VIC Geelong/Newcomb - first home buyer!

Hi everyone,

Long time watcher of the forum, and a first time poster

So my story which I'm keen to see everyone's opinion on is....

I did some research and I decided with my partner that we would buy in Geelong and make the move from Melbourne. The idea being that we would rent it out after two years (when she gets her maternity leave) and move back to Melbourne if we don't enjoy our time here. and if we do, we would have a big beautiful family home.

We came across a house, 2 bathroom, 3 bed (we will convert 3rd lounge into a 4th bedroom) and a 776m2 block, which at the time was the biggest in our price range. On top of this is the beautiful high ceilings, original floor boards, California bungalow in a really convenient location (3k to city, and a walk to garden st).

This isn't a short term investment, we'll be holding on to this for years and years to come, I expect SOMETHING will eventually happen with the salt works across the road from us, and we are so close to the city it's a dream.

Would love to hear everybody's thoughts, but all and all we're very happy with our home, wether it be long term or not.

Property below.

https://www.realestate.com.au/property/12-portarlington-rd-newcomb-vic-3219

Cheers!

T.

 

Ppor is personal. Who cares what other people think?

 

It sounds like you love it, and for a PPOR that's what matters

I like that you can add value and have a decent sized block of land too.

 

Thanks, interested to see thoughts however. The reality is, we're probably heading back in to Melbourne so will look closing off 3rd lounge as 4th bedroom and renting it. rental in that are actually seems like it holds up well ?

 

I'm not familiar with the area but in general yields in Geelong are better than Melbourne.

 

Yes - no issue with rental at the moment in Newcomb. According to my PM right now people simply cannot afford to buy (they cannot get credit) so lots of people are pushed to rent and therefore demand outweighs supply. Vacancy for March sits at 0.7% so it's tight.

I own an IP in Newcomb and have just bumped up my rent by $10/week upon renewal. Given how close the property is to Geelong CBD and the house you posted are in decent condition I don't think you'll have issues finding a tenant later on.

Having said that, the only thing I dislike about it is that it sits on Portarlington Rd which is the main road so traffic noise may be an issue for tenant. Do you know how bad the traffic noise is ? Be prepared that if vacancy rate returns to normal level and you have heaps of rental competition, you may have to consider dropping the rent later on to attract tenant.

Cheers,
David

 

Agree with David Shih.....re the traffic. Portarlington Rd is the main thoroughfare for traffic coming in from suburbs like Leopold, Drysdale, Portarlington, St Leonards and Indented Head. From around 6-ish am until near 9am there's a lot of commuter traffic along there. One slight thing that could help is the now complete whiz-bang Apco service station (Crn Wilsons and Port Rd) that could provide a shield for traffic coming down, and also #12 is quite near the lights at Boundary Rd so the traffic will quite often be slowing as it nears this place. But aside from the traffic aspect, it's very close to Geelong's CBD, and Newcomb has lots of nearby amenities too.

Dollar for dollar, the same property the same distance from the CBD in any other direction will be worth a lot more in suburbs like Old Belmont, Rippleside, Manifold Heights etc. Newcomb, especially this place so near to Boundary Rd does offer good value in that aspect.

 

the traffic noise for me personally I'm used to as I have lived in areas like Prahran, Windsor, Albert Park in Melbourne before coming here. In the plans of the property - the kitchen dining is now kitchen/lounge. and where the plans have 'lounge' at the front of the property will be converted in to another bedroom in the hopes that when we do decide to move out and rent we might be able to fetch a few more dollars. Wondering what peoples thoughts on this property as a 4 bedroom with minimal superficial renovations could fetch. I'd be happy with just over $400 a week when it's 4 bed.

 

Probably doesn't help you with exact comparison purposes but my Newcomb place is currently fetching $310 per week. 3/1/1 house with 2-yr-new carpets, original kitchen and slightly renovated bathroom (re-tiled the shower area plus new vanity).

I would suggest speak directly to local PM agencies and get their professional thoughts on current appraisals versus expected rent when your intended superficial reno is complete. There are way too many factors which may impact whether you can get $400/week or not. For example just because you're fine with the noise doesn't mean your prospective tenants are OK with it - and that's one of the factors which could stop you from achieving that rent.

Cheers,
David

 

Completely agree re factors for rental cost, am hoping however that proximity to the likes of garden st, eastern beach, botanical gardens and CBD help with that! re the noise, it's nothing loud enough that warrants waking me up. I'll be replacing the front fence with higher fencing and double glazing the bedroom windows also, should help a lot.

 

I manage a smaller, similarly styled home in East Geelong which gets $390pw, no off street car parking so $400 is not out of the realms by any means. I can only suggest you have a property manager through your home so they can show you examples of what has leased near by and for how much. The market is always open to change / time of year is also a factor.

 

Hi Michelle,

Interestingly I found a property for rent in Newcomb - 4 bedroom on a smaller block with an interior probably not as nice for $470 a week. Early days for me, just interested at this stage