VIC Geelong

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by Amber83, 16th Aug, 2015.

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  1. Jacob Field

    Jacob Field Well-Known Member

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    Terry and I included Geelong in our National Top Ten Sweetspot report in Sept. - Terry still sees Geelong with some decent puff remaining!

    I have also done some suburb analysis and had a great conversation with local buyers agent Tony Stark who iterated some of the numbers based research we conducted.

    My pick was Newtown which Tony also really liked due to school density and proximity to CBD, UNI, Melbourne ring road (important) + Hospital. Buy in is prohibitive here and this is a pure CG play.

    Tony also highlighted Herne Hill - 20-30% cheaper than Geelong West but has larger block sizes and great amenity as mentioned. Look to 1930-40 period homes for reno profit potential was the play here.
     
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  2. Beelzebub

    Beelzebub Well-Known Member

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    If you go to Google maps: South of the Bellarine Hwy is Whittington and North is Newcomb. Thomson is okay as it is close to East Geelong and very close to the centre of Geelong. It seems like a place that might get a ripple from people being priced out of East Geelong: However, it is also very close to Whittington and as a result as a somewhat dodgy reputation. Whittington's reputation is in the same ballpark as Corio and Norlane.

    I think Belmont is the pick out of Thompson/Belmont if your budget allows it.
     
  3. Ko Ko Naing

    Ko Ko Naing Well-Known Member

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    Belmont is very low on yield at the moment. I've been to quite a few inspections and found that it'll purely be a growth game if someone was to buy one in Belmont.

    Thomson is not too bad in terms of yield. Since it's a very small suburb, it's hard to get the stats right. Also hard to say if it will get a ripple effect from East Geelong or bad reputation from Whittington later down the track.
     
  4. Ko Ko Naing

    Ko Ko Naing Well-Known Member

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  5. _niko_

    _niko_ Member

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    Just bumping this up. Potentially looking at the surrounding Geelong areas for my first IP. Searching for something with the potential to develop at the back. Anyone bought into Geelong or surrounding areas recently or have any thoughts on the area and the current market?
     
  6. Hodor

    Hodor Well-Known Member

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    I have one property in the Geelong area and I used to live there, I think it will be steady growth for the area in general. If you are planning to buy and hold for the long term I think you will see nice CG and the yields aren't too bad. Just pick your area as there are some pockets I would avoid.

    Not sure about sub division. I don't think the price bracket in general allows enough margin for most areas yet some people in the area are doing well out of it, I have seen others struggle to make the numbers stack up, do plenty of DD, as always.
     
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  7. _niko_

    _niko_ Member

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    Thanks @Hodor. What areas are the ones to avoid? Certainly plan on doing my DD. If I do develop I don't plan on selling the properties but to use the equity in the build to move on to my next project. If I do end up going ahead with an IP there I will post up more details about my progress regarding the area.

    Would love to hear from others that has invested or gone through a development there.
     
  8. bamp

    bamp Well-Known Member

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    I am looking at investing here, but was curious on how the coming closure of the Ford plant will affect the Geelong property market (and their economy in general).

    Has anyone done any research on this?

    As I can't see anything that will replace anywhere near the number of jobs lost from the factory closure...
     
  9. Beelzebub

    Beelzebub Well-Known Member

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    Heaps:
    NDIS
    Work Cover
    ABS
    Epworth hospital
    Carbon revolution

    All setting up head offices here.

    Also potential for the land 400 project to be built here.

    Unemployment rate is also lower than the national average.
     
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  10. JacM

    JacM VIC Buyer's Agent - Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat Business Member

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    While the number of jobs Ford at Geelong actually provided/provides differs between media articles, the figure isn't huge. Geelong has a big population and a heck of a lot of jobs spanning multiple industry sectors. People carry on as though Ford was the only employer in town but in reality, Ford held a very small percentage of jobs in the region.

    As has been mentioned above, plenty of other companies are moving in and bringing hundreds of jobs each with them - as a collective far exceeding the number of jobs that Ford offered. More commercial office space has been created and constructed to make this possible. I saw that white collar shift coming many years ago and spoke at a council strategy meeting about the importance of ensuring the CBD could expand by treading carefully with too much subdivision approval on the large residential blocks in the fringe suburbs. You need large chunks of land for large commercial buildings.

    It is a no-brainer to move your head office out of Melbourne and into locations where commercial rents are cheaper, and lifestyle and affordability of housing is better for your employees. Geelong is circled by 7 popular and well-known beaches ... with beachfront in the CBD among them. People literally go to the beach during lunch-hour, or before/after work. Meanwhile in Melbourne, hours are whittled away by people just commuting between their homes and places of employment.

    Regardless... the 2030 plan has Geelong noted as a satellite city for employment and that is a path very clearly being forged by government. Plenty of cash has been spent on road and rail infrastructure and beautifying the waterfront as a few examples. It was also not so long ago that you had to buy a separate paper ticket to go on a train to Geelong. You now go on the Myki card... same system as the Melbourne Metro. This was another point I raised with council years ago. To get Geelong on the Myki system. The second someone has to stand in a queue to buy a paper ticket they perceive they are going somewhere with old-fashioned mindsets that is not considered to be part of Melbourne and is likely really far away. It is also confusing for tourists to get their heads around multiple ticketing systems and having to order a ticket verbally in English. Geelong is now on the Myki system and the concept has been extended to other areas as well such as Bendigo.
     
    Last edited: 8th Mar, 2016
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  11. Hodor

    Hodor Well-Known Member

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    I don't like Norlane in general, areas of Corio and also the area around Solar drive in Whittington. None of that is in anyway a secret and there is plenty information as to why most people avoid those areas.

    Outside of those places I think there is plenty of opportunity depending on your strategy and your own beliefs about where the growth will be. Only you can answer those questions
     
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  12. JacM

    JacM VIC Buyer's Agent - Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat Business Member

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    I agree... I don't like Solar Drive. The problem with it is that Solar Drive is a very long street, which you have to drive down to get into many of the smaller streets and courts. The problem with long streets is that there are just too many dwellings in them. You're never going to have all owners simultaneously decide to smarten up their properties and move different people into the dwellings. It is a painfully slow process for pockets like that to smarten up. Generally the smartening happens from the entry to the street where a few homes just at its entry might smarten up and it slowly.... at glacial speed, the next few homes smarten up and so on and so forth. There are areas in other parts of Melbourne that have pockets with similar challenges due to the presence of one or two really long streets that run through them.

    With that said, the properties in the Solar Drive district have still been rising in value. It's a relativity thing. As a landlord you just have to accept that when you buy into a pocket like this, while you are watching your capital growth build, you and your property manager may have to put up with more hassle than usual along the way with tenant management. But then you remember the low price-point you paid to acquire the property. Swings and roundabouts.
     
  13. eskander

    eskander Well-Known Member

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    Highton is also a good area to look at. Right next to Waurn Ponds SC, couple of good private schools, right next to the freeway/university/hospital, and about a 15 min drive to Torquay. Prices there though are a little higher than areas like Norlane and Corio.
     
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  14. Tranquilo

    Tranquilo Well-Known Member

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    And Hamlyn Heights is a nice little pocket.
     
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  15. Dave3214

    Dave3214 Well-Known Member

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    Good point by JacM about the new industries in Geelong that have come in and are expanding to offset the loss of jobs from Fords. As it is, Ford now employ maybe 500 people which is just 10% of their workforce in the 70's when Aussies actually used to buy Aussie built cars almost exclusively. In Geelong's Northern suburbs (and i live in Norlane West) there's Cotton On, a company that started in Geelong in 1991 and now is employing upward of 1000 people in a rapidly expanding head office conglomeration which now emcompasses a lot of the Southern frontage of Separation St and Shepherd Ct, it's rather amazing even looking at it now. The staff car park is huge, as they have bought out several now closed factories to make room for a large number of commuters, many of whom actually drive from Melbourne to work there.

    As a homebuyer and resident of Norlane West i speak with a vested interest in wanting growth in this area, but to my mind i do find it rather odd that a suburb which is close to Geelong, only 45-50 minutes from Melbourne via either the Ring Road or Princes Hwy, close to those aforementioned beaches and contains a larger percentage of private dwellings than the commission housing sides of Norlane or Corio does seem to be overlooked as an option. Good 70's era brick houses on full blocks are gettable for 250K-ish amounts, and older weatherboard places for lesser amounts than that. There are some nice large houses in this area that broach a price towards $400K, and perhaps to frank that, the much more cachet suburb of Lovely banks, just on the Western side of Anakie Rd has new houses and large blocks that have houses priced well over $500K. Infrastructure-wise, and being close to Cotton On (now the largest private employer in Geelong) the attraction of a house for $250K and obtaining well over $300 a week rent has to be something to look at.

    I've said this before too, but Geelong's geography and proximity to Melbourne has in some way created a paradox of where the closest houses and commutes to Melbourne are the cheapest places to buy in the city. Armstrong Creek, Waurn Ponds and even Leopold, places where a Melbourne commute is at least 15-20-25 minutes longer each way seem to command a price premium despite that fact. I am hopeful that maybe some people might actually think that living in a suburb offering a commute to Melbourne that's no worse than many of Melbourne's far-flung outer suburbs, especially the Eastern ones might see some people see the value that surely looks apparent here. Been here for six years now, and i love it. Close to all i want and need, and for investors, it's a good rental return as well, with a entry cost miles below most places in Melbourne, and indeed among the cheapest in Geelong. Sandwiched between the two biggest cities in the state, can this not at some stage be a huge positive?
     
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  16. eskander

    eskander Well-Known Member

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    @Dave3214 I agree about Norlane and the surrounding areas being a better investment in terms of entry price and yield however I think the attraction with Highton, Waurn Ponds etc is that the commute is only an extra 5-10 mins on the freeway and they offer a higher standard of living (Corio tends to have a higher crime rate as well as more housing commission) as well as a better selection of schools, shopping centres, and other family friendly features (restaurants, parks etc), and its only an approx 15 min drive to the beach compared with a 30-40 min drive of the northern/western areas of Geelong. Also Norlane seems to be surrounded by a lot of industry which may not be attractive to families. However as mentioned before this does come at a cost of a higher entry point.
     
  17. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    Would be interested to know if anyone is currently looking at land and house packages? Whether these are stacking up in this area.

    I think has got great potential.

    MTR:)
     
  18. Hodor

    Hodor Well-Known Member

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    I built in Armstrong Creek recently, valuation would be about 15% over build cost, guess it is what happens to valuations over the next 5-10 that really matters. It'll be a number of years before all the planned infrastructure is completed which will hopefully be when CG take off.

    Land is quite abundant which will keep some downward pressure on prices and stop us from seeing crazy returns (imo at least) but I'm happy with it just ticking along.

    I believe @sash is doing a few in the area too and sees good things.
     
  19. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    I'll be on the ground next week to look at North and west of Melbourne. Just going to drive around to get the vibes... Developers office open for the long weekend.
     
  20. Dave3214

    Dave3214 Well-Known Member

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    Much of the Armstrong Creek area seems to have houses that tend to be close to 400K or more, as many are big 4 bedroom 2 bathroom 2 garage configurations.

    At this stage though it's still only 'Future schools and Future shops'....as yet there's not the full infrastructure there yet. Paradoxically a report in the Geelong Advertiser a few weeks ago highlighted that many of the residents of Armstrong Creek are sending their kids to Torquay High rather than the closer Oberon High in Belmont, which has rather oddly been seeing their enrolment numbers decline despite the massive growth in Armstrong Creek, Grovedale and Waurn Ponds.

    But i'm happy living where infrastructure already is, traffic easy to navigate and where all you need is at your fingertips. Something to note as well, Separation St is starting to see a growth in restaurants and cafes now, Cafizza has opened up near Cotton On's head office, a new cafe called Little Boot is opening on the corner of Thompson Rd, and a couple of Thai restaurants have moved into the strip over the last couple of years. Maybe Separation St could become the new Pakington St, and be a boon for us Northern suburbs residents too.
     
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