NSW Lightning Ridge

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by Darlinghurst Boy, 25th Dec, 2015.

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  1. Darlinghurst Boy

    Darlinghurst Boy Well-Known Member

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    anyone have much experience in the outback NSW town of Lightning Ridge.?

    It is Opal Town and obviously attracts a lot of workers and tourists.
     
  2. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    I think it won an award for top 10 lowest socio economic areas in the state

    The workers go to "stake a claim" and live in their caravans for free. The other workers are in the grocery shop or fitting security grills to everything in town.
     
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  3. strongy1986

    strongy1986 Well-Known Member

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    Its too small

    Try getting some maintenance done on a property- unless you lived there its not worth the headache
     
  4. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    People always try to reinvent the wheel and pick where no one else is. There's usually a reason for it.
     
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  5. Gockie

    Gockie Life is good ☺️ Premium Member

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    Yeah... people live out in their caravans... nice place to visit though and bludge off the government. Not a place for property investing.
    One guy who is very wealthy (he has a very successful mine or two) owns the pubs on the Opal fields. He can keep the beer prices low because he made his money Opal mining. But only a very small % of people do...
     
  6. HUGH72

    HUGH72 Well-Known Member

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    Population under 5,000 and no major centres nearby:eek: ...say no more. Waaaay too small to be worthy of even being remotely considered for investment purposes IMO.
    There's plenty for other places to consider and even then you can still get it wrong.
    This one doesn't even meet the most basic of criteria.
     
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  7. jins13

    jins13 Well-Known Member

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    One of my tenants is from that area, lack of opportunities.

    Why don't you invest in the area and tell us how you go.
     
  8. Gockie

    Gockie Life is good ☺️ Premium Member

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    Workers = ummm.... the Prospectors..... I'd describe the Opal miners as mostly no hopers or people wanting to not live in a normal community. The propectors don't get paid unless they find something - they aren't generally employed by anybody else (except Government welfare). There is not too much regular types of employment.

    Tourists - yes there are some, but while we were there we stayed at the caravan park, not a 3 or 5 star hotel. Ligtening Ridge is not really a place were your tourists splash out with heaps of cash except for the pubs and the odd person might buy some Opal, its simply a small place in the outback...
     
  9. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    There are some of those semi-retired folks who do it up North too.
    Not necessarily on benefits.
     
  10. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    It's on most of the grey nomads sites,we were there a while back,good clean town,good people
    investment wise,i would just keep going to QLD,.