Living the Sydney Dream
I must admit we had it pretty good in Sydney. We had been lucky enough with a couple of houses to get to a point where we were essentially mortgage free. After we sold the last house our daughter suggested we move to Manly on the northern beaches. We loved the water and normally spent some portion of the weekend at Manly anyway. As it turned out we bought a little semi on the Flat. The Flat is about a six block area at the northern end of Manly where you have an absolute flat walk to the beach. We were a 6 minute walk from the house to the walk’s edge and most afternoon’s my daughter and I had a race home to see who could get in the water first.
Those first couple of years were great. You had the crazy of summer but you also had the proximity to cafes and restaurants and were just a ferry ride from the city. Even in winter the water was still warm and the crowds were all but non existent. You also had a quiet, slower period over those winter months, a breathing space where everyone could breathe easy and rejuvenate for the next summer.
That all started to change in the last year or two. We started to see a single season. We started to lose the quiet time. It was replaced by neighbouring houses full or backpackers, AirBnB and Stayz visitors. Every night seemed like a good night for a party and why not they were on holiday.
The last straw was when the fifth (5th) Development Application was submitted by neighbours within a 2 month period. We decided to sell up again and look for some quiet.
Freshwater or Curl Curl looked good - bigger blocks, more single dwellings and a quieter feel away from the Manly madness. The more you looked, however, the less you wanted to stay. Plus, you all know the feeling, spending every weekend for months on end looking at houses on the net, drawing up the list of open houses you need to "Open House" on Saturday mornings only to turn up and find some pokey little house with no charm or an overpriced MacMansion that someone had already over-capitalised on. It was hard to see many opportunities to value add or ones where you could never make any money on.
In the mist of this our Coolum Beach nephew’s little one was turning one and half the family were going to be in and around Noosa for the party. We thought let just get out of Sydney and get some perspective.
Those first couple of years were great. You had the crazy of summer but you also had the proximity to cafes and restaurants and were just a ferry ride from the city. Even in winter the water was still warm and the crowds were all but non existent. You also had a quiet, slower period over those winter months, a breathing space where everyone could breathe easy and rejuvenate for the next summer.
That all started to change in the last year or two. We started to see a single season. We started to lose the quiet time. It was replaced by neighbouring houses full or backpackers, AirBnB and Stayz visitors. Every night seemed like a good night for a party and why not they were on holiday.
The last straw was when the fifth (5th) Development Application was submitted by neighbours within a 2 month period. We decided to sell up again and look for some quiet.
Freshwater or Curl Curl looked good - bigger blocks, more single dwellings and a quieter feel away from the Manly madness. The more you looked, however, the less you wanted to stay. Plus, you all know the feeling, spending every weekend for months on end looking at houses on the net, drawing up the list of open houses you need to "Open House" on Saturday mornings only to turn up and find some pokey little house with no charm or an overpriced MacMansion that someone had already over-capitalised on. It was hard to see many opportunities to value add or ones where you could never make any money on.
In the mist of this our Coolum Beach nephew’s little one was turning one and half the family were going to be in and around Noosa for the party. We thought let just get out of Sydney and get some perspective.
