There was no back door

at the first place Middle Cat and I went to investigate yesterday.

Now this may not sound a very serious drawback but consider this. It was a "ground floor" unit which means you enter it from ground level. In order to do so at that addresss you need to go down a step from the street, down another step and then up another. There may have been ways around that but it is not ideal because there is another problem - getting the laundry basket to the clothesline.

Middle Cat and I prowled in to look despite the steps at the front because we were unaware of the problem until we were inside. The living area was very nice, enough room for bookshelves along one wall. At the far end there was enough room for a small dining table and four chairs. It was looking as if it might, with reservations about those steps, be possible. 

We looked in the kitchen. It had recently been renovated. It might have been very nice but the cupboards were all black. The bench top was black too. Why would you put black into a kitchen? 

Bathroom/laundry was the same sort of dark theme. The bedroom window looked directly on to a car parking space. No, not the space for the unit.  It is the space for the owner of the unit above. He could be coming and going at any time. The present owner "just pulls the blind down." Really?

Middle Cat and I stood there looking around. I cannot afford to be too fussy about where I live. I know that but there was something wrong. What?

"There's no back door," Middle Cat said at last, "How do you get to the clothesline?"

A woman looking at the unit with her daughter heard her and looked around, "You're right. That's odd." 

The four of us looked around and worked it out. To use the clothesline (there were two clotheslines to be shared between six units) you had to take your washing through the living area and out the front door. You then had to negotiate the steps, go through first one car park area and then another in order to get to the "garden". 

Middle Cat went to investigate further. I just stood there wondering what else was wrong. The place was at the uppermost end of the range I can afford but someone will buy it. 

We went on. We prowled past a unit where there are four car parking spaces directly against the bedroom wall. The rubbish bins are next to the window itself. The other residents apparently want to go "all solar" but we coud not find out much about that. Perhaps I could go to bed with ear plugs and use a nose peg at all times? How much more would "all solar" cost?

On still further. Middle Cat slowed the car as we approached. She pulled over and stopped a little further up the street. Ahead of us was an old "housing trust" complex. It is in a shocking state. Much of it looks abandoned. It is fit only to be demolished. There are broken windows and one had no door at all.

Outside there were five men sitting and drinking...and it was not tea or coffee. Beyond them there were more tiny units in the same condition and then the smaller block we had come to look at. 

"I don't think it is worth waiting for the open," Middle Cat said, "Even without the problems down there. The agent said this place needs work."

We looked at the peeling paint, the rusted gutter and downpipe, the weeds and I just heaved a sigh. We did not go in.

On the way back to our local area. We passed another set of units with a sale sign. "Sold!" Yes, very nice. I remembered looking at them on line. The unit up for sale was sold without even an open. 

Perhaps I could buy a tent and move to a caravan park...but they only let you stay for a short time.