Heatherton, Victoria

[Go Girl]

Hi

I am thinking about buying an investment property in Heatherton, Victoria. As I am from Sydney, I really do not have any knowledge of this area at all (or the surrounds). Is there somebody out there who can give me more information about the area.

The things I am interested in are:

1) distance from Melbourne CBD

2) distance from a closer CBD (if applicable)

3) website that will give me more information on this area - (I have looked at domain.com.au so far)

another question - I'll put it bluntly -

what kind of place is Heatherton. As I said before, I don't know Melbourne at all, and I would love some more info.

Is it a new area?

what is the socio-economic level like?

are there things to do in the area?

How close is it to the ocean?

the bottom line is - why would a person choose to rent in Heatherton?

thanks for your time all your forumites out there!

Cheers

Go Girl









Thanks so much

Go Girl

 

[Mondie]

What is it that attracts you to Heatherton in particular?

You have asked a pretty broad range of questions about the place. Is it on recommendation from a friend?

Cheers.

 

[Go Girl]

Hi Mondie,

It is a Mirvac project which we have an opportunity to go in on and we are doing some research on the area before we purchase the property.

If you have information at all about the area which you feel is relevant and would like to share with me , I would really appreciate it.

thanks alot

Go Girl

 

[Kevmeister]

There is a separate thread started by Jacque (I think) concerning Heatherton. One of the Yardney's gave a good description of the area.

Edit: Here's the thread.

 

[Ruby]

I agree with Kev, Pamela gave an interesting view of the Heath from a property managers viewpoint.

Heatherton is surrounded by an industrial area on the western side of Warrigul Rd and by market gardens and open areas on the other sides. Apart from the very small number of older houses in the area, Heatherton now mainly consists of the Heath development and the Kingston Geriatric Hospital.

I certainly have nothing negative to say about the Heath and have heard some very favourable reports from people that have property there. But if you are looking for a Navra-ish (to use Kev's new word) property, maybe you should also be researching Mirvac's new Waverley Park development as well. From what I've heard that also has the thumbs up.

Good luck with your research!

Ruby

 

[Mondie]

Hi GG,

Yes, l am leaning towards Waverly Park also. The first stage has only been released in the past 3 weeks and has pretty much sold out. We have registered (which involved a $2500 holding deposit) and are awaiting the next release which is going to be late this year. The location of Waverly Park is excellent and the concept Mirvac have created l also think is great. Mirvac are doing everything from design to building the houses so everything is optimised for privacy, architectural compatibility, solar aspect etc. We are looking to buy a 4 bedroom house on around 400sqm of land for around $550k as a buy and hold.

Waverly Park is 23km from the CBD, but its worth remembering that at present the geographic centre of Melbourne is Chadstone, and it is predicted by 2020 it will be Berwick! So it is well positioned for the future l believe.

l much prefer it to Heatherton but thats personal choice and l have no good reasons, just my own biases from my time spent living in Melbourne around the Mentone area.

You can check out Mirvacs website on WP here, but its mainly fluff and not much substance l am afraid

Waverley Park

Good luck

 

[Go Girl]

Thanks to everyone who replied to the my questions, it has been extremely helpful.

I do have one more question. What is the difference between Waverely Park and Heatherton? Are they similar suburbs? close by?

Why would a person choose Waverely Park over Heatherton?

cheers,

Go Girl

 

[Mondie]

WP is on the Monash freeway SE of Melbourne.

The Heath is located inland from the bay, east of Mordialloc. As others have commented its reclaimed industrial and swamp land wihout much infrastructure. Its too far from the bay to be called 'bayside' IMO.

Checkout whereis.com.au for maps.

 

[Mondie]

l should have added that its probably a 40km drive to the CBD from the Heath, and all on secondary roads. At peak times it would be a journey!

WP would have much better city access on the freeway, when it was actually flowing that is

 

[Go Girl]

Thanks so much, this is EXTREMELY helpful!

Go Girl

 

[gazza]

Go Girl

Heatherton is not 40 kms from the CBD (its actually around 18). It is 6km to Mentone beach. 2 major shopping centres (Southlands & Chadstone) are close by as are schools(both public and private). Waverley Park defintely has better road access ie. SE freeway but I'm not sure if it has any public transport nearby at this stage. That was one of the problems when it was a footy ground.

Also please read the private message I have sent you.

cheers
Gazza

 

[Ruby]

Distance is a funny thing sometimes. But when all else fails look it up on the web.

One of the best sites for checking distances is www.whereis.com.au and a comparison check between travelling times from The Heath to Kings Way, and Waverley Park to Kings Way, is below.

Travel by car, with tolls

The Heath to Kings Way, Melb – 24.81 Km with an estimated travel time of 36 mins
Waverley Park to Kings Way, Melb – 25.62 Km with an estimated travel time of 34 mins

Travel by car, without tolls.

The Heath to Kings Way, Melb – 19.81 Km with an estimated travel time of 26 mins
Waverley Park to Kings Way, Melb – 24.11 Km with a estimated travel time of 29 mins.

Now having said that…….I have personally done a distance and time check for someone, and the distance from Waverley Park to Kings Way along the Monash Freeway was indeed around the 25km mark, but with a travelling time of 23 minutes. Maybe they are estimating morning peak travel times…….I’m not really sure. My time check was done about 6pm on a weeknight, but that was of course travelling against the traffic.

I must admit I agree to a certain extent with gazza on the public transport issue around Waverley Park……..but isn’t there a similar problem at The Heath??

It really comes down to a personal choice, they are both going to be nice developments, I’m not even sure weather the new Scoresby Freeway, will give Waverley Park an advantage. But at this stage Waverley Park would probably get my vote, but that is purely a personal choice and it really means nothing as I’m not looking at either development.

The best advice I could give is to come down and have a look at both developments yourself. Nothing like being on the ground to get a feel for the area.

For some extra info on Waverley Park:
http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=3304

Ruby.

 

[Bill.L]

Hi all,

I don't see the merits in either development. For my money I would prefer 2 houses for $275K each in the Mulgrave area than 1 in the WP development. Especially when you can get a much greater land content in the older houses.

bye

 

[Ruby]

Well......I would tend to agree Bill.

But luckily we all like different things, or we would all be fighting for the same properties. Makes things much easier!

 

[Bill.L]

Ruby,

Shhhhhh, lets not make toomuch noise about it.

bye

 

[Kevmeister]

I'll start by saying I haven't seen either Mirvac development except a look at the web-site, but what worries me in each case is that single-developer estates tend to look a bit repetitive.

A classic case in point is the Pentridge Village estate in Coburg. Take a drive through there at some point if you want an eye-opener. Every fifth or tenth house is the same design - the builders try conceal this by painting or rendering them differently (or having some face brick, some rendered), but arguably they are the same design. Every letterbox is the same.

It reminds me of an upmarket housing commission area.

So, I'm wondering if in the future the desirability/character of both the Heath and Waverley Park will be reduced because there is less uniqueness to the properties within the estates?

And, Bill, I am in agreement with you. Also need to consider the reduced risk of owning two average properties than one single executive-style property. I know Steve Navra said something about this "argument", but I can't remember...

 

[Steve Navra]

Originally posted by Bill.L

Shhhhhh, lets not make too much noise about it.

Hey BillL,

Some consistancy please!!

You cannot on the one hand say that you won't buy the non-disclosure / secrecy comments . . . and then quote the above!?

And Kevmeister: "I know Steve Navra said something about this argument, but I can't remember" Uh, come on another course and I promise to say it all again!

Regards,

Steve

 

[Bill.L]

OK Steve,

I'll make some noise,

Lets see, 2 x 4 bed/2 bath on 600m2 each(established and close to shops/schools etc) for $550k.

OR

1 x 4 bed/2 bath on 400ms a little further away from shops/schools etc(new), for $550k.

It's a no brainer in EVERY suburb. The cap growth of the 1200m2 will be much greater than the 400m2. The new building will depreciate in value faster than the established building in every suburb.

You don't actually suggest to your clients to buy these new developments, do you??

bye

 

[Steve Navra]

Originally posted by Bill.L
It's a no brainer in EVERY suburb. The cap growth of the 1200m2 will be much greater than the 400m2.

I suggest that this might be too simplistic an approach:

So 1200 m2 in Penrith NSW (Close to everything) will outperform 400 m2 in Mosmon??

Bill.L . . . is this what you mean is a NO BRAINER in EVERY suburb?

Steve


PS: I thought I had better add the following:

Why would anyone be selling 1200 m2 of land for so much less than someone selling 600 m2 in the same suburb?
By your own admission . . . the value is in the land.

 

[Kevmeister]

Steve:

I originally had the same thought but I think Bill may have been referring to the same blocks of land in each suburb.

Why would a house on 400sq.m cost twice as much as a house on 600sq.m? Because you are paying for the house, possibly the "perceived lifestyle". Those properties in Heatherton (just for example) selling for $500K+ probably have a very large component attributed to the building costs.

Remember, by your own admission > 30% land content is OK, so even if the land content is as little as $166K is this a possible investment opportunity (subject to your other criteria, of course). So it may well be possible to find an older, less favored (read that: "not the flavor of the month") property for $250K in the same suburb.

Actually, here's a perfect case in point: my suburb of Fawkner. Recent house around the corner (that I was looking at - damn) sold there for $376K - 6 years old, 500 sq.m block, about 19 squares. Move away one or two streets and you can probably pick up a house on a large block (700 sq.m say) for $250K. Difference: the cheaper house is about 40 years old, and smaller.