VIC Villa/Townhouse in Nunawading vs Ringwood vs Ringwood East PPOR <$600k

Hi Everyone

Long time lurker, first time poster on these forums.

I’m a first home buyer looking for a PPOR in the South East / Eastern suburbs and since I’m looking for a 2 bed, 1 bathroom villa/townhouse with a garage and within walking distance to a train station, I seem to be limited to the Nunawading, Mitcham, Ringwood and Ringwood East areas. Don’t really want to go further than that as commute time to the city is a factor, would ideally want to keep it under 40min by train in the mornings.

I work in the South East and frequently travel to the city for work so areas in the Northern and Western suburbs aren’t on my radar.

Aiming for a property under $600k to make the most of the first home buyer stamp duty concession.

Capital gain on this property is more important than rental yield on this property as I plan to live in it long term and sell when upgrading.

Alternatively I could find an old apartment in the SE suburbs that meet my criteria (some even incl. a garage) but I doubt I’d get the same growth as a villa/townhouse in the areas mentioned in the beginning of this post.

Just looking for anyone’s thoughts on all of this, I’m heavily limiting myself to certain areas because of villa/townhouse and <$600k requirement. Would it be better to ignore the benefits of buying at 600k or under and continue saving for a larger deposit and aim for a $800-900k home in a “better” suburb in a few years time? Or buy a place that meets my requirements now in one of those suburbs.

My other question was relating to Nunawading, Ringwood and Ringwood East - I’ve found places in all these suburbs that tick all the boxes (few in Nunawading, much more in Ringwood) and wondering purely for capital gains on a villa/townhouse, which would yield the highest? Assuming all else equal (floor size, etc.).

Ringwood used to have a negative stigma attached to it a few years ago but doesn’t seem to be the case anymore - is this a decent suburb nowadays?

Hoping to hear people’s thoughts on all of this

 

I didn’t - I haven’t considered anything from Clayton and further because pretty much everyone I speak to tells me to avoid it.

But now that you mention it, I’ll have a look and take a drive down there to check out the area and side streets!

 

Lots more choice in Ringwood as well, I think I just need to avoid anything with 200m or so of the highway and I should easily find what I’m looking for.

Thanks for the quick replies Y-man!

 

Haha, that is cheap!

Makes sense, I’ll keep an eye out. May be able to pick up something better within my budget.

Capital gains in this area should be higher than Ringwood

 

Hey CloudStrife,

Did some analysis on a DIY property data platform using your search criteria. It says you have the following options :

RingWood East - 2 bed townhouse (median price $ 626k)
RingWood - 2 bed townhouse (median price $ 623k)
Chelsea - 2 bed house ($600k)
Noble Park

• 3 bed townhouse ($601k)
• 2 bed townhouse ($491k)

Dandenong

• 3 bed townhouse ($530k)
• 3 bed house ($620k)

Clayton - 2 bed townhouse ($556k)
Boronia

• 3 bed house ($627k)
• 3 bed townhouse ($585k)

Bayswater and Highett are also okay.

 

thats damn nice for the price, i notice that all the corners of the rooms are yellow, do you think thats cosmetic or structural, almost looks like cigarettes or glue from old wall paper

 

Thanks for the feedback, Y-man. It's something we have thought of alot. We can always develop the platform to include more details but it usually leads to "overfitting" to our model and reduced options.

CloudStrife/Y-man, would you say seats on the train is a must-have? Or would you trade it for other factors such as distance to supermarket, cheaper, parks, bigger space?

 

Yea, safety is an interesting factor. No one wants to live in suburbs with a bad rep but sometimes they are only ones that have the affordability and convenience. OP will need to evaluate and consider trade-off, unfortunately.

 

Thanks for this Ben - it is really helpful!
I've kinda automatically disregarded Noble Park and Dandenong because of their bad reputation (perceived or real).

Bayswater was originally on my list but once I started scouting the area a bit it seemed too industrial for my liking. There are decent size places within my budget around there but I don't think I'd be happy staying there.

Highett is on my list but haven't found anything within my budget. There are a few that come up every now and then but they seem to sell pretty quick and for over 600k easily

Clayton is something I said I would consider if I don't really find what I want in Nunawading, Mitcham, Ringwood or Ringwood East - there are definitely some good places there.

This is true. I won't really be taking the train everyday though so I think I could relax some of these (time on train, distance from city, etc.) requirements a bit.

A lot of my likes or dislikes towards suburbs are anecdotal. But I need to be more objective when looking at places

No not a 100% must have - I would trade it for bigger space, etc. BUT I'm thinking forward to 10 years down the line when I would want to sell it (or maybe rent it out, I need to read Terrys tax tips in detail still) and capital gains is important.

Ringwood seemed like it is the right balance so that's what I've been seriously considering recently. Two properties in that suburb that meet my requirements are:

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-unit-vic-ringwood-134833306

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-unit-vic-ringwood-134784770

True!

 

^^^^^^ I’ll have check the place out. Is there a Maccas? (Has to be) and a quiet long street in which a quarter mile points can be painted on the road?