Almost twenty years ago, I inspected a property for sale on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. It was beautifully located right on the water – at sea level.
The real estate agent rang me afterwards to follow up. “It’s a lovely home but I would be worried about climate change and rising sea levels”, was my response. Today you may consider that a reasonable concern but twenty years ago, it probably was ‘out there’ and hence the agent unashamedly laughed at my feedback.
Not so long ago I had the opportunity to revisit that same property. I stood and stared at the back yard which now has approximately five metres less garden than twenty years ago – it has simply eroded away. I wonder if that real estate agent still laughs at climate change concerns from potential buyers?
This got me thinking to our home purchase almost two years ago. Eventhough the house was located kilometers from the ocean, we still had a list of ‘must have’ features that were motivated by climate change and our desire to live more sustainably.
* Large north facing roof line for solar PV
* Ample north facing garden space for growing vegetables
* Area for below and above ground, rain water tanks
* A large undercover clothes drying area
Though not on the original list, having mature fruit and nut trees would also be on our list today.
I sense there are many other people today, who’s home must have feature list, has changed over the last twenty years. Or am I still the strange ‘out there’ minority, that real estate agents laugh at?
I’m really interested to hear from real estate agents on this one – have you noticed any change to buyer’s needs due to climate change or the environment?
Our large undercover clothes drying area - enough space for four large washing loads.
A special thankyou, shout out to my Mum, who yesterday extended our undercover clothes drying area. Now the space dries even more clothes! Brilliant with all this rain we have had!
Greener Me 