Growth potential of old duplex - Perth

Hi all.

I’ve enjoyed browsing and researching the forums the last few months and I’ve finally gotten pre-approval and am keen to make a purchase. Unfortunately the timing of reaching my savings goal and moving back to Perth seemingly happened at an inopportune time considering the current boom and the fact I now may struggle to secure a property in the area the family and I want to live.

I am trying to evaluate my options. Basically we have been priced out of where we would like to buy (in the catchment zone of a well regarded high school in Perth). However, ther is an older duplex I’ve looked at in the area, but I’m wondering what others think of growth potential for an older style duplex.

The property is an original strata build (not survey strata) and was built in the 70’s (on around 900sqm) shared between the two properties. It is on a relatively busy road, and it is connected to the connecting duplex through the the garage wall, the laundry and one of the bedroom walls as well as having a common roof.

So apart from being on a restrictive strata title it is also adjoined to the other duplex, basically meaning any plans with the property in the future will be heavily reliant upon the other owners approval, and also demolition of one side of the duplex would be seemingly impossible?

Basically wondering if this is a worthy investment? I would be living there for at least the next ten years. Would this kind of property see as much growth as say a townhouse, villa or apartment? What growth rate could one see when compared to a green title house and land property?

thanks in advance

 

Hi all. Thought I'd bump this thread and see if anyone has any input on growth potential of an old duplex in Perth as described in my first post.

I have also been looking at other duplex properties that are 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. Basically only option for my budget in the areas the family wants to live.

Any feedback much appreciated!
Thanks!

 

What suburb?

 

If its a 12 km from
Cbd then its probably a goer...

 

So each property has 450m2 of land? That’s quite good for Perth, better than many houses! If it’s in a decent suburb then probably not a bad idea if you can’t afford a house. I would think it would do better than a unit or apartment in the same area given the land area.

 

Thanks for the replies. The original duplex I saw was in Karrinyup but had lots of offers so missed out. Also been eyeing off others in places like Warwick and Greenwood, so a bit over 12km to cbd.

 

3 years have gone, have you got your house yet? I am looking to buy a duplex now, facing the same situation, lol

 

Hey, I didn’t end up buying a duplex but bought a 3x2 villa in 2021. Used equity from that to buy a freestanding 4x2 house in 2022 and sold the villa. Looking to buy another freestanding house now, but lots of competition out there!

Which area are you looking at? If I had to choose between a duplex or a villa I would probably go a duplex, and preferably one where the properties are only joined at the garage, that way it can be a lot easier to update the strata type to survey strata and have a property with a larger land component.

 

I have posted on this topic before.

In my case the neighbouring side of a 1979 duplex was bought about 6 years ago for just under $800k. The old duplex was changed to survey strata and neighbour demolised and built a new home on his half (approx 450m2). The remaining half which I still own has had minimal money spent on it in the last 6 years (circa $20k) and was recently appraised at $1.35M+.

So yes you can can get capital growth on duplexes and with no strata fees they make a great investment (in the right area).

 

Hi Jaydee, just wondering, in a very old duplex (built strata tile, PT1 was built in 1950s, street front one, single story, and PT2 was built in 1981, double story, with rear lane access), how to tell how much land each owner has?

I want to work out how much land PT1 has, as I want to buy PT1. The total land is around 500sqm, but looks like PT1 has around 300sqm land, but I am not sure if PT1 does have these lands, and how to tell if they can ben converted to survey strata? Thanks very much.

The entitlement is 1-1, but from the strata plan, the front building has a much big yard, and obviously has occupied more than 50% of land. So does that mean the 1-1 entitlement is for common property only, not for the land which has already been boundaried?

 

And for my case, the duplex is located in inner city, so the land size is quite small, only 500sqm in total, which means if I am going to buy it and demolish and rebuild one, that will have to be 2 story ones, much expensive. Not sure if that's worthy or not?

 

I want to make sure PT1 does have more land, saying 300sqm of the 500sqm, and see if I can convert that to survey strata, do some reno, including changing front covered patio to a sunroom? Thanks.

 

I can't tell from the sketch what amount of land is assigned to each lot. You would need to check the strata plan in detail.

It is possible that all the land within the dotted lines (A1 and A2) is common land but maybe set up for exclusive use?

Does Unit 2 have access to the street, other than the rear laneway? That would also need to be arranged via a path etc.

As far as the UE goes, it would be up to you and the other owner to agree where the split between lots occurs even if this means unequal land areas.

All the above rests on getting Council(?) approval as well as the other owner's approval, which if you are not yet their neighbour you are unlikely to know their views.

So your plans to demolish and rebuild will solely rest on the other Owner's approval. Perhaps talking with them directly should be your first port of call before even considering making an offer.

 

It's pre mid 85 Strata. Intially you owned the inside of the properties now it is possible you own the outside of the property (it's written on the Strata plan) the rest is common property, some if listed can be exclusive use. Bring pre 98 it's easy to change to survey strata were you own the land. I am currently trying to convince other owners to change to survey strata. Talk to a company's that does the conversion and ask them how it will be split up. I have seen a complex where all the converted blocks are different sizes

 

Neighbours like this?

 

From here
STP-14 Conversion of Strata Schemes to Survey-Strata Schemes

 

Yes, there is a shared pathway at the left side of the sketch so lot2 can have access to the main road.

 

How to tell if I own the outside land of the property or not? The strata plan does have a dotted line to split the land as per picture 1.

 

Outside as in the external surface of the walls. It will have it written on the plan. Not all do

 

Hi, Shogun, site value is not land capital value either? what does site value mean? that's quite weird concepts.
Since my case is the UE has been set to 1:1, need valuer to get involved to assess each lot's site value, so the land boundary could change again after converting to survey strata?