I braved the inclement weather last Saturday and went to an open house in Burringbar, just west of Ocean Shores. Regular readers know that I like Burringbar and believe its one of the few places still giving good value for money in this shire. I was keen to see the house as I thought it was going to be perfect for the young couple I was looking for. They are First Home Owner Buyers and I was hoping to find them something for under $400,000.
Coming down from the hills into the picturesque low-lying village I was not prepared for the scene in front of me. Outside every home, the residents were piling sodden furniture and carpets on the footpath ready to be taken to the tip. Cars and fences covered in mud and detriment. I even heard on the radio that someone had been washed away and drowned in upper Burringbar.
It got worse. The house I went to see was something out of the Old Testament. Rotten timbers, wobbly steps, mildew covering the ceiling, a two-bedroom disaster with a price tag of $385,000. What kind of a world was I in?
I then went into Mullumbimby Woolworths for some supplies and the shelves were completely empty. OMG – it’s armageddon! What have we done to be so smitten and punished from the skies above? Is it raining cane toads as well? Then the Lord spoke to me, “Thou have placed property above the lord. People bow down to the god of mammon instead of a simple, natural life. You are cursed!”
I was scared and humbled, to say the least. But then I heard the voice again. Gentle and pleading this time. “By the way, you don’t know of a good three bedroom house on a small acreage close to Byron? Ocean glimpses would be good. I am thinking of retiring soon.”