VIC Stay in Cranbourne East or move to Berwick

Hi All
Long time reader. Great forum with plenty of knowledgeable and most importantly helpful people.

We built in the Cranbourne East back in 2015, close to Casey Fields. The area has been developing nicely. Kindergarten and primary school down the road, Casey Fields getting 3 soccer pitches down the other end. And lots of promises from both parties for a train station at Casey Fields (I know, I know...). I believe the area will get a lot of services within the next 5 years but still has the typical overall feel of new estates which I don't like that much.

Wife and I do like Berwick. We believe it is still good value at this stage. Seeing nice houses in the mid to low 800s. E.g.
12 Sundial Court, Berwick, Vic 3806
We also like that it is close to Kambriya College. Our pick of secondary school in the area. Alternatively the older end of Berwick north of freeway is even nicer.

With a bit of luck our current place has some 200k of equity. It's a 28sq house on a 500sqm+ lot, rather rare in that combination in the estate.

What are your opinions about the two areas in the mid to long term?

My preference would be to hold Cranny and move to Berwick in the next 1-2 years but am wondering if Berwick will just run away in terms of values and become an un-affordable jump.

 

Hi @InternetName

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your timely purchase. You have got good growth and you bought lretty early in the boom.

You already have a big house and big land. Even though your initial cost was high, you still got good growth.

You are just looking to move a couple of suburbs ahead. I dont see the point if buying at this time and just two suburbs ahead. Except school, what other things you have in mind? Your commute might more or less remain the same.

Looking at the run vic has had in past few years i dont see ut going anywhere, especially in that price range that far out. But who knows. No one can time or figure the markets out. Even best of the economists.

If your goal is investment, they are way better options cheaper than this and nearer than this to cbd. Depends on what you are trying to do.

If you feel you will get similar growth to the one you have already got, you might be wrong at this point in time and price point.


Regards

 

Berwick is my home and I have been investing in these areas for last 10yrs now.

And yes Berwick and Beaconsfield are really really nice burbs and some super awesome schools. My kids go to Beaconhill college school.

Nothing wrong with sundial court. I have property with-in 1km radius and it's seen 110% growth (bought 10years ago)..

Cranbourne is not a bad burb but completely different cattle of fish. From lifestyle perspective, Berwick is far far far better and will always do well over the long run!

And no, prices aren't going to go crazy in next two years but some super good buys to be found currently. Just helped client of mine to purchase property in beaconsfield (walking to train station) and among the best private/semi private schools. 1000 sqm block 4bed 1 bath for $618k (owner had the offer of $660k unconditional only 6months ago but didn't sell). And block can be chopped into 3-4 units. Current rent expected $440-$450 p.w. ...

Long story short, some super good buys to be found right now but I don't expect prices to rise anytime soon (bargains will disappear)

 

If you’ve got $800k to play with I’d be trying to get closer in to like a Mulgrave and Wheelers Hill. You are getting 28km closer in but staying on the same side of Melbourne. However it depends on what is tying you there, from a pure investment stand point I’d go closer in. Berwick is no doubt nicer than Cranbourne but does the benefit really outweigh the cost of moving and holding two potentially low growth assets on Melbourne fringes?

 

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.

Mulgrave/Wheelers Hill sounds interesting and doesn't seem to be too far off price wise. Let's see how it is in 1-2 years. Rentinvest is another option but we are just used to living in our own place now and don't really like the idea of renting anymore.
It would possibly make sense to overhaul our real estate strategy once the bank balance is healthier. Cranbourne is what was affordable for us at the time and it has enabled us to participate in some of the real estate boom but 1-2 years down the track the picture might be entirely different.

 

I used to rentvest too and it is surely a great strategy. And we did cover this in one of our earlier episodes -

Ep4 - What is Rentvesting and pros/cons of Rentvesting with Jazz and David

Android -
Ep4 - What is Rentvesting and pros/cons of Rentvesting with Jazz and David

itunes -
‎Spark Your Fire (Oz Property/Finance) on Apple Podcasts

Hope it helps!

Cheers,