VIC First home buyer - 600k budget - where in Melbourne

"Hence my most important short term target is an area that is most likely to give me best possible growth at my budget."

Great! Now that you've clarified that you want a Town House up to $600,000 with the goal of capital growth what you may want to do is something like this:

1. Go to: REIV - Median Prices
2. Look at all the suburbs that have a median upper quartile price that is 10% lower than your budget.
3. List those suburbs
4. Buy a copy of a major property investment magazine and look at the stats in the back for long term historic growth.
5. Make a list of those suburbs and order them from highest historic growth to the lowest.
6. For the highest ranked suburbs (Say top 5) work out if the future gains look promising (note: historic growth is no proof of future growth but unlike other investment asset classes property markets tend to be influenced by physical factors that have been previously desirable and are likely to be desirable still in the future.)
7. As number 6 is a long and detailed process you could just order Residex suburb reports for your top areas to gain more insight that way.
8. Research each area's demographics, and research what those people want in a property.
9. Search for a property that fits in with the market. (There's no point in buying a town house in a suburb where people only really want a stand alone house for example)

Hope that process helps with your area selection.

 

My ips are in featherbrook. It was much cheaper when i bought the land as opposed to the selling prices now. in my opinion, the better estates are featherbrook and alamanda. Feathebrook has been around for a while and there are older houses in the estate. I believe the value is associated to the surroundings, lakes, parklands, ovals etc. Similar to sanctuary lakes. That being said feathebrook is marketed heavily overseas. My whole street is 80% either mainland chinese, malaysian, korean or indian. That being said, kingsford is the other estate that is pickuping up. With feathebrook there is no fees to the management of the grounds parklands etc as all is managed through council. where else alamanda there is a 1K fee on top of the normal rates to do this. Many places in featherbrook are bought by families as back then when it was put out in the earliest stages it was cheaper 99-120K would give you 350-400sqm land hence ppl bought 2-3 blocks and build houses (father/mother in one, kids next door) as in relative terms it would have only cost 400-500K for 2 houses to be built. fast forward 8 years and the prices are obviously different. i think there will be some growth in Pt cook though not at an accelerated pace compared to other suburbs in the east. There are not that many places where else can people buy new houses at 400-500K mark in melbourne distance wise. There is a new estate "upper point cook" coming up as well - so maybe worthwhile to take a look.

 

Hi Melbournian
how do we compare point cook vs tarneit as Tarneit is upcoming surburb as well. which would be a better buy as in Tarneit the houses of a new block are still cheaper with new train station plans in progress.

 

Hi,

I have the same budget as the OP. Have been looking at inner West through to Sunshine West. Currently renting inner east.

The plan is to live in the property for 3-4 years and for my partner and I to commute to the city for work. Thus, proximity to a train (preferably walking distance) is desirable.

If we purchase further from the city, we may use our savings over those 3-4 years to buy something closer to the city. Would not be selling the initial property, rather would keep as investment.

Two questions:

1. Are there any obvious flaws in the above thinking?

2. What do people see as a better long term investment: a town house in Yarraville, Footscray, etc or a large house on a large block in Sunshine West?

 

Hi guys

I'm also looking for a first home with a 600k budget. I prefer to live close to the city because I have pretty long hours. I'm willing to live in an apartment, knowing that houses will be too expensive in the suburbs close to the city.

I've been looking at 2 bedroom boutique apartments within that inner ring, but not in the cbd. Is getting an apartment a poor long term choice since they don't appreciate as much? If not, what would be the best suburbs to look at? I've been looking at Kensington/Flemington/North Melbourne area, Brunswick, Richmond and Prahran.

Similar to Tian Daly above, I've also been looking at some of the western suburbs. If I can afford it, would I be better off pushing my budget out and getting a house in Footscray? It's not as nice an area at the moment but probably better potential for capital growth?

Thanks!

 

Just wondering what are people thought here in regards to the new Westgate project. Will the "new" roads help CG in PC, Tarneit and surrounding? What do you reckon the impact will be on the inner west suburbs such as Braybrook, Maidstone, etc.?

 

1. This depends. Often the best place to invest is the worst place to live and vice versa.
If your primary goal is to buy a property as an investment to purchase the family home later you should flesh out your strategy to see if that path works for you. Having a plan first is important. You may find that renting and investing is a better option, or buying a property as a home for a longer period is a better option; really hard to help with specifics without knowing your situation though

2. This really depends on several variables. Budget, growth/ yield targets, investment strategy and the individual asset selection. Unfortunately there's no general rule of thumb - you'll need to drill down into each option to work out what is best for your situation.

 

Please do not buy an apartment in Kensington or Flemington; and be wary in North Melbourne and Brunswick. Richmond and Prahran are much better markets for apartments but be sure to follow the usual guidelines such as; appropriate zoning, established property, low density, quiet streets, etc, etc.

With the 2nd part re: house vs. apartment: houses are usually a better long term asset for capital growth followed by townhouses, villas, flats and then apartments.
Cash flow is the reverse order of the above.
The advantage of houses is that you control the asset completely so you can add value.
Again there are many variables and properties should be analysed on a case by case basis to establish which asset has/ will perform better than the other.

 

What's ur take on the north melbourne and brunswick as in houses? i saw brunswick etc was among the biggest movers for houses esp those long terrace edwardian victorian types. Do you think it will perform in medium term? North Melb is pretty rough from the times i went to uni around there. With that new train station coming up in north, do you see much upside in that?

 

Not a fan of North Melbourne.
Brunswick & Brunswick West are excellent options for Townhouses & Houses - Yes to medium/ long term. Purchased several stand alone red brick edwardians here - it's the best investment asset class in the area in my opinion. Made an offer on a Townhouse that has a history of 11% CG over 30 years yesterday - hard to find that level of growth in townhouses usually.

(edit PS - those options are above $600k though.

 

yeah i am looking at those terraces for 600-800K ones where you add another storey in brunswick. I like preston for townhouses after going to the area many times, the market which is situated next to the station with high st is very appealing and i think overtime this is an area that will grow.

 

I dont understand the growth in Brunswick? How do hipsters avoid such massive mortgages when a pint of craft beer costs $20?

 

Thanks for your reply Jake, really appreciate it.

Just wondering, what's your reasoning for not buying in Kensington or Flemington?

Also, I've since been focusing more on small apartment complexes which only have a small number of apartments or art deco apartments (though most are quite expensive). Do you think they're as good as flats? I've always though flats were really ugly, but I'm starting to warm to some of them.

 

I had very similar requirements a year ago, and I ended up buying 500k worth of a townhouse in Cairnlea (North west). (rather than 600k) I intend to make this an investment property 3-5 years down the line. Hence redoing the math

• Buy $500,000 Townhouse
• Townhouse grows by 5% each year for 3 years.
• Gains equity of around $85,000.
• Set up Interest only loan and an offset account, can save around 20-25k in 3 years

With respect to suburb, Its a bit further from sunshine, but very close to the freeway. It only takes me 3 mins to get on to the freeway in the morning. In evening, its 20 min drive from my house to Crown.
Its relatively quiet and much safe suburb for living when compare to sunshine, with relatively good gentry. The townhouses there have historically grown around 5% yoy with 4%+ rental yields.

Worth having a look

PS: Newbie to property investment, take it with a grain of salt!

 

Medians in West footscray & footscray reach $750k - $780k recently from sold results in the last few weeks. Market is smoking hot atm

 

As a few people pointed out
coburg
preston
heidelburg (good pockets)
or
noble park north
dandenong north (good pockets)

 

Hi everyone,
I'm in a similar situation, which suburb would give me best bang for buck atm?
Looking at Footscray, Braybrook or St Albans
Cheers people

 

TH in good pockets of Heidelberg are 800K+ for very small dated places.

 

I think they need to add west and heights at the end to get a price drop

 

Where else but the illustrious "Berwick".

14 Howell Drive Berwick Vic 3806 - House for Sale #122898862 - realestate.com.au

It's a house on a block of land and it's rather housey.