The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
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The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
EP. 1280 Delirious Downsizers: Trade Space for Simplicity and Freedom!
What if moving to an apartment could actually enhance your quality of life? Join us as we uncover the emotional and practical journey of downsizing, particularly for older generations. We begin with an exclusive tour of a luxurious penthouse in Bowgowlah, showcasing its open-plan living areas, high-end Miele appliances, and terraces with stunning views. We'll explore the emotional resistance many older adults face when leaving long-term family homes, examining both the sentimental attachments and the practical advantages like increased financial freedom and reduced upkeep.
In our next segment, we shift focus to the spacious allure of a 185 square meter luxury terrace apartment, where every room opens onto a balcony and residents can even enjoy a private veggie garden. We provide practical tips for enhancing these outdoor spaces, such as adding awnings, and share heartfelt advice for those on the fence about downsizing. Listen in as we discuss real-life experiences that highlight the positive impact of making this life-changing move sooner rather than later, showing how the right apartment can truly feel like home and significantly boost your mental and physical well-being.
Downsides, sometimes a little bit stressed, and making some really hard decisions that make them a little bit delirious. We're going to talk about downsizes. It's a thing, it's a big thing. We're going to talk about it today what we see and the tips we can give.
Speaker 2:I'm the ringleader, so watch it out. Good morning.
Speaker 1:Good morning, mr Drury.
Speaker 2:I'm here on site At a new location this morning. This is not a virtual background. I'm here at a penthouse. That's why I'm the penthouse agent Showing a client through quite a beautiful brand new top floor penthouse and that's in Balgala.
Speaker 1:What?
Speaker 2:are you doing? You showing some people through?
Speaker 1:what time? Now they're coming soon by stunning, stunning, yeah. So this is a big thing, bill, billy Bob. This is a big thing, guys and girls, where mum and dad, grandma, grandpa, grandma and grandpa are in love with their home.
Speaker 2:But frozen until mark comes back. Guys, let me show you, um, let me show you around. So we're up here in valgala at the moment and this is really really special. It's about 180 square meters in through the front door into this huge open plan, uh, penthouse. It's absolutely spectacular. It's got a terrace that runs the full width of the property with district views, looking out sort of down the valley, out towards the ocean, obviously being top floor. You've got cool features like the skylight, the floor to ceiling glass, which lets in a heap of natural light. But this is really cool because it's got two separate wings, which is what you want to make it feel a little bit like home being house. If you're to make it feel a little bit like home being house, if you're making a move from a house, you're certainly looking for those house features in your next place as well, and this has got it all. So this is brand new, never lived in. This is on the market at the moment in balgala, just next to stockland shopping center. If you're familiar with the area In Balgala, just next to Stockland shopping center, if you're familiar with the area.
Speaker 2:A couple of features I really love about this quality wise, it's 10 out of 10. You've got Miele appliances all the way through Integrated fridge and freezers. You've got beautiful, you know stone finishes, even your own. You're holding your boiling taps things like that you don't traditionally see in your apartments and obviously, being brand new, it's rather attractive. Now the master wing has got access again out through the terrace to the outside area, but it's an absolutely humongous room, maybe one of the biggest rooms I've seen in an apartment. It's what you'd expect of this caliber, though I'm just giving a little house tour.
Speaker 2:We love you for a second and then you've got sorry, then you put your ensuite through there and a big walk-in wardrobe. Let's get back that bathroom that bathroom is sexy it's pretty cool. There's two of them.
Speaker 1:Have a look at that timber work on the cabinet there. I love how it's those sort of the circular and on the bottom of the cabinet. Look at that. That is so cool, that is so cool. Why is it so hard to get grandma and grandpa out of the property?
Speaker 2:Nervous. I reckon it's just nerves and it's change. People don't like change, not just with property, but with everything right. And if you've been in your home for 16 years, it's gonna be.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be something special, you know, it's a prompt to move because some of these oldies are in their properties for 40, 60 years. It's worked really really well for them. But where I think it starts coming up there, there's there's this big gap. They don't want to go to retirement village, they don't need full care, um, and what often happens is is there's this bridge. There's a beautiful part of their life where they're very mobile, very sound mind, can get stuff done, where they've got the ability to do the move and get themselves positioned into somewhere nice. Um, but often it's sometimes it's too little, too late. But I do have to say sometimes I think the struggle's good. It actually keeps them, keeps them moving, it keeps them living, living, it keeps their mind going, the gardening, the running around, the routine they love.
Speaker 2:There's a saying like if you don't use it, you lose it. You can sometimes make that move too early. I think it keeps the brain healthy.
Speaker 1:Okay. So here's the scenario, guys, and it works for different price points. People are selling a house for a million bucks. They're buying an apartment for 600 bucks. They're selling a house for 2 million bucks. They're buying an apartment for one and a half. They're selling a house for $6 million. They're buying an apartment for $4 million. Every scenario they're getting change. They're buying an apartment for $4 million. Every scenario they're getting change. Every scenario. They're getting into a situation where they've got a little bit more freedom. They can do what they like more and what they don't like doing, they do less. One of the biggest struggles I see with oldies moving to apartments is strata levies. Why is that?
Speaker 2:I see with oldies moving to apartments is strata levies.
Speaker 1:Why is that? Because these it's a financial change to their model, so, where they are generally used to, this is what happens that year and this is what I see spend that year, this is what I make that year and this is what I get left over that year. It looks like a direct attack on what they've got left over for that year. So they're like no, no, no, no, not gonna go, not gonna go see that. But what they don't realize is they're not maintaining the outside of the property. So what they don't realize is the outside of the property. So what they don't realize is the it can cost them tens of thousands of dollars in a year, by, often by chance, because they've got to change something big on the outside of the property and when you look at your property cycle, if you've been in your home for 10 years you've from zero to 10 in that new build process.
Speaker 2:You've had a really good run. Everything's looking really good. 10 to 20 at towards the end of that sort of range you then start need to do in kitchens and bathrooms. The bigger ticket items come up 30 to 40. You can pretty much, you know. Factor in that if you're running costs like swimming pools or other you know, big gardens, things like that, it's then time to go and put a whole lot of money into the property. So year on year your costs are only getting bigger.
Speaker 1:And then often I freeze the downsides and I say to them guys, how much is your building insurance? And they go three grand, you go. Well, you're not paying building insurance in a strata. And you see the penny drop. They go. Oh right, you go. And often your water, your water usage in these buildings is included, often your house electricity. So where you would leave the lights on near the mailbox or near the front gate or leave the lights on on the outside of the house, you're paying for those lights, you're paying for your energy bill. So it's part of your energy bill. It's the outside of your maintenance. I actually I reckon I can almost guarantee that a well-run strata is cheaper than a well-run house.
Speaker 2:Well, it's divided over a number of owners, so you'd hope that there's a saving there and you can get different size strata complexes. You can get townhouses they're all on the same sort of offering there.
Speaker 1:Now a great friend of ours I've actually done Lisa and I have done a sort of a downsize, Like it's we've gone from house living to apartment living and a friend of ours we really struggled with Strata I get it, it's happened to me really struggled with strata I get it, it's happened to me and a great friend of ours, a super, super wise man you know enough out of our buddies. He said this swapping money for time. So sometimes you're actually paying those stratas but you're actually gaining more time to do the things you love more. In my golden years, that's what I want.
Speaker 2:I think so, and it might be a case of enjoying a swimming pool, not having to maintain a swimming pool. People love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right, that's right Now.
Speaker 2:David Good says in Milan there's a good morning, good evening. I don't know Penthouse, that's penthouse, living in Milan.
Speaker 1:That is good living, lisa says.
Speaker 2:Often they're living in two to three bed apartments in their house, as half of the rooms Isn't that true yeah, that's exactly what we saw yesterday.
Speaker 1:So to give you an idea, um, billy, that the you've done a bit of a tour of the apartment there. The target market is someone like this apartment you've got in belgala and there's probably two suburbs in each direction where the median price for a house is four million bucks, so five, six million dollars. So these oldies that are um that are able to go to a downsize, no stairs, ie trip hazards, um, another thing I'm I'm finding with this sort of stuff shops are walking distance, buses are walking distance, so these guys don't actually believe their licences are going to be taken off them their driving licences.
Speaker 2:And I'd rather be ahead of the curve, find a place you love, look two to three, four years early, rather than move when you have an event that prompts the change, ie a hall or a licence or something like that. You know, I think that adds pressure to an already sort of you know big decision.
Speaker 1:And if one of the partners goes, it's twice as hard to make that move later. So it sounds a little bit morbid, but we do see it happen where you know. It's just harder and it's putting all the pressure on that one person to do the sale and to make that move. So I think if you could sort of that responsible being responsible that way and getting comfortable early, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. So that's what we're doing today. Billy's going to be showing some downsizes of property. We wanted to talk about downsizes today. We wanted to rip you through a beautiful apartment for downsizes in the manly area of sydney. It's called belgala. Um, can we have one more little victory lap bill? Can you show us that balcony?
Speaker 2:yeah, I'd love to. Thanks for having a fire. Look at that. Put your telly up. You've got a fireplace. Look at this fireplace.
Speaker 1:Look at that, put your telly up there. You've got your fireplace going. That's funky.
Speaker 2:There's two other really big rooms down this end and that's that separate wing. So what you look for in these sort of premium penthouses is accommodation for guests when they come and stay, and then the grandkids A really good home office. In this case, both rooms have got access to big bathrooms. One's got an en suite.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's massive, that you've got three bathrooms in that place. That's such a corker.
Speaker 2:There's your district views. You do get a little bit of an ocean glimpse going out through the heads. I don't know if this is going to be locked. Give me a moment. Here we go. Look at the size of this terrace.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, so every room goes to a balcony? That's luxe.
Speaker 2:Really luxe. You've even got your own veggie garden up here. Really luxe, you've even got your own veggie garden up here. But you could put a bit more of an awning out maybe on the top there or just enjoy it for what it is. But it's a really good size property, 185 square metres. They're hard to find. Your average apartment would be around that sort of 130 for a small three bedroom yeah, stunning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's good size. Mate, that's a killer downsizes. Take note. Have a beautiful day, billy, thanks. Thanks for the chat about downsizing what you're seeing out there in the marketplace, and guys make the move earlier rather than later take it for someone that's done it.
Speaker 2:There you go.