Luxury Island Living

Island living has a certain romance to it, and if truth be known, we’ve all probably dreamed of living on our own private island at one time or another. Well, here’s an opportunity to live the dream and combine it with the comforts of a resort as well.

Couran Cove is situated on South Stradbroke Island and part of it is being developed as an over 50s community. It offers a great active lifestyle with undisturbed beaches, swimming, fishing, bush trails, four-wheel driving tours and other outdoor recreation activities, as adventurous or as tame as you like.

We asked Randal Wilson, who heads up executive sales for Couran Cove about some of the practical aspects of island living. What transportation is there to and from the island and what are the medical facilities?

According to Randal, “There is a ferry every two hours from Hope Harbour Marina on the northern end of the Gold Coast. It’s not expensive either, because residents get 66% off the ferry charges.”

“On the medical side of things, there is a doctor visiting once a week by appointment. There are weekly pharmacy/script deliveries and an on-site nurse with pendant monitoring services. When a sufficient number of permanent residents has been reached, a full time dedicated medical practitioner will be on-site and a pharmacy outlet is also planned.”

Celebrating family

Being an island is not the only difference that Couran Cove has compared to other retirement villages and manufactured home communities. Randal explains that “The homes here are freehold property. So you can buy, sell, or rent as you please. There are no entry or exit fees and no hidden costs if you want to sell. You keep 100% of the capital gain on selling, which is not always the case with say retirement villages. Given our price point of $350,000 for a 2 bedroom dual key option, it is reasonable to expect some capital gain down the track. There are other non- waterfront options available at $150,000”.

“The dual key allows you to live in one side and rent the other side out – this can totally cover your running costs. There are no large running costs, just a body corporate fee – like you would have on any residential estate that provides security, maintenance and so on. In fact, because we are a community on the island, the body corporate supplies electricity, gas, water, sewerage and telecommunications in one convenient invoice every quarter.”

“When it comes down to it, there is no better way than soaking in the atmosphere and community feel than trying out the island – you can stay in a rental for around $250 per week.”

It seems the options available for the over 50s are growing and living on an island in a slice of paradise could well be worth exploring, both from a lifestyle point of view and also a financial perspective.

O50s
Australian Over 50s Living & Lifestyle Guide

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