VIC FHB PPOR in Melbourne for $650K

I'm looking for a house for a young family (1 child, no more in the future) to hopefully live in for the next 25+ years.

Before covid I'd always considered buying an inner city apartment with 10km of the CBD, to make the work commute tolerable.

However, with the ability to work from home multiple days a week, my family (as well as many others it seems) are now starting to look at larger properties 20-30kms out of the city in order to have more space and a better lifestyle.

I'm not really familiar with the Melbourne market as I grew up elsewhere, so am after a second opinion of sorts. Originally I was looking at a 3 bedroom house (or split block house) in Ferntree Gully or Croydon, but everything that is advertised for $650-700K is selling for $800K the last few weeks!

Hypothetically speaking if you had $600-700k to spend on a property in the market would you:

1) Look at buying a 3 bedroom house in the Northern Suburbs (Lalor, Thomastown, Epping, Mill Park, perhaps Bundoora or Reservoir if lucky?)

2) Look at buying a 3 bedroom townhouse in the Eastern Suburbs (Ferntree Gully, Boronia, Bayswater, Croydon, etc)

3) Look at buying a 3 bedroom house in Frankston.

4) Look at buying a 2 bedroom townhouse (plus possible study) in Preston?

5) Look at buying a 2 bedroom older style apartment in Hawthorn / Kew / Camberwell.

The Grandparents are in the inner east, so a close proximity, while not vital, would be beneficial.

Interested to hear what some of you think. I'm sure there are many others in my shoes as well.

 

I was in a somewhat similar situation 7-8 years ago with the main difference being that we didn't plan to be working from home & we have family/friends on both sides of the city. We decided that if we were going to be commuting to the CBD, then a reasonable train to the city had to be the priority. I'm happy to drive to visit family/friends on the weekends, etc & the grandparents are always happy to drive to visit us.

Working from home flips everything on its head and based on what you've said, I would want a minimum 3 bedrooms, as I don't see how 2 is a viable long term option. After that I would be looking at school zones, commuting times & any other preferences.

 

Do public schools, cafes/restaurants or shopping centres matter?

 

Croydon, Frankston south and bundoora are my picks if you want a detached home in a family friendly location and decent schools. They lack good PT though so it might make it hard for your kid to go to uni or work down the line. Also these areas neighbour million dollar suburbs.

Otherwise epping is a pretty good choice for a house with good access to the CBD and shops. Not sure about the schools there though, so you may need to go private if that matters to you.

Preston / inner east 2 bedder would be a goer if you really enjoy going out, want to be close to everything, and night-life and don't like to be indoors. Good public schools too. It would be very easy for your kid to get around. Just be picky with the complex, look for one with majority owner occupiers and good attendance at bc meetings. Not sure about capital growth though on these products. With a ppor, since you don't get a yield or pay cgt it is probably best to go for the capital growth moonshot if investment returns matter to you.

My 2 cents.

 

Of all the suburbs you mention,Camberwell, Hawthorn and Kew are premium locations but you'd be lucky to get a decent 2 br flat there for that price, so I'd recommend some of the other places on your list with the proviso that it might be hard to get much for $650k.

* The suburbs in the first paragraph are those where you're most likely to find something that suits your requirements and within your price range but I don't know a lot about Epping, Lalor etc and.I just don't like them but that's a personal preference.

I know a bit about the other suburbs as friends and relatives have lived in these locations..........
* Frankston has been very underrated for a long time - mainly due to distance from CBD and a lot of 'trouble' in and around Frankston centre but things change and in recent times, there has been a lot of redevelopment of the area - station, boardwalk and some quite upmarket restaurants.
It has a lot going for it - good beach, restaurants, good shopping, train to city and two freeways (to city or other parts of Mornington Peninsula) as well as some very good government schools (houses in Frankston High School's zone sell for more than those outside it )
As well as that, Frankston's neighbour is Mt. Eliza (a premier suburb with high entry price - price gain of approx 18% during 2020!) It would be difficult to find a good 3 bedder in Frankston (esp in Frankston HS zone) under $800k but you might get a townhouse. Frankston South probably way out of your price point. Avoid Frankston North!
An area within Frankston council zone and not far from main area - check out Karingal on the map - mainly family homes, good shopping centre, excellent access to Eastlink (major freeway to CBD and Mornington Peninsula in the other direction) Better buying here than nearer Frankston central.

* Ferntree Gully might also suit you - a train station so good transport into cbd, good road access to cbd, plenty of local shopping +big shopping centres nearby (e.g.Knox City, Eastland at Ringwood) and also at the base of the Dandenong Ranges so plenty of restaurants, national parks etc. right there. TPrice wise you might find a fixer-u[pper house but more likely you'd pay high 700s - 800s. There's quite a difference between Ferntree Gully and Upper Ferntree Gully - the former is generally flatter whereas Upper FTG is quite hilly and you'd more than likely be on a very sloping block.

Croydon is further out - has a train station though so probably about an hour to cbd.

 

Ben,

Schools with good reputations are preferred but not on the "must have" list.

Good access to shopping centres would be nice to have.

 

Frankstonhas moved considerably but still quite a few 3 bedders available on 600 sqm for circa $650k.

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-frankston-135845890
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-frankston-135836498
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-frankston-135780330
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-frankston-135739694

 

Have you considered west? St Albans, Keilor Downs, Sunbury, Werribee (south)? Maybe you could even find something in Ardeer or Sunshine West, which will get you to the inner east in no time?