From Melbourne to West Gippsland: My Unexpected Transition into Hobby Farming

As I enjoy the first sips of my first home brew in my new house, I can finally relax and really take in the view of the valley. The transition from Melbourne- with the stresses of a tight settlement on my old place- was certainly not without its challenges, but now I can settle into the relaxing rural life of a hobby farmer. I imagine most of you are probably chuckling at the nativity of the notion. In truth, when the jobs are done (or more accurately, when my joints and muscles are done), there's nothing more satisfying than the moment you can finally put your feet up with a glass of home brew you feel you've really earned. Although perhaps not straining in the same sense, it was the lead up to the move that caused the most stress. After a move, I think we all say "never again" (I know I said it more than once), but as humans, we're actually pretty good at forgetting pain.

The agent

I'd never sold a house before. In fact, now I'm sitting here, I can't think of anything I've actually sold before. I've traded in cars for a new one, I've discarded, donated to charity and given things away, but I can't think of a single occasion I've sold something. Part of the challenge might the social anxiety of interacting with other human beings, so I've always just found another way.

My partner and I found our real estate agent by attending local open houses. The first one we went to, the house was a mess, the back yard was divided to be sold to the neighbour, and it smelled so strongly of dog we had to hold our breath. The charade of the interested buyer lasted all of 2 minutes, naturally any conversations needing to be moved outside, but nevertheless, it turned out to be the first of many meetings with one of the agents who sold our home. I attended one or two other open homes, one of which I generously allowed five minutes late arrival to an open home to forever label them as unreliable. It's a cut-throat world, in real estate... Or rather, it's very easy for my social anxiety to persuade me against interacting with new people. I know, I know. I'm working on it.

The Inspections

After we agreed to work with the agents, things moved surprisingly quickly. At this stage, the house was still in shambles. Most of the rooms were tidy enough, with fresh renovations of the floors and repainted throughout. But we weren't even close to de-cluttering, and in truth one room was pretty much just being used for storage, and that wasn't even ready for de-dusting. Regardless, people were coming, and somehow we had to make the dust, and any surfaces it was attached to, seem like something someone would actually pay for.

Of course I'm exaggerating, the renovations were actually wonderful; it was a world away from what it was when I first moved in. But when you know people are going to be looking with a critical eye, it's hard not to focus on the worst.

It was an inconvenience, having to vacate our home to allow stranger to inspect it, sometimes with notice as short as a few hours. But driving two minutes around the corner to walk the cat on a leash for half an hour became a bit of a routine, and eventually, after one of the inspections, came an offer.

The Purchase

At the same time we were having others inspecting our home, we were also searching for our new one. We had our eyes set on the east of Melbourne, but I wouldn't have guessed that I'd end up east of Melbourne.

On the day of the house inspection, we were actually pretty close to skipping it and just heading home. It was just a little further out of Melbourne than we were aiming for, but once we got there, we were glad we did. For the first time in our house hunt, we had found a place we were both happy with.

From there came what I am sure must be a common story for anyone that has bought a home. First the lengthy discussions, the decision, working out what you're going to offer, then the offer, the waiting, the counter offer, the waiting, the acceptance. And then the anxiety and the "what have we done?" and the "should we pull out during the cooling off period" and then the "okay I guess we're doing this". I wouldn't want to go through it again, let's put it that way.

The Settlement

We had the flexibility of a bridging loan that gave us 12 months from the time we settled our new property to sell our old one. Flexibility is nice for piece of mind, but it would be a lot cheaper to minimise the time you need to service two mortgages. We set a settlement date for the purchase on a Monday, and the sale was set for the Friday of the same week. It was a cheaper way to do it, but that week was certainly not one free of stress! Moving day Tuesday, cleaners in on Thursday, keys handed over that evening ready for final settlement on Friday. Quite the week, indeed.

Finding Our Farmers' Feet

When we moved in, 14 acres felt like more space than we knew what to do with. It didn't take long for us to realise how limited our options really were. We were thinking about goats, alpacas, cattle, maybe horses one day, but we were limited to a total head count of 10 without a permit. And these are herd animals, they need to be in groups of at least 3, really.

We devised a plan and began acquiring knowledge eagerly, as neither of us wished to delay welcoming new friends to our paddocks any longer. Fortunately, there is an abundance of free resources available for learning about agriculture and farming methods, even for those who farm as a hobby. Our aim was to be well-prepared before bringing any animals into our care.

I honestly hadn't expected to find myself living so far outside of the city, but now that I'm here, it seems hard to imagine it any other way. There's still a lot to plan, and a lot of work to do, but I'm excited about the possibilities.