South Coast NSW Retirement

Hi everyone,

Being in his early 60s My old man is starting to think about his retirement and he has his eyes on the NSW south coast area. Can anyone recommend areas for us to look in and to avoid? ATM he is looking at Vincentia, Culburra beach, Callala bay and beach.

Ive had a look as well and there are alot of little areas down there. can someone give us a bit of insight as to which areas to avoid? We are looking for retirement and family friendly areas and trying to avoid the undesireable areas.

Thanks

 

We spent about 10 days in Vincentia earlier this year (before the lock down) in an airbnb. It's safe, clean, plenty of oldies about looking super happy and it's still quite affordable IMO. Lots of clubs/pubs/sporting fields and the beaches are super clean. There's a new Aldi there, so the place is obviously on the move. We walked and cycled the bike track from Vincentia to Husky and the locals were really friendly with their G'days. I think it would be a lovely retirement destination not too far from Sydney. Around St Georges Basin is a little rougher around the edges, but it will gentrify soon enough, you can already see the beginnings of newer builds and knock-downs happening.

 

We're building just outside Bateman Bay. I can't advise on areas to avoid but I reckon that whole area offers a fantastic lifestyle. I like Bateman's Bay because we can get up to Canberra and the mountains pretty easily for a change from the beach.

 

Get dad to rent in his chosen area for 12 months before buying.
Many find that the idyllic beach lifestyle they envisage is quite different in reality.

 

I think @BuyersAgent could probably help you out. He's always willing to share info on the area.

 

Any of the areas you have mentioned are in the most part really quite good. Some other pockets to stay out of but they are more on the basin. If you are looking a bit further down the coast, Bermagui is magic this time of year

 

Nah I don't share. I just gloat. Left Sydney 12 yrs ago. LURV it. Come on down the water is still warm(ish).

Happy to chat if your old man wants to speak directly get him to call.

Otherwise yes, I love Culburra (am currently sniffing out beachfront for a client and doing a 2 lot subdivision in there) and Callala and Vincentia have good demographics. Callala Beach is better than C Bay. Vincentia and Husky full of well-heeled Sydney retirees. The Sanctuary Pt side (south of V) has a higher VBQ (visible bogan quotient) and lower price real estate, depends a lot on your old man's budget. There are some great pockets there if you know where to look but some cheap streets that are a bit rough and some flood zone to steer clear of as well. Retiring fishos with their boats seem to be loving St Georges Basin near the boat ramp at the moment for example.

Housing quality all up and down the coast is highly variable as local builders in the 70's-90's went from shoddy fishing shack lean to's to good quality solid homes. You can't tell from the internets, need to inspect properly.

There are a bunch of other factors as well but yes he is not alone, people are still heading out of the cities to this region. Improving roads, internet and hospitals are only increasing that trend.

 

I would if i could convince the Mrs lol.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

SWMBO is not something to mess with. Be safe.

 

surf beach?sunshine bay? malua bay? any good?

 

I don't know those areas well enough to say. Our place is at Long Beach but I haven't lived there yet, had lots of holidays. I'm stuck in NZ currently. @BuyersAgent will know alot more.

 

Is your Long Beach property always rented out? I only just started looking around.

 

Haven't quite finished the build yet, will be ready this month. We got rental appraisals done and demand seems strong.

 

I've seen your recent photos... good places to be "stuck"!!! Enjoy and hopefully you can freely cross the ditch asap.

Each of these areas has their various strengths, but "any good?" is a bit broad. What do you want from a property? Are you moving here or is this investment? Need a lot more info to be very helpful.

 

I doubt very much that I will move away from where I live now. Probably as IP. I must admit I’m not very familiar with the south coast. Plan to visit over the next few weeks.

 

All of those suburbs are quite good and I cant see anything undesirable with those areas.

I have a property at Culburra Beach and live down there on the weekends (prior to covid-19). I also spend a bit of time at Callala Bay and Callala Beach.

I might be biased, but I think Culburra Beach has a lot more variety and ammenities compared to Callala Bay/Beach. Culburra Beach has basically got every essential service you need besides a hardware store (which unfortunately closed not so long ago). You could easily live at Culburra Beach without having to leave the area.

I guess the bonus with the Culburra Beach and Callala Bay/Beach area, it’s quite easy to get back to Sydney. I can get back to the Sutherland Shire in 1 hour 40 minutes. Once they complete all of these road upgrades between Berry and Nowra and the bypass around Albion Park, commute times will be even quicker.

 

We are now in Batemans Bay. Not a bad drive from Sydney. Love the Batemans Bay bridge upgrade in progress. A bit quiet in the town today. Saw a place in Catalina and Batemans Bay today. Saw Malua Bay too. Will be back again

 

Oh wow! I'm a bit jealous. You could have gone and checked out our build! Really glad you like the bridge upgrade, I haven't seen it yet.

 

We just got home. The upgrade makes sense and would only make it more attractive for visitors. The blackened trees are turning green. Good signs. Hopefully the state forest will be better managed.

 

Do you guys thinks Batemans Bay and those surrounding suburbs (e.g. Catalina) would be good areas for a $400k IP looking at average rental yield and good capital growth?

Will do a drive down in the next few weeks and have a look