NSW Buying on Luxford Rd 2770

Hi people. Is buying a free-standing home for investment on Luxford rd (lethbridge park/bidwill/Tregear) a terrible idea considering its a busy road and will be noisy? Or, if the numbers add up and rental return is decent, its not too bad. Is it reasonable to expect that developers will enter the area one day to build townhouses/villas and Luxford Rd would be a good pick for such projects?

PS - please keep your comments focussed on the pros and cons of being Luxford Rd. Suggestions of different suburbs/states etc wont help my cause.

 

I saw a massive crowd on Luxford Road open home several weeks ago. Had to line up with at least 7-8 groups in front of me and around 15+ behind me. There is no shortage of buyers if you dont.

However your thinking of buying on a busy road in the hope of re-zoning and developers will buy you out are correct. You will never ever get bought out in a very quite cul-de-sac street.

That is why sometimes buying on main roads, near train stations or at major intersections is the best investment anyone can do. Most ppl on here dont understand that.

It will depend though on many things.

 

Thanks for the response. Those were exactly my thoughts when I went there for the inspection. Do you feel the road is too busy to build privately? Meaning, build a duplex/granny myself instead of waiting for a developer

 

Luxford Rd ( I drove along it for 19 years ) is a busy road in a bottom end suburb which is at the peak of a boom .

In the past , when I saw them , development blocks , like the one behind lethridge park shops , zoned for units , sat in the market for years because developers didn’t see value in developing them .

thunderstrike is a one man cheer squad for 2770
/ St Mary’s at the moment and has a vested interest in hyping up the area ...

My observation is that the forum can’t change the market but it can swing individuals into making good OR bad decisions .

If you had the local knowledge of @skater as to whether it was a good buy or not fair enough , but in the current overhyped market , if you need to ask the question of a bunch of strangers ....

cliff

 

Appreciate your inputs. There is no debating the fact that the suburb is a low socio-economic one, and that is why you can still buy a 600sqm block for 600k. Based on my criteria for investment, I dont have many choices. Hence why I'm willing to invest in these suburbs for now. I'm not after a quick buck, willing to sit on this for 15+ years as a set and forget IP. Do you have any thoughts about the potential for the properties on Luxford Rd. The road being a busy one is the main concern that brings me to this forum

 

I do have vested interests in the area. Thats because I've made a **** tonne of money from these places.

Like I said 1000s of times already - when I started my investment journey all of 2770, heck even 2760 or any of those surrounds where dirt dirt cheap. EVERYONE I repeat EVERYONE was criticising me left, right and centre saying I was making the biggest mistakes of my life blah blah blah.

Well guess what? 2770 has made me a millionaire with just 2 houses. I have a handful more. Buying in at very low $200ks/High 190s and over time the rental paying off more and more of the mortgage there is only like $75k loan left on each of them or less yet they are now worth $650k+, the ones I own with 700sqm+ land will be easy $700k+ each. Dont even mention St Marys or Colyton. Those are now $850k+ now sitting on 700+sqm.

All those guys criticising in the past are the ones buying there now for triple or quadruple of what I paid. Heck I know one of the guys I went to uni with bought in St Marys as a PPOR because they have been sitting on the sidelines for so long when he could have bought in Castle Hill if he didnt spend hours and hours criticising me and spent his time buying houses instead.

Hindsight is a lovely thing. And you know what? In hindsight I'm laughing my ass off at all those haters. I'm still in close contact with them and give them crap all the time now. They are still around through friends of friends and reunions etc....

 

@thunderstrike888 thoughts please?

 

Why would the road be too busy to build privately? There are plenty of ppl that build on even busier roads than Luxford Road.

Waiting for a developer may never happen. Thats just chance and a bit of luck. Make your own luck. Buy something that can be rezoned at least to un-attached buildings so you can build and possibly make 1 place into 2. Adding a granny is simple - I've done it more than 3 times now. Its a relatively small job and these days council have made it easier to do with many companies offering turn-key solutions.

If I was you I'd buy anywhere around 2770 to your budget. The entire area will gentrify. Its already happening but it will take a while. Buy something large block of land and buy something preferably corner block to make your life easier in the future. Buy something that needs TLC. If it was me I'd buy the crappiest house there is and value add it yourself. Dont be scared of a little asbestos and holes in walls and stuff. All easy to fix.

Just make sure the foundation is solid if your not going to knock it down. Happy hunting. You'll have heaps of competition around those areas now.

 

It's still vacant, and I'm sure I saw a for sale sign still on it last time I went past.

 

What do you call a decent rental return? None of 2770 is currently getting a decent rental return, let alone Luxford Rd.

 

So do I.

Well, I was buying at a similar time. You keep bringing this up, as if you were a guru back then. It's not relevant to what's going on today.

All this hype, and yet I haven't noticed you putting your money where your mouth is in this area lately. Not one post about how you bought a western sydney 'bargain' during 2020-2021. That's because it's currently sitting at near the top of the boom.

I believe you have made some savvy investment decisions, but I really detest how you constantly ramp the area & newbies take this all in & think they are making equally good decisions, when the timing is all wrong.

@Dbuck234 before you buy something in the area, do some more research, especially on timing. Speak to more people that have invested in the a over a long time. Don't take my word for it, and don't take @thunderstrike888 word for it.

Here's a few to get you started
@Travelbug
@See Change
@datto

There's more, but it's early & I haven't had my cup of tea yet.

 

Thats because I currently have 20+ properties in my portfolio. I cant get any more money!! Otherwise I would have bought heaps more. Please talk to the bank for me and tell them I'm good for it.

Ah but that's where I think most of you guys are wrong. Who is saying timing is wrong? Its never been better for capital growth.
- Median in Sydney approaching $1.3-$1.4M. There is only a handful of suburbs that can offer a free standing house on 600sqm+ of land for under $1M.
- The interest in the area is through the roof compared to when we started buying there. I used to go to open homes and be the only single person there. ZERO interest and zero competition in the past. Now there are literally lines.
- Vast infrastructure development happening out that way. Mt Druitt/St Marys has transformed since I started out there. Ropes crossing wasnt even a thing and there was a big fat $0 dollars pouring into the area. Now drive around and there are townhouses, private buildings going up and renovations everywhere.
- St Marys due to become a massive infrastructure hub.
- Mount Druitt to recieve $1B renovation
- Huge influx of FHBs into the area mainly due to affordability.

Its actually the best timing "IF" your in it for 5+ years and can see the potential. With a bit of research of whats happening and what it was in the past there is massive potential compared to when I bought these places.

There has never been this much interest and money pouring into the area ever in the past. Interest is through the roof and there is actually real projects from the government underway. Its actually very good timing even better than the last boom in 2017 where interest in these areas also picked up. There is heaps more interest this time around.

I could see the potential back then when we first started buying, 100000% I can see the potential in todays environment and obviously many others can. Prices only going to keep rising there is no doubt about it. The only regret I have is not buying more in Mt Druitt and Minchinbury.

 

$360-390 per week for a property around 550k is decent IMO. I did the numbers for my situation, and I feel more than comfortable.
Can I please have your thoughts on buying on Luxford road in particular?

 

With that many in the portfolio, you could restructure loans to purchase more. We no longer have a job, and have a large portfolio, yet have been able to purchase 4 properties without applying for finance.

So, where were you in 2019, when I bought one in Emerton for $350k and one in Lethbridge Park for $323k? That was only two years ago. You weren't hyping the market then. The timing was right for buying. Nobody was looking then. There was already all the infrastructure gazetted for the area. There were still heaps of FHBs around, and the affordability was much, much greater then, they just weren't looking.

Right now, the timing is right for SELLING. Will there be another time for buying? Of course there will be.....but not now. If anybody is serious about this market, I'd strongly suggest they WAIT. Interest rates will go up, APRA or some government intervention will come along, the market will dry up, then drop. Nobody will be looking once again. THAT'S when you swoop in and buy.

 

I've given you my thoughts on the entire area. It's not Luxford Rd specific.

 

So the questions I asked in the original post dont really matter because you guys are busy bashing each other up. Very helpful

 

I don’t know one , long term , experienced investor on this forum who would consider 3.3 - 3.6 a good return for 2770 at any time in that market .

I worked out there for 19 years , ironically I’ve never bought there , but watching it , missing out on opportunities and seeing other people either get things completely right or completely wrong was key for me working out how to invest .

if you wanted to know the pro’s and con’s of buying on Luxford Rd vs else where in 2770 , @skater would know more than anyone on the forum . She’s been watching and buying there for ? 15-20 years or maybe longer and picking up bargains that make it profitable to do so , when picking up standard buys might not be that worthwhile .

If shes not prepared to give you an opinion about a specific property , it’s probably because she doesn’t want to imply that it’s a good buy when she probably wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot barge pole .

Me , outside our immediate market for PPOR’s , I generally don’t watch markets that closely on a ongoing basis . I watch the overall cycle and when I see the time to buy in an area , I’ll put myself through a “ crash course “ in the area and work out what are passable properties in that area.

I did that in the goodna / ipswich around five years ago . In retrospect it turned out to be early , but we were able to buy properties in the range of 199 renting for 260 through to 250 renting for 290 which is in the range of 6-6.5 % .
That’s a return I’m comfortable to buy in a lower socioeconomic area .

One of my kids , just picked up a property for 270 that rents for 290 which is mid 5’s . It’s probably gone up 30 k since he signed . That’s something I’d be happy to hold .

personally , I don’t know who TS , what their experience , motivations etc are but I do know I think they the antithesis of what I’ve come to expect from somersoft , property chat ie informed discussion on property investing , and experience investors who are happy to call out BS when they see it and happy to guide newbies . Why , because most of the experienced investors were newbies 20 years ago . Part of the reason we are we are is the advice we received 20 years ago from the guru’s at that time like “ The Wife “ .

Cliff

 

For crying out loud, I'm not sure I could make it more clear. The area is overhyped, overpriced and especially Luxford Rd, where there are still development blocks available as per @See Change above post. But hey......if you think it's a good buy, then go ahead.

 

skater and I aren’t trying to bash any one up . I don’t give a damn about TS . I’m just trying to help an obviously inexperienced investor make what is IMHO a Mistake

I’m coming to the conclusion that we’re looking at the craziness of the last 18 months arriving in this neck of the woods . I gave up trying to have rational discussions around the middle of last year , but think I might leave TS and his acolytes to their own devices .

@skater , I know you’re planing on moving / retiring to the ? GC ? SC . I’ve been thinking that in the next cycle I should actually get around to buying in 2770 . I’m still planing on investing once I retire . Are you going to continue ?

cliff

 

This is exactly where I sit. Like him, I've a vested interest in the area, but I try my best to help newbies. Sometimes all they want to hear is the hype.

Funny you should say that. Got one going unconditional today, but it's NOT a house in 2770.

Since we've got no access to finance, it's all about juggling the finance we've already got now and using the offsets/redraws.

Retiring to the GC. Burleigh Waters to be specific, and it's going crazy up there. We bought @$849k 18 months ago. Had it appraised last week for $1.1-1.2M, but there is so little on the market I reckon if I asked $1.5M I'd get it. Will be keeping our PPOR. Never know if we want to come back in the future.