Meet the retirees leaving a low-maintenance home for a big block in the hills

Ian and Lorraine Meech have lived in Murrumba Downs for more than a decade. Despite loving their slice of riverfront land, they’ve decided to move out of the suburbs and into Dayboro.

“We’re in a little piece of Murrumba Downs that’s totally different to the rest, we’re on the North Pine River,” Mr Meech said. “It’s a nice long, expanse of water to look along.

“It’s very different.”

They had been itching to move out to the suburbs for years and finally locked in the “tree-change”. Their biggest reason for packing up and leaving was a lack of space.

“You sneeze and someone next door hands a tissue out the window, that’s how close it is,” Mr Meech said.

“You can’t actually walk around your house… because if you did you’d be walking on your neighbours.”

While their block of land was further removed from the rest of Murrumba Downs than most, they said they still felt hemmed in on their 450 square metres.

“We still get that suburb feel, you’re closed in. Rush, rush, bustle, bustle. It’s still a busy life,” said Mr Meech.

Ray White Dayboro principal Vicki Pain sold the Meechs their new home and is selling their old one; she said they’re not the only family who made the move from North Brisbane’s master-planned communities to valleys west of the city.

“Usually they say, ‘we’ve been looking out here for years’,” Ms Pain said. “They say, ‘we’ve been going for a Sunday drive for years’.

“They come out here for a drive and they just end up buying.”

Dayboro appealed to buyers from suburbs such as Murrumba Downs because often they grew tired of a small block of land and busy lifestyle, Me Property Sales director Michael Flanagin said.

“It’s certainly a more relaxed lifestyle, we’re in a pocket, there’s not a lot of traffic,” he said. “The crime rate is very low.

“It’s going back to the old days with people living on big blocks and the kids can run around and all that.”

Dayboro is 46 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, but Mr Flanagin said it was still within commuting distance. “I’ve been told the travel time from Petrie station is half an hour and the drive from Dayboro to Petrie is 20 minutes.”

But the thing Mr Meech is most excited about is having the opportunity to have a shed for the first time in more than a decade.

“I can have a shed! I do wood turning, so instead of having to squash myself into the garage, I can actually have a shed!” he said.

Mr Meech said that while he and his wife were “no spring chickens”, they were prepared to take on the extra work of owning 6023 square metres because it meant they had more space to pursue their interests.

“Depending on what your hobbies are, it can be a real mistake to downsize,” he said.

“If you’re into arts and craft you need a really big room, to store your bits and pieces in.”