'We could buy a million dollar house looking over the marina and enjoy life!' we gush over wine. 'Why renovate again! Life is too short!'. And this sounds like a fabulous idea - why not? We could stretch the budget. Jamie's got about ten years worth of work life left in him, and we could easily Air BNB a house like that. Did you know you can even rent your house out to porn companies for quite a bit of money? Goodness. But it's Tasmania, and the goosebumps, you know. All ethical concerns aside.
But we're not sure it's us, and houses like that are going for 150 - 300K over the list price. A million dollar house could end up 1.3 million. There's no way we can afford that.
So there's a few options on the table. The houses below could be sold before I even publish this, things are moving so fast down there.
The Million Dollar House
For 1 to 1.3 million you could end up with a house like this one. Kettering is about 20 minutes drive from Hobart, and has a stunning marina. It's just near Bruny Island. The kitchen is - um, purple? Nothing a lick of paint won't fix.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Beautiful house | Expensive |
| Sea Views | Still needs renovations to get to what we would really think is 'us' |
| Easy to AirBNB in high season | Land is sloping - hard for cars etc |
| OMG the views | Garden would be interesting - exposed, hilly |
| Close to world class marina | Not a particular fan of the style of house |
| Right on walking trails, close to shops etc, short drive to Hobar | Last house on this road went for 1.3 - 200 k over list price |
Dodges Ferry
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Close to Beach | Block is a reasonable size |
| Could have money left over to renovate | Ugly house |
| Easy to AirBNB in high season | Dont' like the house much |
| Close to surf beach | Would need to renovate some |
| commutable to Hobart | Flat block is boring |
| Reasonable price - money left over | |
| Could accomodate family over from mainland | Do we really like the area? |
Snug
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Beautiful house | Expensive |
| No views | Still needs renovations to get to what we would really think is 'us' |
| Possible to Air BNB | Expensive - it will go for more than 985 k |
| Five sheds, a studio, a double carport, rainwater storage and lots of space | Not really our style |
| New build | - |
| Good location - only a k from beach | - |
| Great to have family over from mainland | - |
Garden Island Creek
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very close to water | NOt over keen on the house |
| Liveable | Not a dream house |
| Secluded | Tiny house - can't have guests |
| Very affordable and lots of cash left over | Garden is too small |
| Not a bad little house | Too far from Hobart? |
| Money left over | Um - rising sea levels? |
Tinderbox
This is my favourite, but it worries me somewhat. Could we afford it? ARe we getting too old to look after a property like that? Is the house TOO tiny to be practical? This is the one I wanted you to see, 
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| OMG look at location | Affordable - to a point |
| Sea Views | We'd need to build - can we afford that on top of 750K? |
| Cute and liveable | Who's going to pick the olives? |
| Secluded | Tiny house - can't have guests |
| Easy to build garden/raised beds | We would need to build more amenities eg sheds |
| Could already live there - we are used to tiny spaces | |
| Money left over if we don't build | Can't afford to build |
And then there's the Huon Valley and Cygnet, which have some nice houses that woudl be great for permaculture gardens BUT I wanted to be close to the sea again, and so did Jamie. There's also some okay places just inland but they'd need renovation and we'd end up with the same kind of house we started with here, which took a lot of work to make beautiful. Say this one below - you can see how much work it'd need but it's only 500K, so maybe we could renovate easily.
The thing is, currently we have to buy sight unseen which is awful. What if we don't like the vibe of the place? Vibe means a LOT in our world.
I keep thinking we're going to miss out if we don't act soon, but logically that's stupid. I guess the best thing is would be just to move there and stay on my friend's land in a caravan (she has ten acres about half an hour from Hobart) and get Jamie set up with work, and then we have more freedom to look around to find the right place. FOMO is hard, but logic means that we WILL find the right property for us. At the moment, NONE of these properties are really speaking to me.
Boomer Bay
Oh, apart from this one, but that's an hour from Hobart and not in the area we want to live - AND it's over 900k. Sigh. But it's pretty perfect, don't you think? It's got land, sheds, views, everything - and is our style of house. But Jamie woudl have to work and the commute is way too far!
So, ultimately, I have to wait til my crypto portfolios moons....and that would have to be a lot, as I dont have a LOT invested. Sigh. I have expensive taste.
Please advise!
**Note ALL of the images are taken from Domain.com.au and are linked in the subheadings.