So, we (wife & I, no kids) are planning for a permanent move to Sydney in a couple of years' time. We've been making plans for this since some 10 - 15 years ago, and in that time, our plans have outlasted two 175 visas, and we're now on the new 189 visa, and quite realistically, this is likely our last chance, unless we try for the 188 ... which is a different kettle of fish & a discussion for a different day.

In those 10 years or so, we've sorted out some major bugbears - chief of which has been in deciding on the place where we will be: Sydney. We've bought a couple of properties in Sydney, and will be most likely taking back one of them for our own stay when the time comes. The house in Annandale looks to be the most likely candidate for owner occupier status, with it being a stone's throw from Rozelle Bay and if we strained & stretched our necks a bit, we might even catch a glimpse of the fireworks from the Old Coat Hanger on New Year's Day.

Anyway, now that we've decided on a likely place to stay, a new issue has cropped up. My likely new place of work will be in Campbelltown, a good 50km away from Annandale. That's going to be a 100km to & fro commute daily. It's not feasible to look for another job, because the place where I'll be working is a partnership I've just joined, and I intend to make this business grow. Now, what's a 50-year-young man to do in a situation like this?

I've whittled the myriad options down to 2 possible scenarios:

(a) keep the house in Annandale tenanted, collect the not inconsiderable positive income, and buy a new place some where closer to work (houses in Campbelltown are not exactly cheap anymore, but still only approximately 1/2 to 1/3 the price I paid for the house/land in Annandale) or;

(b) save the $750,000 to $900,000 that a house in Campbelltown would cost (can you flipping believe the prices as listed on domain.com.au!), and plonk the cash down for a 991.2 Porsche 911 Turbo and just enjoy the 50km drive to work and 50km drive back.

Oh, the many first world problems of migrating Down Under...

**** b)

a) all the way.

Australia loves debt, and the more you can accumulate the more Australia loves you.

Keep the Annandale (its got non stop flight noise anyway), buy a farm in Bowral, then buy the Porsche 911, then you commute with little traffic from Bowral to Campbelltown everyday.

When you hit 60 you have the city pad in Annandale (and that lovely non stop flight path) the farm in the country and toy car.

Everyones envy

Can't help with the questions, just wanted to say that you're allowed to have first world problems. When we live in first world countries, it's impossible for us to have any other kind.

Best of luck with your plans xizzles

Have you considered renting in/around Campbelltown? (PS a stone's throw away at Narellan Vale). A Porsche would be a waste, a pushbike would probably be faster

This. I think you'd be crazy to sell a house in Sydney's Inner West. Prices seem stuck on a straight line to infinity, and as transport gets more and more hectic and expensive, more and more people are moving closer to the city.

Do as Beoz suggests - get a decent patch of land somewhere else and enjoy the commute until it becomes simply too painful. Then buy a motorbike...


S

Yep. Gladys has no chance despite the housing affordability pledge. There's only one way to honour that pledge ...... crash the market ..... and she aint gonna do that.

There's also nice little spots between Cambelltown and Borwal like Picton, Appin, etc.

Mind you, with the West Connex stuff only a few years away, that Annandale to Campbelltown commute against those heading to the city might not be such a chore. You will have a choice of M5 or M4/M7 and the West Connex pokes out near Annandale.

Yeah, but it will just grind to a halt there with no substantive changes to the city roads. At the moment West Connex is just going to emerge at the bottom of Newtown, and then there are hundreds of traffic lights between there and the City.

They also need to deal with the mess that is Paramatta Road. It's a parking lot pretty much 24/7 these days.


S

The green tunnel (for King St Newtown) and orange tunnel (for Parramatta Road) are designed to deal with that.



For Annandale, West Connex goes around its northern edge and there are entry points there too.

Thanks much for your ideas & comments guys. Of course, it’s both amazing and not entirely unexpected, to see the discussion take a turn from the question of option (a) or (b) into tunnels and parking lots along Parramatta road. Anything less just wouldn’t be this Forum as we know it. Haha.

Truth be told, between a patch of sheep-feed (cause that's what I'll have to rear to keep the damn lawns mown and tidy) in Bowral or Picton vs plonking the hard earned pennies down for a Porker (Turbo at that, mind you), I already know what She Who Must Be Obeyed would choose.

There's something to be said about Singaporean womenfolk (damn it, I should know, I’ve been married to one for the past 25 years) - they love their properties. And I used to think that buying property was an unnecessarily expensive pastime, but now that the mortgages have been paid and there's a steady stream of rental returns to be had (both in Singapore and in Australia), as much as I'd hate to admit it, perhaps Her Majesty was on to something good after all. And she bought well too, judging from the capital gains and rental returns (not to mention the taxes paid to the ATO) we've enjoyed in the past decade.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bat an eyelid to put in a good bid for a house in, say the right side (north of the rail line) of Marrickville, Dulwich Hill (near the light rail stop) or Glebe – though with that behemoth and right royal eyesore that's the Harold Park development at the old tram station and with the prices pushed through the stratosphere by Chinese money of questionable hygiene, I might hesitate on the last locale somewhat.

However, there's where our collective expertise end - well, her expertise anyway: I just cough up the cash. We have En Eff Eye about properties in Bowral or Picton or Appin. That entire area is just one large patch of "Say what?" and "Say where?" to us. Maintaining a farm or a big-arsed piece of land and shovelling the stuff that comes out of the other end of the lawn-mowing sheep might also be a little above and beyond the capabilities of a city-born/bred/fed woman, and her domesticated, house-and-toilet trained husband.

So, within my humble abilities or capabilities (or lack thereof), I’m thinking of probably buying somewhere in Campbelltown itself – and there’s been some developments that sound quite interesting, with an attached granny flat (hey, we’re not spring chooks anymore, sadly) and other architectural and interior design gubbins to sweeten the interest.

Thanks for setting my priorities right – walls before wheels, happy wife, happy life and all that. I’ll come back with more first world complaints about the fit and finishing should we end up buying in Campbelltown.

I wouldn't touch a western Sydney housing development in a million years. In case you haven't noticed, they have gone up, and come back down. There is minimal transport, and its steaming hot in the summer. Besides, western Sydney is a horrible place. I'd nearly even consider living in Brisbane before I lived in western Sydney (I can't believe I just said that).



Also, one thing to consider out that way - new airport up and running by 2025. Wouldn't it be awesome if both your houses were under two separate flight paths from two different airports

I can't really recommend anywhere out Campbelltown way but still in the greater Sydney area worth living. If the farm thing is not your thing, perhaps one of the little towns down the Picton way.

One thing I will say about Bowral is that you will never, ever fail to let it out on a short term or AirBnB basis, as it has become something of a mecca for Sydneysiders looking to get out of the smoke for the weekend. If you bought there and decided you didn't like it, you would still be able to maintain a pretty good income stream, which I would hesitate to say the same about for Campbelltown.

AirBnB has really taken off in the Inner West, with people now kicking long term tenants out in favour of short term lets.

Something to think about anyway.


S

Agree on that. That said, western sydney tends to have better rent yield return than the inner west.

Mate, lots of Sydneysiders aspire to this urban nightmare as a dream scenario...



Or the Blue Mountains - Reasonably priced property, train link direct to the city, good tourism letting and a proper winter. What's not to like?


S

I really wouldn't have minded the lack of transport (hey, that's what the Porker would be for, right?), nor would I be too terribly bothered by the scorching, skin-cancer inducing summers - because truthfully, my Minister of Accounts, Income and Domicile will want to return to Singapore regularly to visit the rellies on her side, and we intend to keep one of our apartments here in Singapore for that purpose.

Now, the new airport (thanks for reminding me!) might be a deal breaker. Thankfully, the flightpath to Kingsford Smith skims and just misses our place in Annandale, so there's relative quiet to be enjoyed, not to mention a peach of a neighbour that has been really neighbourly in keeping a helpful eye on our house and its tenants for us.

Looks like I'll need to get back to the drawing board and re-evaluate my options on Campbelltown. It is a fast growing part of Western/Greater Sydney, and malls and townships are mushrooming faster than, well, mushrooms after the rain, and I reckon there's a lot of potential in that, but if the prices fluctuate as you say they do/did, then any investor would rather go in at a low & not be caught out when the bubble deflates. Having said that, the same doom & gloom was heavy in the air with regards to Kellyville when that piece of the Hills District was first developed about a decade back, and now median house prices are about $1,000,000 a pop.

Well, there's not much to dislike, except for the fact that it's even further to Campbelltown than Annandale!

You mean, the planes don't bother us because a) we are used to it OR b) we hang for the days when the planes land from the south

I think worrying about living under the KS flight path is a thing of the past. You do get used to it.

Just be careful of the new airport. Its slated to be 24 hours with no curfew like KS

If Sydney continues to grow so will Campbelltown. Its just not very sought after.

OK. You've lived in Singapore for years. Hanging out at the mall in the air con is the thing to do in Asia ........ Not for me.