a job, sending resumes and going to interviews. Three weeks in Australia and I found myself an employer. Again, it wasn’t easy because I couldn’t provide referees in the country and all my references were from overseas, but I found a company that searched for someone with my exact qualifications and experience, and after 3 interviews and a phone call to my previous boss I was hired!

To be continued – do come back for the rest of my story, or subscribe and get it to your email.

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My partner and I came to Australia carrying nothing but two suitcases. It was a conscious decision; we were starting to build a life here - from scratch. With some money in the bank transferred from overseas, a dog in the quarantine, a lot of dreams to travel and see different places and the determination - to make it here, to never go back with our tail between our legs.

Our plane has landed in Melbourne late October 2006 and I remember walking through the anxious crowd anticipating their friends and relatives, agents carrying signs “Johansson family”, “Jeff Baker” and knowing - no one is waiting for us. We’re on our own in strange country where we don’t know anyone.

A taxi took us to the hotel where we were staying. Initially the plan was to find and rent a house via Internet from overseas, but it was just too hard to do. Even though we compared the prices and knew that hotels are more expensive than rentals, the real estate agencies we contacted didn’t want to help people from overseas, who are physically not in the country yet, to rent a house in Melbourne and we were left with the only option - hotels.

Searching for an affordable hotel we have found a decently looking one in Preston (one of the Melbourne’s northern suburbs), it was certainly affordable and close enough to the train station so that we could easily get to the city or the quarantine station to visit our dog. When we got there and saw the hotel with our own eyes, the pictures were a bit too optimistic. It looked pretty depressing and the room was tiny, the bed, little fridge and the little desk took pretty much all the space. What to do, you get what you pay for!

First purchase in Australia? A power adapter for my laptop and an Internet account - to get in touch with the family overseas and be able to begin my house and job search. With no mobile phone or car, both were kind of tricky. I quickly realized that in Australia a car is a must, there are places where you literally can’t get without it. Walking is nice, but 20 minutes of carrying your groceries from the market are quickly putting you off eating :). Calling 10 estate agencies about the houses for rent on the payphone in the middle of a busy street are not my idea of fun either.

It took me about two weeks to understand how renting a house works in Australia. In the beginning I was very surprised that the real estate agents were reluctant to help prospective tenants, and that a person couldn’t just walk through the door, state that they were looking to rent a house and expect the agents to quickly find a suitable home. But hey, bitching never really helped anyone and I had to quickly learn how things are done in Australia.

This is not nearly the end of it - expect part 2 a couple of days. Meanwhile, why not subscribe and get it to your email?

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