We Sold Up and Bought 5 Acres in Tasmania. Now What?

There’s a moment in every big dream that nobody really talks about. It isn’t the moment you decide to go, or the day the removalist truck pulls away, or the first time you stand on your own land with the wind in your face. It’s the quiet moment a few weeks later, when you look out over the land and say, “Okay. Now what?”

This is that post.

How we got here

Paul and I had a beautiful home in Calista, just south of Perth, with a tropical villa feel we loved. But we’d seen it all and done it all. We were losing every summer to the heat, our suburb was shrinking as trees came down for subdivisions, and if I’m honest, we were living vicariously through our Holly’s adventures. We both wanted more adventures, and room to build, improve and grow.

Then I heard a little inner voice calling us to Tasmania. So we did something neither of us expected we’d do in our 50s. We sold the house, paid off the Perth mortgage and packed up everything we own, including Holly, our very fluffy Samoyed, and Delilah, our cat, who has opinions about all of it. (She has not yet forgiven us.) We made the brave move across Bass Strait to Tasmania’s North West coast, found a rental and started looking for land.

We didn’t have all the answers. We just knew we wanted more adventure.

Our wish list was more land, more trees, more space and a creek down the back. We found five acres of our very own (about 20,234 square metres), with two creeks, towering trees in a mini forest and a view of the mountain. It isn’t the river view we’d hoped for. It’s actually much better.

Then came the waiting

The plan was always to buy the land and then build a kit home ourselves. Owner-building can save a lot of money, and you end up with a home that’s truly yours. Paul is an industrial and mechanical designer, and his forte is managing massive projects, so a house build is right up his alley. (He already has a spreadsheet. Of course he does.)

We always knew the numbers. Buying our land outright and staying mortgage-free meant the house would have to wait while we built up our income. Not this year, and probably not next year either.

Knowing that on paper is one thing. Committing to it is another, and I won’t pretend that deciding to go ahead wasn’t a leap of faith.

We traded the mortgage for a meadow. The house just has to catch up.

Land first. House later. Life now.

We weren’t flat about it. We were excited, because we couldn’t wait to step onto the land and call it our own. We’d done all the hard parts. We don’t have a mortgage. We own our land outright. And there’s a lot we can do with five acres and a bit of patience while we work towards the build.

Here’s what “now what” looks like for us:

• Getting to know the land. We’re watching where the sun falls in winter, where the wind comes from, where water sits after rain and where the frost settles. People say you should live with a block for a year before you build on it. We’re getting that year whether we like it or not. (We like it.)
• Getting the block ready. Earthworks, power, water, access and taming the brambles. Not glamorous, but everything else depends on it.
• The glasshouse. Our secret squirrel project, ready for autumn 2027. All we can say for now: it’s not for tomatoes, and it’s a big part of how we’ll fund the build. More on that soon.
• Planting the gardens. They say the best time to plant a tree was yesterday. The next best time is today. Hedges, fruit trees and spring gardens take years to grow, so the sooner they go in, the better. One of our very last projects will be beehives, so the garden has its own pollinators and we have our own honey.
• Choosing our kit home carefully. We’re comparing companies, designs and prices without the pressure of a deadline, which is probably the smartest way to make a decision this big.
• Building an income. Paul runs his own design business part-time, and I’m building The Monarch Meadows: the YouTube channel, this blog, our free guides and the Tasmanian Property Check. Every bit of it goes towards the house.

What I’d tell anyone thinking of doing the same

1. Do the full maths before you buy. Not just the land price, but transfer duty, connections, site works, rent while you wait and a buffer for surprises. Then add a bit more.
2. Don’t trust the photos. Agents’ listing photos rarely show the reality. They won’t show you how steep a block really is, whether you’ll hit hard dolerite rock or natural gravel when you dig, where the ground stays boggy all winter, or whether it sits in a landslip or bushfire overlay. Check zoning, overlays, water, wastewater, access and anything running over or under the land. That’s exactly why we created the Tasmanian Property Check.
3. It’s okay if it takes longer. A slower timeline isn’t a failed plan. It’s just a real one.
4. Be brave. If you want more for your life, figure out a way to make it happen. The answers will come if you’re open to receiving them.

Come along

So this is where we are: two people, a Samoyed, a cat and five acres of pasture and forest, working it out one step at a time. We’ll share all of it here and on YouTube: the wins, the setbacks and the honest numbers.

I’d love to connect with people in Tasmania, or dreaming of it, who are thinking about a tree change, are in the middle of one or have already made the leap. Say hello in the comments and tell me where you’re at. And come along for the mud, the mistakes and the magic.

Cherrie x