My uncle had to sell a modest 3 bed fibre shack in the back streets in Cronulla back in the mid-1980s when he & wife retired. He moved to Tewantin which was just being developed. Some friends & brother-in-law moved too when they did their sums. Early sea-changers. He couldn't afford to live in his own home. When his rates hit $2,500 (~$7,000 today) and his insurance was huge, he sold up. Sold the house fully furnished including whitegoods and bought all new furniture & whitegoods at Tewantin. New house came fully finished (garden, lawn etc.). Drove his old Laser up with all their personal belongings. Then traded it in for a new car. Lived happily for another 20+ years debt free, much, much smaller living expenses, little to no maintenance and never needed to replace any white or electrical goods.
I was one of the silly people who bought real estate in the 80âs and 90âs in outer west . Most said I was crazy ! Why not move closer to cbd ? The house YOU live in isnât an investment the same as rental . But Iâve done much the same by staying in modest area . Mind you itâs not all that modest now !! Even the Blue mountains are over $800k . Who would have thought 10 years ago ?
Real estate has gone crazy! We've lived in the same bay-side house south of Melbourne for over 40 years.
A few months ago we were staying on the Capricorn Coast of QLD & looked in a Yeppoon estate agents window to fill in time while waiting to get a new battery fitted to a watch.
For what we'd get for our home we could afford two luxury almost brand new 4 bedroom, 2 car garage homes on large blocks of land.
Nice place for a holiday but wouldn't want to live there.
Surely the Sydney/Melbourne real estate bubble must burst soon?
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Good luck if youre in that position but the problem for those of us who have always lived in these so called cheaper areas is that we have not had the opportunity to sell what are often ordinary homes in ordinary places for millions of dollars. We are getting priced out of the market by cashed up people moving out of the rat race or buying houses as an investment. Not a problem for those of us who already own our homes because it also pushes up the value of our properties but for the first home buyers it is becoming almost impossible to get into the market. If as you say DD the bubble does burst then people who live in Sydney & Melbourne who have borrowed heavily to buy their homes will face a disaster similar to what happened to buyers in the US during the GFC. As I said good luck to those who are benefiting from the huge increase in property values but keep in mind there are many others for whom it is only making life harder such as the renters and couples who will both have to work for many years just to pay their mortgage.
The whole banking system is different here to U.S . Our local councils etc got cought up in investing in bad loans . Which is what set the whole banking collapse in US off . Real Estate in east coast cities is a matter of supply and demand .
Sydney is obviously expensive most really nice areas in oz are crazy prices ,we like probably most here bought homes quite a few years ago,and we.Can cash them in for serious dollars but the big losers are the young ones ,with 400K mortgages,I think it's sad when you look at the prices in America 300K buys a really nice home 200K buys a nice home from what I have observed ,how can the average person on wages support That kind of debt they are the losers in this overpriced society poor things...
We're never going to realize the massive value of our home because we're never going to sell it, therefore we're only rich on paper.
Bought in '74 & paid off in '85, we still love spending a total of 6 months per year living in it & a total of 6months per year away traveling. The perfect life balance for us.
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Cheers Keith & Judy
Don't take life too seriously, it never ends well.
Trip Reports posted on feathersandphotos.com.au Go to Forums then Trip Reports.
RonD. My kids generation want the lot up front. All the houses in my street growing up were post war 2 bedroom rough-cast dwellings. When the 3rd or 4th kid came along an extra room or a sleepout was added. Our first house when married was a tiny very functional 3 bedroom. No ensuite. Now the first house has 4 bedrooms, ensuite, all w-I-robes, kitchen, dining, lounge and rumpus rooms. 2 or 3 car garage and space for massive fridges and tv. - dont forget the home cinema.
There are those who say you should put yourself into serious debt and buy everything up front and enjoy all your nIck-jacks up front while you are still young. I think you call those people money lenders or bankers or something that rhymes with banker.
Many of my kids friends are what is called 'underemployed'. That is where their total shifts for the week are only 20 to 30 hours. It seems to be becoming the norm these days. (Makes them the working poor) Stems from corporate greed. Virtually impossible for them to get even a cheap mortgage. This kinda lends to their thinking of spend it all now. Borrow for the car, holiday, good times, live for now. I don't agree with that thinking but I can see their side of it.
Cheers, John.
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The young one's paying off everything they have, actually think that they're rich & try to impress their circle of friends with all ''their possessions''.
They don't realize that they actually OWN NOTHING, the bank owns it all.
When interest rates rise as they inevitably will they'll sink like a stone.
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Cheers Keith & Judy
Don't take life too seriously, it never ends well.
Trip Reports posted on feathersandphotos.com.au Go to Forums then Trip Reports.
A nice house in popular area in US is going to cost also . But then my brother bought a house just before GFC . Lucky to get his money back now . Even after spending at least $100k in renovations, insulation, heating . As itâs in Naperville Illinois . Young want everything now . Butlers kitchen etc . Btw 400k mortgage ? Doing well to have one that small on first home !! As most houses are 700k plus to be within 2 hours from work or CDB .
A relative of mine (same age as me) in Sydney bought a small unit as her first purchase in 1970s. Something affordable. Then bought a larger unit many years later and rented out the smaller one. Then finally bought a reasonable house in nice area, renovated it ready for the arrival of children whilst still renting out the two units. Now sold all three and moved into a nice unit and happy in retirement.
120k house 20 years ago is worth $800k now . Thatâs in outer west .
$36,000 bay-side suburb Melbourne house near the beach bought 40 years ago, now worth $1,100,000+.
Three developers chaffing at the bit to demolish house & build two double story luxury townhouses on the land. Had another offer last week, not selling.
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Cheers Keith & Judy
Don't take life too seriously, it never ends well.
Trip Reports posted on feathersandphotos.com.au Go to Forums then Trip Reports.
In mid 1966 in Ballarat, parents bought a nice brick veneer for $14,000 that was a few years old. Modern and large for it's time.
Same time, uncle bought a basic post war fibrous sheet in Cronulla also for $14,000. In the mid 1980s he got way over $100,000.
My parents house was worth just $28,000 at the time and sold just recently for $240,000.
Scanning realestate guides, the Cronulla property is worth about $1,500,000 (less 30 years of outrageous rates).
My place near Penrith I built it new for 64k in 1982 . Over $800k now . Not so much location as long as your with in 1 hour or close to public transport To CBD . House blocks are looked at to build granny flats to rent out . It is about accomodation these days more than lifestyle !! Depending if investment property ??
-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Thursday 30th of November 2017 04:42:54 PM
My house is a 2 minute walk from Lake Macquarie and 5 minutes drive from the white sand surfing beaches of the Pacific Ocean, in just over 30 minutes I can be at a concert in the Hunter vineyards or bush walking in the forests of the Watagans. If I really need to I can get by car to Sydney in 80 minutes but I never go there unless its to a major sporting event or maybe in a shuttle bus to the airport, personally I wouldnt buy a house in Sydney if they were half of their current value. Negotiating Sydneys traffic every day would drive me round the twist even driving around in Newcastle is stressful enough. Ill probably never make millions from my property but like DD I dont intend to sell it because to me lifestyle is far more important than numbers on a piece of paper.
I have lived in Sydney for 60 + years. I have 8 older siblings who referred to me as the dumb one. My wife and I worked 7days a week to keep a roof over our heads. We brought an old two bed full brick dump that no one would take on. A home that was unfit to live in 35 years back. We slept on a matterest on the floor. Our two babies in a cot beside us. The whole block was covered in privet and Funnel web spiders. In my best season I killed them by the dozens. My siblings called us a pair of fools. We turned it into our home, with recycled brick by brick. Painting till 2am, night on, night off. As my business grew, we expanded our home. We added two extra bedrooms and a second bathroom with second loo. The kids and lambie wanted a pool. Every five years we added to it, with borrowing's from the bank. I finally built myself my dream cave. All on 750sm block. We have agents begging us to sell for top dollar.
Its our achievement. And we will continue to live in it, and leave it for our kids.
All our hard work has paid off for us. My staff have taken the helm, with a buyout of our interest. You get out of life, what you put into it.
My body achs, the Arthrightis is in my hands. I still wouldn't have it any other way.
Now its our time, to enjoy the fruits of our labour in retirement.
Yep although while working I had 3 homes . Sold one to pay mortgage . The first 8 months living here in flat in Harris Park . We didnât have a fridge in that time . We had two baby children at the time . These hard beginnings is what made us tuffer and wanting to succeeed !!
My parents bought modest (read small & cheap, 2 bedrooms, ~10sqrs) just after WW2 then built on it. My dad was a bit of a handyman but not when it came to big stuff. He was a clerk by day and a musician by night. He used to take on extra gigs then hire a tradie to do what he couldn't. Lot of "you supply music at my function and I'll upgrade your house wiring" going on.
Did similar myself although I worked overtime when I needed money to do something I couldn't do. However these days the person who makes good is the Tax man. Tax on my overtime and tax on the trade. Can't barter as easily these days.
Very much depends on where and how you got brought up. Grandparents making most of things due to being effected by WW1 & the Depression and parents effected by WW2. My kids generation have no concept of that and probably never will. I think we look after them because we can. I'm planning not to leave too much to my kids. They have everything they need. Both professional jobs and both earning more that I did (inflation adjusted). That's why I'm liking my SKI trips (Spending the Kids Inheritance). As long as I leave enough cash for a cheap funeral and a great wake, they'll be happy.
To put this into some perspective after 3 months of living in a hotel room in Oman I will finally move into my just completed villa today. The villa is 3 stories in a complex with 72 others all with the same layout there is a pool, gym, clubhouse, 24/7 security and maintenance. I have 7 bedrooms all with ensuites, the floors, stairways and bench tops are all some sort of polished stone, there are at least 10 split systems scattered throughout. I have balconys on both sides on each level with a fenced courtyard all round, a double carport as well as parking for visitors. They told me yesterday that if I wanted to buy it would cost me OMR150,000 (A$480,000) or the cost to lease it OMR600/month (A$2000). They will supply a cleaner who does the place inside and out twice a week and will even wash my car - cost an extra OMR40 (A150/month) so if you think paying a couple of million for some ordinary weatherboard home because its in Sydney is good value go for it I wont be in the crowd bidding against you. By the way I can also get a new car over here for around 60% of what I would have to pay in Oz because the government is not hammering people with all the same taxes and charges.
Yea I have to say youâve ( we) have already worked and made a little nest egg . Young ones have a pretty good income . BOTH work in most cases ! Most woman / wives wouldnât put up with crappy house or conditions like our did !! The money in cities is still there to earn or at least advance your work .. Most earn up to 3k a week combined income . So 700 - $900 a week mortgage is what they pay . To have nice home weather itâs old and renovated or new . Good on them they will achieve in the long run too !!
We purchased our recently sold home in the lower Blue Mountains some 40 years ago for $42000 and sold it for $750000 a month ago buying into a 15 year old over 55s villa complex for $760000 and to our surprise the one next to us has sold this week for $825500, got to wonder where it will stop.
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It has slowed down though . Itâs not just Sydney . Our 220 acre dairy farm which my father bought for 40k in 70âs . My bro . Just sold for $6m ., In the middle of Waikato nr Hamilton NZ . Prices have increased there too !!
