Sydney Sapiential travels north - and is no more!

 

It's been nearly 24 years now of getting to know and love (not always, but often) this town of Sydney. But all good things must come to an end some day. Sydney Sapiential has upped and left. Gone to Queensland droving, so to speak.

 

I've sold up and moved house four times now. Each was prolonged and painful, but this one was probably the worst. So much stress, so much to do. I never want to do it again. (That's what I've said on the previous occasions too, of course.)

There's so much to throw out, so much to pack and take with you....

There's removalists to co-ordinate.

 

And of course you have to actually find a buyer for the house. All came good in the end.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle was the Queensland border. They opened it just in time, a week and a half before Christmas, but they imposed a near-impossible permit system, requiring vaccination documentation and a Covid test both 72 hours before and 5 days after entry.

We broke our journey at Tea Gardens and at Evans Head. Both are scenic and slightly off the highway.

 

Then it was time to brave that Queensland border. See if you can work out the system being used by the border policeman to sort the wheat from the chaff. (And note the pesky passenger coughing on cue!!)

 

 

And it's on then to the Sunshine Coast and Maroochydore, with its fine beaches. (And its oversized shopping centres, innumerable homemaker centres and a Los Angeles style tangle of motorways to nowhere!)

No bugs

 

We're in the process of selling our house, so we need to take an interest in termites. They're not good news if you're selling a house.

 

 

Came across these ones today.

 

 

Not in the house though! They're on a fire trail in Hornsby Heights.

 

 

 

The pest inspector gave the house a clean bill of health. Here's his official report below:

Bali then & now - real estate

I don't recall seeing any Ray White real estate ads when I was in Ubud in the 80s.

The greatest game in town

For many years now the greatest game in Sydney has been real estate. Buying and selling, renovating, borrowing, negative-gearing, raking in massive profits in the usually booming property market.

The other great game is attending auctions. They're always good entertainment. Full of drama and suspense. A great show, whether you've a personal interest or not.

We went along to an auction today in the Northern Beaches suburb of Collaroy. And I did have a personal interest. It was the sale of the two bedroom unit of an old friend of mine. John was a funny old chap. He was an eccentric hoarder, and when he died early this year his flat was frankly rather grotty. A hoarder's hovel, at first sight unsaleable, you'd think.

Fast forward a few months, and with the Herculean efforts of John's friend and will-executor Marcel, it's a whole new ball game. Just look at what he's created!

Every Saturday there are suggestions that the real estate bubble might have finally burst. One day it will. But not today, apparently.

LOTS of people turn up. Many of them are serious bidders. It starts at $700,000, and moves rapidly up in $20,000 increments. Seven or eight bidders are fighting it out. It goes to $5K increments, then $2K, and eventually one thousand dollar increments, and only two couples are left. All heads are swinging right, left, and right again, and then, on the third count, it's "SOLD!" For $844,000 in fact.

John paid $96,500 for it in 1986, so he's done alright. Pity he's not around to enjoy today.











Here's a triumphant trio of auction organisers.

Extreme postcodes: 2127

Which Sydney suburb is the deadest of them all? My vote is for Wentworth Point. It's part of Homebush Bay, and has easy access to Olympic Park, pleasant water views, and in theory quite a good lifestyle. But gee, what a dead, soulless place.

Admittedly some of it's still being built, but some parts have been fully built up for a few years now. And where's the life? Where are the people?

There's a bit of a shopping and cafe centre, but how they survive without customers I couldn't see. Streets are narrow, there's no available parking, and it looked like most of the high rise apartment blocks had no off-street parking either. There wasn't much evidence of public transport, though it's reported that there is indeed a bus service, and there is the ferry I suppose.

Could it be that most of these apartments are in fact unoccupied? Could it be a ghost suburb, in reality just another tiny part of China's property bubble?

And speaking of property and real estate agents, I was quite taken by the photo signboards up on the Woo-la-ra lookout place. The one looking east across Wentworth Point shows the view across the suburb, and above and behind you can see the city and the Harbour Bridge. Well guess what? In real life the buildings completely block out these desirable expensive views. The usual estate agents' Photoshop distortions apply! Who knows what the poor investors in the concrete jungle down there thought they were buying!



Salvation might be at hand though. There's a pedestrian and bus-only bridge being built, which will connect Wentworth Point to Rhodes, which has a vibrant shopping and commercial area. Train station too.





Perhaps it will all come to life one day?