NSW Sydney Property Hype 2018

Hi there

I'm a recent lurker, first time poster. Your post caught my attention as I happen to be looking at North Epping for a PPOR purchase. Are there better/worse areas to the suburb in your opinion? I'll be moving in from another area completely.

Thanks

RNM

 

Firstly... its a really lovely suburb, great community feel. People often don't move out of the suburb... Locals sometimes buy one house in a street, decide that another home that came up for sale is more desirable and move addresses!

Personally, we had no plans to move but then I saw a house that blew us away.
North Epping is a really peaceful quiet suburb. Its a dead end (like a huge culdesac) so there's no rat running traffic.

What to buy:
From a day to day "getting to the train station to go to work" perspective, if you want to save minutes each day the closer you can get to the station the better. Otherwise if you (and your partner) likes to cycle, you can live anywhere in North Epping and get some exercise while you get to the station (They've just installed a free to use bike cage at the east side of Epping station, or you can chain your pushbike on a fence or use the bike rack at the station). What makes North Epping special is the bush and the birds.... Kids get good bus services to get them to and from (high) schools but the bus services tend to be very lacking for adults to get home after from work from the station, therefore walking from the station or pushbikes tend to be better ways to get around. You can drive towards the station and park but you typically have to walk the last section. The buses to the station in the morning are ok, just the evening services are very lacking and you may find it quicker to get home by walking. In any case, it's a really lovely suburb to walk or ride in. People are great, there are lots of trees, and there's no traffic in the suburb. Outside the suburb its a "watch this space" topic. Let's say being on the east side of the station is far superior than the west when it comes to driving home from the east at night. The bridge over the railway line has forever* been a bottleneck.
*Well... Maybe it wasn't bad 70 years back...

Within the suburb:
I'd try to avoid homes where streets dip down a lot or if your house is very beneath street level/there's a steep entry/huge flight of stairs to get into the house. Note, it's not the end of the world if you have any of the above, but it's better for later resale/street appeal/general practicality if you avoid those factors. Note too, a lot of the suburb is classified as bushfire prone, a positive is that lovely birds from the National Park fly into the suburb and enjoy the local trees but it also means if you knockdown and rebuild the house you have to have your house built to bushfire standards, adding costs to any builds. So check the contract - it will tell you if an address is classified as bushfire prone.

Occasionally you can also find the odd home on an acre (4000sqm+), selling for no more than a typical block, but the land tends to be extremely difficult to use - deep valley full of bush.

It's ok to buy an older home and rebuild, (Lots of people do this), but check your general site costs.

Also, if given a choice of 2 houses, if you can distinctly hear the M2 traffic from one of them - perhaps give that one a miss. You can never change a factor like that.
Edit, i've added in, the western side of the suburb may get train noise, but I dont think its too bad. Go to open houses and listen to the sounds to find out if it's going to detract from your home comfort. Difference between trains and road is the trains aren't all the time whereas road noise is pretty much non stop.

When you are there, also have a look at the strip shops on Malton Rd. It's a very small strip of shops but covers a lot of things you may want or need in a community. I tend to think North Epping is a friendly village to live in (good playgrounds/ovals too), and with everything else you need (jobs, schools etc) accessible by going down the road.

As I mentioned.. the suburb is a giant culdesac. It's generally unknown as a suburb but its a great place to live, you have less convenience for getting around than Epping itself, but it forces you to think, maybe I'll bike ride? And then you do it, and find it a great way to start and end a trip to work. And just doing that bit of exercise every morning and every evening makes you feel happy. And the general population of North Epping are very happy people.

 

So this may add the increase in insurance premium I suppose! !

I realy enjoy reading your posts very detailed and good information.

Balmoral beach is the closest for you?

 

Insurance: our North Epping house was a few houses out of any bushfire prone areas so I'm not entirely sure the impact on insurance costs. But the new house (in Epping, also on the east side) is actually in a bushfire zone. I'm actually not sure what additional premium might be related to it being in a bushfire zone might be. In any case, I think my the insurance costs are pretty good (heritage listed house, happily I don't think the insurance amount is any different to any other house)

You will find, car insurance will likely to be cheaper if you live in North Epping than it is if you live in many other parts of Sydney. Around 15 years ago, our neighbour moved from North Strathfield to North Epping and said his car insurance premiums dropped a whole lot because of that move.

For "beaches"...
You can go into Lane Cove National Park. There's a spot called "Brown's waterhole" which is between North Epping and Marsfield. It has water and some sand . I wouldn't swim there though.

There's also Lake Parramatta in North Parramatta that is easily accessible (~20 minute drive away with easy parking). It's a nice place and you can swim and have picnics and go on bushwalks or basic mountainbiking but it doesn't have a sand beach either.

Another option for swimming is you can go to Epping Aquatic Centre, the council has decided to keep it open (reduced hours) over the winter months this year. It also features a very lovely bushland setting.

Bushland rules.... Unfortunately beaches are definitely not a strong point of North Epping and you have to do it as a outing.

 

Thank you, Gockie. Super helpful on-the-ground comments. But why are you posting at 3:20am? Are you a late owl or very early bird? (I'm not complaining !)

On the NE suburb, are there any streets you would tell someone to avoid? I've ruled out the streets within earshot of the M2, but interested if there were other factors (aside from steep blocks as you suggest. The bushfire prone areas don't bother me).

Also, how terrible is the traffic on Norfolk at peak hour? That's another concern of mine. The cul-de-sac suburb is appealing, but mindful the layout means essentially only one route to get in and out at peak.

Oh, I noticed the bike rack at the station when I went for OFIs today. Very cool.

 

I was unable to sleep! Too hot.
Re: Norfolk Rd. Its actually no trouble at all. The pain point would be if trying to go east on Epping Rd past Epping Boys High school while they have the 40km/hr school zone operating... this slows everything to a crawl on Epping Rd.

 

OK that's good to know about Norfolk. I was already aware Epping Road can be a nightmare at peak, but I'm hoping it's not as bad as the bridge crossing over East-West.

 

Yep. Living here I basically don't encounter traffic headaches. Happy to talk in person though.

 

Yeah this thread has recently turned into 'Epping property hype 2018'

 

I'll take some blame there.

Talking more generally, and being a current active buyer (for PPOR), my observation is buyers appear to have time to their advantage. I have seen properties listed, not sell, then prices revised down considerably. A number of auctions I have been to have passed in, but in saying that, some auctions have been very well attended (though admittedly, many were clearly just sniffing for a bargain). I've heard some buyers have had to pull out due to financing approval issues. It'll be interesting to see how this market evolves!

 

i like denistone, bit dearer tho..

 

I was talking to someone today and the statement was made in regards with WPH
"Best suburb in that cooridor is WPH" nice leafy streats, close procimity to everything and it was coming from a builder who have been doing renos and building in varios suburbs.

 

I saw 2 north rocks properties passed in on 1.06m and 1.16m , seems like vendor wants to see 1.2 or onwards.

In relation to traffic~I think few pages back @Gockie mentioned about using public transport and I think I support that because M2 bus service seems adequate and does reduce the travel time. (I haven't travel personally)

 

I have used it quite a few times now and it's damn good. Dare i say it's better than trains, from M2 Oaks Rd to Wynyard its 25 mins and literally flies... Buses every 2 min or so

But be mindful that these buses would be slashed to 50% or possibly less just to get the patronage towards NW train when it starts.

 

Hi guys,

A relative of mine has around $1.5m to drop on an IP. They are insisting on Sydney. They want maximum yield to live off, while CG is relatively unimportant, so long as it doesnt drop over the next 10 years.

What would you advise them?

 

I'm not sure how you would answer such a broad question. Sydney is very diverse...

If looking for maximum yield however, I personally would lean towards a unit or dual occ property vs. standalone house. I would also avoid places where there is over-development happening (parts of Meadowbank, Green Square, for example). In saying that, yield is determined by the capital spent, so there are probably opportunities given it is a buyer's market at the moment.

If you are looking for suburb suggestions, you will hear from people with biases towards areas (this thread was worshipping North Epping earlier hehe), but with such a wide net, I would suggest engage the services of a buyer's agent.

 

Yields on normal houses are just too low. so I reckon house with granny flat or dual occ... Walk to good train station.

With that in mind, then try to buy as close into Sydney as possible. See what properties fit that criteria.

 

To do as they wish.....

or in other words....I would hold my tongue or mind my own business

 

Thanks guys.

Dabbler, I should clarify: Relative = my mother so she's kinda leaning on me for what to do.
I'm tending towards thinking that money might be better off invested in a managed fund if high yield the main aim, rather than in Sydney property but of course at the end of the day its her decision and she feels most comfortable with bricks and mortar.

 

I'd say LICs and ETFs then.