Living on Acreage

Looking to upgrade our own PPOR hopefully later this year and am after people's thoughts about acreage living, from those who are doing it/have done it/are intending to. Have wanted to do this for a while now, but am finally biting the bullet and making a (shock horror!) lifestyle decision and even selling off some IP's to realise the dream. After all, I'm not getting any younger and wish to enjoy the benefits sometime soon.....

All discussion welcome! I'm learning about new things I'd never heard of until recently such as Envirocycles and Pump-Outs. Fascinating stuff!

Carl, I'm sure you'll be able to help me out here with things to be aware of when looking? Look forward to reading yours and others pearls of wisdom on this topic.....

 

Jacque,

You and my wife Kay must be kindred spirits! She's been on to me for a while about our acreage living lifestyle change. She wants to buy, in her words: "a big soggy block of land in Middle Earth" (New Zealand). She already owns 40 acres at Bundaberg with permanent surface water but she says this isn't big enough or wet enough. She wants over 100 acres in Kiwiland somewhere that it rains all the time.

Our tropical rainforest block in Narrabeen is only 1,600m2 so is nowhere near being big enough to be self sufficient. Her dream is a hay bale house with a pholto-voltaic array and lots of rain tanks and some sort of viable ongoing plantation. She'd like to think that when the Yanks push just that little bit too hard and Iran or Nth Korea or whomever else drops a nuke on them, that she can just hunker down and ride out the impending collapse of western society as we know it.

She might be onto something but I'm a city boy and like my Nth Narra house. But I'll indulge her dream and let her buy about $1M worth of acreage in NZ as a present after we finish Mona Vale.

Good luck with it and I too will watch this thread with keen eyes.

Cheers,
Michael.

 

Also one of my dreams, I really hate noise, lack of space in the City and want to get an acreage one day. There are some great places in Kenthurst and Dural.. They would be perfect! But cost around 1.2 Million for something worthwhile, so I have a long way to go yet

Best of both worlds, just a crap drive into the City..

I'll also follow this thread with interest..

My dream house

Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au

 

Frank,

Only 2.5 acres. My wife wants 100 times that size block!

You won't find that within commute distance to Sydney...

Cheers,
Michael.

 

I did think about it back in the days I wanted to be a winegrower.

My back injury has put paid to those dreams but I still enjoy watching landline now and then.

The biggest drawback is the kids. At the least I would be a taxi driver heading into town nearly everyday for their activities and socialising - two teen daughters means this isn't a little deal!

 

Check out the future zoning - my sister had 5 acres at Kellyville, was forced to sell to local council, finished up with 1/2 acre, lost their tennis court and finished up with 5 neighbours looking into their backyard.

Also buy a ride on mower.

Rgds

Kevinb

 

Michael,

Maybe you can suggest to Kay that Tassie may be an option. You can get big bits of dirt, some within commuting distance to Hobart, and no pesky Kiwis eek:) to deal with. It's probably a bit drier than NZ though.

Check out
Real Estate SURGES BAY Tasmania property ID #31131
Real Estate LIFFEY Tasmania property ID #45591
Real Estate ST MARYS Tasmania property ID #41935
Real Estate ALONNAH Tasmania property ID #40444
Real Estate NORTH SCOTTSDALE Tasmania property ID #39248

John.

 

Thanks mate,

I've forwarded her a link to your post. That should set her off daydreaming for a while...

Cheers,
Michael.

 

Thats way too much

I only want 2-10.. Enough for a big house, close to city (well 45kms), no noise and plenty of room for kids, dogs etc.. Not that I have any yet

 

No worries. Only doing my bit to help keep prices in Tasmania moving upward

I've actually just had a closer look at the second one on my list. You can tell Kay not to worry about that one, it's....ummmm....already taken <John rushes off to see if he can raise $300K in a hurry>

John.

 

Jacque,

I thought you wanted to buy a PPOR on the northern beaches? What's going on?

 

Hi Jacque,
We are currently living on 2.5 acres and it has been the BEST decision we ever made. We are on tank water, Econocycle sewerage etc. Where are you looking? Are you looking to build?

Let me know if I can help with any info you may require.

Regards
Andrew
ps the joy of the 'Ride-On Mower' has definately worn off!

 

Jacque,

I owned 1.5 acre in the Adelaide Hills some time ago. The place was set in the middle of 83 acres of orchards (not mine = lucky me !!!) with a botanical garden. I could walk around orchards and had an access to four huge dams and a lot of fresh apples and pears.
Living in the country (say 30 km to CDB) may be considered by many as very enjoyable. The other side is, that such a place requires a lot of work !!. Our place was pretty small but almost every weekend we were very busy doing something around it. If you can find a property where there is not much work around, you may enjoy yourself.
After almost 6 years of fun and hard work we sold it with a bit of regret...at that time....
Having big property, you may get visitors / friends with kids almost every weekend (what means extra work for you not for them), and be surprised how many friends do you really have!
But if big acreage is your dream - go for it but be prepared that not every day is going to be enjoyable.

 

Tropo

Part of my goal to own an acreage also requires having enough money to employ part time gardners to keep the place in good condition.. Maintenance every weekend would get very old very quickly

If I couldn't afford this I wouldn't do it.. Unless I had alot of spare time

 

Wow! Such a lot of responses in such a short time- obviously there are more of us who desire living on a bit of land!

Michael: Yes, we must be kindred spirits- though you do happen to currently live in another part of Sydney that I also love Now if I could just find a few acres by the beach in my price range......

Frank: I know exactly where that property is (my area after all) and can tell you that it's further than I'm prepared to go. Tis a lovely house and setup, though..... hubby drooled over that until I found out the address....

Glebe: I do love the beaches! However, it has become a "retirement" plan, for both practicality purposes (see Simon's logic about children on this one!) and also so we can enjoy our ocean view when we have more time to ourselves

Tropo: Your post made me laugh about the extra visitors! I come from a large family so having 20 for lunch is more common than most people for us! A few acres might serve to be a great noise muffler!!!

AndyB: Would love to learn from your experiences! Whereabouts are your acres and how long have you lived on them? No doubt I will have loads of questions so thanks for the offer- you could be sorry

I just love shared knowledge like this!!

 

Frank
I agree with you. Part time gardener may be a good idea

Jacque,
I would say that you are well set to own at least 100 acres...

 

Hi Jacque,

we have just moved onto 1.5 acres and trust me, it's plenty ! New ride-on mower the latest boy-toy, dogs think they now live at the puppy park, we have planted over 500 plants in 4 months, started a vegie garden, with also herbs half a dozen citrus trees, planting a rainforest which is doing well, raising earthworms, 3 compost bins, ..... The days start at 5am watering the new plants to get them established. Thankfully we are just under 20klms east of Brisbane in the Redlands Shire and we can still hand hose 3 days per week, although we have put in rainwater tanks.

My advice, having done a similar thing about 15 years ago on much bigger inland block, is, buy where there is the climate you like (ie cooling sea breezes, or whatever), good soil is a must (otherwise the disappointment of watching things die or just not flourish is devastating), good water availability is vital (even more so than ever with the ever increasing restrictions and lack of rain).

We had to sell 3 cheapie houses in FNQ to afford this one. Rented out our old PPOR for $1200 p/wk (3klms Bne GPO), and life is very different where instead of being close enough to the neighbours to pass a cup of coffee across the back decks (well, almost !) to being far enough away to not see them if you don't want to. We now wake up to the birds calling, we appreciate the rain unbelievably, take enormous joy in seeing a new little leaf unfolding pushing up from a rhizome we have planted, feel fitter from some physical work, breathe fresh air, eat our own vegies, feel much more relaxed, and enjoying creating our own sanctuary.

Go for it !

Redrobin

 

Maybe there is some demographic thing going on here?

It's my goal to have acreage too, with my global command centre set up... I have to get an architect to draw up the plans when I have the spare money.

I'm thinking Mt Tamborine on the Gold Coast, or the South Island of NZ. NZ is the place to be I estimate if things go seriously pear shaped in the world at some point in my lifetime. Vege garden, few dairy cows, fresh water sources, self contained power, helicopter, jet, local community support.

I have been getting smaller as I have grown up... Raised on 30,000 acres, now I live on 405m2.... Gotta get back to the land one day

 

You have named two magical areas. When I lived in Brisbane I loved visiting the gold coast hinterland; I still have great memories of jumping into the natural arch! Is that still allowed?

We lived in Dunedin in NZ for a year. What a terrific experience that was. The entire South Island of NZ is so scenic. I think everyone should get to Queenstown at least once in their lives. Of course, a private jet or helicopter would make life even better, but that would probably apply anywhere!

Cheers,

Steve P

 

That's inspiring

I'm not much of a green thumb (unfortunately) but I do enjoy gardening when I find the time to do some.
I was also thinking of getting some chickens - nothing beats fresh eggs!

Do you have an Envirocycle fitted as well, Redrobin? Am hearing lots about these recycled water systems.