Buying in Griffin, Qld

Hi, i am new to this forum and this is my first post. I am from Adelaide and looking at buying an IP in Griffin, Qld. My wife and I were looking around the area on the weekend and were impressed with the amount of new infrastructure being built. We do have a particular property in mind. Some of the things we noted were new primary school completed and about to open (planned high school next door) , Major upgrade to a nearby Westfield and other major businesses now in the area like Costco, Bunnings and a new hospital. Close to rail/bus transport. To any locals and experienced investors am I overlooking any major problems with this area?

 

New or old property @Jeff 767

 

A new 4bed 2bath townhouse

 

Why new?.

 

Few more details sorry Jeff.

Land size
Price
Is it in a block of townhouses together

 

The details i have Coota are
Bed 4
Bath 2.5
Garage 1 LUG
Build type Townhouse (in blocks of 3)
Total Floorplan 145sqm
Price $381,000
Body Corp $45 p/w
Expected rent $370 p/w

 

Hello, welcome to this forum. I am not meaning to be mean, I would like you to think about why you would choose to invest in the property you described.

here is an alternative:

No BC, no shared neighbours. What demographic will want to rent a 4 bedroom TH as cramped as the one you mention when there are detached houses everywhere for much the same price?

6 Arnica Street Griffin Qld 4503 - House for Sale #121406626 - realestate.com.au
12 Yarrow Circuit Griffin Qld 4503 - House for Sale #121091354 - realestate.com.au

Can you calculate what the monthly cost to you will be if you stretch your budget to $400K?

 

Thanks for your feedback Angel, my wife has also raised the same concerns as you have regarding a cramped 4 Bed TH. She feels it would be too small for a family with 2 or 3 kids. We have been told it will easily be rented and will have a tenant before we sign the papers. We only have the property on hold (no obligation to buy) and have a few weeks to decide while our figures are being processed. This property has been selected for us by a wealth creation group. The property is in the Lavender Views estate on Lavender dr. It has a permanent on site manager that looks after all the rentals (and selects tenants). Do you think this is a big plus? There are 45 units (in groups of 3) in the estate with about 60% owner occupier. This property would be a purchase for our SM Super. Should i be seeing alarm bells here?, any advice is appreciated.

 

We are after a new property for the little to no maintenance and for being very tax efficient with depreciation. We live in Adelaide so trying to make things as hassle free as possible. We have three rentals in Adelaide which are older properties.

 

These are big red flags!!!!!

Property has been selected by a wealth creation group.... they dont tend to have the purchsers best interests at heart, sorry to say. They just want to make money from suckers who don't do their own research.....

Permanent on site manager... how much is that gunna cost you? What's their fees? Will you be able to select tenants for yourself?

Sorry... huge big red flags....

Do a lot more reading of Somersoft and Propertychat before thinking to invest...

 

My advice for what it's worth is "RUN" and don't look back,this area is a family demographic which I believe will have good medium to long term GC prospects but the area requires a house not a townhouse which is far to small for a family.

For that money buy an older property which you are not paying the builders premium for and in turn you will know it's true value and rental potential due to sale/rent rates within the area.

 

Great advice here from @Coota9 . Also might be able to add some value with an established place.

 

Sounds like their Wealth Creation plan not yours.
Angel provided some good examples of whats available in the area, you can buy a freestanding house with better land content and probably cash flow for similar money.
Both places are relatively new if that's what you would prefer and would be low maintenance.

 

Hey Jeff, welcome aboard.
It's possible that it could be an Ok buy, but the default from this type of forum to this type of buy would be no.
The land content is too small for a place that far out.
As above, you would be much better off going for a house on a larger block.

 

What my mate Gockie said.

 

What Az said. When I first read this, I was going to ask who will rent a 4 bedroom townhouse? Maybe in a complex across the road from a fully established university. Not out in the middle of nowhere. Forget the university planned for Petrie - it is six years away and you cannot access it easily from Griffin.

I can show you some lovely townhouses in Kallangur behind the RSL. The rooms are huge and they are in a location that is easy access to all services. Which would "tenants" prefer?

1a Lavender Drive Griffin Qld 4503 - Townhouse for Rent #417553154 - realestate.com.au

 

+1

Imo the further out you are willing to go, generally the more generous size land you should be looking for (hopefully the larger size will have scope for some value adding at some point)

 

Thanks everyone for your advice, it all does make sense. You know what these wealth creation people can be like, they push the technical numbers at you, just mentioning all the positives and fail to go into the fundamentals of the type of property. I am glad not a cent has been committed and we did have a great weekend looking around Brisbane at mostly their expense. I am still very keen about Griffin and the surrounding areas, but yes the type of property has to fit the demographic your aiming for. This is a great forum.

 

@Jeff 767 you did it right mate. Had a good weekend and opened your mind, while not taking out your chequebook. Now you got the forum to learn heaps from. Great start.

 

Well if you have three older rentals,then i can understand why you may be looking for a new property,but just ask yourself one question,which property will make you more money?,older properties in the right locations,then over time the become rezoned,that's from my experience,
and it may take a long time if ever on a block that sqm's 24 klm's from the cbd..imho..good luck..