Buying rural. Unsure about the distance to work each day. Please lend your thought

[Ms Jade]

i been recently working on a project in mt eliza. takes me like nearly 1 hour to get there from CBD to the mt eliza. It's around 65km. Honestly - i can't see how some people do it.

that's strange. It should only be 45-50km from the city. I am just in Mt Eliza and it takes me about 1 hr to get to King St at peak hour but no more than 45 any other time.

I also remember there was a manager who lived in geelong and worked in mulgrave and did that for like 10+ years.

Funny what people get accustomed to. There are many people who live a lot further down the peninsula who commute. We had a friend at Safety Beach (actually almost Dromana) who commuted to Coburg daily!

 

[investor2009]

Thanks for all your input thus far, I will be taking a drive out there direct from work this afternoon to time the trip in minutes, km's and the general 'feel'.

Was speaking with our freight guy today about what he thinks because he lives 10km PAST where we're considering. He says 'I wouldn't live anywhere else' and likes driving. He drives a truck for a living and still enjoys the drive home!

When it comes down to it: if we really like the place the distance will be of little concern. You go bush to be out of the city.. Kinda makes sense that it's a bit further out really. .

Will report back tomorrow

 

[Melbournian]

Funny what people get accustomed to. There are many people who live a lot further down the peninsula who commute. We had a friend at Safety Beach (actually almost Dromana) who commuted to Coburg daily!

1 hour during peak time? as in 8-9am? impossible if you're using M1 or either dandenong rd. Can't speak for nepean highway but with the amount of traffic lights- who knows?. I drove back 43 minutes from mt eliza to southbank speeding a bit but that was like at 3am on saturday morning.

that's strange. It should only be 45-50km from the city. I am just in Mt Eliza and it takes me about 1 hr to get to King St at peak hour but no more than 45 any other time.

On the whereis website :
Start 80-118 King St, Melbourne, VIC 3000
EndOld Mornington Rd, Mt Eliza, VIC 3930
Distance: 60.1km
Travel: Fastest (with tolls)

unless there is a different king st : assumption using tolls.

 

[investor2009]

Ok I did the drive after work today and it seemed long.
The thing is, I didn't min d the drive, I was just thinking about the money..?

My petrol bill would rise by around $60-$80 per week and servicing will be more frequent, although I do this myself so it's only $70 or so for oil and a replacement filter every couple of months.

At first I got home and said to myself 'no freakin' way!' but now considering how much we both like the place, we're going back for a second look tomorrow evening and to speak with the owners about a few things. We are pretty well ready to com e around to the idea that sacrifices must be made for the lifestyle rewards, which I hope are as worth it as we think.

 

[investor2009]

Still not feeling 100% today.. and was up for a few hours just thinking about it.

I jumped in the truck this morning and looked at the fuel gauge n said to myself (out loud mind you) 'Are you crazy!?' Because it had shrunk since filling up yesterday before driving out there for a test run.

Then jumped on my trusty calculator.
Turns out my fuel bill would double from $12 per day trip to - and from work, to $24 to - and from. But thats in a Landcruiser that costs 30 cents per km to run. Reliable as they come though and it's in good condition so I don't expect any troubles from it. It's the only vehicle that I've ever really 'loved' so hard for me to sell it.. but not out of the question.
We're a bit up in the air still. . What to do!?

 

[zed_kid]

Move out of Darwin, you’ve sacrificed lifestyle long enough lol

 

[lizzie]

But thats in a Landcruiser that costs 30 cents per km to run.

put it on gas. hubby had one to tow the boat. you don't lose much power and cost less than my little corolla to run.

 

[investor2009]

Thanks for the suggestion Lizzie but I failed to mention this IS on gas already, and I no longer bother running it on LPG because here it costs 90 cents per litre and the tank cost around $60 to fill and takes me 250kms, petrol costs $110 to fill a 95l tank and takes me 430kms which isn't AS good but it's pretty close. It also has a valvesaver kit installed which requires fluid, but thats not that much. The PCV hose has been modified slightly for this.

So doing the maths again, it does seem to be a bit better. .
That means that LPG is 23 cents per km and petrol is 25. But negligable in the scheme of things Plus gas will slowly wreck my engine so I prefer to run petrol.

 

[investor2009]

Let me put it another way for you.
My bills are as follows and would continue to stay on par with the new scenario.

Mortgage (interest only)
Other investment properties
Electricity and Rates
Car rego and servicing
Fuel
Food
A tiny bit for me, like $50

This ongoing weekly expenditure equals my entire weekly pay, minus negative gearing which might be $10k per annum. I have $10k cash stashed away and can keep a little more from the sale(s) of property that will go through shortly to be mainly used for our deposit so I feel 'o.k' about that, but it still sucks because it would leave me with just negative gearing every year because I won't be able to save anything each week, maybe $50 here and there but you get the picture. So our properties will be the only source of 'real' wealth for us. Not like thats a bad thing 10 years down the line mind you but it's the mean time that may not be as rosy.

We're o.k to pull a bit of equity from existing property if we ever want or need to which is good to have as another safety net.

 

[investor2009]

Oh Update, Please forgive me about quoting such a cheap cheap price on the LPG earlier, It's actually 95 cents per litre now. My sincerest apologies.

I hadn't even been bothered to look since making up my mind not to use it, not it's exactly the same price to use as unleaded!

 

[RumpledElf]

If its just money, get a second smaller car just for you for the work commute. What you spend on the car you'll get back fast on savings in fuel.


Choice of car is important.

We have a small car that is very economical, and are still umming and ahhing about how to raise the cash to get a bigger one for when child #1 grows too tall to wedge between two baby seats (the height of her shoulders is the limiting factor). If they had a car hire place around we'd just hire a larger car for the bi-monthly trips where we actually need the space in the back, it would be cheaper than buying a car just to sit idle in the garage most of the time.

 

[investor2009]

Thanks Rumpled, that is a good observation.

I would still like to keep the cruiser, but it may sit at home unregistered because I wouldn't want to pay rego on it and not drive it anywhere, and I also wouldn't want to pay two rego's and still rarely drive it anywhere.

Seems lie a bit of a waste though and I'd probably be better off just selling it. Very hard decision.

We've also considered renting the rural place out while we're sitting pretty cash wise and can save a lot every week and we save as much as we can for 6 months-1 year before we move in. That would give us a full tax year to claim all neg gearing and improvements (we would have to include a ride on mower I'd say also)

We might be able to save $30k between us in a year, $15k each would mean 2 years worth of petrol for the Cruiser! ($7500p/a) Still sounds bad when you put it that way, possibly even worse.. The fuel it uses in 2 years is almost what we paid for it!

I think your idea is a sound one.

So if we waited 1 year before moving we would each have another $15k
AND having a car that only used 1/2 the amount of fuel than the cruiser would save even more in the mean time. And when we moved out there.
Hmmm, whats a Toyota Prius worth..?

 

[investor2009]

UPDATE. O.k I see the 2007 Prius is worth about the same as my 1997 Cruiser and I would be quite willing to sell it to fund the purchase.
Heres why.

Fuel bill per annum, just to and from work.

Cruiser $6,240
Prius $1,170

Add to that a further 5000kms or so for private use outside of work (yes, sometimes I'm not there!) and the difference widens.. I don't want to know how much actually.

I swear there's a whole single mothers benefit between there somewhere,
I must get back to living within my means throughout this next chapter, have been living it up a little this past year because the portfolio has been doing well and the burden has lifted somewhat over time but now the stakes are on again and it's time to knuckle doen in some areas.

The PPOR would be worth much more than driving the Cruiser so it's quite an easy decision even though I love it and have done a bit of work fixing oil seals and things so now it has no leaks which you can't say about 95% of the same model at this stage of it's life. Thinking about that is by far the hardest cause I put a lot of time and effort in-to it and it is one of the better ones by far.
Thanks Rumpled!

 

[Angel]

Hello

I too would buy the dream home, sell the cruiser and get a cheaper car to commute. I wanted to add that the extra commute on a long country road will use far less fuel per kilometre travelled that driving around town. Does that help with the decision?

If you still want to keep the Cruiser, you can get an older corolla (for example) to commute in, leaving the landcruiser for those "special moments". When we had two cars, the big one for long drives sitting idle a lot and the very old toyota to drive to work in, the only additional cost was $1000 a year to register and insure. If you save more than $1000 a year (make that a bit more with higher prices) in fuel costs it may be possible to keep the two cars.

Best wishes

 

[investor2009]

Yea I'm more leaning toward keeping it and buying a $1000-$2000 small car now because selling it and not replacing with another 4wd would be a definite no-no for me.. I know I sound skitzo, just having more trouble with the decision than I originally thought.
I 'could' sell it for a Hilux which chews only a little more than half this does, but I still don't know.

The only thing with keeping the 80 series is the extra rego etc for it just to sit there.. but I dare say I'll just keep it garaged with no rego and drive it down the dirt track a coupe of houses up every now and then. Insurance and rego are just too much to spend when I'm not even using it. It sure is a tough one!

 

[investor2009]

Hey yall'!

Got a quick update for ya.
We've decided 40km is too far out no matter what were driving, so are going to keep the beloved 4wd and search closer in, still rural, but 30km in instead of 40. Prices are a bit higher because it's closer and theres nothing that we like on the market just yet so are waiting for the mean time.

We have 2x properties on the market but I'm hoping that one achieves a good price and we can remove the other and hold on to it.

Cheers!

 

[Ms Jade]

Hey yall'!

Got a quick update for ya.
We've decided 40km is too far out no matter what were driving, so are going to keep the beloved 4wd and search closer in, still rural, but 30km in instead of 40.

Well i must say - that didn't go the way I thought it was going! At least it's a load off your mind now that you've made the decision. Sooner or later you'll find the one.

 

[Ms Jade]

1 hour during peak time? as in 8-9am? impossible if you're using M1 or either dandenong rd.

No, more like 7:15 - 8:15. When i have an 8:30 appointment i leave some time to find a park, walk to the place etc. I must have done OK by the traffic gods in a past life! Saturday morning it took me 41 mins to get to Kingsway - not busy but there was a couple of km with roadworks & down to 60. This is via M1 - Eastlink - Nth Franga exit.

On the whereis website :
Start 80-118 King St, Melbourne, VIC 3000
EndOld Mornington Rd, Mt Eliza, VIC 3930
Distance: 60.1km
Travel: Fastest (with tolls)

You're right. I checked this for my own edification. My place to city square car park = 57km. I always believed Frankston council that Frankston = 40km from CBD.

(Sorry for the segue)