Hi Investors, Yesterday I went up to Brisbane to do some ground research (Im from Syd). It was an eye opener to see the suburbs compared to the data ive been looking at. I was shocked that Logan area is getting alot of hype and was wondeing if I missed something. North looked better if I was to live up there but am aware to remove emotion from investing. This will be my first IP and after analysis paralysis for such a long time its time to pull the trigger. Somersoft/property chat forums, books, seminars and my own research have hopefully prepared me. I have a question for those willing to help a beginner though. 350-400k budget Looking for home. No TH. Best strategy area. looking at CG more than yield . North Bris - Brackens ridge/strathpine. South - Browns plain/marsden Where would you pick? Look forward to hearing your views. Kev.
Welcome to IP world. I was doing exactly the same thing you are doing now visiting brisbane suburbs that i researched. IMO i would go for north side of brisbane preferably near train stations if you are going outside 12Km brisbane radius. Good luck.
As close as your money will get you to the CBD (if you can go up a little more then I would), home, on as large a land as you can scrape, old fixer upper with a nice, cheap reno to bring back to life. Of course depends on your overall goals/financial position.
Kallangar worth a look at that price. Good transport, Uni going in to Petrie (next suburb) in 2020 (maybe). You will get a house at that price point with the ability to add value through a small renovation. Rental yields also quite strong.
I live in Strathpine, bought our PPOR in Dec last year for $280K, 3 bedroom renovator and I've seen pretty strong growth just based on house prices in 2015 v properties on the market now. Rental returns are pretty good too. I'd suggest either strathpine or Kallangur, although Kallangur is further out from the CBD but it's close to the Petrie train station - trains run express from Petrie to Northgate so it would be attractive to commuters.
I have just started my research on brissy, My broker told me -brissy is bit different than melb and syd and can be hard to put properties on rent. I was looking at deception ay , mango hill area. will check your recommendations too. thanks.
I'd avoid deception bay unless you're looking at long term growth. It's got good prices but even locals don't want to live there, it's got a fairly high crime and housing commission rate. I haven't done much research into it but I imagine rentals have a high vacancy rate too. I think in time it will pick up due to its proximity to water but that's going to take a while.
I'm also curious to know... Would you guys do 2x $350K > 15km of CBD or 1x $700K < 15km to CBD? Both houses on decent sized blocks.
I would break the cbd central radius down within the 5-10 klm's out from the cbd.. The first problem will be finding a block already split on the title where you can level the site without problems,then the turn around times to build 2x by 350k,and the other problem will be with the prices for blocks like that.. Even all the places within that range and zoned and the right size block that have gone to auction over the past 8 weeks, all that our daughters looked at sold way above the asking price and never made it too the auction stage..imho..
If you were shocked by Logan , have you ever driven around bidwell , willmot , lethbridge park etc ? I worked in letho for close to 20 years and when I first went to Logan I though " Mt Druitt with palm trees " . Personally I think goodna looks better . Yep strathpine is an alternative and we looked there when we bought in Logan in the early 2000's . We made very nice money on our purchases in Logan then , and hop eto do the same with our recent purchases in goodna They are cheap , lower end suburbs which give high returns and AT THE RIGHT TIME OF THE CYCLE give very good capital returns . If you buy there , you don't want Sh..it boxes because they're hard to rent and get crappy tenants . Nice areas will go up more consistently and look nicer . But , IMHO , if you get your timing right , you can makes as much , if not more money in crappy areas than in nice areas . If you don't feel comfortable buying there ( and many don't ) don't .... I live on the north shore , but as stated worked out west for a number of years , so I'm familiar with that type of area and am comfortable to buy there . Cliff
That on the ground research is important. I'm regularly asking people 'Have you visited this area?", just sitting in the local shopping centre and having a coffee, half an hour of observing can be so powerful, jump on a train and keep your eyes open, it's a good insight into the people living in the area. Cheap can remain cheap for a long time.
I agree. I spent an hour sitting at a train station watching people heading to work. Drove past several schools during drop off / pick up times (sounds dodgy) to get an idea of what sort of class each school is attracting. Went to four pubs for a beer and a café for breakfast, chatted with everyone I could. I even got a haircut from the local hairdresser haha. Very good chat!
I think everything is interesting at the right price and reason, if you are not buy and hold but adding value, developing and selling, then anything can be fine, if you are buy and hold and waiting for growth then avoiding areas at high risk of being entrenched 'cheap and lower priced for a good reason' is important.
Also carefully look into the vacancy rates of individual suburbs. Make sure you check multiple sources and the real estate websites can vary. Talk to multiple real estate agents if you can. Aim for locations with ideally less than 1.5% vacancy rate.
Thanks @Jessica732 , Price is the main factor and in my criteria search DB came through and n here few investors have bought there. I am not in rush , will do more reasearch and try to find good suburbs with potential of CG and preferably positive geared property. All suggestions welcome. Ps:I came across deceased properties which appears to be cheaper than average price in good suburbs like western sydney etc- any thoughts!?
The area was withing my price range, and a bit of my wife's navigational skills haha. I orginally went to shailer park, tanah merah then loganholme then went west before heading back up. The reason I like the Logan area is that its a double edge sword with the growth of Gold Coast. Properties here are wedged between 2 growing citys. The north (strathpine, braken ridge etc) has more infastructure and feels safer with a family vibe. It does feel like its a solid area to invest. However will it outperform the southern factors im still unsure.
Remember the difference between Place to live vs place to visit. I would like to live in North within 12km ideally 8-10kms, work in cbd and visit south say gold coast for leisure.
