Interested in hearing your thoughts about buying a house in my situation

A pool 40m deep would be too much hassle. Instead I've set up an archery range in the backyard. The neighbours haven't figured it out yet...

 

Thanks Stoffo, that's a great tip! I'll keep that in mind

 

You'd better have something fairly well insulated. Search PC and you will see people go into legal battles because neigbhour's dog barked at the wrong time of the day. And you might have someone who is a professional meditator living next door in your new home. Hell will break loose

Trust me, one of my properties neigbhour complained about tenant's cat walking along the fence and their dog barked and ran along it. The cat just kept doing the catwalk until the canine run of of steam. I thought it was interesting but neigbhour thought otherwise.

 

Not to worry spoon, I've got the cost of soundproofing a room in the moving in budget

 

It's all fun and games until the morning reveille sounds at 5 am

 

Heating bills and isolation are the big worries. Perhaps if you buy along a tourist route

Great idea you only live once You can even airbnb some spare rooms if on a tourist route. Only drawbacks I can see is the huge step up in maintenance, loss of flexibility to lock up and go on extended leave, heating bills and isolation/safety.

 

Looking to build a 4/2/2 to live in in these few coming months, will be living there by myself, not looking forward to furnishing/cleaning/maintaining it, that's for sure.

 

Ditto big house here, 4 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 car garage, 2 balconies and a verandah with only 2 people. But both WFH.
His calls don't disturb mine and vv.
One of the 3 living rooms has become my unicycle home room.

Yes we have a 3 car garage too, but that living room is more convenient. I think to myself, what skill/s do I want to practice, and then, matching the plan, which unicycle/s should I use to ride or practice on?

 

The loss of flexibility is something that I've given a bit of thought to actually! I don't think I'd be as comfortable making a tree change if I was travelling as much for work as I have done previously! The issue now is more around leaving the property locked up when I engage in recreational travel, but that's rarely more than 2-3 weeks away a year so not that high a risk hopefully

The bigger worry (as it is with tree changes) is the bushfire season. I'm not looking for acreage and have inspected properties in suburbs that though wooded, aren't densely forested. I think I'll need to do a bit of self education on this.

The extra maintenance over my current PPOR is of course a real consideration I'm going to have to accept in such a move. Can't win on all fronts

 

Sounds great! May I ask which suburbs you have narrowed it down to? More out of interest to see which areas are seen as desirable tree change location.

On the topic of bushfire/maintenance ive been told to watch out for properties that have large gum trees overhead as they malt alot and leaves/nuts go everywhere, and very hard to get out of gutter. Gutter guards be needed.

 

Great tip, thanks Robbo!

Happy to share where I've narrowed down my search to

My criteria are:

1. On the Eastern/North Eastern side of the city (because of proximity to my social circle)

2. Within +/- 90 minutes door to door to the CBD and surrounds (primary work location)

3. Suburb has sufficient firey/CFA coverage

Having done quite a few weekend and weeknight drives to look at suburbs and houses, I've narrowed it down to Research (might be priced out) and surrounds, including Diamond Creek, Wattle Glen, Kangaroo Ground and Hurstbridge. This gives me decent access to the Eastern suburbs and CBD, have the luxury of decent CFA coverage, and a reasonable block without feeling too close to the neighbours.

I have also looked previously at Belgrave and Emerald where the dollar goes further, so haven't completely ruled them out. Very different suburbs in my opinion though!

 

Hi Y-man, yes Kangaroo Ground feels a bit too rural. I think I'll need to spend a bit more time there to really see if it's for me.

If I'm priced out of Research, Diamond Creek has nice pockets where it doesn't feel too built up, and I like the semi-rural feel of Wattle Glen and Hurstbridge. That said, I'm also conscious that the urban sprawl will keep going and wonder how long it'll be until the paddocks and fields disappear...

 

Some incline is OK to me but too much and the land area feels a bit wasted!

Pre-lockdown number 2 I inspected a nice property in Diamond Creek but didn't put in an offer as it sits on a 25 to 30 degree incline. It's now under offer so evidently not an issue for someone else!