The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
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The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
EP. 1291 MOVING FROM BONDI TO DEE WHY…. WHY???
Have you ever wondered if leaving an iconic spot like Bondi Beach for a quieter, more affordable coastal neighborhood could be worth it? Sit down with us as we chat with Josh Wapshott, who made the bold move from Bondi’s famed Icebergs to the scenic Northern Beaches of Sydney. Josh shares his journey, driven by skyrocketing rental prices and the desire to plan a future with his partner. Discover how he found a similar coastal vibe and community spirit in the Northern Beaches without the hefty price tag.
Josh offers a refreshing take on the cultural differences and lifestyle changes between Bondi and Dee Why. Hear firsthand about the slower pace and friendly interactions that make Dee Why feel like a close-knit community. If you’ve ever thought about making a savvy move while maintaining a beachside lifestyle, Josh’s story is a must-listen. He gives us a genuine, heartfelt look at how smart decisions and a change in scenery can lead to a fulfilling life by the sea.
Ladies and gentlemen, people moving all around Sydney at the moment. We're going to give an example this morning of why you would leave Bondi to go to DY with Josh Wapshot. Stay tuned, I'm the ringleader. So it's real. It's real. People are moving from Bondi to DY. Why how I up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good man, how are you Good morning?
Speaker 1:What's um? What's the story, josh? How are you? Good morning. What's the story, josh? Why did you do this to yourself?
Speaker 2:Why would you ever leave the beautiful Bondi Beach of Australia? I know Well, yeah. So, yeah, I was a big Bondi fan. I was living behind icebergs, so good, good spot. I lived down on the beach pretty much.
Speaker 2:Um, look, when it came to sort of, you know, in this sort of world we live in, um, you know you need to sort of start making your moves early, um, and that sometimes that involves sacrifice, um, or it means making a smarter decision, um, so, uh, I started to get a bit more serious with my partner and it looked like as if we wanted to start building a future together.
Speaker 2:But I'm sure, as everyone knows, median rental prices alone in Bondi, you're looking at $920, and then don't even get me started on prices of housing there. So basically, look, we wanted to take the next step and start building our future together, and we looked around Sydney for something that was the perfect fit for us and just in terms of what the Northern beaches could offer us the beaches itself, you're not missing out on too much in comparison from over here to say, the eastern suburbs. So we thought, okay, perfect opportunity to get over here and save on some rents and then also, you know, scout out where then we would like to go and purchase our first place together. And you know, like I said, northern Beaches all across, from sort of Yonarra being up to Manly. We just fell in love with Same beachy, coastal vibe. You know, beautiful people, great community. But yeah, like I said, pennies are important these days and that was a key factor of moving over here.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you can buy the same thing for half the price or you know that sort of talk, you know you'd be crazy not to so I guess, for people who don't know, the median rent in DY is probably sitting sort of $650, $680 sort of mark, so that's almost 30% less than what you're paying in Bondi. But what did you have to give up that Bondi had?
Speaker 2:In terms of look, the only thing itself I really gave up there was the apartment itself. I mean, I did have a nice top floor apartment overlooking the beach, but look, when I think about it, for, like you said, 30% the difference. I mean how many? Well, from what I've seen in my time over here, how many opportunities do you have properties facing the beach, shops downstairs or a nice, you know, local shopping strip not too far up the road? I mean what I came to think about. And now, moving here, I guess it's nothing but really the bondi name or, um, maybe the chance of being on Bondi Rescue, who knows? But I'd say that would be. I mean, yeah, it wasn't too many different. Well, I haven't experienced anything too much different besides just saying hey, I live in Bondi, which is obviously, you know, world knows Bondi might not know DY or Collaroy, but living here in Australia, you definitely do.
Speaker 1:Collaroy, but living here in Australia you definitely do. And in terms of sort of, is there a cultural or people sort of difference? Did you find that sort of day by day or everyone's sort of fairly similar to all Sydney?
Speaker 2:You know what I probably have actually found Bondi to be a little bit more. You know, busy, busy. You know everyone's got somewhere to be sort of thing. So I feel like, um, I definitely have a. You know, even when you're walking up the street, I've found in, you know, dy and you know your surrounding areas you walk past someone and they're smiling back at you good morning, good afternoon.
Speaker 2:Um, that's probably been the biggest thing, um, and, and that's I really enjoy. You know, just looking someone random on the street making their day, hey, how you been, um, bondi, bondi, bondi was a bit hit and miss with that. So, um, yeah, uh, you know a lot of people, um, you know there was definitely the nice people like to say hello and um, give you a nice smile, but there was also a lot of people that didn't have a lot of time for you to sort of just keep their head down and move.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I would probably say that sense of community and, you know, giving time for your, for your neighbor, that's a really big yeah, yeah well, I lived in the East for almost 25 years and one thing that I noticed was that as well, because walking in the morning at like five, six in the morning, I made it a point to say hello to everyone and it didn't go down too well and it didn't go down too well Like it didn't. So you'd be, I'd be walking, he's at a five-minute morning, morning morning and some people would just like double, take it, like not even say good morning back. So yeah, I would. Just that was the way I guess I was trained on the northern beaches, or the way I just thought was a normal thing that you just, you know, just a good old fashioned good day.
Speaker 1:I don't think, I don't think the people, the Bondi people, were any worse for it. I think they're just busy. It's not a dumb thing. Do you know what I mean? It was like just move on, get on. So when you went to DY, you had a selection of a couple of different places to go. You could have gone Manly, you could have gone Collaroy they're all beachside unit suburbs, for instance. Why DY?
Speaker 2:Well, dy, we were just in between, dy, collaroy, yeah, my partner was a Beaches girl, so when we first met we'd come up here and say hello to her family, spend a, you know, have a couple of family lunches, dinners, so you know we got a taste. And then, you know, obviously travel back home, um over to Bondi and then, yeah, we got a. We got a nice little taste of what it is to um to live over here, be a part of the community, like I said, and you know the beaches, like we would come down to Freshie. You know Collaroy, manly, the beaches are awesome here, especially like with what I love around this northern beaches area is it's not all on top of each other. You've got a sense of like just behind us.
Speaker 2:You know Warrie Wood and you know your national parks. It's got a really nice sense of space. You know somewhere where you want to, you know, bring a you, you grow up, your family and your kids are playing out on the. You know, out on the street, down the, down the park, you know, and then finish up down the beach, um, I think that's what northern beaches gives um as a really special opportunity um everything yeah, everything's really just built up right now, so I just like the idea of how it's all spaced out.
Speaker 2:you still got your trees and parks, um, in abundance, and your beach, you know, all within 15 minutes of each other. So I think that's what really drew me here, because I'm originally from Melbourne, mark, so you know family's a bit of country, so I love a bit of open air trees and, yeah, you know I can't get any better than that. I'd say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, and tell me if anyone's just tuned in, we're talking about Bondi to DY, the move, the transition that Josh has had. So Josh, anyone that's now considering doing this move what was the biggest blockage for you? It was like, yeah, no, that's a big move. I'm not sure what was the sort of the hardest thing to overcome? Living in Bondi and going to DY? What was the thing you were going like? You kept going.
Speaker 2:You kept getting hung up on saying, look, let's give it another six months because or Honestly, probably Military Road if I had to be honest with anything, just because obviously all my mates were back over the other side and all my family if I wanted to go over on a Sunday when I have some time, it was honestly, just the only thing that I would ever reconsider was just the drive through Military Road. I know on peak hour it can be a little busy, but that's everywhere in Sydney now. So I think it was just that any time that I came over here I'd always experience a little back-to-back traffic. But as you move around you notice anywhere peak hour in Sydney and you're going to be facing some traffic. Now You're going to get smashed.
Speaker 1:So for people that don't know, military Road is the connect of the Sydney CBD and the Northern Beaches, together with Pitwater Road. They're the two roads that you'll take all pretty much one road as well, which turns into Military, turns into Pitwater, over the Spit Bridge there and Spit Road. But that's the road you take in and it does get. It's ferocious, it has a lot of traffic on it. But I guess that practical side of it yeah, you know you are further from the city. You are further from you are dealing with traffic if you're going into the city. But there you go. There's a Northern Beaches snapshot for everyone out there on DY, someone who's actually done the move. Very interesting. Anything else you want to chuck in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, we'll just like anything. Just give it a go. You don't know until you try. But yeah, I definitely recommend, if you're thinking of the move, um, organize something with the family, come have a, some lunch down over near the beaches down here, and I guarantee you you'll fall in love, um, not only with, uh, the scenery, but the people, the vibe. I mean, yeah, it's been a very positive move for me. So, um, yeah, of course, would like to cheer on anyone else that's um looking to make the leap give us a call.
Speaker 1:Give us a call if you need any advice on that. So, uh, mate, you're a legend. Thank you very, very much no, thank you, mark.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, thanks everyone. Hopefully we'll uh get some troubles and have some people moving over Big time. Thanks, josh, take care, see you, mate.
Speaker 1:Bye.