SA Where and What to buy Adelaide?

Heya! I'm new to this forum and new to investing. I've always wanted to own multiple properties and now I'm finally in a position where I can start thinking about it. I'm a mum of 3 that own my house outright, and the bank said I can borrow about 440k.

I have been listening to podcasts and reading all I can about it (almost fell prey to a spruiker!) and now instead of being more confident, I am now terrified of making a mistake and losing my house...eek!

My question is - where is good to buy in Adelaide, is now the time to buy or should I wait? Should I buy new with land package or old? And is an apartment a no-no? So much info out there. I want to rent it out and the depreciation would be helpful in regards to tax as far as I can gather. I just don't wanna mess this up. Any tips or referral to professionals that don't have an agenda would be helpful.

Thanks so much!

 

The old adage - time in the market, not timing the market. There's been significant growth in the last 6 - 12 months, but if you wait til it returns to previous levels you might go years without any assets to your name. And if you think its expensive now, it'll be more expensive in future.

I dont think so - I'd rather have a good investment than a good tax return. Established houses seem to have always done the best.

 

Welcome @BethanyHiska! Traditional sized blocks of land (think of the classic rectangular 600- 700 meters square) with original double brick houses built in the 50- 60-70's produce the best capital growth in the Adelaide market, particularly if you are also prepared to roll up your sleeves and freshen up with paint/ hang new curtains /rip up old carpet/ lay new floorboards.

For the complete list of current median house prices across Adelaide look here :
https://www.reisa.com.au/documents/item/2654
Just be mindful that for suburbs with less than about 25 sales per quarter the medians are not very useful, because the figure is easily skewed by just a couple of statistical outliers (nicer/bigger than average house sales). But this list can be a helpful starting point to focus your attention to the suburbs in your budget.

 

It is great that you have been developing your education around property investing. Sometimes, people dive into the deep end without educating themselves. They then end up making mistakes that are only rectified with time and money. Though once you have developed your education and understanding of a particular market don't be caught in the trap of analysis paralysis, you still need to take action.

As a general rule of thumb for growth, you want to focus on buying established houses on a decent block of land which has a strong demand. Why? Established houses historically outperform new builds, the land is the true asset, and supply vs demand is what dictates price growth. I hope this helps.

 

You might also like to think about how much return and capital gain you're getting on your investment ie units generally return more than houses, but capital gains can be much better in houses than units. I'd also advise that the first property you buy should be the best you can afford, as that sets you up for multiple property ownership better. ie it should be location location, high demand, low availability and in a good school area - think about all the things families (esp younger or with children) need. They buy more emotively when it comes to houses and auction prices can go up steeply in desirable areas where everyone wants to live. eg near a beach, near good facilities, transport, community feeling, day care centres great schools, close to CBD and get as clsoe as you can to those with your budget. If you're going for units, I never buy in large blocks, 50, 60s and 70s again is a good rule, walkup blocks with stairs not expensive lifts, no more than 8 is my rule, near transport such as trams and trains and good bus networks, university access etc.

 

Ooohhh...this is interesting! So this may sound dumb but how do I interpret the data? Am I looking for the most amount of sales growth in the place I can afford?

 

Hi there, if u r from Adelaide I would suggest being wary of advisors from elsewhere telling u what to buy in Ur home town!! Have a look at the house u bought for urself, in an area that u like.

Spreadsheets don't tell the story very well, but local knowledge does.

Someone from Sydney once said 'only buy North in Brisbane' because North of Sydney was nice!! NUTS. Some ppl bury their heads in spreadsheets, not reality.

As u know there is a premium for the beach, the foothills, inner east, inner south and inner west. U also probably can easily see that a good size yard is preferable. So use Ur local knowledge to buy somewhere that is next door to the great places.

And u might know more about where fires strike. Avoid that if u can. And good luck!!

 

Has happened to the best of us. The good part of it is that you were able to dodge yourself out of it.

As others have mentioned, as big land component you can go for, flat & rectangular block you can get.

I could think of Parafield Gardens & Inglefarm which I’ve known were popular sometime ago.

 

In the simplest of terms… buy a house on as much land as possible and as close to the beach or city you can get for your budget.
The older the home the better ie character bungalows, villas, cottages generally perform better than other products ie red brick austerity homes or new builds.
Rectangle block is ideal.
Avoid main roads.
Minimum 3 bedroom.

These are general factors and this doesn’t consider the idiosyncratic factors which will ultimately impact the actual performance of the property. But in general terms… do the above and she’ll be right!

 

Great post and I'd only add to try and find something with a street frontage of 20m or more. Gives you options if you wish to subdivide down the track.

 

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-brighton-137483942

Thoughts on this one all? Not the single family we were thinking but much more in the thick of it.
Price range accurate?

 

Wrong side of Brighton road.

 

My alternative is buying Christies Beach/Downs way, so not sure being on the wrong side of the road compares.

 

Lots of the coastal suburbs to the south still look like quite good value to me.

 

What are people’s thoughts on the North West suburbs that are still very cheap? - (Smithfield Plains, Davoren Park, Andrew’s Park and surrounding)

 

What's these areas like? Good or bad rep?

 

Put simply, bad rep. That’s not to say they won’t grow.

 

"Hurr Adelaide never goes up"

Every suburb gone up 40%

 

The 2021 boom right?
Money made everywhere.

The trick now will be to pick the suburbs that keep outpacing the rest.