I would go for the bigger block for a lot of the things BG has mentions. Saying that though I do live the 15-20 minutes out of town and it is a pita with making friends. I grew up in Launceston, so my full answer would depend on exactly where you were choosing to live. From talking to friends who still live there, there can be a real issue getting tradies for renovations. One live on a bit of a slope,which is far from unusual for L'ton, and they had real trouble getting trades (like roofers) to give them a quote. Depending on the trade many do not want the small jobs, or they are only interested in working on new builds.
ETA: whilst 20 minutes is not far for many of us, my experience in Tassie is that many think it is too far. I was actually one of those people when I lived there :blush:
Last edited by Astrid; October 11th, 2009 at 02:28 PM.
: more info
Having older children i would take closer to the city, the less you have to drive them around to see friends/PT jobs etc the better. This would only be if you are planning on staying there a few years obviously!
Just a comment on adding value to the asset, I guess I see the asset as being the land. That's what's going to appreciate in value - the house itself will depreciate. So personally, I'd go the bigger block. But that's coming from someone who is looking to one day buy a house we like rather than one to 'do up' as we'd be one of those couples who never gets the renos finished, LOL.
GL with your decision, mate.
Launnie airport doesn't get that much traffic compared to other airports. Something to consider.
I would go for option A, because that's something that's really important to us - being close to town and close to work. But everyone has their own priorities, so I think you need to work out what's more important to you.
Financially, well, you could't go either way. Launnie's still got a bit of space to sprawl out into, so I don't think a big block has as much chance to appreciate as one with proximity to town.
Maybe flip a coin/use a dartboard/rock off with DH. Use some ridiculous arbirtrary method to get an outcome. If you feel disappointment when you get a result, then go the other way. But if you feel elated, you've got your answer.
There are just so many things to think about. We had a good size block in queensland (837sqm) but the house itself was only 93sqm - so we were absolutely busting out of it with two children, hence why we had to move.
So I think my main problem with getting a smaller house is that we may not have bothered to move ya know? If we are just going to be squished into a small house on a good block - may as well stayed where we were!!
DH is just all over the place with his decision making - one moment he doesn't want the committment of having to do renos to get our money back if we decide to sell, and, well, to me, its not all about money ya know? I do like the fact that we made 70 grand by selling our house in Queensland, but I'm not expecting to make any money on property, I just want a house that doesn't give me the absolute irrits by being too small, with absolutely no storage space. It doesn't help that I live with a hoarder and we have sooooo much CRAP its unbelievable.
Plus, Astrid is right - there is a weird mentality here that if you are more than 10 minutes away from the city - thats wayyyy too far to live out there. Its very odd. Ourselves we don't mind too much, we lived in Nambour and that was a good 20 minutes away from anything on the coast. Riverside is a good suburb and close to the city so definitely has its advantages there. I'm also looking at other properties now - because DH isn't sure if he wants to just get a place to get us out of the rental crap and then we'll just live there till we are ready to move (ie, when I go back to work and start bringing in an income) and thats when we get the house that we want.
flight path or power lines I would say neither keep looking !
been someone with older winkies they DONT use the land ! how much bigger are we talking, is it acres or just like 800sqm 550 sqm is tiny as far as land goes, but you will be close to work / city, if you are planing on saying there in Tazy forever and this would be you forever house, you should check out schools in the area, see what the towns are like, you might find the one which is better than the other... ( I know small towns can be very hard to break into when your not a local unless your born and bred there so keep this in mind too )
Also check out what the PT would be like witht he house which is out of town, as when you have older children they will want to be dropped off and picked up a fare wack, look at if there are things for the kids too do in the smaller town ie out of school sports, places for them to get a part time job when the time come for it... just loads of stuff that isnt on your mind right now but you might regret if you stay forever and didnt think about it now...
I know in Tazy 20min drive is HUGE and everyone will think you crazy for driving that far... plus if you choose to go back to work once the kids are at school it would mean you driving in to...
Ok I know I havent been much help, the decion is yours and DH's to make, I hope some of my ramberling has made sence and given you something to think about...
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