Hi, I have a purely personal dilemma, but I thought I might see if anyone had some thoughts/wisdom I could use when making our decision.
I am in Perth, I moved from Sydney for a two year job position that turned into 7 years and two kids, but I am unhappy here and have always wanted to go back. My husband’s from Perth but has family and friends in Sydney so he would be ok going there.
The dilemma for us is that we have been presented an opportunity to go back that won’t happen again: hubby was made redundant and I’m on maternity leave, both kids are <18 months so there’s no school ties, we’ve inherited cash and received a redundancy payout so aren’t desperate for work – prefect opportunity for a move back East.
BUT
We cannot afford property in Sydney (I assume there’s nothing under $350k) on one wage unless we sell our existing properties and use the profit for a large deposit, and selling would make the trip easier if we are cutting ties here. I am dubious about renting in Sydney, aside from cost we have a large dog and rentals are hard enough to find without adding pets.
However, our properties have just reached the point where they are positively geared, and it is not the ideal time to sell: we have a place right on the beach in Scarborough where a new foreshore development is taking place, and a 4×2 family home that will benefit greatly from the proposed airport rail link.Selling right now would not be the best financial decision, they have positive cashflow now and good future capital gains potential, and it was not in our plan to sell. However, both our career prospects are much greater in Sydney, if we buy well I believe capital gains prospects are also good, and the decision is not just an academic one. It would not be giving up on investing, just saving like mad until the kids are in school, we both are working, and use all the equity to buy an IP again.
We don’t have to make an immediate decision, we’re going visit family for a few months in the country before we decide what to do.
Choices are:
1. Move, keep the IPs, and rent in Sydney for a while.
2. Stay in Perth
3. Sell, and buy PPOR in Sydney.
4. Move, keep the IPs and buy PPOR in a regional area like gosford, and work from home/commute for a while.Has anyone else made a decision between finances or lifestyle? Do you have any regrets?
If you really want to move then you only have two options:
1. Rent.
2. Buy further away from Sydney CBD since a 1 bed would not be practical for your family.Personally I would rent until I found a job to afford buying a property in Sydney rather than move in a regional area since with renting you have more options.
Cheers
Andrew
superAndrew | Property Analyser and Finder Tool
https://property-analyser.com.auLong story short… after growing up on the far north coast of NSW with my family, my husband and I agreed that we would follow them to Melbourne with the intent to stay for only 2 years. It never felt like home and as soon as I arrived I was already planning my exit as I was never totally happy there. Melbourne was great to us career and property wise but I was spending 3 hrs a day commuting, lived in an area I didn’t like and I can’t stand whether that is below 30 degrees. After about 5 years my husband and I decided to put our investing on the side burner for a couple of years and make the move to where we always wanted to go – Cairns.
So we’re here now (after a couple of hiccups)and have been here long enough for the honeymoon period to run out and we’re still absolutely loving it, never once doubting we did the wrong thing. We had done the delayed gratification thing for so long that it felt good to do something for us, something for the ‘now’ and haven’t looked back. It’s delayed out end goal for a few years but at least in the meantime we’re happy where we are.
I still fly back to Melbourne on a regular basis so still get to see family and friends so have the best of both worlds.
If I were in your situation I would either rent in the area that I’m wanting to live in (by the sounds of it you have time on your hands so you can wait for a rental to pop up that is pet friendly) or buy regionally and commute. For me, I found the daily commute tough as it took so much time out of my day – I’d be away from home for 13+ hours a day.
If you sell the properties there’s nothing to say that you can’t buy again in the future but you’ll need to weigh up all the costs ie selling, CGT.
Kinnon Bell | Kinetic Funding
http://www.kineticfunding.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeMortgage & Personal Loan Broker based in Cairns and Melbourne but servicing clients Australia wide.
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