Advice on buying first IP in Melbourne

[Yan]

Hi All,

First time user of the forum and in the process of buying my first IP in Melbourne. My financial situations are:

Income - 100K pa. Can spare 2.5K per month for interest payment, etc.
Savings - 110K in cash, 95K in term deposit, mature in Oct.
Obtained a pre-approved bank loan of 400K (80% of IP).

As I don't have any experience in this area, I would like to play save and not over-extending my financial situation. Personally, I would like to buy something to maximise CG in a location with good piblic transport, ie within walking distance to a train station. Currently looking at a mid 70s 2BR villa unit in Surrey Hills with basic renovation done on kitchen and bathroom, quite street, good aspect, LUG for 450K.

Any thoughts, comments, advice?

Thanks in advance.

Yan

 

[Twitch]

I lived in Surrey Hills for 10 years. It's a family area so the mix of properties is dominated by detached homes. The target market for any units in the area would be mainly empty nesters/downsizers.

Surrey Hills spans Warrigal road, the values west of Warrigal road are ~20% higher than the east. The most expensive pockets are the "english county" streets (kent, essex, norfolk, durham) and the streets just north west of the village (around gilford rd).

My thoughts on Surrey Hills as a place to live are
+ has a zone 1 station (w/ a car park) and a good express peak hour service
+ safe area
+ fairly good kinders & primary schools in area
+ wide streets w/ nature strips make it a pretty suburb
- very few cafes
- no pubs or resturants to speak of (it's a dry area)
- limited number of retail shops

good luck

 

[Yan]

Thanks Twitch for your response and info on Surrey Hills. I'll see how it goes on auction day.

Yan

 

[MPmelb]

middle to upper class family area surrounded by some very nice suburbs.

former premier Jeff Kennett lives there.