QLD Cairns

Everyone ok with all the rain up that way?

 

Just a bit damp! Looks like there's another monsoonal trough on its way too with around 400mm expected for the coast....

I'm busy this morning trying to reschedule my outside jobs and find some inside ones to do!

 

Will be moving up this way for work in a few weeks. Will be there for a year or two. Hows the weather up this end? Heating up yet?

Also any suggestions on rental areas? I wanna look around yorkeys knob and cliffton beachs. Friends in the area say to avoid suburbs that start with M and W.

 

edge hill and brinsmead is nice
yorkeys and palm cove are pretty nice but a very touristy vibe

i would just go for something in cairns north if you are new to the area though

 

Awesome, having a look around those areas. Wad also looking at trinity beach

 

Would now, be the time to buy in cairns?

 

I only ask as my fiance and I are looking to buy a PPOR here due to it still being quite flat, past cycles would indicate now would be a time to get a good deal. Just interested in others views on it.

Would possibly pay it off in 5 years and look to rent it out when we move back down south.

Currently both in good jobs with no plan to have kids anytime soon. Have roughly 80k in savings.

 

Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that now is a good time to buy. Consider no price growth in the last 10 years, rental vacancies around 2% and rents steadily rising, starting to be some big construction projects taking off, low interest rates, not looking like going up in the foreseeable future.

Starting to feel a lot like it did just before the last boom in early 2000's.

Ive got a couple of rentals here and had some tenants move on last year (to buy their own house in Cairns). There were multiple new quality tenants competing to rent it at a higher price than what I had been getting and it was only vacant for a week.

 

That sounds positive. Might be able to raise ren

That sounds positive

I haven’t raised my rent there for the last three leases. Maybe next one I can bump it up a little?

 

Good news is that the rental market at the moment is very tight although some real estates are quicker then others.

 

The rental market had been pretty hot for the last 2 years. We raise the rent annually, and this year our tenants moved out, but we were confident it would be rented pretty quickly, and so we did. Only lost 1-week rent and found new tenants who were happy to pay a bit more, so we are happy with that. Capital growth could use some intervention from new jobs and supply-demand levers. But certainly a good place if you looking for positive gearing properties with higher yields than what you would get in the main cities.

I have seen properties selling for 480K and being rented for $460 per week, thats a good rental return these days.

 

Yeap the rental returns are great, only issue can be insurance is quite high which can eat into things.

 

Bit of a write-up on Cairns in the Australian today. Highlights it as a strong bet for investors.

 

Have been looking to purchase a PPOR up in cairns however we have been thinking of getting a townhouse due to low maintenance and cheaper monthly spendings.

We are looking at prioritising location over asset as this would fit our strategy for the next 10 years.

Hoping to get something in either edgehill, whitfield or plam cove however stock is very limited.

 

If the plan is to rent it out in 5 yrs, DON'T pay it off, OFFSET it. You can redraw funds for next PPOR purchase and interest becomes deductable against rent.
Sorry if this is stating the obvious but learnt this the hard way on my first home, which meant it made no sense to retain as an investment.

 

Very sound advice, thanks for that.

So as we continue to get closer we have narrowed in on palm cove. I think when cairns does begin to boom places like palm cove will benefit the most for obvious lifestyle reasons.

That said parramatta park and edgehill are quite nice as parramatta park is so close to the city and would benefit from rezones however I don't think I'd enjoy living in the area due to crime rates.

Edgehill, whitfield and freshwater are very safe and desirable areas for many owner occupiers and have the beautiful mountain views being close to beaches and the city. They also have great schools.

Question is although a townhouse does suit us from a PPOR sense long term we may just be better off buying a house in palm cove as I would expect much better growth. I'd just have to deal with mowing the lawns in the summer

 

You might find you enjoy it, I do! Nothing better than having a beer and looking out over a freshly cut lawn of buffalo Obviously just do it later in the day

 

Id rather have a lawn to mow than deal with a body corporate.

Don't be tricked into buying Whitfield or edge hill for the name, some parts are no better than manoora.

My picks-

Edge hill and Whitfield- aim north of Woodward st and west of mcmanus st.

Mooroobool - west of Irene st, Some of the best views in Cairns and at least equal to the better parts of edge hill or Whitfield.

Freshwater is nice, aim elevated away from the unit blocks.

Palm cove is nice enough but a long drive from the services of Cairns and peakhour traffic is horrendous. If retired or working in Smithfield it would be ok. No reason to think it will have better growth than anywhere else.

 

We have found the homes in edgehill for their price point to be quite over priced unless we are talking the higher end of the market.

Currently live in freshwater and love the place, just concerned with the flood zones is all.