From experience, how would you compare these 2?

Hi, Need everyone's view here as am about to buy my first home (big scary decision, but am going to Do It)

Saw 2 houses in Holland Park 797k & Tarragindi 755k (same block size and rooms/baths), I created this high-level comparison in this link (Comparison.jpg)

I am leaning to Holland Park because:

• Although its price is 6% higher; however I will be getting 31% from Land Value
• Although the house needs more work to modernize it; however the net building price is cheaper by 59%
• Although the Suburb Median price is less by 7%; however the Pocket is higher by 32%

So in theory, I can spend 100k on the house to make it modern; but is this going to be enough to:

• Add another floor to a brick-cavity home?
• Improve the Kitchen
• Improve the bathrooms
• Minimal landscaping and fencing

I may got analysis paralysis, but the Holland Park house is in a much better pocket and has higher long-term value, the only pain is Reno cost+time!

 

Welcome Damz. I think you want the one you want, and Reno is a good way to get equity in your first place.

 

This is what i would consider if buying a PPOR:

How long do you plan on living there?
Would you be happy in the area long term?
Any traffic issues?
Is transport ok? Bus routes/trains?
Parks nearby?
Are the streets leafy/do they look like a nice place to live?
How are the local schools?
Any crime in the area?

Then the house and land itself.
How's the land - flat?
Is it the high side of the street?
Is the layout of the house logical? (Not a rabbit warren?)
Not in a flood zone.
But... Do whatever you feel is the right thing to do.

After all that. Make an offer. It doesn't have to resemble the asking price. And tell the agent you are also interested in house x in the other suburb too and you can tell them that house is superior in (insert the factors). The agent won't want to lose you as a buyer, but they know you are not a given as a buyer for this house.

Good luck.

 

Does this really work Gockie? If its really superior, wouldn't you just buy that one?

When selling both houses and cars the superior & cheaper option is music to my ears. Invariably the punters have purchased my inferior product at the higher price.

 

Put the offer on the one you really want. But tell the agent you also like the other one.
Puts some doubt in the agent's and owner's minds - they will often try to get you to increase your offer. But with you saying you also like this other property it places a seed of doubt and that you could walk away at any time. Therefore they will really look at the offer you present because you could easily buy a different property. It works when there's no other purchaser. When there's multiple strong offers, that's a different story. But the buyer should be able to get an idea of that at the opens.

 

I took a 10 seconds look and will vote Holland Park for those specs any day.

 

These are old tricks that most vendors are well aware of.
We have had them tried on us - my answer was always that they were probably better off buying the other one if they liked it better.
We always had our (realistic) bottom line and never went below it.
Marg

 

Thanks everyone, all good points ... we ended up buying the Holland Park one and the offer was accepted. Did the Building & Pest Inspections and identified items to be fixed/done.

Now working on Finance and we are soooooo excited. Thank you for your comments

 

Congrats. The items that require fixing you may be able to negotiate a price reduction if they don't want to address it.

 

Thanks @Leo2413 , we did that too and the owner agreed .. my next challenge is actually finding a reputable company to do repair and maintenance to (Carpentry, Kitchens, Shed, Builder, Floor Sanding, Fly Screen, Air Conditioning and Electricians), the scope is not huge but requires coordination and time.

Any suggestions on how to approach this task/project?

 

You got quite a few things there. I will pm you my handyman and you can ask if he can do any of that. The electrical stuff you'll just need to get some quotes from an electrician. You can handle a lot of it via phone. The agent might be able to help you manage things. I heard @Whitecat is very helpful and i'm not surprised cos he's a champ maybe offer him some coin to help PM workers, site visits etc. if you really don't have any time (not bitcoin).