Good pockets in Sunbury? And any general advise would be greatly appreciated

Hello all,

I am a complete newbie to this forum and the value I have got out of it so far has been absolutely fantastic so thank you to all the valuable contributors.

A little bit about me, my wife and I are currently renting in Oak Park as i work in the city and she works in Craigieburn so it seemed the logical solution, we have been looking to buy for the last 6 months and we are a little bit nervous to buy in the current climate but that's another debate entirely!

We have pre-approval for up to $750k but would only like to spend $600k-650k ideally as this will be a PPOR and we would like enough in the bank for an investment property. We have only lived in Melbourne for just under 18 months and would like a bit of advice from any locals (preferably) as this will most likely be an area for us to live for the near future and when the time comes raise our children. We are looking for a safe suburb with good links to the city, good culture/community vibes, ideally some nice bars,cafes , restaurants nearby , ideally a golf course and some nice walking/cycling trails . We have been looking at land in Sunbury , Deanside (near CS), Diggers rest, Beveridge (H & L in Mandalay) and established houses in Caroline Springs, Sanctuary Lakes, Williams Landing and surrounding areas.

I do have a few questions;

1) If we were buying land for around $350k-$400k whats the max we should spend to build a house? Reading these forums people always advise land appreciates buildings depreciate , we could build an amazing house for about $250-$300k on a large 800m block in Sunbury with great views, bearing in mind i would get $10k FHB grant and the $25k builders grant would this be a good investment or should be be spending less on the house , is there a standard rule of thumb?

Land/area we are looking into;

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-residential land-vic-sunbury-202726602

2) Any advise on good pockets in Sunbury in particular i am looking in Bellview drive /Jackson Hill estate? I cant see much about it online but the agent has highlighted its highly desirable, seems to be a lot of land available in that area, but ticks a lot of boxes in my above criteria, and is close to a school.

3) Any advise on the above areas as well would be greatly appreciate, we dont know the areas too well but i have joined a bunch of community pages and i have been visiting different places most weekends for the last 6 months (pre-covid) . Stand out areas apart from Sunbury in our budget are Sanctuary Lakes and Caroline Springs , the thought of Mandalay also appeals to us but SL seems a bit better IMHO.

Please correct me if you guys think otherwise but I actually dont see the Outer North or West being affected too much by COVID so we are pushing on with things .Thanks again in advance, this forum has been a fantastic read!

 

Welcome to the forum!

I've been to Sunbury hundreds of times (for work, of course, not leisure!) and I reckon I have an idea of the area.

1. There's no rule as such. It's upto you how much money you want to spend and what you want to have in the new home.

2. Standout areas:

- The new Villawood development along Sunbury Road. Nice views to the city (on a clear day), wide open spaces planned. Views will be better on the southern part of the hill (city views), the northern part will have views of the creek and waterways. You should be able to build a really nice home for $600k there. The development will have a community center, pools, childcare, cafe and a large playground in the estate-only club there. I have properties in Villawood's other developments and I think the facilities are good.

- Jackson Hill is said to the most premium estate in the area. Kingsfield is also said to be good from what my colleagues said, but DYoR. I don't know which properties in particular on Belleview Drive you should go for.

- There's a lake in Sunbury, Spavin or something is the name, large blocks adjoining the lake. Country feel while being like two clicks from schools/town center.

There's a big rubbish tip in Bulla. Despite the ugliness of it and rumoured smell, I assure you there's no tip-py smell in Sunbury. Like I said, I've driven past hundreds of times (no exaggeration, I went there every day for 3 years) and there was no smell even in strong winds and wet weather.

3. Does it look like you're okay with anywhere to live? I mean Sunbury to Caroline Springs to Williams Landing to Sanctuary Lakes covers a large area. If I were to make the choice and had no particular preference (which looks like your situation), I'd go for a property in Koroit Ck School's catchment. You said a school was important in the near future so this is an option. If a decent school isn't so much of a requirement but commute to the city is important then any of these options is good though the drive/ride from Sanctuary Lakes to WL train station can bring a grown man to tears (again, no exaggeration).

Further, if a school isn't a concern, Williams Landing is a great option. You can hit some golf balls in SL or Altona. You can get to Spencer Street in 24 mins on the train. It's 19 clicks from the CBD. Two large shopping centers, large town center coming up, roads being widened everywhere in the suburb. Most residents are young families. Geelong's a pleasant 30 min drive away, the Surf Coast's about 45 min drive away. There are employment opportunities in WL too with Target Australia's HQ there. I assure you Cedar Woods will bring a high profile tenant to the old Masters' site, that spot is prime real estate.

If there are specific questions about WL, SL, CS or any other part of the SW/W/NW of Melbourne, lemme know and I'll be sure to provide any information I can.

As for Dan-demic affecting specific parts of Melbourne, I'm sure our armchair experts in the Property Economics sub-forum will be very keen to enlighten you. What I'm doing is trying to use our sheeple to my fullest advantage

 

Hi Westie,

Thanks so much for taking the time to provide that very detailed response, I really appreciate it. I have been to Sunbury 3 or 4 times since i started looking into it and I thought it was a lovely place . I have been using homely.com.au suburb review to do some research on certain suburbs and there are some concerning points on there mainly about the "local hoons" ect , but i guess what area doesn't. Have you had any trouble or issues in your experience working in Sunbury?

Sunbury Suburb reviews - Sunbury guide, moving to Melbourne (Greater) - Homely

Williams Landing seems like a good option, at the moment i work in Williamstown but the company are relocating all of us to the CBD early next year so that would work really well both short term and long term with the good CBD links, my brother in law used to live there and he raves about it. As you listed the pros about WL it really opened my eye's and i think i will look more into it, is there any particular pockets,streets or developments in WL you would recommend? We dont have kids yet so it could be an option to buy there to live for 3-5 years and transition it to an IP and move to an area in a good school zone i.e Burnside Heights or CS.

And I am glad you are on the same page about the Dan-demic, although I am interested to see how stage 4 would affect new builds.

Thanks again for taking the time in your response

 

Not a problem, this is what I'm here for for and the intention of this forum. Stick around and you'll learn heaps.

There's the odd hoon behaviour just about anywhere. I'd suggest looking around for specific trouble spots and just avoid them. Maybe that homely thread has info on street level detail.

I can write about WL and surrounds at length. The better part is the older Cedar Woods development, the part to the SW of the big, dry drain (I've never seen or heard of water in it and it's being covered in sections too). The oldest part is the Wyndham Waters estate. These two are where I'd buy with your budget. The newer devs are out of budget I'm afraid, assuming you're looking at a 4x2x2. I'd not buy around the big playground area on Freya Drive, that bigggg area has higher density housing around it. There's a concentration of Islanders and Afros there. I'd personally steer clear of that part.

When you have kids of school-going age, you can give Seabrook Primary or Alamanda Primary a thought too, both rank much better than Koroit Ck Primary.

There will be some low vals possible with the effects of the Da-demic. Just be aware. In WL however, you'd be buying an established property so no problems with vals.