VIC Geelong

Thanks for the Flinders Park information.

I'll probably drive down and have a peak for the block I linked earlier. I think it will give some decent CG as it is close to the shopping center.

 

What are your thoughts on the pocket of Belmont within Settlement, Torquay roads and the river?

 

TBH doesnt make sense just holding onto it

Holding costs, land tax, etc

Would be better to buy develop and claim depreciation.. I assume that would be cash positive after depreciation

In the meantime you could put a 5% deposit down in flinders park, similar to holding without the holding costs

 

Just settled on a Geelong property. Thought I'd share as I enjoyed reading along this thread while buying, thanks for the info to all. 51 Spruhan Ave Norlane, corner block, rough 2 bedder house for $282,350. House will need around $5,000 to make it liveable. Some kitchen doors held on by sticky tape instead of hinges! Nice try, should have used duct tape, that stuff holds anything. Two wooden windows were removed and leaning against the fence (as you do) so wanted to put them back in but someone nicked them! I thought this was the NEW Norlane! If anyone is down there doing research and some dodgy dudes tries to sell them 2 wooden windows from their trailer.......let me know, I'll buy them off you. Trying to rent for $240 so the yield will be a low 4.42% if we get that. Will look to develop with street frontage if the numbers stack up in 18 months. Close to train station and shops, Melbourne's ripple coming out...... lets see how it goes.

 

Congratulations @HapppyChat. I once crashed my car in that street 20 odd years ago.

 

Congratulations mate!

 

Geelong house prices record strong annual growth

 

Yes it is definitely in it's growth cycle. Always a tough thing to time, you could have bought much cheaper in Geelong a few years back, but you have to sit and wait for growth which may stall your whole portfolio. Buying in a time of growth you won't get the cheapie prices or be able to negotiate much off, but you own an asset that is increasing in value from day one. I remember share traders saying they made their money buying too late and selling too early, not trying to pick the bottom or the top but take the chunk in the middle. Just ask anyone contemplating Perth now or buying in Sydney before the growth. I find it very interesting. In hindsight it is easy but not when you're in the middle of it. How far will Norlane's median top out at? Will $282k be looked back on as a cheap price for a corner block in 10 years? No idea. A mate bought up 10 corner blocks zoned triplex in Balga in Perth for $80k each back in the day. Seemed a lot at the time. He did OK.

 

Going back a couple of weeks ago, i noticed that of 11 properties that sold in neighboring Corio, NINE had a three in front of the price. That's a fairly significant percentage of a reasonably high number of sales in a week for one suburb.

I think the drivers though are simply it's proximity to Geelong. LIke i've banged on about for ages, one might be happy to pay their $750K or so to get into Manifold Heights or inner East Geelong, but suburbs further out like Newcomb, Breakwater, or on the other side of town like the Norlanes and such are merely a 10 minute drive away. It's stuff all for most locals, and essentially you get practically the same amenity no matter what suburb you're in. It's just that maybe you might have neighbors with better cars, but for the several hundred thousand dollars difference it's not a bad compromise.

Manifold Heights too, median over $710K now has a rental return of a very capital city like 2.5% So as an investment, it may not stack up that much. But you can still get close to 5% in Geelong's cheaper outer suburbs.

 

In addition Geelong's auction clearance rates has now surpassed Melbourne! Absolutely in line with @Pentanol domain article:
Geelong is the best performing auction market across Australia - realestate.com.au

Also interested to see that Norlane is one of the top five suburbs with biggest growth in the last year, so congrats to all who bought in Norlane last year!

 

The prices of blocks in the Flinders Park estate has gone through the roof by the looks of it. Decent CG already, given how well Norlane and Corio have been doing recently.

 

Exactly.
I always buy when I see the rise not before, otherwise its guesswork. Yes, there will be competition and you have to work harder to source the properties but this is where the skill of networking comes into play.

MTR

 

Hey fellow investors, I to am looking to purchase in Geelong and took the the time to read all 25 pages very informative an abundance of information.
Everybody has been great particularly David 3214 and David shih good work guys .
I've noticed a lot more auction scenarios now that demand is on the increase , still getting a feel for the area but I know what I'm looking for and the areas to look at ( Newcombe, Whittington , Thomson and then norlane and corio)
I'm looking at a block just over 700 m2 corner block near northern bay college ,its a 3,2,1.
The house seems renovated with the back cleared with possible subdivision potential for those who have bought and to the locals and ideas what this would valued in this area as I've come up with $ 330k , any opinions ? What would be the rent return roughly in this area?
Thanks for any feed back .

 

Hi @Elvis1,

Welcome to the Geelong thread and well done on reading through all 25 pages! I actually can't remember whether I've read all 25 pages back in the days...so well done!

The property you mentioned is in Corio except I cannot seem to find a property that resembles your description. Can find a 3/2/1 close to Northern Bay College but land is only 566SQM. Perhaps PM me the link of the property and I'll be more than happy to give you some thoughts.

In general a 3/1/1 in that area rents between $280 - $310 depending on the condition of the house. For example:
36 Kosciousko Ave, Corio - this one seems to have been renovated mostly:
36 Kosciusko Avenue, Corio, vic - Property Rent Price

8 Ainslie Crt, Corio - this one seems to mostly be in the original condition:
8 Ainslie Court, Corio, vic - Property Rent Price

Both of these were rented in Oct 2017 so this data should give you some idea. If you have one more bathroom should add another $10 on top.

 

I had a drive around Geelong the other day and it's amazing the divide between West and East Norlane - driving on Thompson Rd you can clearly see the difference. West side of Corio and Norlane is surprisingly pleasant. But as a few have said I don't see any intrinsic factors within the suburbs that would cause them to grow - only potential reasons for growth are low price, closer to Melbourne, investors buying.

I also drove in the inner Geelong suburbs - west and east. I found the housing styles and land sizes are pretty similar across Geelong - the main difference of the expensive/cheaper suburbs are demographics and how well the houses have been looked after. It's not a stark contrast like the McMansions of Toorak vs the houses on the west side.

 

Phalaris Park Estate

Any data on this one?

 

Phalaris Park, it's situated within the wedge crested by the Ring Road, and West of Matthews Rd before hitting the current existing houses running off streets and courts past Goldsworthy off Matthews Rd.

Nothing here as yet, i guess it'll be called Lovely Banks as it's West of the dividing Matthews Rd, so that probably helps with the cachet by name alone. Oddly to some extent the vast majority of new land development in Geelong is South of the river, and that's where first home buyers seem to be falling over themselves to buy. Apart from the New Norlane places, there's been not much additional building in the Northern suburbs, although Lara has grown an awful lot in the last 20 or so years.

So as far as amenity goes, well it's right near the ring road i guess, and not far from Bellpost shops and Corio Village......i guess if the houses that get built there are nice and shiny and new, it'l have quite a premium over the less well regarded Eastern and Southern neighbors of Corio and Norlane.

Maybe we can call it Norlane North-West

 

Well i mowed my lawn yesterday so my place in Dunloe looks nice and spic at least...apart from the frost damaged Agave plants that have browned off leaves from those cold days around 8 weeks ago. I drove along Princess Rd just now to pick my nephew up from school, and i must say the front lawns and nature strips on the East (Cloverdale) side were as well manicured as any in the most expensive suburb.

As far as growth goes, well in my opinion it will creep up in price as long as places further into Geelong keep rising. As you said, from Toorak to the Western suburbs of Melbourne is a long way, but say Loftus St East Geelong to Fidge Cres Breakwater is less than 1.5 K's....yet the house prices are probably close to double in the inner area. Perhaps as prices and rents rise, the more feral among those who inhabit the Northern suburbs might have to think about moving elsewhere to a cheaper area, and it might slowly improve with time. The West side of Norlane though is a pleasant place to live as far as i'm concerned, now been here 7 1/2 years and have had no issues...plus importantly for me, work is 5 minutes away.

The growth of Cotton On in North Geelong, plus Barwon health at Grace McKellar also mean there's jobs in the Northern suburbs, so those who might want to buy in more cheaply than Geelong's now rather expensive inner areas might consider the Northern areas as a place to live. Traffic this side of town is probably the best in any suburb, as all of the arterial roads in the North are dual carriageways, a far cry from congested Pioneer Rd for example, and Barwon Heads Rd in the burgeoning Southern suburbs, where traffic at peak times is a bit of a pain in the ort.

 

Hey guys! Take a look and let me know what you think of IP 1

Here is my list (any input is appreciated)->


23 Lucas Street Newcomb Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126455006 - realestate.com.au 23 Lucas Street Newcomb Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126455006 - realestate.com.au

3 Lindsay Street Newcomb Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126650994 - realestate.com.au 3 Lindsay Street Newcomb Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126650994 - realestate.com.au

48 Townsend Road, St Albans Park, Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126441626 - realestate.com.au 48 Townsend Road, St Albans Park, Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126441626 - realestate.com.au

2 Casaceli Court Whittington Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126405350 - realestate.com.au 2 Casaceli Court Whittington Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126405350 - realestate.com.au

11 Fellmongers Road Breakwater Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126666974 - realestate.com.au 11 Fellmongers Road Breakwater Vic 3219 - House for Sale #126666974 - realestate.com.au

6 Bailey Street Belmont Vic 3216 - House for Sale #126396778 - realestate.com.au 6 Bailey Street Belmont Vic 3216 - House for Sale #126396778 - realestate.com.au

 

6 Bailey Street, 3 Lindsay Street and 23 Lucas Street all look great.

I believe Belmont and Newcomb are some of the best areas to invest in Geelong. I'm really liking 3 Lindsay Street, and the statement of information has its range between 291,000 & 320,000! Looks like a great get on paper if you get stay within that range.

I do think it will go a bit higher, especially in this hot market.