A cheaper house in an old suburb or stretch and buy in a new one?

Hi all,

We are starting to look again for a free standing house (after stopping in May this year for a personal reason). In our mind, our max budget is around 900-920k in south west sydney (campbelltown/camden council).

Our options are:
- buy a cheaper house in Blair Athol (Campelltown)/Mount Annan (Camden), free up money for other things in life
- stretch ourselves to the limit, buy in newer areas Gregory Hills, Oran Park and Cobbitty (smaller but newer houses)

About us:
We are a young family, planning for kids in the near future. Intending to stay in the house for the foreseeable future.

I guess, my question is, from the more experienced people here, what seems like a better option?

 

If by cheaper you mean buying an established property then this would be my personal preference. You could pick something up with value add potential and add character to the home over the coming years.

 

Thanks for the reply. Definitely can add value to an older established home.

 

It's your PPOR, so usual investing rules don't necessarily apply, but I personally would would always pick the older house on the bigger block! Whether it's IP or PPOR.

 

any particular reason behind that other than adding value later on with the available land?

 

If you stretch yourself to the limit, how are you going to pay the mortgage if one of you takes time off to look after the kids you are planning?

 

When I say limit it’s not the absolute limit what the bank is willing to lend. It’s the limit on how far I can go before it gets uncomfortable. But I’d still avoid that if buying in an older suburb makes more sense.

 

For an IP, it will go up in value more than the land poor builds.
For a PPOR, I would absolutely loathe to live in a soulless McMansion that has 1000m2 inside the house, but a garden that's only 7m2.