QLD What's a low maintenance property to hold forever?

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by FHB1, 29th Nov, 2018.

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  1. FHB1

    FHB1 New Member

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    Wahroonga
    I'm thinking maybe a $300k townhouse or unit in Brisbane. Is a smaller property in Annerley or a larger townhouse in Calamvale preferable? What about a $400k townhouse in Sunnybank? Thought about houses near Logan for larger capital gain but they would be high maintenance IMO.

    Our situation:
    Renting in Sydney
    Married with 1 baby.
    Saving $50k per year.
    $50k available for investment.
    Mid-twenties
    Time poor

    A smaller property allows us to diversify into an index fund as well as limit the damage of any investment mistakes we make as beginners. (I've gotten into shares before - got burnt picking stocks).

    The market is soft which might make it an easier time to get into the market in 2019.

    We can spend as much as we like and at the end of the day there's only 4 weeks annual leave a year, so we would want somewhere to pour our savings into before our child gets into school.

    What do you think? We'd love your advice!
     
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  2. David Shih

    David Shih Mortgage Broker Business Member

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    I think the focus is not right here....all properties will have some sort of maintenance, disregard house/townhouse/apartments. Asset selection should be based on what your goal is rather than assessing based on how much maintenance issues there will likely to be. Imagine holding a property for 10 years with minimal maintenance issue but....it goes back in value! Would this be what you wanted?

    Also Brissie isn't really a townhouse/apartment city at this stage. If you want a townhouse/apartment as it'll provide you less maintenance headache, then you're probably better off waiting for another 12-24 months and stick to Sydney/Melbourne.

    Cheers,
    David
     
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  3. TMNT

    TMNT Well-Known Member

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    Serviced apartment,

    The agent does all the maintenace for you
     
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  4. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    Low Maintenance = Fix everything up to close to brand new state prior to renting.
    After each tenancy, make sure everything is bought back to "New like" state.

    This minimises the call outs on broken items. Also in a new like state, it generally attracts better tenants who look after the place.
     
  5. Rich2011

    Rich2011 Well-Known Member

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    Apartments and townhouses are not necessarily less maintenance, often even small strata schemes can have huge special levies for building rectification works. I know of a building with 12 units (3 stories) with tenders for 850-950k for remedial works (concrete cancer and water penetration issues) and that is not all the work required. It is quiet common for unit buildings to have major issues even from new I've heard of a few instances where owners are up for 50k+ over a few years in special levies!

    Townhouses not so much but multi-story buildings you need to check VERY carefully.
     
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  6. FHB1

    FHB1 New Member

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    Thanks for this.

    Forgot to add we visit Brisbane yearly that's why we've been interested in Brisbane property.
     
  7. iloveqld

    iloveqld Well-Known Member

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    Check some lowset brick house, very low maintenant imo
     
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  8. Cat

    Cat Well-Known Member

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    Low maintenance property would be
    - new or near new
    - brick construction (so no or limited external painting) (avoid Queenslanders like the plague they are so much maintenance to keep the place looking good)
    - gutter guard protection to valleys and gutters (landlord responsible for cleaning gutters as too much public liability risk if tenants climb ladder and hurt themselves)
    - hard wearing floors, avoid places with carpet in living areas. Bedrooms ok but will need to budget new Carpet every 8 or so years
    - avoid retaining walls, if there are retaining walls go for Sandstone or Concrete. Timber will rot and require replacement.
    - ensure good external drainage (drains in gardens, turfed areas or at least the ground falling away from the house
    - check the property has been updated to new fire alarm laws as they are progressively being phased in not sure when rentals have to have it by. We’ve already updated ours. (in Qld we require fire alarms in each bedroom and the hallways to exit)
     
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  9. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    A few options for "low maintenance"
    1. Brand/Near new house but you'll usually be chasing up the builder to fix things as it's under warranty
    2. An old house and a good team of tradies. Nothing wrong with fixing things as you go.
    3. Vacant Land

    I never bought new houses. Had my share of old house issues. Everything from simple leaks to parts of the housing falling apart. A good relationship with your tradies can do wonders.

    The average buyer/investor doesn't want to deal with these issues so they pay a premium. Old houses also give you the option to value-add. Can't do that with a (near)new house.
     
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  10. Tom Rivera

    Tom Rivera Property Manager Business Member

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    Loving this response!

    I'd add that you want a metal roof (i.e. colorbond) if possible. Tiles start to need work after about 20 years.

    In extension to the drainage comments, you also want to check out the original build documents and local area to establish a likelihood of slab subsidence. It's becoming a bigger and bigger problem as builders get cheaper and lazier on the foundations. Keeping water away is the biggest thing you can do to avoid it, but sometimes slabs are just so crap that it's unavoidable.
     
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  11. hammer

    hammer Well-Known Member

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    What about something like NABs wealth builder? Reasonable finance a good choice of funds and absolutely zero maintenance.

    Not a property but it's as close to set and forget as you'll ever find...
     
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  12. Beano

    Beano Well-Known Member

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    4: land only . Tenant owns the building
     
  13. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

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    I like @hammer comment
    Property will likely never again be a big CG earner (over a short period)
    How about Commercial ?
    You can buy a shop front in a mostly residential complex at a lower price point, the lease then reflects that the tenant is responsible for most items and outgoings :D
    I have one like this, and wish I'd continued to avoid resi :oops:
     
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  14. fat cactus

    fat cactus Well-Known Member

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  15. Angel

    Angel Well-Known Member

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    Low maintenance - a concrete or bitumen car park
     
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  16. Someguy

    Someguy Well-Known Member

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    Bitumen can pothole pretty bad after decent rain
     
  17. Angel

    Angel Well-Known Member

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  18. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Either listed or unlisted property trusts. Externally managed & maintained.
     
  19. Beano

    Beano Well-Known Member

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    Example of properties where the local investor has no maintenance (they only own the land)
    On that land investment sits 7 buildings who look after all their own maintenance (The building owner does that . Not the Land investor!)
    Example of Tenants in the seven buildings are Fonterra , AIRNZ, Datacom, Bayleys, KPMG , Auckland Transport ,HP and Microsoft.
    The tenant is not going do a runner (and it will be pretty hard to remove the building ) ...they paid $635m for the 7 buildings!
    Owning that land is what I call a real no hassle property investment !
    That's the deal I want for Xmas :)
     

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  20. Whitecat

    Whitecat Well-Known Member

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    I would pay the maintenance and get a better property. Like a post war.