QLD Why I bought in Goodna - See Change

Discussion in 'Where to Buy' started by See Change, 20th Feb, 2016.

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  1. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    We've probably bought our last property for a little while . That one was down in adelaide , but everything else we've bought in the last two and a half years has been in Brisbane , and in the last year the main place we've bought , have been in the Goodna area ( Gailes , Goodna and Riverview ).

    Last cycle we bought in the logan area , but when we started looking last year , Logan had already started moving and was close to it's previous peak

    ej89 has obviously been thinking along the same lines as I have . As ej noted in this post
    For example the low to high medians in last cycle
    Kingston went from 66 K ( 1999 ) at 285 K ( 2009 )
    Woodridge 62 k ( 1999 ) to 270 K ( 2009 )
    Goodna 71 K ( 1999 ) to 305 K ( 2008 )
    Gailes 60,500 ( 2001 ) to 275 ( 2008 )
    Riverview 57,250 ( 1999) to 258 ( 2008 )

    When we started buying, prices in logan were around the levels of their previous peak , while the goodna prices were still at least 10 % below the preceding peak and they are still below the previous peak . Woodridge as a contrast currently has a median of 290 compared to it's previous peak of 270.

    I'm buying in the expectation that all of those cheapie suburbs will rise by similar percentages .
    With the Goodna suburbs being slower off the line than the logan region , I'm hoping to capture a bigger percentage of the move at this stage by buying in Goodna than Logan .

    If I was buying back in 2013 , when we bought in Manly Wynnum , I would have happily bought in Logan and all of the people who have bought in logan will do well ( IMHO ).

    All of the properties we've bought have been under 240 K , mainly 3 bedders , though one 4 bedroom , flood free , minimum rent 280 or more . Ex housing commission properties in average condition . newly painted with polished floors . Only one that took more than around one week to rent was ironically the 4 bedder , though that is renting for 310 . No drama's with tenants so far . the PM's were fussy and knocked back many applicants .

    In terms of unforeseen expenses we've had one issue with a blocked drain which needed digging up , but we've always found that we get higher expenses in the first 1-2 years .

    All though it's subjective , I actually prefer the feel of the streets in goodna compared with logan . There are less houses with crap dumped in the front yard . As an example , one street we own a property before in Logan ( Redford ) has a much higher percentage of high solid front fences , giving the street a more closed in feel that before , while Goodna has a more suburban feel .

    It still is a lower SE area and people who aren't used to that type of suburb will still drive around the area and feel it's not the right place for them to buy in , and a walk around the local shopping centre had a collection of the " usual suspects " wandering around . I have noticed posts to that effect in the last year , but we've made good profits in that type of area before , so I'm happy to buy there again .

    Cliff
     
    Last edited: 20th Feb, 2016
  2. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    I'm a fan of your strategy Cliff. You aren't afraid to buy in areas other shy away from and seem to always pick the places that go up.
     
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  3. chindonly

    chindonly Well-Known Member

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    Hi See,

    Interesting strategy, thanks for sharing.

    I have also invested in Ipswich (Brassall), but also not far from Goodna in the Centenary suburbs - Riverhills and Middle Park. As the Brisbane ripple moves out, I expect it to hit Centenary in the next 12 months, and then onto Ipswich suburbs the year after, just like last time.

    It all happened so quick last time, as you mentioned in another thread. Just treading water for now, waiting for the set!
     
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  4. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    We did buy out in ipswich area . It wasn't the area I was targeting . We were looking out as far as Bundamba and came across a deal , which was too good to pass by . Distressed investor / divorce , four properties for sale . Had been on the market for a while with the the vendors disagreeing over price and arguing amongst them selves . Banks were moving in and we ended up making a low ball offer for all four , though my daughter took one .

    Cliff
     
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  5. Coota9

    Coota9 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for sharing @See Change.

    Great to see the logic behind your property area selection and buying below the previous peak,now is the wait and see I guess.

    I have heard a lot of cashed up Sydney investors are buying sight unseen in the area,interesting to see what effect that may have on future vacancies
     
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  6. Biz

    Biz Well-Known Member

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    Goodna' Cliff
     
  7. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    Where we started looking , there were lots of properties around for sale and it was a matter of going around and deciding which was the best one . The last one we went for but missed out on was in Eric St , with George at First National ( he has been mentioned before in other goodna posts and is a good source of knowledge , I muttered a few silent curses when his name was mentioned …. )

    Cliff
     
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  8. RetireRich101

    RetireRich101 Well-Known Member

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    I had to google map where Goodna was
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 25th Feb, 2016
  9. meme plecko

    meme plecko Well-Known Member

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    This was waaay back in August, so I've got it right back then @See Change ;)

    Makes sense to me to buy in that part of Brisbane, but most comments on this forum go something like Good? Nah!

    I have a feeling that you will have the last laugh here...
     
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  10. devank

    devank Well-Known Member

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    I would be keen to know more about your Adelaide adventure.
     
  11. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Shhh he hasn't finished collecting yet :p
     
  12. Scotty3

    Scotty3 Well-Known Member

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    i know this is somewhere on threads...

    What sources (free and paid) do you use for past growth trends to best identify depressed markets?
     
  13. Coota9

    Coota9 Well-Known Member

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  14. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    Yes you did :cool:. ( and I was silently cursing you for it …:D )

    I thought I'd saved the link to that post when you posted , with the intention of quoting , but couldn't find it .

    There have been a few posts about goodna in the last months , including one quite negative view from someone who had just driven around it . My take on that was they'd obviously hadn't driven around logan ….:p

    Cliff
     
  15. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    You'll often find people quoting figures on the forum . First step for me is which city ( or pleural ) has the lowest ten year growth and then start from there .

    When we're in buying mode I get a subscription for API magazine ( $ 99 / year ) which includes a three month subscription for Price finder . We have five members of the family .

    I also use the investor section of real-estate .com.au which has a map that allows you to quickly scan a city to find areas with high yield

    Looking at it , Goodna Gailes and riverview have an average yield of over 6 %

    The only pocket that has a higher yield is the One mile , Leichhardt , Churchill area of Ipswich , but there you're looking at around 40 km from CBD as opposed to 24 km and those are the bottom end of the barrel out at ipswich . Our " investor pack " did include properties in these suburbs .

    I would be buying in the goodna area in preference to those.

    We did have a look at this property in Gailes which is houso . The price is listed as 235 , but what you have to do is put in an offer and then the agent takes the offers to the housing commish and someone decides which to accept . I'd expect that to feel 5-10 over the asking price . Offers are probably still a couple of weeks away from closing .

    We did make an offer on this one at Eric St which was asking 230 ( probably should have been more ) . Our offer was over 240 and we missed out . This was one I have mentioned on the forum which had close to ten people bidding for it .

    While you don't have the chance to come back for a higher bid , you don't have the agent coming back , saying , cliff , we've got an offer of over 240 , what's the best you can go to …

    Cliff
     
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  16. meme plecko

    meme plecko Well-Known Member

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    But you told us so much about your target area, it was a guess yes, but it was based on what you said:
    - centrelink is the main employer
    - low 200s purchase price range
    - ex housing com
    - not buying in the north

    2+2=... :)

    Now, let's hear in a month about your Adelaide purchase...
     
  17. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Fairly similar to the 4 points you listed :p
     
  18. jaybean

    jaybean Well-Known Member

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    Goodna terrifies me. But I assume you've done your DD so perhaps my bias is working against me. Good one SC.
     
  19. Scotty3

    Scotty3 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Cliff.
     
  20. meme plecko

    meme plecko Well-Known Member

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    Including 'not buying in the north'?

    MV then :)