Hi, I am first time buyer/ investor. Due to nature of my job, any house I buy will potentially become an investment in 1 to 3 years. Ideally I will like to buy somewhere I will like to live first to take advantage of any first home buyer perks but I am also concern about capital growth and all that. I do have the potential to borrow up to 700k (banks offered more but I think there's a difference between borrowing capacity and repayment capacity. The banks overestimated my repayment capacity). I am now living North Lakes, QLD, that, despite all the bagging my peers gave me for making the move, I am actually loving it. Having lived in places like New Farm, Toowong, St Lucia (hey, I was a uni student who became a young professional, and who is now approaching middle-age and almost irrelevant), Stafford heights, Montville, Yeppoon... I am surprised to find that I actually love living in this planned estate where all the houses look the same (actually they don't. But you have to pay a lot more for the difference, like everything else). Maybe I am just a boring person deep down inside who loves the appeal of convenience and simplicity of limited choices (in new farm, deciding which cafe to go for breakfast can result in a heated argument amongst friends). A good house in this area on a good size block - 600m2 and above, is within my budget. I even found some with rental yields of 4.5 to 5%. The problem- it won't be my forever home. There is a lot of new townhouses coming up which I think will affect rental yield. I am concern about capital growth but reassured by the infrastructure and new developments around it- rightly or wrongly. So what do you guys think? Is North Lakes a real no go for a future investment scenario? Am I stupid to blow 700000 on a nice house in NL instead of something quite decent in Stafford heights/ Everton Hills (also quite like living there, hate the traffic though.And no trains. It actually takes me longer to get from Stafford heights to the southside of Brisbane than from North Lakes), or even a nice townhouse say in Windsor/ Nundah. I am perhaps a little too obsessed with this property thing, overthinking things, under-considering other stuff... and need a little perspective. Thank you for all the advice. Goodfella.
I guess you're saying while I like North Lakes the majority of people would prefer say something closer to Brisbane like Stafford Heights?
If you are going to move in 1-3 years anyway, do you really need to buy where you want to live? Renting would be much more flexible.
Not necessarily. Just look around the huge number of houses in North Lakes, and the thousands more being built. And the solid infrastructure being constructed. Obviously the demand is significant. Marg
I think you're getting too caught up on using the First Home Owners grant. There's no point getting a $10k boost to lose many times due to poor location choice. Keep renting where you are and invest where it makes the most sense. Don't even consider living in it yourself, and the decision will become much clearer.
Northlakes was a bit of a mess initially but a lot of work has gone into it and things are much better. It's a good spot as far as the northside goes (come to the southside!). Keep in mind it's been in a phase of massive development for over a decade now, so it's a bit of a known quantity- you shouldn't be expecting any sudden turns in demand. The suburbs you mentioned that are closer to inner Brisbane are probably going to outperform Northlakes, but you'll also get a lot less for your money. I totally get what you mean about getting to the southside too- I think people are crazy for living in the Bris northside, traffic is maddening. If you like Northlakes and want to live there, I can't see anything wrong with you buying there and following your proposed strategy.
