QLD Townsville IP

What do people think about Townsville property price, will it keep going up for next12-18 months??

 

I have been thinking of buying in Townsville since early last year and finally bought there last month.

I reckon this document would be helpful in understanding what will drive changes on the demand side: https://mcusercontent.com/0210d1720...nlock_The_North_Policies_and_Projects_sml.pdf

Also an oldie but a goodie - the Townsville City Deal: Townsville City Deal

 

Really liked Townsville in the past 18 months but hadn’t pulled the trigger. Insurance would always stuff the cash flow or there was a bad tenant for the property.
Still interested though especially in Douglas or Kirwan. City could be good in the future but it’s so dead, every time I go to Townsville get depressed by the main drag.

 

Finally seeing steady sales volume in townsville but prices still below 08 ?
rentals on market decreasing
.
well theres been a few towns that have boomed with a depressing main street- hobart, geelong

havnt been for a few years but the strand seems to be the social meeting spot
the main st and palmerston st were a bit of a shambles

hopefully the new stadium has improved palmerston st? any locals care to comment?

 

Hi all, im interested in what the brains trust think of this place. Was flood affected with ground floor under 1inch of water. But has been renovated since. Is buying flood affected a bad idea?

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-annandale-136621446

 

Annandale is a good suburb in general but this property is located in the older part of Annandale which is not ideal. I would personally buy close to Annandale Central.

The problem with buying in older area is flood. Personally I won’t touch anything Townsville properties that are in the 1% AEP flood area (Flood Mapping Service - Townsville City Council). It seems that this property not only is in the flood zone but was also affected directly by flood in the past. Your future risk & insurance premium will high.

 

Townsville would be a good IP location if one can also review and be comfortable with the outgoings and some of the key items to watch out for are
1. Rates - After the recent floods the rates have had an upward revision
2. Emergency Services Levy - this is another item that needs to be watched (if applicable)
3. Landlord/Contents Insurance - After the Catastrophic floods most insurers did not provide insurance and the ones that provided you would have to be paying a significant premiums.
4. Flood Zones - this is another area that one needs to watch out
5. Build fees (for one trying to build) - with Cat 4/5 Cyclone compliant builds may add to the costs.
6. Reasonable PM teams.

If the outgoings/variable costs are bearable and the Capital Growth and vacancy is within the risk tolerance then I think Townsville is a good place to be.

 

This is an excellent summation. Understand the above when crunching the numbers and you'll start to see why Townsville is so polarizing.

 

This is what turned me away from Townsville

 

There's some serious potential in the town. Its a solid place with loads to do. But certainly has some whacky residents. A crack head approached me in the shopping center a few weeks back to ask me if my teeth were fake. He had none. My daughters use it as a reminder to brush theirs every night.

Nice bloke.

 

Hi Alanyin, what do you mean by Annandale Central and the 'new' part of Annandale? i.e. bounded by what streets?

Also, for those who invest in townsville, what are reasonable PM management fees %?

 

I don't know how to upload media on Property Chat otherwise I would have posted a map...

Annandale Central is here: Google Maps

It's hard to say 'bounded by what streets' as roads in Annandale are all very curved... By older part, I was talking about area around BWS Annandale. Those houses were built in the 70s or even earlier.

They are not really that bad at all (just higher maintenance). If you walk down the streets, the streets still look nice and wide. The worst part of Annandale is probably still better than the best part of the suburbs across the river. Check the flood map and you will be fine.

In terms of reasonable management fees, I would say 8% + GST sounds reasonable. Make sure your PM has less than 150 properties in their portfolio (ideally 90-120 properties). Check their reviews. I also found this website quite helpful: Compare Real Estate Agent Fees and Commissions | LocalAgentFinder. Make sure you ask them tons of questions (there is some free resource in the link above which can get you started).

 

thanks for all the info and tips!
I didn't realise 'Annandale Central' was actually a location! I recently bought around that area (1990s build, but renovated). The flood search isn't the greatest (didnt include 2019 figures), but from official checks etc it looks fine.

 

Thanks Alanyin, do you mind sharing which suburb, how much for insurance and rate?

 

Hi Alanyin, when i check this property, looks no flood problem, how did you find it's in 1% AEP flood area? I use enhanced property search to put address in, is there any other trick?

 

The flood map provided by the council is 1% AEP flood map. You don't need to apply other overlays on top of it (it's a bit different to the Brisbane City Council one)

I would also recommend that you look up the storm inundation map, which will help you rule out lots of suburbs that are flood / storm prone.

 

I have shared insurance in another thread where you asked about insurance premiums.

The rate I'm paying at the moment is ~$4000 / year. Bear in mind that this also includes unlimited water usage up to a threshold (it's a lot of water and you won't be able to use up that quota). You can also switch to a different water plan (where you pay water service and water usage separately) which can bring your rate further down.

I find the rates very comparable to SEQ. However it's a lot more expensive if you compare it with Sydney though...

 

For anybody interested looking to buy in Mackay or Townsville I used Matt from IOU Property as my buyers agent. Was the best experience ever and we got a rock solid property at a great price. His fees were also very reasonable. I am very excited about the regional QLD market as more people are waking up to the possibilities of these areas.
Good luck to all those interested in these markets.

 

i was looking at this. https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-heatley-137406462 corner block, brick. seems not to be in flood zone. but insurance 3k basic (some dont even insure), rates ~ 3.5. so its 6.5k a year gone, more expensive than having a strata unit in sydney.

 

That is a nice home based on the photo.

Check out sure insurance and get some quotes there.

Cheers