Hi all, I am having a difficult time working out where to buy a place for sub $1mil in Melbourne. My issue is that in that price point (and I would bet this issue exists at almost all price points), I can either get a large block of land with an average (sometimes worse) house on it, or a smaller unit in a much better suburb. Some background on my situation is that we are looking for a PPOR with the aim of starting a family in the next couple of years. My key criteria generally are 3 bedrooms, close to PT (ideally 1km to train) and good school zone. In an ideal world, I would want this purchase to be suitable for a family, irrespective of age. I have used Sandringham and Parkdale as examples below of my struggle, as Bayside is one of the areas we are looking at currently. Sandy: 2/72 Victoria Street, Sandringham, Vic 3191 Parkdale: 3 Vialls Avenue, Parkdale, Vic 3195 I do realise there is a bit of a price differential between the two, but my more general question is, if you are looking at a PPOR, but also want to maximise longer term growth, do you take the better suburb or the larger land?
I always look at the land component. IP (house) in Beaumaris, has performed well over 2 cycles, I really like the Bayside. You may prefer a house if you are starting a family, personally, my kids would have driven me crazy in a unit. Have a look at the trends in the area for both units and houses.
The worst house in the best street? Does it still hold true if its the worst unit/villa in the best street as oppose to house?
Thanks Cate. Any recommendations for the best source of that information? Real Estate/Domain seem pretty rough to me
Its does with some caveat. I'll look at comparables with-in 300-500 meter radius. If neighbourhood adds up along with price point, and structure is strong, location always is no1. Can fix the house but not location
This is true, but if you are limited to say 250sqm, there is only so much you can do to the house. I do get your point though and agree.
We desperately need to upgrade our ppor. Location and school are making our decisions for us. We could get more land and bigger house elsewhere, and have seen some that would be perfect for our family, well within our budget in other suburbs far from where we currently live. But we absolutely want to stay in this location (which has tiny plots of land for the same price or even higher then a big plot elsewhere). Our main reason for staying in this location is that our kids are already in schools here, and they have excellent special educational support in place for our kids that require it. Changing schools is a big risk if you need supports, especially if you already have a brilliant school. If kids aren't even in school yet, that gives you more options. But definitely make sure you check out the schools in your area that you are considering, make sure that you would be happy sending your kids there. I don't know if they are as strict in Melbourne with zoning as they are here in Canberra, but you really don't want to be stuck in a nice house in a suburb with a crappy school, and have no choice but to send your kids there.
The house any day out of these 2. House can be reno'ed, improved, rebuilt, whatever. Ont eh other hand, anything that looks better now will look old and in 10 years anyway. I don't count Sandy as "much better" than Parkdale, although granted the Parkdale one is landside of the Nepean. it's 1km walk to station and you have a ripping 650sqm to play with, less corrosion, and you even get the occasional plane hit your aerial (oops...). Now, if the question was 300sqm house in Ascot Vale vs 750sqm in Clayton South vs 1,000 sqm in Boronia - the question becomes more complex..... The Y-man
