Was Brisbane a mistake?

For those who bought in Brisbane in the last 5 years, I ssk if you regretted the purchase?

 

I would be surprised if the average prices (15k from city) didn't see a 5% rise in the next year. Not great but my thoughts!

 

Not us. We moved here for work and got sick of renting so we bought. Then we wanted a project so we bought a Queenslander for an up and under build. Recent sales in the areas suggest bright futures. 5km and 8km from City.

 

Wish we bought more! All sites are 4 6,7,10km from the CBD, ranging from 650sqm to 1050sqm . The only 'mistake' was not buying more earlier. Yes some of them are taking some serious CF to hold, largest one taking about 18k/year but its been factored into the feaso from the day it was bought and the profit returns are worth the short term costs. I've stopped seeing homes as homes for a long time now. They are all deals.

 

We bought 12km from CBD in December 2016 and a valuation yesterday showed a 10% increase since then.

I don't regret buying here.

 

I don't regret buying there but would have made much more putting it all in Sydney.

Ask me again in 10 years time please.

 

Interested to know - will you sell or hold post builds?

 

Back in 2012 I was considering buying in Logan or plowing more money into Sydney, as they were the same price point for a 3 bedder. Stuck with Sydney and obviously made more.

But if Ihad bought in Logan would I have been happy with a decent quality house with decent tenants with a good yield? Probably.

 

I bought 4 houses in 2012 in Brisbane.

1st house cost $412000. Required about 2.5 years of full time equivalent work for the diy build for 2 people and also about $200 000 for materials. Should be worth just shy of a million when complete.

2nd house cost $370 000. Put in $50 000 in materials and 3 months full time equivalent work for 2 people for the diy reno. Now worth about $680 000.

3rd house cost $380 000. Put in $20 000 materials and 6 months full time equivalent diy work for 2 people. Sold for $588 000 in 2017

4th house cost $405 000 put in $240 000 in materials and fees. Took 12 months full time equivalent diy work for 2 people. Subdivision approved. Once project completed one house will be worth $700 000 and the other $370 000.

Brisbane has not been "easy" money for me. The money has been made up of 70% sweat equity and 30% the property market going up.

If I had bought in sydney then I could have spent the same amount...done nothing but sit in my butt. And earnt twice as much.

But I can't complain. Brisbane has still done just fine. Just not crazy good.

 

So far we've kept approx 60% of the stock and sold 40%. The selling down is to keep low lvr and enjoy large chunks of profit. We accept our portfolio will untimely grow slower this way but we can enjoy the money, not the portfolio.

 

No regrets not buying.

 

Best of both worlds, I am a believer

Mixed comments, tells me needed to be selective

Units have been poor performers in Brissy market over this period due to oversupply, from what I have read

 

Me too. Need to be able to live the lifestyle and enjoy the money before were 96.

Personally I wouldn't touch units now.

 

Possibly - started buying in Brisbane in late 2013.

Felt over exposed to Sydney and maybe spooked by a lot of the negative sentiment around it.

Glad We didn’t sell in Sydney then - but maybe we could have purchased another.

In any case buying in Brisbane has not caused any harm - so voted no.

 

won't say it is a mistake. let's see how it plays out in the next 2 years.

 

Tim
This is good, your strategy was to add value, DIY requires more work

Well done

 

Never any regrets from me, just acceptance that I am always learning....and acknowledgment I don't have a crystal ball

In hindsight though, I would have bought in Melbourne, prior to Brisbane. I bought into Brisbane in 2014 and 2015, then Melbourne in 2016, 2017. The absolute $ growth in Melbourne has exceeded that of Brisbane thus far, however this will likely balance out over next 24 months.

Either way, its a first world problem, and i'm appreciative of what I have.

 

Great attitude.

 

It depends how you define mistake.

I looked into Brisbane around 2014 / 2015 timeframe. I was about to buy until I saw QLD government letting go of chunks of their contractors. About 60% of temp workforce were gone over night. Then they went completely broke and asked us (the supplier) to see if we would help pay for a labour hire system that they had purchased. When I saw that, I decided to put my money in Sydney and it paid off. I would do it again.

Brisbane prices will depend on commodity prices, if commodity prices go up, it will also go up. If they dont, knowing their employment market very closely, its only a matter of time before it goes into correction.

 

So far no regrets... I'll revisit this post in 20 years and report how the plan worked out...