iluka nsw

[tamsinaf]

hello, I am new to this forum and also about to buy an investment property for the first time.....so I am abit nervous. I am considering the relative merits of Iluka (small sea side village south of ballina 1 hour) and Lismore (university town 30 minutes inland from Ballina). I presume that the value of the property in Iluka will go up quicker, but I am unsure about the rental reliability. Does anyone have any suggestions? Tamsin

[geoffw]

I don't know either area.

Some points to look at

. Yields. Which one will give the highest percentage returns?
. Growth. Which one has the better prospect of growing?
. Vacancy. Which one will be rented more consistently?

A university town may have a better rental prospect for a longer period- but summer may see vacancies.

A seaside village may have some high rental returns and perhaps a higher overall return- but perhaps less reliable in the long term.

You need to do your own "due diligence"- ie, research. Find out about rental rates, returns, vacancies. Pose as a tenant, and ask questions.

It's a big investment. So it's worth while spending the time investigating. Butr don't let it stop your moving ahead all the same!

[ron redshaw]

Great Spot ! but maybe too late with the prices.
There was an article in press late last year abot local agent with a list of 50-100 Sydney people waiting for property to be listed.
As you know its across the Clarence River from Yamba and so I guess a lot of investors have chased Iluka because of this.
Yamba & Angourie would run a close second to Byron for the most expensive coastal (country) real estate.
I used to surf Angourie Point in early 70's, blocks of land were between $3k & $5k. A new Holden was about $4K.
Now any building block would be 1/2 Million Plus !!
Oh, for missed opportunities !!!!
Regards, Ron Redshaw

[Robert]

Iluka has had huge increases in the last 2 years. My G'parents purchased a block of land for $64k at the end of 2000, which had been sitting on the market for 3 years. November 2002, the local council upped the unimproved land value to $85k from $47k in 2000.

My G'parents were all set to challenge the HUGE increase and called the local RE Agent to get comparisons in the area. The RE Agent laughed and said, shhh, don't tell the council but you will be able to sell that block of land now for $120k+. So the G'parents have gone oh, that is nice, so now they've gone and refinanced the land to get more money out to buy another property.

Cheers
Robert

[Jacque]

I, too, saw the recent story in the Herald about Iluka and surrounds- looks like a pretty place indeed.

My family, for 3 generations now, has been taking annual holidays at Sawtell, a small coastal town just before Coffs Harbour. We pretty much know the town and some of our closest relatives now live there, having fallen in love with the beach lifestyle. I've never really taken much notice of property prices until recently, and so was curious when a for sale sign went up on the house next door to the place we rented for so many years. It is an old 2 bed timber cottage on c480sq m, close to the beach but with no views (could possibly get views if you demolished and built a 2 storey place) on the market for a staggering $650K. What happened to the good old "cheap beach shack"?
Sigh. I guess it's the old story- should have bought years ago!
But then I was young and enjoying myself on the old surf mats too much to worry about real estate!