VIC please can you tell me about living in ballarat, better or worse areas for a young family.

please can you tell me about living in ballarat, better or worse areas for a young family.

 

Alfredton and Lucas seem to be quite popular with young families.

 

I live in Ballarat and have done so for a year. IMO the best and most underrated areas are east of the Ballarat CBD. Dollar for dollar it’s amazing value, has everything you need, easy access to Melbourne and isn’t too stiflingly large. Plenty of heritage and period homes if that’s you’re thing. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask away.

 

thank you so much. Ill follow this up thank you

 

Hi, Can you please tell me the best estate to build and IP in? I know nothing about location as I live on the other side of Melbourne. Thanks

 

your better off buying an old house closer to town.
Probably cost less than a house in an estate as well

 

Not nessarily. In some pockets the homes experience expensive movement trouble. Some of the much older homes need serious money spent on them due to decaying windowframes etc, and are cold and hard to insulate and heat, which is a problem when you consider that Ballarat is a chilly place.

 

I'm thinking about long term investment and maintenance costs, cheaper stamp duty, all the mod cons of a new house which is attractive to newer generations. JacM is right, they want proper insulation and heating and cooling. Plus if I buy land now and it doesn't title for 12 months for example, then build time 6 months, prices could have moved at lot in that time and some equity can be made. There's also higher depreciation on new builds/fixtures, and no trouble finding tenants.

 

hmm
I thought real estate investing was about location and land content
Probably why old houses in inner city melbourne are $2 million plus

 

@strongy1986 very true... though it is important that a person is aware of holding and maintenance costs they'll be up against. If the costs will exceed what a person can afford to sustain, the property is a no-go zone. If the person can afford to cover the maintenance but is essentially cancelling out capital growth by spending the gains on maintenance, then the person is probably better off with a different kind of property.

 

If you're looking for an owner occupier property near Ballarat, take a look at this...

612 Midland Highway Mount Rowan Vic 3352 - House for Sale #127049054 - realestate.com.au

Luxury 4 bedroom house, heated swimming pool, 5 minutes out of town, extensive gardens, 40 acres of farmland ideal for cattle. Mount Rowan is more of a farm location, virtually zero crime.

It's been on the market for a while, you could probably get the price down a bit. They'd probably accept $1.2M.

 

On the other hand, if it takes years and years to experience growth in those locations where developable land is not scarce at all, one will get stuck with his/her investment journey without being able to expand the portfolio further.

Need to get the CF and CG balance right. Personally, I’ve seen more property investors making money from old builds in growth areas than the ones who buy new builds in new estates.

sash and Cactus on PropertyChat are exceptions. These guys know what they are doing extremely well. For those, who don’t know very well like them, I’d say the safe bet is with old builds in established areas.

 

Hey. I personally believe that, whilst you can make money buying a new house, it’s a rather specialised strategy which requires a lot more skill and a decent helping of luck.

The reasoning I have for this is two fold. Firstly, you’re buying shiny and new, and what was once new must become old. In thirty years time, you would be holding the equivalent of a mission brown house with olive green bathroom - but as you bought it new, you would have paid top dollar for it. Land appreciates, yet buildings depreciate. What was once new must become old.

If you were to buy an older weatherboard house, you would get a timeless look that wouldn’t go out of style, and you can easily manufacture capital growth by spending $2.5k each on a bathroom and kitchen.

The other issue is that of land size/location. None of the new estates in Ballarat are walkable to the CBD. Land sizes are also better in established locations, potentially allowing you to add value by subdivision, which is almost an impossibility in a new estate (unless you pay a large premium on top of the premium you already pay to build new).

That said, if you were to build in a new estate, I would build in Canadian. Maybe also Brown Hill. No questions asked. Canadian is on the better side of town, most of Ballarat’s new estates are on basically cleared farmland out west, there is no natural border to growth there (being acres of flat farmland) and scarcity is non existent.


Edit: In Ballarat, no matter which way you go, you need a natural gas heater. No question. As for cooling, my own house doesn’t have air con and I don’t believe you need it, unless the heat really bothers you.

 

Oh wow. That is beautiful. I like very much.






Too bad I can’t afford it

 

Often the case. The point is simply that some cannot afford to hang onto the super old homes and need to look at other things, whether they be 1980s builds or whatever the case may be.

 

The reason I stir the pot a bit is because I often see people on PC writing about new homes with the delusion that they are a superior investment due to low maintenance and ease of holding.

I think to be successful in anything you need to step out of your comfort zone and property investing is probably no different.

 

Get off this forum! Nothing wrong with the dilapidated central weatherboard, uninsulated properties, walking distance to all amenities, trains and the bustling Ballarat city centre!! It took 100 years to get my cracks - 98 years longer than my friends in Lucas!
I definitely should sell up. No booms in Ballarat and not likely considering buyers agents don't think much chop of these well-positioned houses on good sized land. .

 

What someone thinks of a property is secondary to whether a client can afford the property or not. That is step 1 and rules out many options. I have no doubt you have a nice home @Owlet . I shall wear a warm jacket when I visit .

 

@strongy1986 yep. Folks will always have a budget which is relevant. One can desire to acquire something outside of the budget, but the bank puts a stop to that.

 

yeah I agree but in the case of Ballarat a home in a central location is the same price as a house in an estate
hence why I wouldn't even consider an estate in Ballarat
if they were half the price then it would be worth considering