A week ago I went to Officer – a new South-Eastern suburb in Melbourne. I have an idea in mind to build my next investment property and therefore I wanted to assess this suburb. In my view, it is still undervalued but I think I slightly missed the boat because the land prices went up in Officer during the last year. Nevertheless, I drove through the suburb and was impressed. New shopping centres and schools are already in place and some are planned, two railway stations nearby, a freeway with plans to widen it to 3 lanes and nice streets with decent houses already in place. The only negative bit I see is the distance. It is an outer suburb and is very far from Melbourne CBD. On the other hand, this is why prices are okay so far. Because of the distance, I am not sure what the rental potential might be. I think the house prices would go up in there but finding a tenant might be slightly problematic, al least at the start. Although, the internet search says that the rental demand is medium. I guess, my question is what you guys think about the potential of this suburb. I am particularly interested if someone already has an investment property in there and, if so, what is your experience. Any other thoughts welcome.
I am going to desist from putting in an opinion. While exceptionally tempted to write "You have to be out of your mind, it's the last place on this planet I would buy an IP", every time I have written something along those lines, the place I wrote about has gone up 10 fold in 3 years.... The Y-man
Yes, exactly that. Several years ago I thought about Clyde North and Berwick Waters Estate in particular. I thought that no tenants would come in, no established area, etc. For the last several years the properties in Berwick Water's went up a lot and it is now a very good place for both tenants and owners occupiers. At some point, Officer would be the same, it has many good attributes like roads, freeways, schools and shops already. It us just very far out but...
Cost. Established homes within 30 km from t5he CBD are out. Also, I am sick of paying our crazy stamp duty. So, if I build, I''ll save half of that + depreciation would be much better. Brisbane / Adelaide are too far from Melbourne. I already have one property in Ballarat and one in Wodonga (via SMSF), so this time I am back to Melbourne where I live
I am pretty certain Office as a suburb has been around +100 years. I remember going there in 90's as a friend of mine had a property there. On another note, I live in Berwick and i work locally so no issues in living in the area for me. But it is a long ride into the city also some estates specially in Beaconsfield were tailored for the lower end buyes therefore they are not as nice as some of the prestigious estates in the area. therefore be careful as to where you buy the land. The best gains to be had in Officer was to buy in 2017. Where the land appreciated atleast 30-40% since the period. Now I see heavy discounts applied by the developer to move stock as there is not so much demand. If you are looking for the long run then yes buy in Officer but in the short term I dont think it would see much growth. Also renting out a property would be harder as most people in Officer are first home buyer owner occupiers, most people looking to rent in the area are people who are building in the area and looking for short term rent. Also there is a high amount of investment stock available which mean renters do have the option of shopping around and days on market to rent is quite high. I am one of them people that took the punt in buying in Clyde so far the property had appreciated by 50% in 2.5years would I do it again - No. I would rather look into a more established area than upcoming suburbs.
Yes, Officer has been sitting as a suburb for a while. At the same time, I was talking about the hew developments and they look great, modern with new schools and shops. I agree with you 100% that the best buy was in 2017, so I am thinking if its too late now...I also agree with you in terms of rental things: high competition, etc. Therefore I wanted to get some feedback from people who may have investments in there already. I appreciate that we may have no people in here having their investments in Officer, though... I also live in Berwick , so I am well aware of the long drive to Mel CBD . So, if your Clyde property went up during the last years - that's great. You have one in Clyde - no need to buy more at the same spot. I have the same thinking about Officer in terms of grow: its relatively cheap now and long-term it would grow. I think it's more about problems with finding a tenant and hence paying the loan by ourselves for some time...
1. It is not a nrw suburb. 2. You have better priced and placed options than officer currently. 3. Way far out. Regards
Same pricing In North 23 kms to 40 kms. Start with Wollert, Epping, Crageiburn, Mickleham, etcetera. Similar with north east, start with Mernda, Doreen, etcetera. North West, Rockbank and Melton, anything around station. You can still target something just shy of 400k. West, upto Bacchus Marsh, good rentals and demand and prices around 400. And then comes Geeling and vicinity, good demand, growth and rentals. Near to water and still within an hour and 10 min reach to ciry in public transport. Regards
Beware NE if need to travel by car. No freeway access to CBD, ok if you are heading around ring roads etc. New train line helps if that is a potential transport option.
Hey Y-man, can you please bag my investment suburbs please! & PPOR as well for that matter, although I just got the new rates notice
