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Living your Luxe Life on the Sunshine Coast.
We have conversations with people who have found “home” on the Sunshine Coast & explore how they connect home with lifestyle & community.
As Property Buyers Agent we also discuss the macro economic factors impacting economic growth & property growth & where we are in the property cycle.
We overlay local market nuances of different sub markets from Noosa Heads to Maroochydore, to the Hinterland.
I hope you enjoy the series Living Your Luxe Life.
Welcome to Living Your Luxe Life. I'm Christine Mount from Luxe Coastal Property Buyers. I'm the leading buyer's agent based in Noosa who helps people step into their Luxe life, ultimately what brings them joy. Rest assured, it's uniquely different for everyone. On our podcast, we explore people's luxe lives where land, legacy and luxury intersect.
Speaker 1:Today, have Emma Stevens from Flint, the Director of Flint She Invests. She's an experienced mortgage broker. But today we want to get to know the woman behind all those beautiful numbers, behind how she helps all these individual people and just ask her. What's your luxe life?
Speaker 2:Well, my luxe life is absolutely living on the Sunshine Coast. I've been here for going on two decades and, my luxe life is living by the ocean. I come from the country, being able to rise with the sun. I think that's why most of us are here and and you know definitely being able to have the the freedom to go out and enjoy the outdoors without it costing me any money. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You did
Speaker 1:a beautiful post on LinkedIn the other day and you said just went through a day in your life. What time do you get up and what do you do when you first get up in the morning and
Speaker 2:how does it start? Well, the 04:45AM was the kickoff which most people will go, but you know what? I meet so many other people who actually do rise at that time but when I started rising at 04:45AM it was because if I had fifteen minutes to myself before my baby would wake then that was fifteen minutes that I had to stretch out on the yoga mat, meditate or do some yoga. When I don't have kids, it would be rising with the sun and catching a sunrise. At Pyrgyzan Beach in particular, in a winter's morning, a little trickling wave and a sunrise is
Speaker 1:one of the
Speaker 2:most beautiful things you'll ever experience. But not even just the sunrises, it's the sunsets as well. We have, you know, some absolutely gorgeous sunsets to to close in our non daylight savings days. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so you also mentioned in LinkedIn what time you go to bed. So you're up at 04:45. What time
Speaker 2:is your head? PM. People will think, oh, you're going to bed now. Again, you know, only one way to survive is making sure you get plenty of sleep. Mental health is everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But, you know, rising at, you know, 04:45AM in the morning means that you do need to get to bed early. So how do you get
Speaker 1:the kids to bed by that time?
Speaker 2:Routine. Yep. Yeah. Definitely routine. Been, you know, strict on routine ever since I went through my divorce.
Speaker 2:I was a single mom with my youngest, only a baby and a toddler. So routine dinner, baths, showers and book in bed. So seven 07:30, we aim to be in bed. Are they going to bed on time every night? Probably not.
Speaker 2:There are a few nights there where
Speaker 1:we're Well, they're growing up though, aren't they? Like, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But even on the weekends, complain about how early we have to go to bed if we're not at a party. We do like to party.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no you've got a great group of friends up here on the Sunshine Coast. Why did you choose the Sunshine Coast and why did you choose Peruvian Springs? Two questions.
Speaker 2:Okay. The Sunshine Coast was, you know, lucky enough as a teenager to visit with my mom and dad, Malloolaba. And I, you know, I was out of school and my best friend lived in Melbourne. Was still living in the country And I'm not a I'm not a I'm not a city girl. So when I visited the Sunshine Coast with my best friend in my early twenties, I had such a great time.
Speaker 2:It went out, you know, the night before and the next day I'd be walking by the beach and I'd have someone yelling out, Emma, waving to me across the road going, hey. You know, I would just be stopping and talking to people that I'd met that same week. Yeah. And it and it brought me a sense of community and I know I talk about community a lot. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But that was probably one of the biggest reasons that moved me apart from it being one of the most beautiful places in the world to live it was the sense of having you know people who were warm friendly and willing to connect. You know
Speaker 1:that I ask this question a lot and it's always slightly different to everyone but I think people who have stayed long term sort of in a beautiful lifestyle regional location so you said you're not a city girl It comes down to that community and they seem to connect to community quite quickly like it's quite sticky and that's exactly how you just described.
Speaker 2:Look I'll give you an insight to what it was like stepping out of the community. So for two years post GFC I bought my first property in Noosa. And every morning, and this was before I was surfing, kick myself that I didn't take it up sooner, but I would get up every morning and it would be 05:00 in the morning and I would go down or 04:45, I'd go down before the sun was rising, and I'd get my cup of coffee from Cafe Le Monde and I would know all the people in there and a few of the old gentlemen that would sit down and have coffee every morning and chat about Yep. Business and investments and whatever else were clients of mine as well as banks. So it was this sense of getting up and going for a walk and having that really special part of the day, best way to start your day.
Speaker 2:It was walking up and down the boardwalk, again stopping and talking to people that I knew. And so what actually really got me back here was I had moved to Melbourne, one, to advance my career, but two, I you know, it was a financial decision in order to keep my property because the the number one thing I didn't wanna do was sell my property. Yeah. So when I was in Melbourne, and I loved it and it was fun, but when I was in Melbourne, I would wake up every morning and someone said it to me one day, once you are living here, you cannot unsee it. So every morning I would wake up and of course it would be cold and I would just close my eyes and think about that boardwalk and that coffee and that person that I would stop and chat to.
Speaker 2:And so I would be sitting on the tram going into the city and everyone would be head down in their technology, you know, blowing their nose, having a cough, but no one would be eyes, you know, connecting and having conversations. So for me, really started to feel quite whether it be sad or just like I was missing that sense of connection before the day it even started. It was a real key piece of why I live here.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And so yeah. Yeah. Do you know in Melbourne the tram analogy and everyone's got down looking at their technology. I do find and I say this to people in Melbourne because I the way life operates everyone's really busy and it takes longer to get to A to B, they stick on their tram tracks and they don't deviate for anyone, hell or high water, so they forget sometimes to pop up their head and say hello.
Speaker 1:It's very very different to being on the Sunshine Coast but I mean that works when you're really busy, you've got your family, it works. But if you're one of those people who loves that connection in the morning, like I get up you know 05:00, not 04:45, but five and I'm down on that boardwalk. I'm walking to the National Park and sometimes I see so many people that I chat to, I don't get my steps in. I'm like, no, I've got to put health and fitness first. So I'm focusing on these steps.
Speaker 1:But it's you have great conversations first thing in the morning. Yeah. You do. Yeah. And I'm with you.
Speaker 1:I'm in bed by 08:00 most nights, except for if I'm going out, which we've got a few things on this week, haven't we? Like, we've got a busy week this week. But we are on a boat on the Noosa River on Thursday night, isn't it? Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So we'll see the sunset there. We will. Definitely. Would be incredible. So that sort of they're all joyful things.
Speaker 1:But if I just said to you for a listener, everyone has like although we have these beautiful lives, we're very business busy in our business and sometimes like anyone you can feel overwhelmed with all the tasks to get done in the day. If you're feeling level of overwhelm, how do you just bring joy back into your day?
Speaker 2:Really easy actually and I've been doing this ever since I first started living here. It is simply being present, looking out at where you live. So if you're driving along the David Low Way and you're looking out at Sunrise Beach or you know pulling into Goulum and you can see the ocean, think you know the walk through the Noosa National Park, I think it's been really conscious around that presence because it is so easy to stop and realize the joy that's around you and how lucky you are to be in amongst it.
Speaker 1:So really nature activates your joy like effortlessly. Yeah. And I think I'm probably in that bucket because I I was it was last week, I had this conversation going around in my head because it was a tough negotiation and you sort of you got this conversation that you're gonna say to your own client, speak to the other person and do this. And then I'm like, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna get the conversation out of my head.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It just wouldn't get out. Yeah. So I went to the national park, and I just really looked at the trees. I looked at the ocean.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I just became present. And all of a sudden, the conversation came back to, oh, this is lovely. This is great. You know?
Speaker 1:So it sort of switched to sort of how the brain works. And I think that's really, really important when you're talking about joy. It's actually the tiny little shifts.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Look, I think we can all get caught up in our own world around what's working well, what's not working and being frustrated. But, know, I think the reason why a lot of people choose to live here is because no matter what is going on in your life, we are simply blessed with the best climate we've got the best beaches and we have a really beautiful community like you know it's a friendly place.
Speaker 1:It is a friendly place yeah so getting onto a beautiful community in Caridjean what would you say your top three local hidden gems?
Speaker 2:Oh well top three well the hidden gem is 100% the beach getting up and I go down to track 54 So
Speaker 1:the hidden gem is track 54 guys.
Speaker 2:Track 54. I actually tell people this is my hidden gem. So a lot of other people have favorite places to go, but that's my my favorite place. Why Track 54? It's just not as busy, although it's probably busier these days than what it used to be when I first started saying that that's my little hidden gem.
Speaker 1:So people who don't know Prigian very well, so you've got the main square, where's Yeah.
Speaker 2:Track 54? Yeah. So if you've got the skate park, it's to the left. So if you follow that little side road, I think it's like, is it Osprey or whatever if you follow that little side road there's yeah there's a little pond be behind but Track 54 is this little area that you can park and Track 54 is it you go out and you're on the most beautiful part of the beach.
Speaker 1:Oh there you go.
Speaker 2:Yeah so that's number one. Number two is you know talking about community so I quite often work from a coffee shop just to be around people and to bump in and say g'day and have that sense of connection so I love going to outer square Coffee, you know, it is a coffee shop next door to IGA. There's a car park there, so it's not next to the beach. There are some really amazing coffee shops that are next to the beach, but I choose that.
Speaker 1:The Hand of Fatima being one. That's one.
Speaker 2:Hand Fatima, amazing. Like, you know, they're all fantastic. But I actually choose that one in particular because it's very whilst there's a lot of tourists it's very local so I will always bump in and say good day to someone and the people who work there, Mitch in particular, they light my day up So the minute I walk through there, their smiles, their energy, their fun, their banter, know, it certainly, you know, has been a very successful business because of the, you know, the the energy that they bring to everybody's day every day. So again another hidden gem. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2:And that's like I said it's about being out sometimes I work better with a bit of white noise around me and things happening it can help me focus but it's also because I get that opportunity to one drink coffee which is Belmondo's coffee and then two is yeah I can I can stop and have a chat to anyone you know most times I'm there?
Speaker 1:Okay so what's number three? Your third hidden gem.
Speaker 2:My third hidden gem, well, I've talked about the beach, surfing.
Speaker 1:Surfing? But What about our clothing shops down in the Prydian Square? There's a pretty special one just next door to Lexi Jewellers.
Speaker 2:Yes. The beautiful Martina in there.
Speaker 1:She's a hidden gem isn't
Speaker 2:She is a hidden gem so Martina is somebody that I met surfing so that was you know again why it's so wonderful to live here. We met out in the surf and later on found out you know, more about what business aspirations that we both have and watching them both come to fruition and celebrate together. But Martina is a fashion designer and originally from Melbourne but has some clothes but she also has a shop that she recently opened probably not so recent but a couple of years now and the what if I've gone blank Soul Sun Ocean Love is the name of that store. Absolutely always changing what fashion's coming in, it's not always the same. So she likes to mix it up a little bit and she has an upcycle as well, but she's got some amazing gift wear in there as well.
Speaker 2:Actually, think I've got this
Speaker 1:beautiful shell necklace that I bought in there, but I bought this beautiful silk long trench.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:All of it. And I just need to buy something now, think, for going into spring something to wear underneath it that's a bit lighter because I've been wearing it with more with pants and
Speaker 2:beautiful stuff in there is absolutely amazing but I was gonna throw in there because you said only three when I drive home every single day I open up my electric gate I'm in a beautiful gated estate which opens up onto the national park. So I actually get to hear the ocean in the mornings depending on the direction of the wind and I do have to drive to the beach to go for a surf but every day that I drive into my estate and this is the biggest reason why I choose to live where I live certainly from being in Noosa before, as soon as those doors open I drive in and the gardens, the trees, the tropical paradise. And when I first went in there, it was just, you know, vacant land. And, I actually had someone tell me that this is a little hidden gem. And I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 2:The minute that I drove in those gates, the vibe, the beauty, and you know how you know how incredible the actual community itself is in there is my little hidden gem.
Speaker 1:You've actually mentioned that to me before because you are surrounded by National Park and some of the houses back onto the National Park like from there you can see them from there
Speaker 2:yeah so my house backs onto National Park I have nothing behind it's just yeah it's gorgeous and look I think you know it was a hidden gem before I even got to know everybody in there and there are a lot of people constantly wanting to move in there because they've obviously heard about how great the community is but for me each day that I drive in and out of there it's that moment of presence of going looking around me and going wow this is my home.
Speaker 1:And well done you for everything that you've done in your career to be able to have that life for yourself you've created that beautiful lifestyle for yourself through a lot of hard work but also with a lot of joy and I think it's a beautiful connection. Thank you. For people who don't know Perigian have you got a favourite street or you know it doesn't have to be from a real estate perspective but I do,
Speaker 2:I do have a favourite street. There's lots of favorite pockets there's lots of beautiful places throughout Perigene and I think you know definitely it's a changing place from what it was you know even ten years ago or even five years ago it's really really becoming quite a busy little, when I say busy, busy in a good way, like families and kids and teenagers and that everywhere. But for me, on my vision board or in my diary or my manifesting Avocet. Yes. Avocet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, interesting. It's really beautiful. The reason why I love that street is many years ago there was a property for sale there that I fell in love with wanting to redevelop. But the reason why I loved it so much is because given that it was so close to Bridging itself, so close to the beach, when you walk through that street, it just had such a beautiful vibe, but it was very residential. It felt very local.
Speaker 2:It was quiet. It was peaceful. Yep. It was, you know, there was a certain feeling about that street. So, you know, whether or not I ever end up in Avocet or not, who knows?
Speaker 2:But certainly, that has been a favorite of mine for a good six, seven years.
Speaker 1:It sounds like it's gonna have to drag yourself away from where you currently live. So So that's gonna be that's gonna have to be pretty amazing to give you that pull, I think.
Speaker 2:I think we I think it's all about you, you know, you live where it makes sense for you and your family at the time. So where I live right now absolutely makes sense for my family. Me being in Avasat is probably too soon as much as I would love to be there. Yeah. I wouldn't get the same joy that I'm currently getting from my current home because of the community and the people and the kids being able to go out and play.
Speaker 2:So where do your children go to school? Pridgin Beach College. Yeah. They're a lovely brilliant school. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's fantastic.
Speaker 1:There's a
Speaker 2:sport academy, which actually train, you know, tomorrow's elite athletes of soccer, netball, basketball, and dance. So a small school, beautiful school Yeah. And just off the Murdering Creek Road there. Yeah. So it's a bit like pulling into a farm to take the kids to school with kangaroos.
Speaker 2:Now quite often, it's one of those moments I'll go to school later on in the afternoon, and you've got the sun setting and it's got that beautiful glow and there's a kangaroo and you're semi bush, which is, again, a really beautiful feeling.
Speaker 1:It's a beautiful feeling. So from people a lot of people listen to this podcast overseas. In America, we've got a huge base listener base in America so I think they would love to hear about the kangaroos popping around the school
Speaker 2:yeah yeah when they say do the kangaroos take you to school well kind of they are there
Speaker 1:they do meet us there
Speaker 2:but even with the school, given the international connection, our our academy is actually you know, internationally, they're in The UK as well. So the the programs that the kids have is incredible. There's one girl who's gone on and has been signed up to go and play over in The UK that has come out of that soccer program. That's fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We've got the Olympics around the corner and my daughter plays netball and Yeah. We're hoping that netball gets into the Olympics, But what an amazing thing to aspire to in the future.
Speaker 1:Do you know what you're saying? You go, oh, is this aspirational? But it's actually real. Because the number of sports people that the Sunshine Coast actually delivers or people then move to the Sunshine Coast to train, probably Southeast Queensland, to be fair. So we've got Gold Coast, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast.
Speaker 1:But one time, I was just up at the local pool in Noosa, you know, the NAC, the Noosa Aquatic Centre, And there was a guy who was training squads. And all in this squad, it's like, there's a lot of shit guys in there. I'm like I'm talking like muscles. Like so I actually said to the guy who's training them, so, you know, tell me about your squad. He goes, oh, these guys have just mainly just come back from the Tokyo Olympics.
Speaker 1:Wow. And I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, oh, not all of them, but the guy who got that medal and that medal, yeah, they're training at the moment. Yeah. So I'm like, it does attract really sport sort of active people this region.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, well you know I think it's one of the best climates to also train in
Speaker 1:as well. I know
Speaker 2:a lot of athletes over the years have come here because of the climate and the ability to train all year round. So
Speaker 1:this podcast was definitely meant to be about luxe life in Perigene, but I'm just going to touch on you mentioned the Olympics in 2032. So the amount of infrastructure projects that are occurring in South East Queensland is really supporting this population growth that we're having the POP. So I know you're really active finding mortgages for people to secure their future homes, are you finding increased interest because there's better infrastructure or better support networks in the region?
Speaker 2:Yeah definitely look I work for, not work for but I have some relationships that are in the building industry and certainly those who are building out you know we've got pockets of know aura, Caloundra Way or, you know, regional Harmony. Harmony. So, you know, I mean, it's incredible what you can get in there for and and thinking about that, you know, that's obviously the biggest draw card that a lot of people talk about is the Olympics coming. But if you think about the price point around what it costs you to buy an established property versus being able to get a parcel of land and build, you know, yeah. So the industry, we've got so many different industries here now.
Speaker 2:It's not just the Olympics. You know, it is it is the tech. It's the finance world. It's like, you know,
Speaker 1:that's So let's talk about tech because people do laugh when I do mention this, but it's true. That the into the Sunshine Coast, the fastest under sea internet cable comes from Asia and America into the Sunshine Coast and it's coming to the Murukito CBD and it is attracting clients like Google who are doing data centers and things like that. So it's actually getting a bit of a tech base around that. So it's actually changing, I suppose, the dynamic or the split between professions now, isn't it? We are seeing more tech.
Speaker 1:People use the word Silicon Valley. I do think that's a stretch, but it is. It's changing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Look. I think ever since COVID, people started operating differently and obviously flexible working really wasn't just a buzzword. It definitely became a reality reality for many, many people and for some of those people, know, people have got to go back to the office but I don't think Silicon Valley is too far of a stretch when you think about our proximity to Asia and when you look at our you know, obviously if you look at the number of people that are still currently residing here that are billionaires and that have got the ability to do some really cool stuff, I think in the future that was the one area that I really felt you know very excited about was why would we not become the finance hub and the tech hub of you know people wanting a community such as what we
Speaker 1:have to offer. You know Pridgian Beach also has the tech hub for co working which they've got some really interesting businesses there.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly. No well that's that look that's just like for me looking back on where we were during COVID that's just an insight into building out on that. When we have the expansion of the airport and we start to see what aircraft is going to start to do regular trips to the Sunshine Coast, I think that's when we'll start to see things really shift in that space. But, you know, probably not to the side of Silicon Valley, but when people can afford properties that are less than other areas of Melbourne and Sydney, right, And they want these communities. I think people really started to value that health and well-being in that community a lot more after COVID and that's where we started to see the shift in people buying lifestyle properties.
Speaker 2:You know, once upon a time lifestyle properties really had, you know, really, you know, they fluctuated a lot off the back of any type of economic downturn because people would then downsize and, you know, sell off. But now people are valuing that privacy and that space and that ability to
Speaker 1:As I add, the lifestyle properties now becoming a principal place of residence where you can have lifestyle and then the you know, you can easily go down from Sunny Coast down to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane is a drive, obviously. But then they have their little unit or apartment in town where they stay, and there is a lot of flexibility. But we're seeing we're still seeing people moving for that lifestyle reason because of all the reasons you've just mentioned.
Speaker 2:So It it makes sense. But, yeah, I definitely think, you know, we've got great schools and people really want that sense of, like, you know not spending a lot of time wasted in their day in travel you know having great little you know communities to connect to whether or not they have family or not they might have a village of you know great friends but
Speaker 1:It takes me one minute to drive to work or three minutes to walk. Why I do drive because I need the car for taking clients to houses but I'm like that actually brings a lot of joy in my day because it's like, all that travel time I'm saving and then if I want to break at lunchtime, I'm down on the river and it's spectacular. So I think having those little elements that are, know, whether you're in where I live like Noosa Waters or every part of the Sunshine Coast has those little spots that you can just get to.
Speaker 2:Oh look I had a big smile on my face the other morning I was on Hastings Street meeting up meeting with up with a real estate agent and another client who'd connected us. As I got out of my car at the Noosa Woods and there was this mom with you know, a couple of moms together with their little ones with no, you know, bare butts and, you know, towing a little trolley. I just smiled because it took me back to that really happy time where I was on maternity leave and that was my day. Every single day I was in that same spot with my kids talking about
Speaker 1:What beach do you go to in the woods when you've
Speaker 2:got That's going straight to the end of Hastings Street and parking there and doing a whole walk around the dog beach and then coming back through the spit and then down on Hastings Street.
Speaker 1:So lovely isn't it? I would have the magic.
Speaker 2:And throw the ball and we would go over here and I would breastfeed, I'd go up there and have my cup of coffee.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I would spend half a day Yeah. Every single day doing that. Yeah. And that brought me to the you know, I said I went through a divorce with my second one when he he was only a little bubby. That's when I stopped, and I was a bit miserable and, you know, having all that, you know, I guess you would say, going through that dark part of your life.
Speaker 2:And I had to stop and go, but hang on a minute. Why would I why would I choose to be spending my day sitting in this funk when I can actually choose not to because have a look around at what I get every single day? And that was the defining moment of being able to step into choosing joy
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Choosing to be present and being really grateful of what I'm lucky to experience every day.
Speaker 1:Well I'm really grateful that I've had this opportunity to spend time with you this morning and talk about all your passions. We've spoken about women in finance and where you live. Thank you for sharing your time with me this morning and I hope you have a great day.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much Chris.