Looking for a tenant

The real estate agent was surprised when we said pets were okay. Most rental properties don’t allow tenants to have pets. The agent said allowing pets would open up the market for us.

The property has polished floor boards. So there are no problems if are any little ‘accidents’ occur. No carpets to worry about. Anyway, the floor lost its highly polished surface many years ago and is looking a bit scuffed. So, the odd scratch that appears on the floor will blend with the existing marks.

Within a very short time someone was interested in renting. Actually, a few people were interested. We left the decision to the agent. A young woman took the place. She had a few pet cats for company, and seemed happy in her new home.

Taking possession

I expect settlement took place smoothly enough. No problems were reported, and we drove to the coast, picked up the keys from the real estate office, and let ourselves in. The real estate agent had left a bottle of wine. I must try it someday. It was a bottle of red. I can’t understand the appeal by so many for cheap red wines.

I met someone at uni, as a student. We were playing Bridge and he offered a glass of red. I declined as most of my earlier experiences of reds were nasty. My memories of reds were rugged, throat scratching experiences. White wine is reliably easier on the taste buds. However, I was persuaded to try, mostly by mention of the guy’s wealthy parents providing him a wine allowance in addition to his living expenses. That was probably a boast, but he had spare cash, and spent it on quality wines. His father owned a small aircraft service.

Why is it that you have to spend a fortune to get a good red wine? That was the one and only time in my life I have ever drank a red that slipped down my throat with a silky richness. I love port and didn’t mind spending a few dollars on quality fortified wines. Good ports are easy to drink. Well, my friend’s bottle of red reminded me of that and it gave me a whole new impression of red wines. That was about 25 years ago and I have never come across a reasonably priced red that was as good. I have to wonder what his wine allowance was. In the mean time I’ll just stick to whites.

Most of the furniture had been removed from the house except for a few things here and there. An old cabinet had been left in a corner of the kitchen where the fridge used to be. It seemed to be covering a stain. A couple of very wobbly wardrobes were in one of the bedrooms, that we made use of. Some of these things were quite useful. Some weren’t so good. A very wobbly cabinet went straight into the garage. It was made of chipboard and water had got into it. Chipboard is fine when kept dry but starts swelling and falling apart when it gets a whiff of water. It’s horrible stuff. I don’t know why it’s still available as a building material.

We now had to get the upper unit ready for renting. There were a few things to repair, door stops to install, installing a letter box, and cleaning the place to make it presentable.

Batemans Bay

In anticipation of the transaction we took a trip to the coast to look over our new property. Settlement had yet to take place but it was virtually a done deal. With a sense of adventure we took a drive to see our new place. We did some gardening. There is a significantly higher rainfall on the coast compared with Canberra. The lawn was very green and lush as were the neighbours’ gardens, and it seems bizarre to see palm trees growing. The lawn in my Canberra garden by comparison is almost a dust bowl.

There are no sea views like some properties have that are on the foreshore. But you can hear the surf from the house, and there is a tolerably pleasant view from the upstairs front of the house.  We were feeling excited, and pleased with ourselves.

We spent the rest of the day ambling around the beaches at Surf Beach and strolling around Batemans Bay. There are a surprisingly large number of shops in Batemans. Some are closed which may be a sign of hard times. There are a couple of op shops in town too: the Salvos and Vinnie’s stores are both on the same street. There is a mall with a reasonably sized Coles supermarket and lots of other shops. The supermarket seems to have more Coles brand products than I’ve seen in any other Coles supermarket. I like to buy non Coles brands when I can. I guess this Coles outlet has the market sown up. There’s no where else to go. There are also a good number of restaurants of varying standards and prices. The eating at Batemans Bay is a very nice experience, with some restaurants having water views.

Batemans Bay

The coast is about 150km from Canberra, and Batemans Bay is the closest coastal town. Since arriving in Canberra, trips to the beach were infrequent because of the distance.

It’s a great drive to the coast, but the seaside is rather more than just a short trip across town as would be the case for most people living in Australian capital cities. There are rewards though. The extra time it takes to get to the coast is compensated by the fabulous drive in getting there. There is some beautiful scenery along the way. The journey is broken by the two small towns of Bungendore and Braidwood, and there are enough curves and hills to turn the trip into fun. Actually, these small towns make good rest spots or destinations in their own right. There's plenty of interest in Bungendore and the Bakery at Braidwood must attract hundreds of customers; I'm one of their regulars.

The Kings Highway is the route to the coast, which turns out to be about a two-hour trip for me. This is a section of the road a few kms east of Braidwood. Despite the wintery weather these trees are not dead and will transform this section of the highway into a beautiful avenue when spring arrives.This highway is sometimes reported in the press in relation to the number of motor vehicle collisions many of which are fatal. There are a few passing lanes on the highway, but obviously too few to make the road as safe as it could be. I wonder that the poor reputation of the Kings Highway may be due to the few reckless drivers who use the road as a race track. Some motorists can’t resist passing on blind corners or where visibility is poor, rather than waiting for a passing lane. These idiots put everyone’s lives at risk.

As a young man I recall a road safety campaign which promoted the slogan “speed kills” which caused me and my friends some amusement. We had the view that speed doesn’t kill, but it is speed without skill that kills. If you have good driving skills then driving at speed is perfectly safe. We were interested in motor sport as casual observers, and drove faster than we should have, but we could handle a car on various road conditions and speeds. You get to know your limitations, the capability of your car, and you get to know the road. If you keep within your limits you will likely be fine. But on this highway I still see some darn stupid behaviour.

If you must exceed the speed limit please have a care for other people on the road. If you have to overtake everyone and anyone ahead of you give a thought to road safety. Not everyone thinks like you. Not everyone has the same reaction times or the same driving skills or experiences as you.

Anyway, having settled in our Canberra property we inevitably had a look around regions beyond the ACT. Our explorations led us to the coast. From time to time we had a look at a few properties. The allhomes website is fabulous for checking out what’s available and where. There always seem to be a lot of property open houses at the coast. One thing led to the other and we purchased our second property there.

I guess the attraction of the coast just crept up on me. We had spent some pleasant times at Depot Beach, which is a little to the north of Batemans Bay. I’d never heard of Depot Beach. With a name like that it conjured up industry, pollution, or some sort of dump. Wrong! Depot Beach is a beautiful location. The quiet beach side drive has a wonderful outlook across a bay to a tree covered promontory of a national park.

I was introduced to Depot Beach when I spent some time helping a work colleague do some maintenance work on her beach side property. I did a spot of painting in return for a free stay at the beach house. A nice cheap holiday.

This is the view from the house. You could forget the problems of life in a place like this. Just let your mind drift. The beach was only a short walk from here, and with Depot Beach being a bit out of the way there were never too many people on the beach, which was nice. This house had a fabulous view of the ocean. At times was good just to listen to the thunder of the waves breaking on the shore. I think this experience may have enhanced the appeal of the coast for me, because at that time buying a coastal property was the last thing on my mind. I was just happy to be there. Here's a nice little web site that might persuade you as to the merits of Depot Beach. And I must give the house a plug too.

The following photo is also of Depot Beach. You can often expect this amount of people on the beach. Isn't it great? It was also at this beach that I lost my specs. I was wearing them in the water when a larger than expected wave caught me off guard. I know it was not a wise move to wear spectacles when swimming, but it can be useful to actually be able to see where you are going, even at the beach. Normally, I've been careful enough not to let them come to any harm. Perhaps it was a freak wave. I looked away and a wave wiped them from my face. I immediately dived for the bottom to see if I could locate them, but with the seaweed and the turmoil of the swell they were gone. I scanned the beach the next day walking up and down, but they were nowhere to be seen. I wonder where they'll end up.

The following will tell of my experience in buying a second property, the finances, the hassles, and of becoming a land lord.

The house we purchased was very basic. It has a set up which allows half the house to be rented whilst leaving the other half completely separate as a home away from home seaside retreat. The property is a comfortable walk to the beach, which is a treat I would never have believed possible.

Settlement took place about a year ago. If my experiences can help others avoid problems then that would be great. I’ll try and keep things mostly in chronological order, but if I get a few things out of sequence you’ll probably still get the gist of it, and hopefully make some use of my experiences.