VIC First IP - Corio/Norlane or Melton

News that Cotton ON are going to invest in a $40M distribution centre at Avalon is something that may pique the interest of Geelong's Northern suburbs a little more too.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au...t/news-story/2a1874182ad6795cd6fc311c7ccdde64

The Geelong Advertiser has a paywall now but such a large centre may start the ball rolling on Avalon being a DFO-style outlet, and it's just 15 minutes from Corio and Norlane.

In regards to Melton and Plumpton, i'm only vaguely geographically aware of where they are, being inland North-Western suburbs of Melbourne that are close enough to the CBD by train, but at least Geelong's suburbs are also not that far from beaches and attractions as well along the Surf Coast. JacM who said 'Never ever ever' for Norlane, well as a resident and homebuyer here i really would like to know the reasons for that negativity. I'm in Dunloe Ave, and have had no issue at all living here. I do get a bit confused at the attractions of living in middle-outer suburbs of Melbourne when paying a poultice for the property and being no closer by public transport than i am anyway.

It's quite strange really when i com[are what's happened to Australia's car industry versus the diametric results with the property markets. People chose cheaper, smaller and more fuel efficient cars and ignored the Aussie sixes. Yet in property, people ignore the cheaper, easier to afford houses and buy in places where they need two executive salaries to afford the mortgage and if investing, get a return on investment that's infinitesimal. I bang on it a lot, but in my case, why pay twice the price of my place just for the sake of driving 6-7 minutes up the road to Pakington St? I don't see the value in such a small amount of time or 'cachet' living only moments closer to something. It's just me i guess but the mindset of those blithely spending a million or more on their place, it does spin my head out a bit.

 

Hi @JacM
Do you think its to late for Glenroy? Or would you say there's better suburbs out there.

 

Here's a quite nice place, sold for just $250K just up the street from my place.

Sold 29 Dunloe Avenue, Norlane VIC 3214 on 22 Aug 2016 for $250,000

I can vouch for certain, it's a very quiet street and to be frank, that seems like a bargain given that right across the road from my house, 64 Dunloe sold at auction late last year for $225K, and that was a weatherboard place compared to this brick house.

Right now as well, the two units at 43 Dunloe which i mentioned in an earlier post are now complete, although i'm not sure if they are for sale or for rent, as they merely have a handwritten sign in front referring to both of them, just a mobile number and a name to call. I can't seem to find them on a website for sale, i'd love to know what he wants to sell them for, since these are the first new builds in Dunloe Ave since my place was finished in 2010. FWIW, mine was $260K, and being new i was able to get the big FHBG at the time for it.

 

Just an aside too, i know this is generally a property investors forum, but seriously. for affordable housing, it's hard to go past numbers like these in an area moments from Geelong and less than an hour to Melbourne. There's a suburb ranking index i've seen that has Norlane listed among the most disadvantaged suburbs in the state.

http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/__data/...isadvantage_in_regional_Victoria_overview.pdf

But i don't really get how they can say that Norlane is away from labour markets. It's minutes from almost anywhere in Geelong for work, and i just can't equate this compared to a rural town or hamlet that is near nothing. Maybe that's where the stigma gets legs, but for me, having lived here over 6 years, i can't buy that angle. For amenities, it has a lot going for it.

 

Well, after quite a while being finished, those units at 43 Dunloe Ave are on the market, or at least the first one, which is the first new build up Dunloe Ave since my place in 2010.

Norlane, 1/43 Dunloe Avenue | Harcourts North Geelong | A Trusted Local Family Business providing Real Estate Services for 25 Years.

For a large 2-1-1 place with a study apparently, price quoted is $299-$329K. Which for me is good, as mine's a 3-1-1. So that values a new place on the West side of Thompson Rd about $40K more than one on the east side, maybe reflecting the more private nature of the Norlane West area. It's just good to see as a homebuyer to see something to finally compare my place to.

 

@Dave3214 Could you please shed some lights on good and bad pockets around Corio? I believe you are a proud resident of Norlane and I'd love to pick up some of your local knowledge around Corio.

Thanks!

 

Well, generally Cloverdale Drive and most of the 'C' streets are regarded as pretty good as a whole. Mainly privately owned houses, and they now have the added bonus of being relatively close to new housing along Matthews Rd and the small courts that are geographically in Lovely banks, and are valued at a significantly higher median than Corio proper.

Fairbairn Drive and some of the courts off it are predominately public housing, and despite it's very handy proximity to Aldi and the Princes Hwy, there are handfuls of nuffie types there that could cause just the usual issues, a bit of drugs and that. Mind you, in saying that there is a reasonable community spirit along Fairbairn Drive as some of the houses there do wonderful Christmas lights.

Along Hendy St and then Streeton Close, is a new estate (which runs just West of Fairbairn Drive) called the Rose Park estate. This one is quite new, under 15 years old and again is mainly a privately owned area, in a secluded spot with minimal passing traffic. Again, those prices are higher than some in the Corio area, but they are nice places there.

Example here...58 Streeton Close, Corio, Vic 3214 - Property Details


Some of the American street names are established, like Wyoming, Vermont, some of Colorado Dr and the like, they are 60's and early 70's builds which have a good proportion of homeowners there. There is a few public housing areas along Eumerella St and Cann Ct, that little area just West of Corio Village. It's probably in those sort of pockets that there's a lot of idle people, either aged pensioners, disability pensioners and unemployed. I guess an easy way is to just pick the condition of the front lawns and nature strips, well kept ones is a reasonable basis to suggest the neighbors are happy to be there.

 

Thanks heaps, @Dave3214 It really helps me understand the area more, before I drive around this weekend.

Do you know anything about RGZ2 zone at all? It seems most parts of Corio are in Residential Growth Zone (RGZ2).

 

Unfortunately rather like that Simpsons episode when Bart interjected to Mrs Lovejoy 'excuse me lady, but what you don't know can fill a warehouse'.....what i know about zoning would at best fill a thimble i think.

One thing i have discovered though that might pertain to planning ie block sizes, there are two new units at 4A and 4C Milan St Bell park, right behind the post office there which appear to be on land of no more than maybe 125m2 each. They are for sale for $339K-$359K for 2-1-1's and uniquely they have no actual street frontage, just a small walkway from Milan St to a kind of side entrance deep in the block.

4A & 4C Milan Street Bell Park Vic 3215 - Townhouse for Sale #123937062 - realestate.com.au

They are the smallest townhouse sites i've seen that are not in inner city areas or Geelong West, and not sure if it's only because they are right in the Separation St shopping precinct or whether that's the new density that can be had further out in the suburbs. Generally on the standard 600m-700m2 blocks two units are built, sometimes three, but perhaps try looking at 69 Station St Norlane as well, which seems to have about six townhouses on it.

1-6/69 Station Street Norlane Vic 3214 - Unit for Sale #120094485 - realestate.com.au

Thing with Norlane there are some quite large blocks, Corio probably has a more even size distribution, not too many exceed 800m2, but there may be a handful here and there.

 

Unfortunately there are more factors other than which streets are pleasant and which are not. There are several homes in nice zones but which are too close to high tension power lines. The problem with this is lenders are unlikely to go above 80% LVR. No worries if you only need 80% but will present quite an issue of you want to sell the property as you can only sell to buyers that need max 80% lend.

 

May as well bump this again, as Norlane and Corio actually got on the news with that investor story today.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154795889489301

 

Spent a lot of time on the ground during last weekend in Corio and Norlane. Saw some nice pockets and not very nice ones, privately owned houses and ex-government ones. But what's wrong with those government housing properties? Every property has its value, as long as it's in line with one's investment strategy.

Would love to know PCers opinions on them...

Cheers!

 

Just my view:

The weatherboard houso style - I would consider. Weatherboard is in these days, and they don't look much different to a regular weatherboard house from the same era. Depending on how you paint them, which direction you go in renovating them - they can look pretty spiffy. These tend to be on huge blocks too, and a bit of landscaping can add value.

The brick houso style - not so much. They are on smaller blocks, and usually slanted. The newer houso estates with this style of property tend to have long winding streets which are harder to navigate and take longer to gentrify (see Fairbairn Dr Corio, Solar Dr Whittington, Talintyre Rd Sunshine West). They are easily recognisable as commission and make poor use of the block.

However if the budget could stretch to a regular home (such as a triple fronted brick home) I would go for that first.

 

What do you mean by "fault-line"? Saw a property with huge structural problem last weekend in Belmont. Is there some sort of ground movement within Belmont area to cause such cracks in those houses?

 

@cherubym yes that could be one cause. Another could be poor drainage and airflow around and under the dwelling causing damp and thus sinking of a portion of the structure.

 

This place (old original early 60s style) on a half size block is very cheap for a house, and would give a good rental return.

1/2 Blair Court Norlane

On the 'wrong' side of the Norlane side to some extent, but it is only a few hundred metres to the station and handy to town and an easy access to the Princes Hwy. I guess too, if the other block is developed into a new place it may instantly make a nice new neighboring property that could boost it a little as well. But for an access price to the market, i doubt anything like this would be available at that sort of price ($165K-$180K) so close to major cities. And it is an easy drive from Norlane to most places of employment in Geelong.

 

Hi Notlad,

I am thinking of investing in Corio. Is yours a house or a unit and how long did you have to wait until it got leased?

Thanks

 

Dave 3214 - I agreee with everything you just wrote ,
I lived in Norlane West on Thompsons Rd in an O/O in 2009/2010 .. i never encountered any problems the entire time i lived there ,, the accessibility to everything was quite frankly amazing (including a very easy run to Avalon airport if i needed to fly interstate) ... the property itself --now a rental property has has steady capital growth ... and the the rental return far exceeds anythings i could possiblly get in Melbourne (plus has future subdivision potential) ... its only a matter on time before people catch on to this .. i feel fortunate to have gotten into this suburb in 2009 .. but the suburb is still extremely undervalued

 

I keep a close eye on prices in Norlane/Corio and I'm seeing an definite increase on 12 months ago. Houses that were listed for 220-240 are now more like 250-270

 

I'm too anxious not to buy at peak. Melbourne is doing very well, so is many suburbs of Geelong, particularly the areas I am closely watching such as Newcomb, Thomson.

How could one know that Norlane/Corio is not at its peak yet? Was anyone here active last peak? Would love to know some insights from last peak.