A tale of two dwellings: Why more Sydneysiders are buying second homes

At the weekend, Deborah Thomas regularly entertains up to 10 friends at her house in the southern highlands. During the week, a real joy of having an apartment in Potts Point is wandering up the street and dropping into a local aperitivo bar for quick drink and snack.

“I love the contrast,” says Deborah, the former editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly and now the chief executive of kids’ cancer charity Camp Quality.

“I love the luxury of space with the house at Berrima, which we wouldn’t be able to afford in the city, and I love the buzz and 24-hour nature of Kings Cross.

Deborah Thomas is among the growing number of Sydneysiders who have bought secondary homes, and loves splitting her time between Potts Point and Berrima. Credit: Anna Kucera

“And they’re only 90 minutes away from each other, so you can go up and down in a day, if you need to. It’s perfect with having to spend less time in the office in the city since COVID, and being able to work from home.”

Deborah, 65, together with vodka manufacturer husband Vitek Czernuszyn, 68, are just two of a slew of Sydneysiders who’ve bought homes in the country, or on the coast, since the advent of the pandemic and are spending much more time there. Many are now dividing their lives between their two bases, some renting either out when they’re not using them to make it less expensive, but others managing to keep both for their exclusive use.

It’s all part of a trend both in Australia, and globally, to buy a holiday home that is almost equal to, or even better than, the main residence.

Residential property consultancy and estate agency Knight Frank Australia has noted the development in its latest Rightsizing 2022 Report. It notes that a smaller pad in the city is increasingly the preferred option for those who’ve been spending more time during the COVID-19 onslaught in the country or by the beach.

“There is still a reluctance on the part of many Australians to travel overseas, so it’s likely we’ll see more of our affluent clients expanding their property portfolios in regional areas to provide varying ways to spend their holiday time,” says Michelle Ciesielski, Knight Frank’s head of residential research. “Many have taken the pandemic downtime to invest in well-appointed second homes with generous space to have family and friends stay over and create a legacy passed down for future generations.

“A second home in some of Australia’s busiest tourist towns also secures certainty for upcoming vacations at short notice, especially when holiday accommodation options have become incredibly thin throughout the peak seasons. Once, the coastal or country home was enjoyed mostly as a holiday retreat, but instead there is a toothbrush permanently left in both homes with frequent travel between the two.”

It can be a challenge trying to work out how the two lives can fit together seamlessly, however. Members of this new group of two-homers say they often find themselves reaching for a favourite shirt or jacket, only to discover it’s been left at the other property. Partners may have different views about which location they want to spend the majority of their time in, and there can always be a juggle with kids, particularly if they’re school age, or pets.

Raine & Horne Potts Point Jane Schumann says it’s often not easy. She always suggests her clients rent somewhere to live for a short period to see how it works out before they commit to buying.

“The first year is probably the most disruptive, when you’re trying to work out how often you’ll go to the country or coastal place,” she says. “But once you’re into a routine, it’s much better. Sometimes, people end up going just for weekends but often, as their children grow older, they find themselves spending more and more time at their other property. It can all depend on what’s happening in their lives at the time.”

Monica Nakata splits her time between Randwick and Bundeena.Credit: Peter Rae

The former publisher of Oyster magazine Monica Nakata, who’s now launching Par Femme magazine, indeed sampled a split living arrangement first before she bought her second home. Living in an apartment in Randwick, but yearning to spend time on the coast, she stayed regularly with a friend who has a home in Bundeena, on the outskirts of southern Sydney, a ferry ride from Cronulla.

She found she loved it so much, she ended up buying an old three-bedroom cottage in the area. “It gave me such a sense of freedom staying there, I decided to take the plunge,” Monika, 52, says. “I stayed there during lockdown and realised I’d be really happy having a permanent home there.

“It’s proved an amazing experience; a place for me to recoup and refresh and it’s really helped my mental health and sense of wellbeing. It’s such a relaxed environment and I often have friends over and entertain, whereas in Sydney we’re often all too busy to have a chance to catch up.”

She feels that even her three dogs – two miniature dachshunds Pip and Cliff and her bitzer Henry – look so more relaxed at the beach than in the city. But all four of them spend some days in Sydney when she has to attend meetings, then repair to the coast when they can.

At first, Monica rented the house out on Airbnb for the periods she wasn’t going to be there, to help make ends meet. Eventually, she decided she’d rather keep it for herself, so she could furnish it exactly as she wanted and not have to clear her personal belongings out every time she was expecting paying guests.

“I do have a mortgage and it’s a bit of a stretch financially, but I like having the house to myself,” she says. “For however long I can afford it, I’ll keep it like that. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to do this.”

Many do choose to let out their coastal or country properties – or even sometimes their city pads too – for short periods over the long term. Simone Scoppa of Stayz says many people just block out the dates they want to use their properties and hire a cleaner to keep it tidy and change the sheets or do it themselves.

Almost a third of people with second homes on the NSW South Coast end up renting them out short-term.Credit: Almay

“It works well for a lot of people,” she says. “We have more and more who are doing it now, and it’s much easier to link different platforms together, with automatic synching, to increase the chances of lets.” The Stayz booking fee is five per cent commission on the rental amount and any additional fees the guest is charged.

Around 30 per cent of people with second homes on the NSW South Coast end up renting them out short-term when they’re not in residence, believes Craig Hadfield, director of Ray White South Coast. Those with the more expensive homes don’t tend to do it so much.

But with prices having risen so sharply over COVID, the entry level for places like Culburra Beach and Jervis Bay would be around $3.5 million, and apartments from $850,000. “Often, people start off coming for weekends, and then later come and live here permanently,” Hadfield says. “A lot of people plan to retire on the south coast but have brought forward their plans from five years to closer to two.”

It’s similar in the country, too. In the Southern Highlands, people have been buying property during the pandemic to get away from others and have some virus-free breathing room and space, advises Michael Cawthorn of DiJones Southern Highlands.

“Then quite a lot stay here for longer and longer periods,” he says of the area where houses start at around $3 million, and apartments from $950,000. “I would say around 70 per cent rent out their homes when they’re not here on platforms like Airbnb, but if they have more expensive properties, they don’t want people sleeping in their beds.”

Deborah Thomas has the perfect arrangement, however, with a cottage to the front of her home that she can rent out, so she doesn’t need to rent out her own. She’ll have two different wardrobes – one of the city and one, with work boots and gardening gloves, for the country – and pairs of sandshoes in each place.

“The worst thing about living in two places is constantly having to take stuff backwards and forwards, and you feel like a packhorse sometimes,” she says. “But one of the best things is spending quality time with friends in the country, so your relationships deepen much more than if you were just catching up for a quick coffee. That’s wonderful …”

This story was first published in Domain magazine.