Up climbing

Moving house…
William: It’s on the fourth floor. Time to "up climb".
Andrew: Good to hear you’re not "down climbing" any deeper than the basement you're moving out of. Affordable?
William: I only have a suitcase of clothes, a skeleton set of cooking pots, plates, cutlery, and my drinking mug. 1DK is enough.
Andrew: And your ukulele! 
William: Yes, my sanity-saver. It keeps me from going bonkers in a small apartment.
Andrew: But seriously, have you crunched the numbers?
William: Numbers, schmumbers! I'll make it work. Who needs a big place when you have the heart of a minimalist and the soul of a musician.
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Voice-over
William might have to resort to busking to help pay the rent. But with a ukulele?

Pipe repair

Ian’s old Japanese house…

Ian: Thanks for coming over so quickly. The pipe under the sink is leaking really badly.

Takeshi: Let's take a look.

Ian: In here. When I looked, I was quite surprised. There's no metal pipe like I expected. It's just a plastic tube with black plastic tape wrapped around it.

Takeshi: Well, it seems like a temporary fix was attempted here. Using black plastic tape is not a proper solution for a plumbing issue.

Ian: Do you think it's a big problem?

Takeshi: We'll need to replace that makeshift arrangement with an appropriate pipe. PVC will be OK.

Ian: And are the fittings specific to this old house? How long will it take?

Takeshi: Looks pretty standard. Give me an hour.

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Voice-over

Poking around under a sink can lead to some unsavory sights. After the plumber has gone, a carpenter might be needed leading to further withdrawals from the sinking fund.

Infill Housing

State house 1949

Replacing an old state house…

Developer: The property is 970 square meters. How many 100 square-meter two-level houses can we build?

Planning Officer: It’s a square lot so you can put up eight.

Developer: Can’t we build ten?

Planning Officer: Zoning laws don’t allow it.

Developer: The economics won’t work. We'll withdraw our bid.

Infill housing 2020

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Voice-over

Developers typically aim for 25 to 30% return on a project after meeting the costs of the land, services, building, marketing, and taxes. Squeezing more units onto a site, or building higher on a smaller footprint are critical costing factors.