On the market

[bunyip]

We have been in our place for 17 years and with developments happening around us have decided to sell up and move a bit further afield.
Plenty of places for sale and we have been rezoned from rural to residential so we are looking at developers to buy the place and turn it into a housing estate that I don't want to be near.
A neighbour approached us and offered $300K cash, I know you are hard up says he, why do people assume the worst, told him it is on the market for $1.2M but we will listen to reasonable offers.
Will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks and I dread the move as I have an idea of just how much machinery and equipment I have collected over this time, none of it lightweight.
So if anyone is interested, about 80km from Melbourne (about the size of Chicago I am told), close to the water, good fishing, rough seas, pleasant weather most of the year.
Place we are looking at has 4 bedrooms and is on 20 acres, two water tanks and a permanent dam, big arena, cross country course, horse shelters and pretty new fencing with two runs of electric fencing, 11 paddocks and a lot of shedding and a workshop, undercover area for the horsefloat and caravan and room for 6 cars (we have 5, 6 when daughter II comes home for a few days), plenty of room for the tractor and implements away from prying eyes but I will put in cameras if we get it.
If it doesn't sell we really don't care but would prefer to move out a bit more.

 

[Wagtail]

The place you're looking at, is still to the East of Melbourne/Frankston... Gipsland Highlands?

 

[bunyip]

10km up the road, fairly, well, very flat about 15km East of Westernport Bay in Yanathan which is a district not a town, we would get to keep the PO Box in town.
Area is mainly dairy and beef with a few racing stables thrown in, daughter would probably run a riding school.

 

[plowhog]

Good luck and I hope you achieve your goals!! Moving is always a mixture of excitement of the future and drudgery of actually doing it.

 

[bunyip]

It is the latter I dread but the prospect of being surrounded holds no appeal for us, the price of progrss I suppose.
When we moved in this seemed an unlikely event in our lifetime or our childrens.

 

[Molalla1]

It is the latter I dread but the prospect of being surrounded holds no appeal for us, the price of progrss I suppose.
When we moved in this seemed an unlikely event in our lifetime or our childrens.

Sound like you will do all right on your sale . . . don't know how old you are (I am 76) and how many acres you are selling, but I went from 180 acres to 12, 20 years ago or so, I'm glad I did . . .

 

[bunyip]

Going from 5 to 20 as we have outgrown here, 69 and retiring this year maybe, retired twice b efore and didn't like it, now enduring incompetent management who tell me how to do my job but have no concept of how it is done.
I could move further out and get 50 for less money but being within 30 minutes of a decent size town appeals.

 

[Alien]

Cant go too far from hospitals/doctors at our age.
My wife and I love our bush block (40 acres) as it looks after itself. We only have to care for a few acres around the house. We thought of shifting a number of times because the house is older and my wife would like something more up to date and I want a new shed.
Renovating doesn't turn me on as it would still have old plumbing etc.
At this point we may bulldoze it and build a new one as she doesn't want to leave her gardens and koalas and kookaburras whom she adores.
We thought of renting this one and building close by but I dont want anyone else nearby.
Then bunyip, as you say, there is all that machinery to move too.
We are very lucky that we have a good bore that supplies our water needs and few places offered have that now.
That is worth $50,000 around here alone.
Anyway, whatever decision you make I trust it works out for the best for you and yours.

 

[Stimw]

I did basically what you are planning 4 years ago.
I lived on 2 acres for 18 years and it became miserable with new development, traffic and people.
I bought 10 acres with 4 bedroom 2600 sqft house 50 miles away that is wide open area and is 25 miles from Veterans Hospital.
I sold my old place for a substantial profit!
Moving all my junk was the toughest part. I was making the 100 mile round trip 2-3 times a day with truck and trailer.
I had a 40' X 60' X 14' Red Iron building put up for $40,000. I don't regret the move, I am so much better off and have a lot of cash in the bank!

 

[bunyip]

This place is 20-45 minutes from 7 largish towns that have all the facilities we want, Melbourne is about 1.5 hours not that we ever go there unless something special is on, lots of tourists to the west of us and we are on a main thoroughfare, wasn't that way when we moved in, the new place is off the main route but on a main but not major road, local traffic only and stops at night.
Had no idea how much machinery I had acquired but I look at my woodworking machinery, tablesaw, jointer, thicknessser, two bandsaws, chisel morticer, spindle molder and this is just a hobby, forgot the lathe and the scroll saw plus all the dust extraction, then there are the tractor implements, two caravans, two trailers, horse float.
I'm feeling tired just thinking about it then there is the furniture with 6 big wall units, real hernia material.
I think I will need another shed or better still an aircraft hangar and she will still take over and fill it up, forgot my 14' kayak and the stand it sits on, a few bikes, 30 ton wood splitter, chainsaws, ride on mower and other gardening gear.
Reckon it will take a year to move.
Maybe we could buy the road and close it off and avoid the move...

 

[Sigarms]

As usual, I'm a little confused.

1.2 million dollars for 5 acres?

 

[4570Man]

As usual, I'm a little confused.

1.2 million dollars for 5 acres?

That’s what I was thinking. It doesn’t hurt to dream I guess. If the developer makes it into 1/4 acre lots that’s 60,000 per lot before you factor in the land lost for roadways and the expensive of the project. Is there anywhere in the country approaching 100k for a 1/4 acre lot in a residential setting?

 

[bunyip]

That's the going rate, subdivide into 4 lots with services and expect to pay $400k+, one lot will have the existing home and should realise about $700 so spend $100k on services and sell at a $500k profit over a 2 year period.
Move closer to the city by 20km and those prices double.
Move inland 500km and expect about $250k.
Around the coast is not cheap, 1/4 acrre lots here are 250k, in the suburbs 450k upwards, you want 1/4 acre close to the city 1m would be cheap.
NSW is more expensive again along the coast, inland no one wants.
I am not a developer and can live withouy the heartache of doing it myself plus we want to buy now.
Like USA prices vary wildly but the current median price for a 3br home on 1/8 acre is over 600k.

 

[bunyip]

Ntional averages don't tell a lot but some examples of prices on eveeryday items
1litre milk $1
loaf bread $1-4 depending on quality
fuel diesel $1.60 litre unleaded $1.30-1.70 lpg 70c litre
electricity 1.40kwh plus 1.30 daily supply charge this varies in different areas
firewood 350 tonne
cars wifes hyundai i30 25k not base model my hyundai tucson 35k
toyota landcruiser 100k+
holden or ford 6cyl about 45k
24 stubbies beer 330-375ml $50+
bottle scotch/bourbon $50 good one $100+
annual rates/taxes on property $2k
insurance our cars about 650 each home and contents 1200ish public liability 600
health insurance varies but being a vietnam vet I don't need it but others expect at least 1000
tyres for my car 1000 michelins
steak, porterhouse 40 kg round 15kg sausages 10kg
potatoes 6-8 5kg
blackberry spray 70 1 litre roundup about the same
visit to dr about 80, cardiologist 500
dentist mortgage the house
physio 80 session
lobster 100 kg
prawns 20-40 kg
my bx2370 with fel 20k
18' caravan used 25k
hay, round bale 100+
lucern square bale 20


Now I am out of bed and on a real computer, I hate tablets.
Median house prices albeit 2016 but still a good indicator, it seems that we pay a lot more here than what you do but then what does a median reflect?
Australian House Prices
It's like the averages, have a bucket of boiling water and a bucket of freezing water, one foot in each and on average you are quite comfortable.
I can take you to a town that is about an hour away from us where you can buy a 3 bedroom home for under $200k, you could but I wouldn't as the town has one of the highest crime rates in the State and a lot of drug users, stop at a traffic light and they will teal your wheel nuts, conversely you can have a 2 bedroom apartment in the city for a mere $5M and it comes with a parking space in the basement, an extra park is about another $300k.
We looked at a property 2 hours away, bit remote on 50 acres $700K but very rough roads in and bushfire prone, I liked it but logic dictated it was not for me.
The 20 acres we are looking at would be quite low maintenance, all flat with a large arena and the 'spare' paddocks would be used for haying, a few shade trees for the horses but about the only work would be mowing the driveway and we could even let the horses out to do that just as we do now, the only mowing I do is between the fence and the road.
I looked at the USA median price and it showed about $220K, does that mean I could move to Beverley Hills?
The figures are very rubbery and here are influenced by a lot of factors such as rainfall, services, proximity to towns, type of soil, we are fortunate to have everything in our favour which accordingly dictates what a sale price will be, I could sell and buy a few hundred thousand acres in South Australia but it would be desert, ants and snakes and one sheep per 10 acres.
Our rezoning will allow one acre blocks and 5 acres will only yield 4 with services, people want 1 acre blocks, wannabe farmers, a pony and a big shed or an interstate trucker with somewhere to park his rig when he is home, not allowed to park on the street in suburbia, the 1/4 acre block has all but gone and now they are half that size, I couldn't stand it, fart in bed and the neighbours complain about the noise.
I am still active and ride my bike when I can, at least twice a week, sail most weeks when it is warmer, kayak in the bay chasing sharks and snapper for food, one knee is not what it used to be but it gives me something to whine about, I figure I survived the armed forces, 20 years working in prisons, Vietnam, mother in laws cooking, what more can you throw at me.
Everything is relative.