When we moved to our rural town 16 years ago, we didn't expect the house market to go up so drastically on the coast. Half an hour away, house prices have rocketed - whilst our place has tripled in value, oceanside houses have gone up ten times the amount.
| Our House Now | Our House in 2009 |
Still, we are fed up being inland, and whilst we adore our house and garden, and the five acres we have, we want to be closer to the ocean. If you know me, you'd know why this is important.
Today we went looking at houses. We're yet to put ours on the market, but we wanted to see what was out there.
In a nutshell, nothing under the 1 million AUD mark. We need to have a few hundred left over from the sale of our house so we could renovate and build a shed, but the thought of doing this makes us a little tired. Do we even have it in us? Is it worth it?
And our property is so beautiful. I love it so much and it'll be a tug to leave it. I woke up in the night thinking of my fruit trees, my chickens!
After eliminating a few houses which were either above our price range (we can't afford an extra 500 k even if the view is gorgeous) we got it down to two properties.
Of course, I can't tell you the address, so assume that the two properties below are under fake addresses.
a) Olive Street
| Pro | Con |
|---|---|
| Price | Would need to renovate to our liking |
| Great walking distance to shops & river | Ugly |
| Has a 6 x 5 shed | Quite suburban street |
| Price | |
| Faces north/south |
This house is kinda old. It's been a rental for quite a few years. It's solid enough, but would need some walls coming down and it's quite small - much smaller than Orange Street.
b) Orange Street
| Pro | Con |
|---|---|
| Gorgeous house | Faces east/west |
| Barely needs anything doing to it | No garage |
| Has a small underneath car space on slab - can be shed? | Long walk to shops/beach - would always drive |
| Tucked away, private | Is there enough sun for veggies? |
| Kids grow up | Kids next door (both sides) |
| Solid, well designed house | Hotter in summer - faces wrong way for passive heat/cool |
| Woodburner, reverse cycle | |
| Two bathrooms |
The biggest issue I have is the direction it's facing, and the lack of the shed. But we'd hardly have to do anything to it until we decided to - yes, blinds for the heat, and I'd redo the kitchen before long, but that would be easy. The second biggest issue is building a shed or carport for the Land Rovers, and we'd have to spend money on that.
The area we are looking at has had a huge growth. There will be no extra houses built as it all buts onto forest reserve. House prices can only go up. It's one of the most expensive places you can buy, but it's an area we have our heart set on.
We will definitely be compromising on the amount of garden space we have, but with the beach nearby and the bushland a 20 second walk away, it's going to be far better for playing.
I'd love to know your thoughts/encouraging words!
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