Hi all, I’m currently looking into a PPOR in inner city Melbourne. I’m; -31 -Live alone -At-least five years before having kids -Like to invest and don’t want tie up too much cash So with the above, I would like to get my PPOR for 800-1.2M and so have decided maybe a townhouse is best however I don’t want something that won’t perform at all. I don’t want to compromise on my areas of Kensington, Flemington, Brunswick West, Parkville, etc. Can townhouses still be a good investment? What do I look for? Thank you! ps. please save the ‘if it’s your primary place of residence, does it matter’ logic. It definitely matters because it’s a lot of cash to tie up. Thank you!
I have already been doing that... Kind of keen to own my own place and don’t want to miss out on the upswing
With that budget you can buy a single fronted terrace house in Brunswick which is a much better investment than a townhouse
2 factors. A house is a house in peoples mind even if the land component AND floorspace is less than a townhouse (I know go figure....) There is perceived value in period homes. The Y-man
Is an inner city tenant going to pay more to have more land? No. Is a townhouse in your target areas going to have enough land to actually do anything with? No (I assume) In that case its pretty pointless getting hung up on block size imo.
Of course. At least you have some land with a house. If the property burns down you can rebuild virtually anything you want (STCA). If you have a townhouse then you're very restricted and will be paying strata levies to the owners corp.
The simple answer to this is yes. Will they perform relative to houses in a given area? Of course, but maybe not the same - however they will still perform if the underlying drivers are present. They might also outperform houses in a suburb a few down. They are harder to supply than apartments, but obviously easier than houses and are always a good half-way for someone who doesn't want apartment living but can't afford a house. As with apartments, be wary of large complexes and an inefficient body corporate. Many townhouse complexes are located near main roads. There is no underlying reason not to buy a townhouse if limited by budget, but make sure they are in demand in the suburb first and have a good overall sales history. They can also be very social! - Andrew
Oh I left out the bloody obvious - a house (even a terrace) allows you to do extension work (STCA). It's much harder with a town house, as there is likely a OC (BC in other states). One of my period homes has had a rear and upstairs extension. The Y-man
If you can find 3 bed 2 bath 1+ garage townhomes that look good (not cookie cutter) and appeal to owner occupiers (not just rental stock), then they will pretty much perform in line with houses on small unsubdividable blocks. Body corps on small blocks of say 3-4 are not scam like for high rises, they are basically run by the owners and just cover gardening, common area and building insurance (usually cheaper than what you would need to pay on a similar quality house). The two properties below have pretty much performed the same since 2001 if you factor in maintainence/rennos etc (albeit McCracken is in the better area). Just an example I know but there you go. Property Report for 79 The Crescent , Kensington VIC 3031 Property Report for 29 McCracken Street, Kensington VIC 3031
how does a property like this compare? https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-balaclava-135315286 The land was subdivided and sold off in parcels. the subject property is almost a house but with a shared wall/roof. the retreat is almost functionally useluss given how low the pitched ceiling is. it has the terrace type appeal, on ~210sqm but isn't stand alone. What does this do for future potential renovations to say improve the top deck and ultimately resale/end value?
Hi Andrew, I am thinking about buying a townhouse. We have a family of 4 (2 kids) and to be honest we can't afford a house. I am looking at 450K in Brisbane and we seem to get some nice gated communities and in good suburbs with nice schools for the kids. The only thing I am trying to secure is a little bit of a back so I can put a little 1/4 basketball court there with a ring for my kids as we are a basketball family. Not sure if there is less flexibility with townhouses around this?
Hi there, We don't buy in Brisbane unfortunately but there are quite a few BAs here that do. I wouldn't want to provide commentary around $450k townhouses as that's just not possible in Sydney. Have a look for some Brisbane based BAs on the forum and I'm sure they'll be able to help Cheers, Andrew
Consider a single storey villa instead of a townhouse. Compared to townhouses, they: * Are single level, good for older people (note our ageing population) and for moving furniture * May be older and cheaper (potential renovation potential) * May be on larger land (especially if the front or rear unit). * May have lower maintenance costs (easier to get on the roof) Some villas (especially rear ones with wrap-around courtyards) have almost as much land as some houses.
A rule of thumb for me is to never buy what is being built in an area, and try to get the next thing bigger. In Fitzroy they're building units, so i would buy a townhouse. in Reservoir they're building townhouses so i wouldnt touch one - in that area I'd be looking for a house. Reason being, there's no benefit to buying the type of property that is increasing in numbers. More units = townhouses/houses knocked down, so you're buying a comodity that's becoming more rare. I actually think right now is a great time to buy in the right area. Abbotsford for example has had some amazing deals on townhouses because they're just out of flavour. Right now people act like working from home is forever and the city buzz is gone for ever. the rest of the world tells us that's not true, and soon enough the world will open up a little more and proximity to activity will become more desirable. The properties below are not being built in Abbotsford (at least not at these prices) as it makes its shift towards mid-rise tower blocks. They all seem like a good deal to me Just listed: https://www.realestate.com.au/property-townhouse-vic-abbotsford-137007282 These two both passed in: https://www.realestate.com.au/property-townhouse-vic-abbotsford-136686882 https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-abbotsford-136080890
