If the high cost of city living, traffic, office politics and lack of time and energy have sucked the joie de vivre right out of you, then you might be ripe for a sea change or tree change. Moving could restore your spirits and your bank account.
Finance experts say more Australian women are looking for exit strategies from the city. They aren’t ready for retirement, but they want to slow down.
Depending on your current and future addresses, you could cut your cost of living by up to $50,000 a year – and still buy your own home.
If that sounds like a lot, we have estimated that most city women spend almost $29,000 a year on essentials such as transport, car, parking, hair, make-up, shoes, clothes, utilities, groceries, insurance and entertainment.
Then there is the rent or mortgage, which if you live close to the city centre can cost between $27,000 and $85,000 a year – all to hold down a job.
If you move to a rural area or a regional city, we estimate you could trim your annual costs down to $17,000 for essentials and between $12,000 and $23,000 on your rent or mortgage.
The further you move from the cities, the cheaper it gets.Demographers estimate that about 70,000 Australians make a sea change or tree change each year, but one in five fails, so it’s not something to launch into after a brain snap – don’t just pack up, put the dog in the car and head across the country.
Alan Stokes, head of the National Sea Change Taskforce (a national body representing the interests of coastal councils and communities), cautions against throwing it all in and moving to a spot where you’ve just had the perfect holiday.
“If you’re going on holiday, you’ve got a job to go back to, a home to go back to and a network of friends and family to go back to. If you shift permanently, you don’t necessarily have any of those things,” he says.
If you want to succeed, you must plan carefully and take it slowly, so that you don’t end up back in the city shattered by a sense of failure and needled by the waste of paying for two moves only to end up financially and spiritually poorer.
Melbourne-based career coach Caroline Cameron of Possibility To Reality has been advising sea changers and tree changers for six years. She says there is a lot riding on making the move and if you are unclear about what you want, your new life is certain to fall short of your expectations.
Don’t take an “It’ll be right, mate” attitude – do your research and don’t make hasty decisions.
“It’s a very different value proposition for women from men,” Caroline says.
“For women, there are different challenges. The number one challenge is finding work.”
She advises women to identify their transferable skills. They may even be things they are unaware of, such as being adept at learning new computer systems. “So, if you say, ‘I’ve just worked for a big corporate in the city’, then what can you do for a small business somewhere in the country?”
Some women want a career change or to set up their own business, she says.
Caroline says the desire to change usually has one of two sources: it’s either an accumulation of discontented moments, which end in a dawning realisation that something has to change; or it’s a defining moment, such as a job loss, the death of a partner or divorce, that causes you to ask yourself whether you want to spend the rest of your life living like this.
“If the answer is ‘no’, then quite often changing your career and where you live is the opportunity for a new beginning,” she says.
She advises candidates for change to assess what’s wrong with their life and how they would like it to be different.
Yet, she warns, it’s a bit like having a baby – if you have emotional, relationship or financial problems, a move probably isn’t the answer.
Caroline says the biggest challenge can be finding work and she has had clients who have moved without a job and eventually abandoned their chosen town in favour of a place with a job.
If you do decide you want a fresh start, you don’t have to move to the sticks and turn the clock back 20 years.
You can achieve an enviable lifestyle with a pleasant cafe culture, restaurants, gyms, quality retail outlets, high-speed internet, good mobile coverage and university campuses in regional centres – all within hours of the capital cities, according to demographer and social researcher Mark McCrindle.
He says some of the fastest growing areas in Australia include Albury Wodonga on the NSW-Victorian border, Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria, Toowoomba in Queensland and Wagga Wagga and the Tweed Valley in NSW.
Yet Mark warns that if you have your heart set on a sea change, you probably won’t be gaining financially.
“You’ve got some pretty solid prices. If it’s within a few hours’ drive of a capital, you’ve got similar house price costs. This is true of the South Coast of NSW and the beachside areas of the Central Coast. The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast have house prices that are higher than some of the suburbs in Brisbane,” Mark says.
Because of this, tree changes are now more popular, allowing you to get a headstart on the mortgage, as well as giving you the better lifestyle and sense of community than city living could.
“A tree change is moving out of the rat race, moving out of the city for a new lifestyle,” Mark says.
“By definition, it is a move to a smaller population, but it doesn’t mean moving to a hamlet either.
A tree change that is feasible is one where there is an employment base, where there’s some shopping, where there’s some lifestyle, just not as manic as what you are departing from.”
Working on a median income of $75,000, Mark says you should expect to earn about 20 per cent less if you live in a rural or regional area.
“But there is often at least a 50 per cent discount in house prices and that’s where you get the real advantage. That’s where it can work out very well – to cop a bit of a discount in earnings and gain a massive price advantage in the house.”
There are, however, fewer employment opportunities regionally, especially for senior jobs, the jobless rate is slightly higher, average incomes are a bit lower and there is more part-time work, Mark says.
The rollout of broadband has, however, made teleworking possible, so a growing number of senior staff and consultants are living in regional areas and spending the odd night in the city when necessary, Mark says.
Teleworking has also opened up the possibilities for anyone from freelance journalists to graphic designers, who can work from home.
10 steps to take if you are planning on quitting the city
1 Examine your life and identify what’s missing or wrong with it, so that you know what you don’t want. Then list your must-haves, for example, access to an airport in case something happens to an elderly relative. You can then look at towns with a regional airport.
2 Weight your must-have criteria according to importance. Research all the options and look at what towns or regional cities tick all the boxes.
3 Calculate your current outgoings and then model the cost of living in the country. Understand what it means for your finances, including your super and investments. Would you need to make adjustments? “You really need to do the finances as a whole separate exercise,” says career coach Caroline Cameron.
4 Identify your transferable skills. Caroline says women are often good at marketing, business and project management. Strong administrative skills, ability to learn new computer systems quickly and being highly personable are all assets.
5 If you are professional, such as a doctor, accountant or lawyer, and are thinking of setting up your own practice, look for gaps in the market. Or you could consider locum work to establish your reputation in a country community.
6 Look for a town where people share your passions and interests. It helps to meet people and make connections. “So, for example, if you are interested in the arts and are artistic, then somewhere like Bungendore [in NSW] is going to be more attractive than somewhere that’s more sporty,” Caroline says.
7 Once you’ve decided on your priorities, narrow your choices down to three or four possible locations. Caroline advises that you visit them several times in different seasons. If they’re popular tourist destinations, visit in peak time and off-season.
8 Now draw up a plan. If you have children, get them involved, so that they get used to the idea and buy into it.
9 If you have a savings buffer and can afford to live without a job, find your ideal location and then research your career or business opportunities.
10 If you have to struggle to save money, then it’s important to get a job first and do all your due diligence.
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