“We bought back in 2017. It was advertised in the residential section of realestate.com. At the time, we were really struggling financially. I was studying and Laura (partner) didn’t have work rights yet. So the whole family was basically living on Austudy. Emilia and Leticia were like, four and one, so we just went with the cheap. You feel really safe here. The kids go to the local schools.

I can’t even describe the feeling of reading that eviction notice. As soon as I saw the heading, I just felt sick. It’s like the ground’s been pulled out from underneath you. I took the rest of the day off work and obviously my partner was super upset. We kept it from the kids for quite a while and gradually introduced it to them. That was pretty hard.

It’s a bit of a kick in the guts. Because I’m 61. Are we going to start a whole 30-year mortgage in the current climate? I don’t think so. The worst case we’ll be back to renting. I’m working full time and my wife’s got a part-time job as a librarian at Melbourne Uni and we can’t get a loan. They won’t lend us money against this place because it’s industrial now.

I don’t know. I have no idea. Our strategy is to stay and look for a permanent solution. I mean, they’re not going to be coming, dragging people out now in the foreseeable future.”

Story by John, lawyer and Techno Park resident
Interview by The Westsider for their August issue, photo by Gianna Rizzo

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