NSW Townhouse in the Hills vs established house in other areas

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by Prop_invest, 27th May, 2019.

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  1. Trainee

    Trainee Well-Known Member

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    Thats a huge waste of the reno cost though. Think through it. What renos would you do? Bathroom, kitchen? Lights? Or just some paint?
     
    spludgey likes this.
  2. Prop_invest

    Prop_invest Well-Known Member

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    Bathroom and kitchen (no need to be very fancy). Painting the outside and inside.
     
  3. Cimbom

    Cimbom Well-Known Member

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    That makes no sense for such a short timeframe, even for a very basic kitchen and bathroom. You'd be much better off leaving it as is or renting it out until you can afford to knock it down and rebuild.
     
  4. wombat777

    wombat777 Well-Known Member

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    People pay for convenience of access to short walking distance to good public transport connections. They also pay for the convenience of access to nice cafes/restaurants/neighbourhoods and shopping precincts. Aside from the fabulous facilities at Rouse Hill Town Centre, the Metro gives very nice access to shopping precincts at Castle Hill, Macquarie Centre, Chatswood in addition to the city and I understand the shopping centre at Norwest is also undergoing a major redevelopment.

    https://www.smh.com.au/business/com...-developments-at-norwest-20171024-gz73wk.html

    As part of the final phases for Rouse Hill Town centre (including significant expansion of the shopping facilities) there will be a strong supply of apartments in the immediate area over 10-15 years but the supply of detacted housing within a 10-minute walking distance of Rouse Hill Town Centre and train station is very, very limited.

    My own detacted house is up 50% on last valuation compared with land + build cost (5 years). This is partly due to the Metro.

    Large areas within 5-10 minutes walk are parks, reserves, creeks. All the space available for detached housing has already been built on (other than a very small section at the intersection of Caddies boulevard and Rouse Road which is located between Caddies Boulevard, Caddies Creek and Commercial Road).The largest area of open land within a 5-10 minute walk is the Crematorium and that is very unlikely to be developed. So it is a supply / demand equation ( specifically assosciated with people that want convenience and walkability ).

    See also

    Rouse Hill Hospital will also be built opposite the town centre.

    New Rouse Hill hospital announced for Sydney’s north-west | Architecture & Design

    People pay for the convenience of limiting the use of their car:
    In this sort of area you can easily get away with being a one-car family as the transport connectivity is so good.

    I have now started using the train to get to work and this is going to save me thousands of dollars per year in tolls and fuel costs. I will be healthier too from all the walking.
     
  5. MWI

    MWI Well-Known Member

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    No way, building report checks existing building only and what issues may be there currently, not what you wish to renovate a builder may be more appropriate there. Also, the financier may not lend you more or the valuation may come under so you would need a contingency buffer of cash for such projects.
    Hence why I am uncertain what some of us recommend should really apply to you being FHB and uncertain what knowledge you posses, so perhaps start small, little steps first, buy something where you wish to live with in better condition, then learn more...?There are many ways to invest into property, and not one way is the best, nobody will pick always the best time, or the best value or the best property.
    Remember what ever you decide to buy make sure you learn from some posts here what you need to check... you would need to obtain a building inspection for a house and in addition strata report if you buy a townhouse. These cost is minimal in comparison to the funds you wish to spend to buy a property!
    If I can give you one word of advice don't rush, just see at least 4-5 properties weekly with the aim to see around 100, then you will have a much better idea what makes a better property!
     
  6. Prop_invest

    Prop_invest Well-Known Member

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    Thanks MWI for your advise.

    We like the Hills area but sounds we should start with something somewhere else. We have inspected more than 80-90 properties so far. We have a fairly good understanding of what is a good and not so good property.

    We will get the building inspections done for sure before buying anything.
     
  7. AAA2214

    AAA2214 Well-Known Member

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    Properties in Quakers hill are selling like hot cakes at the moment due to the value on offer. many are selling in the first open home or off market

    - 30 Alamar Crescent, Quakers Hill, NSW 2763
    - 49 Tichborne Drive, Quakers Hill, NSW 2763
    - 8 Jasmine Avenue, Quakers Hill, NSW 2763
    - 45 Woldhuis Street, Quakers Hill, NSW 2763
    - 39 Woldhuis Street, Quakers Hill, NSW 2763
     
  8. Woodjda

    Woodjda Well-Known Member

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    We're about at the same point but I think you're jumping at shadows a bit here. Clearly the last bit of the boom was due to incredibly loose/fraudulent lending where expenses and incomes often weren't checked in any detail. That's not coming back any time soon so it's hard to see how prices can shoot up again.

    For us we're planning on renting for another 12-18 months and seeing what happens. I think worst case for us is that prices stabilise and increase slowly so we're a tiny bit worse off not buying now. But if the economy struggles any more and unemployment increases then prices could drop significantly. If you can comfortably afford it go ahead and buy but the last thing you want to do is stretch yourself and find yourself unemployed in a year and unable to make the repayments. At the moment I think avoiding that worst case scenario is more important than worrying if prices will sneak up a bit over the next year.