Sea Change Reality Check
Here’s the thing. We did go back to Sydney. We went back to work and study and school and all the rest of our lives. We also went back to the search for our new house. Unfortunately we continued to be disappointed by the quality of offer and value for money of houses on the northern beaches.
Here are a couple we considered
That was a fixed window on the back wall - no breeze and no direct access to the backyard. You had to use the door on the side. It felt to me as if the design blocked the natural flow to the backyard.
There were another 20 or so stairs down the side of the garage at the bottom of the property just to get to street level.
The trade off of course was the view. It eventually sold for $2.850 million.
Here are a couple we considered
House One:
I considered this because it was right opposite the northern end of Curl Curl Beach. I am not even sure my wife looked at it twice. It was was not the prettiest house and needed work but it was in such a good location. It seemed to be on the market for a long time and I think at one stage in the campaign they were considering offers over $2 million. It ended up going for $2.480 million
House Two:
This was a good house and advertised in our price range but it was going to go to auction and we both knew it would go for significantly more than originally indicated. It was also hard to convince my wife after she noted it had not been cleaned for the Open House. Funny how much something like this can influence you on how you look at the rest of the maintenance and how it was done. I think this ended up going for $2.875 million
That was a fixed window on the back wall - no breeze and no direct access to the backyard. You had to use the door on the side. It felt to me as if the design blocked the natural flow to the backyard.
This was one of those situations where if the place went for the right price you could knock it down and put up something really interesting. The building itself was a mess with foundation problems and major subsidence. After the Open House I realised the site costs alone meant this was never going to be financially viable. Initial estimates were at below $2 million but it ended up going for $2.1 million. You could not do anything but bulldoze this one. Someone with the cash and the right architect will absolutely nail this project.
This house was only about five houses up from the last one. It presented really well and had a really good feel about it. The steps up to the house though were a major concern. If we had friends or family over and anyone was carrying something or someone was a little older they were going to struggle considerably - even getting the shopping up to the house would have been a issue.
There were another 20 or so stairs down the side of the garage at the bottom of the property just to get to street level.
The trade off of course was the view. It eventually sold for $2.850 million.
https://www.realestate.com.au/property/48-curl-curl-pde-curl-curl-nsw-2096
I was still working in the city at this stage and as any resident of the northern beaches will tell you the traffic into the city just continues to get worse. Like many people in Sydney I was commuting for nearly two hrs a day to a good paying job that no longer excited or challenged me.
And . . . you know what kept jumping into my consciousness . . .
Noosa . . .
The Sunshine Coast with Noosa’s Main Beach, Little Cove, Sunshine and Sunrise Beaches just kept bobbing up. They were so gorgeous and tugging at our heart strings. We had only seen a little but were also intrigued by Castaways and Marcus Beach and loved the village feel of Peregian Beach. This was the lure. This was the idea we kept coming back to.
Noosa . . .
Why couldn’t we do it. What was really stopping us. Every time we turned around we read another newspaper article of couples selling up in the city and setting themselves up in regional or coastal areas. So many examples of what we are considering were being presented to us it was almost like a sign.
I was still working in the city at this stage and as any resident of the northern beaches will tell you the traffic into the city just continues to get worse. Like many people in Sydney I was commuting for nearly two hrs a day to a good paying job that no longer excited or challenged me.
And . . . you know what kept jumping into my consciousness . . .
Noosa . . .
The Sunshine Coast with Noosa’s Main Beach, Little Cove, Sunshine and Sunrise Beaches just kept bobbing up. They were so gorgeous and tugging at our heart strings. We had only seen a little but were also intrigued by Castaways and Marcus Beach and loved the village feel of Peregian Beach. This was the lure. This was the idea we kept coming back to.
Noosa . . .
Why couldn’t we do it. What was really stopping us. Every time we turned around we read another newspaper article of couples selling up in the city and setting themselves up in regional or coastal areas. So many examples of what we are considering were being presented to us it was almost like a sign.
These issues were all loosely linked in our minds and continued to contribute to the overall feeling of claustrophobia in Sydney. We needed our quiet space, our chance to reinvigorate.
What would it take for us to make this leap of faith?
Actually all it took my wife to articulate the obvious - "If we don’t do it now we never will".
Actually all it took my wife to articulate the obvious - "If we don’t do it now we never will".
So, we made the decision. It was not really that big a deal. Once it was actually made everything else started to fall into place.
I do have one card up my sleeve. I do not have to jump without safety net. I know not everyone will have this luxury. I have over 6 months holiday and long service leave saved up. We figure if we give ourselves 6 months to give it a good hard crack and if we really stuff it up we can always come back with our tail between our legs and jump back into our old life.
I do have one card up my sleeve. I do not have to jump without safety net. I know not everyone will have this luxury. I have over 6 months holiday and long service leave saved up. We figure if we give ourselves 6 months to give it a good hard crack and if we really stuff it up we can always come back with our tail between our legs and jump back into our old life.
But here's the thing though - this is the absolute last thing we want to do.
So, we are looking forward with a confidence and a misplaced bravado that has held us in good stead so far.
So, we are looking forward with a confidence and a misplaced bravado that has held us in good stead so far.
