Rocky , The next Big Thing ??

Anecdotally ( I ( or my wife ) talked to most PM's in rocky before buying ) there are minimal if any vacancies in the rent range 140-200/ Week

Below that ( for houses ) the tenants are more problematic, and some applications fall through (because the applicants have poor rental histories ) so you are more likely to have a longer vacancy.

Above 200/ week there is some resistence to the rents.

When I was there , and looked at the places that were for rent , there were minimal available in the 140-200 range. The ones we have bought ( with one exception ) are in this range, and the ones that were vacant when we settled were tenanted within 2 days. ( two had tenants lined up prior to settlement ).

There are some pretty grotty house in parts of Rocky that would be vacant for a longer periods.

Vacancy rates are lower for houses than units.

See change
 
I have just been speaking to someone about rocky, and she says it is a terrible place, in a big dip?, really hot, and not worth looking at.

But then again, she did advise against SEQld 2 years ago, as it never went up in price. !! I didn't take her advise then, fortunately.

However, is Rockhampton really that bad ?
 
Originally posted by abcdiamond
I have just been speaking to someone about rocky, and she says it is a terrible place, in a big dip?, really hot, and not worth looking at.

But then again, she did advise against SEQld 2 years ago, as it never went up in price. !! I didn't take her advise then, fortunately.

However, is Rockhampton really that bad ?
Click to expand...

I had a brief stop there on my way to Great keppel island. I thought it was pretty average, it was very flooded when I went there and most of the parts I saw were quite down market compared to other towns of similar size. (Wagga Wagga, Bendigo etc)
 
Originally posted by FrankGrimes
I had a brief stop there on my way to Great keppel island. I thought it was pretty average, it was very flooded when I went there and most of the parts I saw were quite down market compared to other towns of similar size. (Wagga Wagga, Bendigo etc)
Click to expand...

So how long ago was this trip Frank?

Cheers,

Aceyducey
 
Hi,

I bought 4 places in Rocky, total spend 310k, yielding 9.5% avg, starting back in late May/June. My line of reasoning was very similar to see_change's.

I didn't think the place was too bad... to read some of the comments here you'd think it was the end of the earth, but that's not quite the case. I reckon it's a totally liveable area, but if I was to ever shift there for work, I'd be heading to Yeppoon... I think as the drought comes to an end, prospects in Rocky will pick up, as will most regional centres servicing agricultural areas.

Also, while the Qld govt wasted a fair bit of money backing that Stanwell magnesium plant, places as big as Rocky don't just die in the a#se overnight... governments won't let it happen.

Cheers
r
 
By the way, all 4 of the places weren't tenanted when I bought them, but they were all filled before settlement. I agree totally with see_change about his rental parameters of 140-200 per week... although I've also got one that rents for 120pw.

Cheers
r
 
I spoke to a pm in Rocky today and can back up the stats as provide by sea change and richmond.

This pm told me that the $140 - $180 per week rental was the most popular and easy to fill. The vacany rate at the moment at the moment is quite low although a month or two ago they had a glut of units for rent due to all the investors buying up and putting them out for rent.

Only cheaper houses rent well and newer, up-market houses can be difficult to let and arn't as good yielding as the units i.e cost $220k but only rent for $220 a week.

I've been looking at a couple of modern duplexes near the uni there but have decided against it. There is a problem with vacancies during the christmas break as with most accomodation in university areas. I dont want 8 weeks vacancy that's for sure.

There are still other units in Rocky that have good yields though so I'll keep an eye out.

p.s Thanks for the great post sea change.
 
Originally posted by FrankGrimes
It was in Feb this year.
Click to expand...

So before the market began moving then - shame you didn't buy on the way through :)

I like average houses....more people are able to afford to live in them.

Exceptional houses tend to be out of the mass rental and ownership market & therefore more vulnerable to downswings.....the extra upside in booms isn't worth it.

Give me a nice average town over a holiday resort town any day!

Cheers,

Aceyducey
 
Everyone has an opinion on this, but how many of you have actually spoken with your cash and bought a place in Rocky. I have in the last month. And, despite some of the negative comments I feel very comfortable with my decision. Where else can you get returns in a town of this size with prices still under $100K? I only wish I could afford to buy more at present. Does anyone seriously suggest that the prices are going to fall in Rocky? If prices did fall it would be the only place in Australia of this size to do so in the next 12 months. My research is that prices have not moved for about 9 years. There appears to me to be only one direction for prices to go - UP!

As for next years comments in this forum, I can hear it now, "I thought that Rocky sounded OK last year, I should have bought there!"

It will be similar to Ipswich or Logan a year or so ago.
 
I bought a 5 BR house in North Rockhampton last month...for $113K, yielding 9% gross...(wasnt listed on net)

I have noticed that most of the available properties in Rocky (on the net) now a days are either in flood area or dont offer yields attractive enough to be snapped up quickly, though some of the high yielding ones dont even get a chance to get listed.

Most agents have a waiting list of investors and the deals are done before the prop gets a chance to be publicised..!!
 
Having already bought places up there , I found that the agents took me more seriously,

But as a whole I ( and most of the other people who have bought in Rocky ) have not been impressed with most of the agents in ROcky.

When I First started talking to agents and said I was coming up , some replied, well come in and see me when you're here...

Another said "all our listing are on the net" . To make a point I looked at the listing on the net , made a list of ones of interest , and rang her back. I went throught the properties of interest one by one.... and Gee , they'd already been sold. I said thanks for that, and rang another agent at the same agency who was much more helpfull and knew of things abut to be listed.

I did have a list of some who I felt were better , but it's shrinking ..... The two I've found most reliable are Penny Keating at Harcourts and Ashley Paulson at Prime. Both are relatively new as REA's. Harcourts have a reputation of asking more for their listings than other agents so I wouldn't be rushing in and offering the asking price.

Mark ? at Ray Hoopers has some fans, and I've also Alan Cornich has shown me good value IP's when ever I've seen him .

Again , Remember that this is my opinion , and what I like in an agent may not appeal to others. Do you due dilligence.

The week before I first went up , one "southern Investor" had taken out contracts on a whole pile of places , subject to inspection ( had done minimal if any due dilligence ) had gone up and then proceeded to pass most of them up . In the mean time agents hadn't shown people who had flown up around these places, so understandably some of the agents were pretty P...ed off.

Given the standard of some of the houses and some of the agents up there , I think you would be silly to buy sight unseen.

see change
 
Hi Brains

Purchase price $246,000 with gross income of $390 per week. It is a block of 3 x 2 bed 2 storey townhouses.

So just over 8%. I could have ended up with better yeilds with other properties, but this one is brick and very attractive with low exterior maintenance, concrete driveway and good carports with little grass and gardens. I believe that this block of townhouses will offer good long term gains.

I have been told by the new managing agent that with new paint carpets and curtains I should be able to increase the rents to over $450 per week, or over 9.5 % gross.

Looking at the block I can not imagine that you could build it for less than I paid for it completed on the land.
 
From this morning's paper - Rocky's daily rag The Morning Bulletin...

"Fitzroy still to boom
More than $20 million in proposed developments which would put Fitzroy Shire on the growth map are set to proceed. "

Cheers
r
 
Thanks janvid, sounds like a good deal.

Originally posted by Janvid
Hi Brains

Purchase price $246,000 with gross income of $390 per week. It is a block of 3 x 2 bed 2 storey townhouses.

So just over 8%. I could have ended up with better yeilds with other properties, but this one is brick and very attractive with low exterior maintenance, concrete driveway and good carports with little grass and gardens. I believe that this block of townhouses will offer good long term gains.

I have been told by the new managing agent that with new paint carpets and curtains I should be able to increase the rents to over $450 per week, or over 9.5 % gross.

Looking at the block I can not imagine that you could build it for less than I paid for it completed on the land.
Click to expand...
 
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