VIC Buy first property before moving overseas

Hi all,

It's my first post here and hope to get some ideas of buying first property before moving overseas.

Here's the story: I'm a migrant settling down in Melbourne many years ago. I'm looking to buy my first property here, but in the meantime, I will move to another country next year due to personal reasons.

The reason to buy a property before I go is to have a place here when/if I come back in the future and I also got some free cash I need to invest into the property market.

I got two plans and don't know which to choose,
1. Ideally, looking to buy a house less than $1m in Melbourne southeast suburbs, such as Mitcham. Don't need a new house coz eventually it will be rent out. Prefer the suburb on the train lines.

Or,

2. Buy an apartment/townhouse less than $750k to get the stamp duty concession. Not sure whether it's worth doing this way just to save $ on stamp duties, lots of people doing it?

Any suggestion which way works out better for me? Any ideas/comments/tips, such as where to buy, tax implications, would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys!

 

In general I would suggest purchasing outside of Melbourne if it's going to be an investment (Melbourne is still dropping) and preferably start with a lower entry price such as $400 to $500K. You want to look for properties as self sustainable as possible so you don't have to pay too much every month to keep the property going.

Also are you purchasing the property outright? If not and you're planning to take out a mortgage then what's your plan to keep the repayment going once you move overseas? And how would that eat into your Australian savings if the property is vacant for a couple of months?

Cheers,
David