VIC Seagrove Estate, Phillip Island

Hi all

Does anyone here have any knowledge of the new housing estates that have been getting developed in Cowes, Phillip Island?

I have been researching the estates between Ventnor Road and central Cowes which are Shearwater Estate which now seems to be sold out, Shoalhaven Estate and Whytehaven Estate and one that has really taken my fancy is Seagrove Estate which can be found at: www.seagrove.com.au

I have been to San Remo & Phillip Island twice over the past 10 days and are actually considering purchasing a block of land in a new estate and even considering living on the Island for at least 5 years and if I don't like it I can just shift back to the suburbs of Melbourne but it will be my intention to make my life on the Island a permanent thing.

Phillip Island seems to be very appealing to me due to its coastal atmosphere and of course the small marina located at Newhaven to keep a boat in!

So throw me your thoughts, especially all those negative ones as I won't be offended and would prefer to know them before making a commitment.

Regards,

alicudi

 

Personally i dont really like the new estates on the island. Doesnt really suit the area
I would just buy a full sized block in a more established area. Might have to pay 30k more but you get a 600sqm instead of 400 or less

I guess if your set on an eatate then Seagrove is probably the best of them
Whats your overall budget including a build?

We are currently selling a place at teddy bear lane and had some good interest. Market is definately hotting up down there.
I reckon prices will jump substantially in the next 6 months so its a good time to buy

 

Hi Strongy1986

Thanks for your input, it's appreciated. My findings are similar to you in that the new estates don't reflect the previous feel of the Island when you drive into them.

But for some reason I single out and do like Seagrove estate as I like the eco-environment focus of all the homes that are built due to the design guidelines and caveats, I was even considering "The Cape" housing development at Cape Patterson for its leadership in eco designs etc.

I think it may be easier for a single male such as myself to live in one of these new estates to meet other people/neighbours as I have found out and others on the island have confirmed that the new estates seem to have a much higher percentage of owner/occupiers rather than holiday home owners which is very common for homes not in the new estates.

I am looking at a 514sqm block which is probably big enough or maybe to big if it eventually becomes a holiday home for me in 5 years time, you can get lots up to 1 acre in size in Seagrove Estate.

The block I am thinking of is $189,900 and is at a relatively high point in Seagrove, in fact if you walk on the block of land you can see water but I expect these views to be totally lost when some goose builds a double storey in my view path!

I am preferring to stay under $400,000 budget including the build, but this will be for a brand new property that I don't have to spend my hard earned time renovating and keeping maintained if it was an older place. Titles are due in 12 - 18 months so this time frame allows me to purchase without borrowing. However should a bunch of single storey get built between me and the water view, this budget could change drastically and I build a double storey goliath to take advantage of possible views.

I like how your floor boards turned out in Teddy Bear Lane!

Regards,

alicudi

 

Why sell now then? If the market is hotting up and you're predicting a 'substantial' increase in prices in the next 6 months?? Unless your in need of the funds urgently, would you not hold out and get the growth?

 

Well in some ways we do need the funds as we are not working at the moment and travelling around oz.
However as we subdivided the block we are still retaining 620sqm of land which we will relocate a house onto when we get back.

I think even if we wernt travelling we would still sell it now. We have a good profit locked away at current prices and it means we could move onto the second half of the project quicker and complete it whilst the market is still doing well.

The plan in the next 12 months is to start completing these renno/ subdivide / relocate projects without any bank involvement and without the need to work a normal.job.

Also whilst i am 95% confident the market down there is on the cusp of bigger and better things we can never be too certain. All it takes is a new war or a gfc style event and our profits dissappear along with our dreams /goals.
Id rather bank the money and now and move on with certainty. We might lose 50k or more by selling now but at least we know we are still headed in the right direction

 

Thanks mate
The floorboards were a gumtree special. Bloke pulled them out of someones house but then decided it was too much work to peel the glue off the back of them.
It was a heap of work but they ended up costing time only after we sold the remaining 25sqm
189k for 514 block is ok. Unfortunately for you there arnt many blocks for sale in cowes at the moment. Only a year ago there were plenty of blocks around 160k floating around in.the establidhed areas
Someone offered us 190k on our block tge other day even though its not for sale.
If you want to travel to melbourne a fair bit i would also consider cape woolamai as yiu can get some very good value land there and its where a lot of the younger crowd live due to being a good surf spot and also walking distance to san remo which has two pretty good pubs.
Best way to meet people in small towns is play footy or cricket, even if you dont like either its worth the effort because phillip island can be a funny place.
Taking up surfing is a good idea too and being a bit of a greeny doesnt hurt either

Turf the cape patterson idea, if you go that far might as well keep going to inverloch

 

Hi

Thanks for your further input on Phillip Island and surrounding areas.

Regards,

alicudi

 

Hi there,

Once on the island you stay on the island.

I bought in Phillip Island in the early 2000s - would never sell it.

I have a place at surf beach which is one of the skinniest parts of the island with brutal winds in winter - and I love it.

The housing estates are selling well and have been for years. The new ones in San Remo are the same. They struggle as residents just do not want development.

PI is a zoo from Dec-Jan 26, I hate the influx of people, if you like seclusion you will be able to live there.

I spend less time now than previously but its a great place to relax, for permanent residents be aware of the cost of utilities and i'd say there is a little bit of a drug problem.

Even better, San Remo hotel has a happy hour and cheap pints during the footy.

In cowes - Coles, Wollies and Aldi have huge stores as well as the IGA.

Food eating out is expensive but local produce is awesome - I always shop at San Remo IGA.

Fishing is great in the ocean and in Westernport.

Re property, you won't make money, its just a sleepy getaway. For rent its mostly holiday rentals. I don't rent mine out.

If you have dogs, there are plenty of rabbits.

Hope that helps

Cheers Ivan

 

Hi Ivan

Appreciate your response.

Regards,

alicudi

 

Hi

Well since putting a deposit down in September 2017 for a 514m2 block of land in Seagrove Estate, Cowes for $189,000 which I am waiting to be titled (not due yet), the prices of the blocks in the new estates have really shot up.

Whytesands Estate which is considered a cheaper estate than Seagrove Estate due to it been a smaller estate than Seagrove, has less features than Seagrove Estate and is a little bit further away than Seagrove Estate if you want to walk to the Main Street of Cowes has a range of 512m2 blocks available today for $249,000 and upwards, similar sized blocks in Whytesands Estate were on average $155,000 to $160,000 when I was looking to buy in Cowes less than 6 months ago.

After speaking to a local agent today in Cowes it seems that the block I purchased would fetch somewhere between $280,000 to $300,000 if I were to put it on the market now, percentage wise that is a massive gain in less than 6 months (nearly 60%?)

The cheapest block currently for sale in Seagrove Estate today is $399,000.

When is the property crash going to happen?,surely it's any moment now?

Regards,

alicudi

 

Our block would have gone from 150k to around 250k in the same timeframe

Crazy growth yes but it was very predictable - just way too cheap compared to other popular holiday spots and the outer suburb prices. Couple that with the drying up of new land being released.
We are about to relocate a house from melbourne onto our block and i think it could be worth 500k on completion which would of been dreamland stuff mid last year
Not sure when the boom will end but its only been going 6-9 months so surely it has a bit of steam left in it

 

That sounds like a great result @alicudi
When is the block due to be titled?

I recently purchased another property in Cowes and I'm confident there's another 2-3 years of good solid growth to come.

There's a real lack of properties on the market compared to even 12 months ago, there's a good demand for permanent rentals plus always the possibility of changing it to holiday rental on the future.
After speaking to agents and others buying down there, there seems to be a lot of people who are buying to retire down there and a lot of people who are priced out of the Mornington Peninsula after the recent boom there.

The new estates are supposed to run out of land in approx 2 years so I'm hoping this will drag the growth out for another 3 years.

If the ferry gets off the ground that could be a big bonus also

 

Hi strongy1986

Thanks for your reply. These type of capital gains are just ludicrous and it isn't helping the younger first home buyer either. Australia has an amount of land that is nearly the size of the USA and 1/10th of the population, yet housing is so expensive. These massive gains are just from regulatory pressures or people paying top dollar due to the fear of missing out. It will not continue forever and the longer it goes on for the worst that the correction/bust will be for many people.

I do feel for those that are in their 20's, 30's and very early 40's who have no idea what it is like to go through a bust/correction as an adult with a mortgage and a job etc.

To Brendon: What I regarded as the best new estate in Cowes "Shearwater Estate" has sold out 100%, and "Seagrove Estate" only has 3 x acreage style lots left for sale right now priced from $399,000 to $449,000 I think it is, only blocks available are in less desirable estates.. Whilst the Mornington Peninsula is within my budget, I just didn't see the value of paying the extra over Phillip Island for myself, a new house on its own block of land in say Mt Eliza would have been over $1m

If I find the travel time of 90 minutes from Cowes to the south east suburbs of Melbourne to long for me, I will just purchase one of those cheaper older style apartments for around $280,000 that pop up in Mentone to stay overnight etc.

My block at Cowes is due to be titled after June this year but I am in no rush as I want to pay cash for the build as well.

Regards,

alicudi

 

Hi

For the Phillip Island followers. At 11.01am today I received an email from Daniel Martin who is the sales guy at Shoalhaven Estate, Cowes. It was to inform me of a corner block of land, 400m2 in size and has ocean views achievable from a 2nd storey build. I called him immediately and I could hear his phone and messages going off tap as he must have sent out a big load of emails. I told him I might be interested and will go look at the block in about 8 hours time and let him know what I think. 48 minutes later I received an email stating that the block had sold.

Keep in mind peoples that Shoalhaven is one of the cheaper lower quality estates and to sell a block off in 48 minutes is not to bad.

Regards,

alicudi

 

Was it well priced?

I know that when a well priced house comes up it Cowes it's not unusual for someone to ring up and buy it sight unseen.
I think this is due to some agents down there overinflating the asking prices for other properties so when one comes up with a very realistic price people can't wait around.
A year to 18 months ago you always had atleast a weekend or 2 to get down and have a good look but that's changed now

 

I wouldnt say its agents overinflating, more likely a certain agent underquoting to achieve quick sales/ commissions.
When we sold ours we had an appraisal from a very popular agent in town and he said we might get 340-350
Next agent comes along and states that we should be able to get 400. He advertised at 415 and got the 400. It took two months but well worth the wait.
That was sold in october i think. We would get 420-430 today
Interrstingly 4 bedroom homes in the estates are listing between the 550- 650 mark which is pretty expensive when you consider most of these blocks would of only cost 150-170k when purchased last year

 

You could be right. I know one particular agency who appears to just try to turn them over, but after purchasing a few months ago it seems there could be another it aware of.

It's good to know when you're buying, nothing better than an agent accepting the offer basically straight away without trying to squeeze extra money.

Can I ask who the agent was?

 

Hi

If the house is already built and for sale as a completed package, chances are it was from a block sale that occurred before 2017, perhaps even as early as 2014/15. I do know the blocks sold in Seagrove Estate throughout last year aren't even titled yet (stage 9 Gahnia Release & 10 Final Release) as I am waiting patiently for mine and these were the stages that were sold throughout 2017.

Chances are the blocks with houses om them for sale right now were way under $150k when they were originally purchased especially if they are from the much cheaper Whytesands or Shoalhaven estates. $150k could have purchased a block in Shearwater Estate in late 2016 and I still regard that as the best estate in Cowes and still not happy I missed out!

$550k to $650k is just silly pricing, complete house and land packages in the estates were $339,000 to $449,000 after July last year with the exception of Shearwater estate.

I paid a little extra for my lot at $189,000 as it only has a little amount of fall over it (max 40cm) and will be backing onto larger lots of approx 2000m2 each which I consider to be an advantage. Where a lot of the cheaper lots in the estate I am in have fall of around 1metre to 1.5metre over them which did not suit what I am trying to achieve with a build.

Regards,

alicudi

 

Good point there i didnt think of that. Theres a couple of houses for sale on settlement road in the estates . 615k and 550k. These would of been 120k blocks 2 years ago.
Not sure what the build costs are like maybe you could give a rough indication?
Cheers

 

Pm'd you

Yes there are definately different agents i would use for buying vs selling