VIC Geelong

Corio/Norlane pretty much like Mt Druitt of Sydney (~ same time on train to CBD!) except better in that it's between two CBDs (also close to Werribee) - bound to go up when same distance on the east side is 2x the price and probably the closest place to Melbourne that is still under 300k. Tempted to start a business there with land prices so cheap! Definitely be interesting to see what happens in the next few year!

 

@Pentanol what do you mean by business ?

 

@Pentanol Well, if you can start a Mongolian Barbecue restaurant i'll be your best customer! We had one behind the Godfrey's shop up until the early 90's, but it closed probably due to the recession we had to have. But with quite a few vacant business premises available on Melbourne Rd and Thommo Rd, maybe it can make a comeback. Given Geelong has 200K people and no other Mongolian barbecue restaurants....surely there's a willing market. Particularly since Geelong's got a lot more people now than the early 90's.

You also make that salient point about Geelong's Northern suburbs, they are quite unique in being the closest to Melbourne yet the cheapest in the city. With Werribee also booming and that talk of the Werribee East centre, which is just a 25 minute drive away, getting in for under $300K should be quite reasonable.

Mind you, a record was set for this one, 74 Rose Ave, corner block, renovated main house, and plans for TWO three-bed townhouses on the remaining half-block. $410K

There's never been a 4 i reckon in any property East of Thompson Rd....quite a remarkable result.

74 Rose Avenue, Norlane, Vic 3214 - Property Details

That's the thing too...i'm not au fait with the council rules, but given this one, 5 Dunloe, 2 Waitara and also this one at 18 Yooringa Ave, it seems like building on quarter-size blocks is now acceptable in the Northern suburbs.

Lot 2 & 3 18 Yooringa Avenue Norlane Vic 3214 - Residential Land for Sale #201889934 - realestate.com.au

Thus probably not just the original rental returns, but the land value obviously rises when even a quarter size block can be sold. Good for the North i reckon, and it's nice to see my area rising!

 

That's what we're doing. Bought a corner block in Norlane for $282k, low yield though of $240 to the only person interested in it! (and her 3 dogs). Will revalue in 18mths and see if the numbers add up. We will be moving to Geelong at the end of 2018 too. Probably rent in Belmont or Highton as it's a good school there. Meet you for some Mongolian Beef Dave3214 if were lucky!

 

Still think geelong has a few microcosms in terms of property

Until it gains a little traction i'd prefer to invest closer in

 

I've been interested in a number of properties in the East Geelong region and noted (as you could expect) some have a Heritage Overlay. Within my portfolio, I don't have any houses in a heritage overlay region so this is a first for me. These houses I would not touch as they have been renovated already so it's purely for capital growth. Would love to hear your thoughts on purchasing a property with a heritage overlay (negatives and positives) and thoughts about East Geelong itself!

Furthermore, I went for a drive down Portarlington Road towards Leopold and noticed an abundance of undeveloped land which was to my surprise as it's close to the water. However, down surf coast highway towards Torquay, there are an abundance of developments occurring. Would also love to hear your thoughts on the reason behind this, and if you expect regions around Portarlington road to develop (and rezone) in the future.

 

@private_number ....Yeah, along Portarlington Rd it's a bit of a paradox for Geelong with the natural attraction of the waterfront and how this section is really undeveloped. But some reasons why are as follows.

Firstly, from the Animal health lab all the way to Pt Henry Rd, you had the former saltworks, which were decommissioned some time i think in the early '00's. Thus the coast there is disused salt pans, and i am not sure Cheetham still owns it or not, but there is talk of developing this area in the future, which would be a boon for the eastern side of Geelong i am sure.

Past the now disused Alcoa smelter at Pt Henry (which will need a lot of cleaning up for it to be anything, plus the beach there is mainly shell-grit) there's a few industrial buildings, then just paddocks. There is a caravan park that is almost on the coast, but i honestly don't know if this is crown land, or just held onto by some recalcitrant landowner that hasn't decided to do anything about it. I recall a couple of examples in Geelong going back about 15 years ago, you had half of Bell Park all beholden to a landholding on the corner of Furner and Anakie Rd, which when finally perhaps the person sold (or died) suddenly saw the huge infill of the now Bella Vista estate.

South of the river along Heyers Rd, just past Lehmann DR, Heyers Rd suddenly and abruptly ended in paddocks too..a stupid situation as Heyers is a main road, and it was so odd as a taxi driver having to wend back along Meadowvale Dr to get back to the Waurn Ponds shops. But thankfully by about the mid 2000's, they got rid of the fence and paddocks and built again a huge amount of housing along what continued along Rossack Dr and again a huge infill of residential housing. Heyers now continues all the way through, joining Rossack so thus linking Torquay Rd and Princes Hwy, this intersection also leading directly to the Melbourne bound ring road.

Even in Leopold there's not much there (on the coast side, huge growth between Port Rd and Lake Connewarre) although a bloke got into trouble with the council for trying to build his own jetty a few years ago. This is the bloke i think. His large landholding also explains the lack of housing on the waterfront too i'd suggest. Plus maybe council has not zoned it residential. There's be a lot of land until finally some development is starting in Curlewis.

So that's why much of this area is strangely desolate, as most cities would die for having so much accessible coastline to take advantage of.

No Cookies | Geelong Advertiser

 

Love your insight @Dave3214 clears up a lot. I did see a couple of for sale signs around Gortarlington rd but as mentioned, no where near as much growth as the southern end of Geelong. It'll be interesting to see what this region (especially around Stingaree Bay) of Geelong develops into in 5 years

 

Some of my Melbourne colleagues have recently bought in the Geelong area and fortunately for some, they were able to land a job with the NDIS based in the ares to reduce their commuting time.

 

Hi Dave,

Can I ask you some questions about Corio where I'm looking to buy my first IP? You seems to be a local guru of the property investment and also willing to share information. As I am totally new for Geelong's real estate, Corio brought my attention is of course its still affordable price. I did some research on the area, one article even says" Corio and Norlane among the most disadvantaged communities in Victoria" because of the high rate of unemployment. Is this really true? will I get a decent house in there at around 350k? How much do I expect to rent for? many thanks.

 

From my understanding and what I’ve seen when I was on the ground, Corio and Norlane do host the lower social economic classes of Geelong. This is reflected in the lower entry price as usually higher price command more demand in a suburb which means it’s usually more desirable.

The relatively low entry price is what attracts investors to come in and stock up, coupled with acceptable yield and some block even with future subdivision potential.

The tenant may not be top notch white collar however as long as you have a gun PM who can filter out the feral tenant, ensuring they can pay the weekly rent and you have relevant insurance in place for any potential damages from rough tenant then you should be well covered.

At this stage 350k can definitely get you into Corio and Norlane. Rent would vary between $260 - $300+ depending on the conditions of the house. I would suggest have a look on house.ksou.cn to find how much comparable properties are renting out for in order to determine the potential rent for the properties you are looking at buying

Cheers,
David

 

The more I read about Corio and Norlane, the more tempted I am to purchase within these regions for my next IP.

 

In the Ballarat picking up thread, there's a a satellite image of Melbourne and it's proximity to Geelong, with Werribee in the middle. The part of Geelong you see in that image is Norlane, Corio and Lara, highlighting the fact that they are the closest suburbs of Geelong to Melbourne.

I do wonder whether with Melbourne's increasing congestion, would living and working in Geelong, and particularly the well-serviced Northern suburbs in terms of road accessibility be something people may consider? I live 5 minutes from work, and major employers like Cotton on and Barwon Health are in the Northern suburbs. Beats the living daylights out of a commute of an hour or more each way, which people may face living in some of the new far flung suburbs of Melbourne. Maybe a compromise, does one maybe sacrifice a small amount of income for the benefit of several hours a week extra leisure time? And incomes are identical for standard award type jobs, specialised positions of course would pay more in Melbourne, but how many people genuinely can do those?

 

When we move there we will be looking to work in Geelong. We've lived and worked in other Aussie and overseas cities, but don't want to commute to Melbourne each day for work, but want to be able to access Melbourne for all its fun stuff. Geelong will offer my wife plenty of opportunity as a nurse and enough for me too. Access to a city for us doesn't mean working in the city, just working near one. We have previously lived 7 hours from Adelaide and are currently 8 hours from Melbourne and 5 hours from Sydney. This makes flying to my wifes parents who live in Perth and Hobart much harder. Next, its regional city living for us with big city airport access only 45 minutes away. Sweet!

 

@Dave3214 when I was hunting for an IP in Geelong, I would actually randomly bump into acquaintances I have not seen for years who live in Melbourne. They were looking in Geelong to move for that very reason - they're over the congestion, high property prices etc.

I believe Geelong is a few years off its peak though, if not more.

@HapppyChat Big city airport 45 minutes away? I'd say more so an hour. I live 20 minutes from Melbourne Airport and it takes me 50 minutes to go to Geelong. With that being said, Avalon Airport has untapped potential.

 

Came across another thread that mentioned a Geelong casino. I havent heard anything about this for awhile actually and was wondering if anybody has heard anything?

 

Something like what @Dave3214 is suggesting! I'll have to come down one of these days to check out the best sites - not necessarily a restaurant but either a site to buy for build to spec and rent it to another business or buy something for my own business. One of the few places where it's not too expensive yet! Seen any good sites lately @Dave3214. Always wanted to do a business and getting inspired by articles like this:
No Cookies | The Mercury

"In terms of employment, I believe that personal job security undermines opportunity. It’s a lot like betting all your capital on a small gain. Companies go broke, government departments get downsized, and people get laid off. That’s too much downside risk, given the upside is just plodding along."

There's nothing wrong with plodding along, but it's kinda true there's a risk! With less competition in Corio for certain businesses, definitely a good potential to start one sometime in the next year or so!

 

What will this multi coloured dump go for later this month in Belmont? It's on 580sqm, needs work, and is in GRZ. When markets heat up people can pay more for a dump than a nice one! Renovators delight!

43 Mernda Parade Belmont Vic 3216 - House for Sale #126827582 - realestate.com.au

 

Plenty of belmont is under RGZ so no point buying within GRZ!

 

Sorry to be naive, but what is the difference between GRZ and RGZ?