How to live in Brisbane city rent and mortgage free and still have city views

Damon and Thalia Syme wanted to have it all. Live in the city, have great views, not pay rent, and own their own home (without a mortgage). Somehow, they pulled it off – all they had to do was sacrifice a little on space. Oh, and having solid ground beneath them.

The Symes live on a boat on the Brisbane River — but it’s not just a houseboat.

“It was a weekend bay cruiser style boat, it had some seating and a very small kitchen bench and the toilet and that was pretty much it,” Mr Syme said.

Because their vessel was smaller than the average houseboat, they had a bit of trouble figuring out how to turn it into a home.

“It was hard to find boat inspiration,” Mrs Syme said. “There was a lot of professionally done remodelling that were done in much much bigger spaces than ours.”

“Space is a high premium here so we sat for many many hours with a beer looking for the best way…we had many drawings, about how we were going to use it best.”

Eventually the pair turned to the tiny house movement for inspiration. Instead of a trailer, it’s a boat but otherwise their home features many of the same things you’d find in a tiny home. “It’s definitely home, we’re very comfortable,” Mrs Syme said.

“We got an innerspring mattress made for ourselves, we took some of the seating out and extended the kitchen bench down as well,” Mr Syme said. “We put in a wardrobe for all our clothes.”

There’s a shower and sink where the in the bathroom, two seating areas inside, more places to sit and relax outside and upstairs.

There’s plenty of room, but not enough that they got away without having to re-evaluate what they really needed to get by.

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“We’ve learned that you don’t need to accumulate stuff,” Mrs Syme said. “I’d never call ourselves minimalists but we’ve definitely curbed our accumulation of things we don’t need.”

That’s not to say there isn’t enough room to throw a wild party or two.

“We’ve had a couple of parties, we can cater for eight people comfortably,” Mr Syme said. “But we’ve had more!” his wife added.

Mr and Mrs Syme love the lifestyle, but they’ve decided that they’re open to the idea of selling the home they spent two years renovating by themselves.

They’ve posted it on Gumtree asking for $40,000. They’ve already had some offers, but they’ve found it hard to let go of their home of the past three and a half years.

“The first time we put it up on Gumtree we had an offer in the first 24 hours of what we were asking,” Mr Syme said. “Thalia burst into tears, and she was like nah, we’re not selling because we’d just put a lot of work into it.”

“It’s kind of our first home and it’s very important to us.”

If the tiny house (boat) sells, the Symes will use the cash to put down the deposit on a house on solid ground. Obviously they’ve warmed to the idea of a mortgage.