How to research properties in other states?

Hi All,
Been looking around these forums for a few weeks now, seems to be a lot of knowledge and some great people here.
I have a property in Hobart, which I bought 18 months ago and is my current PPOR.

I am looking to by an IP, but looking outside of Tasmania, as I believe the potential for growth is quite restricted here.

Wanting an IP for capital growth, I have been looking at Melbourne and Brisbane.
Though, outside of taking advise from others here, utilising google maps for infrastructure around and searching for the future infrastructure plans, I am having difficulty understanding how you gain an idea of good areas for investment, without stepping foot in those cities?

I have a basic understanding of key factors contribute to properties growth, but unsure of how to research such things.

Anyone care to shed light on this? Suggest books to read?
Keen to learn as much as I can.

Thanks

 

Hey Luke, books will give you general knowledge, they wont give you what you want on local knowledge. The vast majority of my clients are interstate, and yet I'm still terrified of the idea of buying interstate. I genuinely cannot understand how people get a good feel for an area without experiencing it themselves.

I strongly encourage looking in person,or engaging a local professional you trust (i.e. good buyers agent), but if you insist on not taking a look in person- your secret weapon is streetview! You can get a seriously good idea of what an area is like with streetview. Three Commodore's on the neighbours lawn? Hasn't been mowed in three months? Is that a drug deal going on in that photo? etc etc.!

 

Hi @Luke.ch ,

I hope you are doing good. I would say you search on the keywords, key areas that you know on this forum.

A lot of people have posted there purchases both on Brissy and Vic. Please go through those and you can start your research from there.

Having read people's personal experiences on the areas really helps. Then once you have areas marked, go for a day trip and drive around. I haveewrnt this from an investor on this forum itself. I hope it works for you.

You can also talk to rentsl agents, sales agents and buyers agents to get more knowledge.

Regards

 

Another item to consider with interstate purchases is your repair and general maintenance costs may be significantly higher for those that are pretty good on the tools.
Having ips within easy driving range makes many small jobs a lot more simpler and cheaper , especially when your in between tenants.
A job that may cost you a couple of hundred can become a lot cheaper and a bit of your time.
If your doing larger upgrades you can easily keep on top of work being done ,rather relying on the pm to inform you of bad news after you have paid the bill.

 

Good BA is worth every cent (keyword - "good")...

 

You can use Urban - Tomorrow's property, today. to research development hotspots in other states. Only negative is it doesn't include most outer ring suburbs and areas out of the metropolitan area where most of the growth appears to be these days. However, you can see Mornington Peninsula projects here: Forum topic: Mornington Peninsula Developments (Mornington, Mt Eliza, Martha Cove, Sorrento, Rosebud)
Phillip Island projects here: Forum topic: Phillip Island Developments

Email alerts of planning applications near you | PlanningAlerts is also useful for researching smaller projects in a suburb.

 

Ill definitely be visiting a city and checking out the suburbs first hand before buying!
Appreciate all the suggestions team, very much looking into a BA for it once I do a bit of research myself.
Thanks for the suggestions

 

I have very similar problems when I was first investing interstate as well. One of the quicker way I learnt over time is leverage off the knowledge of people who are familiar with the areas you're looking for. For example when I was looking at Geelong I was able to leverage off Dave3214's local knowledge in the early days and pinpoint the areas I believe have potential. This to me will be much practicable rather than researching blindly online.

So once you have suburbs in mind, search up this forum and see who has been able to consistently contribute and hit up a PM with the person - maybe offer to take them out for a coffee or something as a small token of appreciation in return. When I was at Geelong I took Dave3214 out for a meal and it's amazing how much local knowledge I gained in the 2 hours we spent together.

Also to overcome the challenge of investing interstate, I have written some specific lessons learnt/tips you can refer to which hopefully will help you on your journey:
What I learnt out of buying 7 properties

Good luck!

Cheers,
David

 

Give Microburbs a go.

 

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and Census Quickstats