TAS Buying in Launceston ?

Hmm... just had a little look from the link for that house in Invermay and got to the surrounding suburbs and thought - wow $105k for a 3 bedroom house... then I noticed the window coverings!
18 Grassdale Place Ravenswood Tas 7250 - House for Sale #122427546 - realestate.com.au

 

So whats with the window coverings?

 

Lockout blinds? ;-)

 

Hi Erica, Thought you might find this interesting.

Read this in SMH this morning:

Tasmania the unlikely star of Australia's two-speed economy

 

Interesting

" Well Tasmania now has a lower seasonally adjusted unemployment rate than South Australia or Queensland (6.3 per cent compared with 6.8 and 6.5 respectively) ....

Household consumption, business investment, real state final demand, exports of goods and of services – all are growing faster than the Australian average. Its score on the NAB business conditions and business confidence surveys are both the highest in the nation. "

Cliff

 

I'm a firm believer in Tasmania for the medium-long term hold. Of course, not ALL of Tasmania, but certain pockets.

With the Australian government's hunger to ramp up tourism (Mining boom = dead. Construction boom = waning. Tourism boom = semi-sustainable...), Tasmania will be a huge beneficiary. I've been banging on for a couple of years on the forums now, about the Chinese tourist obsession over clean air, clean food, peace/tranquity, and natural beauty. This is what the Chinese tourist is hungry for and what Tasmania offers. Hence, the massive YoY upswing in Chinese tourist numbers to the Island state.

Not all tourists are like westerners who long for tropical weather, noisy beaches, and cheap-eats in Bali, Thailand etc. The mainstream Chinese tourist hungers for the abovementioned things instead (not all, but many). Just go to the Blue Mountains on any given Saturday. That place is pumping.

Tourism will then grow jobs connected to/supporting tourism. Even in North Hobart and West Hobart, more and more upmarket restaurants are propping up. Don't be fooled into thinking this is merely 'gentrification' of the area; instead it is a play for the more affluent tourism dollar (They demand better quality restaurants, and where there is demand, supply often follows).

I'm not saying this state is impervious to failure - it isn't - and the road to residential real estate wealth may be bumpy. But in the medium (Say 10-15 years) and long (Say 15-25 years) terms; I think it'll be a winner.

 

Still looking some of the properties I had been considering have gone. Maybe I am thinking too long to act just worried too much about making the wrong decision.

 

It's easy to do . I spent a year on the forum , looking at areas and properties before we bought first one . Then we bought about 7 in a couple of months , including three at auction on one day ....

Is that in Launceston ?

So far , even the bad properties we've bought ( which we wouldn't have bought again ) have made money , as long as we've got our timing right .

That's not to mean I'd accept any property as a potential purchase . We still have lots of properties that we don't like , but there will always be a couple that turn out to be not as good as the rest or have an expensive year when you first own them as you find out about all the things that the previous owners have neglected .( we're finding this out re one in launnie , but using it as excuse to renovate ) . Will be able to bump rents up .

Cliff

 

Spent a few hours looking into areas and the yields they offer in both Hobart and Launceston this morning. Plenty of opportunity to buy some high yeilding property.
@See Change How much time would you recommend being on the ground in both Hobart and Launceston to check potential areas out?
Made a list of around 30 suburbs based on their yield potential and location etc
Thinking I might need 2 or 3 days, any thoughts?

 

Depends on how experienced you are at buying , checking out properties .

Before we bought our first IP , we'd bought three PPOR's and the last one we'd spent about six months looking for the perfect property and made several low offers before we saw the perfect property .

When we first went to Brisbane in the early 2000's , I'd spent a fair amount of time looking at properties on the web . Had a list of three areas to look at and had a look at those areas over three days and decided on Logan . Don't think we bought anything that time ( though it's probably documented on somersoft ..) . Went back and bought at least one next weekend .

When we went to Launceston , my wife went down and spent two days looking at properties . I arrived on Friday morning and we looked at some others and then checked out a couple that my wife liked . We looked at some open houses on Saturday and had a nice dinner on Saturday night . We spent the Sunday driving up the east side of the Tamar up to the top , crossing over the bridge to the west side and check out some wineries .

Before going down , we had had an offer accepted subject to inspection , but the property needed a lot more work than just a little touch up here and there , so walked away . We made an low offer on one property ( which had been on the market fo a long time ) and subsequentally negotiated to a slightly higher price ( 5 % less than they had paid seven years before ) and heard about another property which was about to come on the market . When that came on the market about a week later , after an initial lower offer we paid the asking price . By coincidence that property had also sold seven years before and we paid what they had paid . Bought subject to inspection which my wife did . I haven't seen that place yet .

We had time to check out the invermay to newnham region , a quick trip to Ravo and then have a look around the inner area of Launceston , south and west .

You do need to get building inspections , but no need for pest inspections .

I'd cut the list down from 30 suburbs .

We always like to talk to property managers early on in the piece about what areas they think are good , what the local tenants want and don't want .

Cliff

 

I've been in Tassie for the past week, Hobart, east coast and Launceston atm.
Spent the whole day yesterday talking to a tour guide who has decades of experience.
My thoughts were negative from initial impressions, and the stories I heard confirm the State is in trouble.
Since the greens got in 4 1/2 years ago and teamed up with some cashed up conservationalists, they destroyed the 2nd largest industry of the state instantly and it has not recovered.
There's not much else left after tourism and trying to seek Chinese foreign investment, but the Chinese are hesitant to invest after many years of due diligence.
I was thinking of looking at some commercial here, but the future looks very bleak and pointless then there are so many other opportunities elsewhere.
The only thing looking promising aged are as all the young people simply leave as there's nothing for them here.
The unemployment rate is high.
Resi could be good for retirees cashing in from more expensive states, but could only be temporary.
I'd rate residential property in Tassie as a very low grade investment.
Property cycles are not always relevant and you need to consider the fundamentals over statistics at times.

 

Ace

So you listen to a tour guide for advice on property investing ..... interesting . I know someone who is doing very nicely with commercial just south of Hobart .

What you were told was exactly what some people told us when we bought back in the early 2000's , except then the population was decreasing so Tasmania was going to disappear at some stage in the foreseeable future .

If we'd listened we wouldn't have bought a block of four units in New Town for 220 which were renting 440 at the time and now for 881 / week . Haven't bothered getting it revalued as we have no intention of selling and don't plan to refinance as we are comfortable ( just ...) with our current level of borrowing.

If you don't want to buy there , don't . There's other places to buy , but not to many where you can get 7.5 -8 % on residential in nice suburbs .

For those returns for residential , I'd choose south or west Launceston over Davoren Park .

Cliff

 

As long as you realise that Tasmania's economy is volatile and your tenants are likely to be low-paid or on benefits, then you go in with your eyes open and can find good buys. Just dont expect the Gold Coast to be cloned there.

 

Why would you want Gold Coast as a property investor ... ?

Boom , bust , then a bust on a bust ...

and each boom they build new higher towers so the market has new heights to fall from

We have a mixture of students , recently left homer , pensioners or working people in our Tasmanian properties .

Cliff

 

From the "tourism" spin. Tasmania will never be the GC, and who would want that anyway. Some folks might think: "Tourism hotspot - buy now, sell for a raging profit next year" which has been known to happen in the past in Surfers. It's OK Cliff, I agree with you

 

Hi Cliff,

There is a big difference between advice and information.
I did not take any advice from the guide at all. It was all valuable information, much being responses to my indirect questioning revolving around economic issues.
The guide did not know I was an active investor so his communication to me was not biased in any way.
The overall feel I got from him was not very promising and they are struggling, and I don't see why he would present this image if it were not the case.
He grew up in Launceston and has seen everything in the past 50 years.
Sure there may be opportunity around, but that was enough for me to cross it off as a contender.
We're actually looking to pick up a commercial prop this year up to maybe 6 mil, so even though this was a holiday, still wanted to scope out any possible opportunities.

The price point for some seeking resi may suit some investors, everyone is at different levels and have different goals.
It's all part of the game, only time will tell.

 

The point I'm making is that listening to one local is a very poor basis for making an investment decision .

I've seen it time and time again . When we bought in Logan in 2001 , the agent we bought our first property off commented on the interstate investors buying there and he couldn't understand why ..... about two years later , after properties had doubled I talked to him and he said he'd just bought his first ip .

Any of the several forumites who bought in rocky in the early 2000's will recite similar stories including one agent who was advising people to buy gold ...

I mentioned to my sister that we were looking at rocky and she knew someone from rocky who invested in property who told her the only worthwhile place to invest up there was Yeppoon ( which had already boomed ) . Rocky did well .

The first time I flew up to rocky , I sat next to a returning local and he asked why I was going there . When I told him he was surprised as to why anyone would want to invest there . We talked for a while and I told him my reasons . By the end of the flight he was convinced , but just had to convince his wife .

You need to do your own research and talk to many people to get a genuine picture of what is going on .

Cliff

 

I don't know what makes you think I'm making investment decisions on the basis of one locals information.
I have eyes and ears and they're working 24/7.
One simply cannot miss vital signs by even walking down the local street.

As for mentioning agents, don't even know why you would consider anything one says, they are pure salespeople.

You last line makes sense though.

 

Can anyone recommend a good buyers agent in launceston ?