On the 18th of January, I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania to stay with my friend Erica and her family for a couple of weeks, looking after their house and dogs and one lovely daughter for one of the weeks while the rest were away on holidays. Well,they have now returned and I am into the 3rd week, hanging around like a bad smell perhaps.... but I have been so enjoying Hobart and surrounds that I have gone and bought a house here!
When you buy a house you need to have a few things in your mind that are so important to you that if just one of them is not right, then you must not go ahead. To me these were:
- The main rooms must be filled with light all year round
- At least 1 acre of land (4,000 m2), already cultivated to some extent, and private
- Quiet..... no road or other noise
- Fertile soil
- Mains water inside and plenty of water for the garden
- Large kitchen
- Energy efficient heating /cooling, including a slow combustion heater
- House in sound condition
- Broadband internet available
- Not too far from a city (less than 1 hour's drive)
- Walking track suitable for taking a dog off the lead
- A nice setting and outlook.... water or hills views
- Flattish land
After these, there are some things that are preferable:
- Mains sewer, not septic
- Insulation
- A house with character and history
- Established fruit trees
- No tall trees on the northern side of the house or garden
- A verandah like Deb's... now I cannot find the photo to show you why!
- Solar panels / solar hot water heating
- Down to earth community
- Doesn't have things I don't want, that make it expensive for all the wrong reasons, like extra bathrooms, fancy kitchen
- Large building suitable for future Bed and Breakfast maybe
And here are some dreams:
- A creek
- A spring
- An established organic veg garden
- Cheap
- Within walking distance to some shops and a cafe
- By the sea
This gorgeous little house in Cygnet, Tasmania, has all of the "must have" requirements and most of the rest as well. There are a couple of extras that I am so excited about..... no water meters and mains water from the Huon River area which comes from the rain forests of wild south west Tasmania.... read that word.... RAIN forests! It has a creek and associated easement running diagonally through it which makes it impossible to sub-divide in the future which means it is much cheaper than other, similar properties. The local GP has a permaculture property rather than a fancy city house. There are blueberry and other berry and fruit farms, and even some organic ones. It is 5 minutes walk to the sea and it has never ever been 40 C .....!! And every few years it snows.... oh is this paradise or what?
Like Pattie, I thought I would have a competition "Who will be the first blog-reader to come and visit me?"
Here is a photo of the future B and B..... but, as you can see, its not ready to use yet so you can sleep inside the house..... or in the quirky, old ship's wheelhouse in the garden !
There are more photos here.
Is anyone else having trouble with photos on Live writer?
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8 comments:
How lovely, congratulations Kate! Oh, I can see you are never going to want to leave that place! Who knew that a simple little housesitting job could lead to a complete change in latitudes. Obviously it was meant to be....
Welcome to Tassie Kate. I moved here from South Oz eight years ago and have never regretted it. I'm not far from you, further south in Dover.
I think you'll find though that water meters will be coming to you in the next two years or so. But, we have found that with sensible watering we've not had to pay excess yet.
This summer has been beautiful luckily as the winter was soooooo wet and cold.
And my social life has never been better. So boo to the big city life and welcome to our community.
Jan
That's wonderful news! Such a big step to take as well. Luckily you have friends in the area. I could tell by your visit posts, that you were smitten.
If you don't mind me asking, what price range did you pay (ie: high 200's) etc, but if it's too personal a question, just say; "I'd rather not say," LOL.
I hope you have a good move. How very exciting for you. :)
I worked on an organic blueberry farm by the beach near cygnet few years ago. Lovely place.
Have fun there, come back to visit us sometimes.
Oh wow.... thank you for your positive comments!
I so look forward to meeting you, Jan, it sounds like I made the right decision.
I paid $278,000 Chris.... which to someone from SA is incredibly cheap.
Ting I will certainly be back from time to time and I hope you and Olly will come and stay soon.
Africanaussie, I never expected to find a house in 10 days! But ever since I visited Tasmania for a holiday as a child with my parents, I have thought I would like to live here....or in NZ.... well, France was pretty amazing too.
For what it had to offer, that's a fair asking price. I love the photo of the house with the dam in the front.
I wonder if you'll have any visting ducks?
It looks wonderful and just perfect for you Katie. I am sure you will be very happy there.
Tasmania! I have a friend in Tasmania! Gosh, this blogging world gets more and more interesting every day. Can't wait to read about your journey, Kate.
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