Corner Lots, Good or Bad....

W

windsor

I've heard the good and bad regarding corner lots of land, that they dont have great capital growth and compared to other lots. But are only good for building units or townhouses on.

And alot of potential buyers are lost due to corner lots and I tend to notice that corner lots sell cheaper,, why is this or is this just in my head :)

Would like to hear your thoughts on Corner lots of land..
 
corner lots are definitely a ++ in my eyes in terms of developing potential, much greater street access, and also easier to put a duplex or townhouses for example because you need less driveway space.

Can't understand why corner blocks would have less CG . . sounds like a bit of a myth to me.
 
Yep corner blocks are all good for everyones reasons so far plus if you have a few teenage p platers on board lots of brilliant parking in the street outside your own house instead of everyone elses!
 
Love them too!, so much you can do. Last one I bought was a home here on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, the agent copy said it had 5 rooms, when I inspected the property the thing had potential for 8 rooms, so I did a minor reno ($20K), converted the thing into an 8 bedder - dual occupancy set up, had the bank re-value and the new valuation came at $870, I bought it for $720, $150K profit in one year. I also source these types of properties for clients in all price ranges and areas. Plenty in the Hunter Valley where I invest. It takes some experience to turn them around however the returns can be great.

Happy Investing
Jon Salvador
www.headinghome.com.au
 
Very dependent on the individual property, but as a rule, I would say corner is better. Not sure who would be telling you a corner is worse?! Even in a new development when the land isn't big enough to subdivide - people still like corner blocks because you only have one neighbour, can have dual street access for your boat out the back etc.

Even better for older houses and future development eg. if you have a 900m2+ block that is on a corner, you may be able to give each dwelling street frontage. If it was not on a corner, chances are you'd only have 1 or 2 on the frontage with the rest behind.
 
I love corner blocks too. BUT

The only downside I can think of is if it is a smaller corner block and you want a big house on it.
From memory I think you will need 6 metres setback from both sides of the block. This may restrict you when building big.

Otherwise I would say go for it.
 
We love them so much that if it isn't on a corner, i.e. 2 street front access we are very reluctant to look any further at it.

3 street front is even better, and if you can hit the jackpot and score an island where you have 4 street front access.....well, that's when we start drooling. Trouble is, so do all the other buyers.
 
On the topic of subdiving blocks, what are generally the criteria for approval of subdividing a block with only one street front?

The block I'm thinking of is about 836 sqm and has a 21m frontage with a high-set house towards the front of the block...
 
corner block

I specifically chose a corner block to build my investment property.

The idea of being able to have side street access to a rear garage or similar is a great renting/selling point in my opinion.

While I do not intend to sell you need to prepare for the future so anything that adds desirability to a property is a good thing.

I turned down many blocks and was lucky enough to learn about a corner block that the contract had fallen over on. Snapped it up immediately.
 
as long as it's not a busy corner, i love 'em for every reason stated above. there is so much more you can "do" with a corner block. also, because of the dual access you will find that may council allow you to subdivide the block into smaller-than-specified in the zoning plan, ie, a corner block in a residential area (in newcastle council) is allowed to be 30% smaller than minimum zoning requirements for a single frontage block.
 
To mention the other side of the coin, as a PPOR or place to rent, I'd prefer not to live in a corner block. More street frontage and council land/grass to look after, less privacy, more noise etc. Of course it would depend on the exact situation, but in general I would say a lot less attractive (to live in).
 
s_t said:
To mention the other side of the coin, as a PPOR or place to rent, I'd prefer not to live in a corner block. More street frontage and council land/grass to look after, less privacy, more noise etc. Of course it would depend on the exact situation, but in general I would say a lot less attractive (to live in).
Click to expand...

I agree. And for a PPoR, if you don't have good fencing on a corner block, you don't really have a 'back' yard. You just have four side yards. Not very private.
 
I live on a corner block and really like it. More street parking, side access to the back yard which allows the house to take up the whole width, side access to the garage which in our case is separate and down the back, more privacy as there's only a neighbour on one side (we have a colourbond steel fence to the side street), and no overshadowing on that side which is the north side so plenty of sun (the other side is overshadowed by a double-storey house).

GP
 
I too prefer corner blocks for both Ip and PPOR

I agree. And for a PPoR, if you don't have good fencing on a corner block, you don't really have a 'back' yard. You just have four side yards. Not very private.
Click to expand...

one of our PPOR's we got around the "back yard issue" by a bit of creative placement of the garage.

Have fun
Sue
 
GIDDO said:
I love corner blocks too. BUT

The only downside I can think of is if it is a smaller corner block and you want a big house on it.
From memory I think you will need 6 metres setback from both sides of the block. This may restrict you when building big.

Otherwise I would say go for it.
Click to expand...

In most SA Council areas you need between 1.5 and 2.5m side road setback. Not as bad as 6m as you're suggesting but still has to be taken into account when you are considering Open Space Requirements and dwelling size ect.

Gools
 
Lukey13 said:
On the topic of subdiving blocks, what are generally the criteria for approval of subdividing a block with only one street front?

The block I'm thinking of is about 836 sqm and has a 21m frontage with a high-set house towards the front of the block...
Click to expand...

Varies depeding on council - so a quick phone call will give you the answer.

In the councils I deal with in SA - the block you have would be suitable to have 2 detached or semi-detached dwellings with street frontage of 10.5m each. Otherwise you can just build one house on the front and have a hammerhead block with driveway down the side for another dwelling behind the front one.

With your specific block - do you have enough (3-4m) room on a side of the house for a driveway to be put in? It may be possible for you to leave the existing house standing, and just build a new dwelling in the backyard.
 
steveadl said:
Varies depeding on council - so a quick phone call will give you the answer.
Click to expand...

and it depends on "where" the corner block is located. i tend to buy in the older areas of town where the rules are - either 5m setback "or" setback in line with the frontage of existing properties in the street.

as most of the properties in older areas have very little setback - i like to invoke this "or".

means setback is usually 1m.

personally, i wouldn't buy a corner unless i could subdivide it because the subdivision would be the major reason - otherwise i would just buy a normal block.

oh, wide laneways at the rear are wonderful too!

regarding frontage - you'd have to ask council for that as well. our council has minimum 15m frontage required before allowing subdividing the rear property off - but each council is different.
 
windsor said:
And alot of potential buyers are lost due to corner lots and I tend to notice that corner lots sell cheaper,, why is this or is this just in my head :)

..
Click to expand...

This may just be in the area you are looking at. In my area a corner block over 600sqm usually sells at a premium. Same as all the others, I love them too.
 
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