Since we’ve been home from the U.K., Amy and I have been keeping tabs on the property market in the hope of finding a place that we’d be keen to buy. We’ve been renting ever since we’ve known each other, and I started renting over 10 years ago. This probably won’t come as a surprise, but I’m bloody sick of renting!

Apart from the fact that I’m lining the pockets of my landlord, I don’t like the idea that the money we’re putting into our living arrangements is just dead. We won’t ever see it again. So, it’s now well past the time that we found our own place.

One would have thought that finding a house to buy would be a relatively easy thing to do, but given the state of the property market here in Brisbane, it’s proven to be a very tough thing to do. The market here has been so buoyant for the last few years that prices have gone through the roof. There are currently 1200 (approx) people moving to South-East Queensland every week, and hence there is a dire need for housing.

Let me put it into perspective. Anyone looking to rent within 10kms of the city will end up “walking through” a house for a viewing while being accompanied by at least a dozen other people/couples. Most of the time, bidding wars errupt and people end up paying way more than the advertised price just so they can guarantee a place to live.

It’s a bit worse if you want to buy, depending on what it is you’re looking for. Due to the fact that so many people have managed to make such a killing on property, there are a lot of investors out there with massive property portfolios who are looking to increase their already sizable bank accounts (and I can’t blame them at all, as I would be doing it too if I could). To do that, then end up buying most of the lower to mid-range houses - ones that can be renovated totally, or partially, and sold on for a profit. When they go searching for houses, they know they have a certain amount of funds which they can justify spending, and that figure is probably a lot more than what first home buyers can fork out.

Enter the average Joe who is looking to get a foothold in the property market with a fairly small deposit. He wants to buy something that is between the low and mid-range prices. This is partly because…

1. …they don’t want to get a mortgage which will take an ice-age to pay off.
2. …they only have a small deposit and hence they can’t get a big enough loan from the bank big enough to go higher.
3. …they have a standard income and they want to be able to live a little while they’re buying their house, perhaps even renovate/extend/improve.

Aside from the points, we have one big factor which has to be considered when forking out this much for a house: they’re a first home buyer! They’ve never done this before, and hence it’s a very big step. Very big. Taking on a mortgage for upwards of 400k to 500k is no small consideration and hence Joe is just keen to take a bit of time to make his decision.

These situations are really different. One side we have a person with a stack of cash looking to buy up another place to increase a portfolio, and on the other hand we have someone just looking to get their own house. The former will buy on the spot without a great deal of consideration if they feel they’re getting themselves something that’s going to give them a profit over a short period of time. The latter will look at a million houses and take a great deal of time while making the decision.

Add the digital age to this equation. Joe works full time and comes home to browse the property market online. He may even have a quick look during the day or make a few phone calls to arrange a veiwing or two later in the week. The property investor doesn’t have to work full time, because this is their full time. They spend the whole day looking for houses, making calls, going to viewings and making purchases.

It’s pretty easy to see the result. Joe never manages to get a look in. Every house he finds that he would consider as an option is already under contract by the time he makes the phone call. If he is fortunate enough to find a place to view, he’s expected to make a decision at the viewing as to whether or not to buy. Since this is the first house, there’s no way he wants to commit without a bit of thought. So he goes home, only to find that when he looks at the property online the next day it’s under contract.

Now this may sound a little extreme, but this is the scenario we’re facing in Brisbane at the moment. Personally, I’m finding it hard to find a place that I’d consider buying full stop, let alone finding one that hasn’t been snapped up by someone else before it’s even managed to make an imprint on the property websites. It’s a very frustrating time for Amy and I, and I’m sure there are a lot of other buyers out there feeling the strain as well.

So what are the solutions? How do we get ourselves out of this little mess and finally get ourselves a house? The things that come to mind are:

• Lower our standards. Buy something that might not be livable that the investors consider to be too much to take on.
• Broaden the definition of a “suitable” area. At the moment, we’re relatively picky about which suburbs we’d want to live in, and we could possibly consider some other areas that are a little less desirable.
• Increase our price range.
• Decrease our price range.
• Live outisde of the Brisbane area and do the long-distance commute to get to work.

We’ve considered all of the above options and out of all of them there’s really only one that we’re leaning towards - and that’s the last one.

Those of you who know us will already know the area that we’re considering moving to, and it’s quite a hike from the centre of Brisbane city. The commute is long, and involves a bit of a drive, and could well be the bane of our existance if we do decide to make this move.

Despite the issue of travel for work, we’re still very much in love with the idea of buying land in this area and building a house. Of course, building comes with a stack of other issues that will increase the risk, and draw out the time it’ll take to finally move in, but it will at least give us the chance to find a spot, and build a house, which we know we’ll be happy to live in.

So what is it about this area that’s so appealing?

• It’s not a city. I’ve never been a city person, and neither has Amy. We’re both looking to get out in the fresh air and have a bit of space around us.
• There’s more space, and hence neighbours don’t live on top of us. I’m one of those people who is very sensitive to noise (have a read of my noisy neighbours post to see what I’ve had to put up with recently!), and I have a real need to be far enough away from the neighbours to not have to hear them live their lives.
• Location! Much closer to the beach, which makes the weekend trips less of a chore. I can go for my beach runs, and at the same time get some more open water swimming practice for the triathlons that I plan to do.
• The Community. Cities are pretty renowned for not really having a sense of community. It’s hard to walk into a shop and know the guy behind the counter. You tend not to bump into people in the street that you know, and it’s easy to feel lonely despite there being millions of people around you. Smaller towns have a much better sense of community, and that’s something that we both find appealing.
• Climate and rain! SE QLD, along with a healthy chunk of the rest of the country, is going through a drought. Our dams are actually at less than 20% at the moment, and if we don’t get rain soon - we’re screwed (as my father-in-law says: “Queensland. Beautiful one day, unsustainable the next.” So true!). We’d like to be in a spot that gets a bit more rainful (such as the area in question).
• Due to climate and space we could make more of an effort to be self-sustainable. We can try and live off our own water supply, plant vegies, etc. Building our own house means we can invest in renewable energy such as solar power right from the get go, and build the house in the most eco-friendly way we can.
• General happiness. This is the most important bit! At the moment we’re not really that keen to be at home. In fact, we’re not that keen on the city living thing. I think we’d just be happy and content in this area, as it’s a bit more fitting for the lifestyle that we enjoy.

The main reason for talking about the real estate situation is because in my next post I’m going to talk about telecommuting. The only reason we’ve not already taken the plunge and bought a property in the area in question is because of the commute. If we could reduce the time that we have to spend in the car to get to work, then this would become more viable. I’m keen to explore the option of working from home 2 or 3 days a week and hence reducing the number of trips to a managable level. So next up, the dos and donts of telecommuting. Things that are good, things that are bad, and why I think it’d be a good thing for me personally!