Apartments on the Gold Coast

[MUR]

I have always had the impression that letting apartments on the Gold Coast is a difficult thing . Large supply , huge choice for prospective tenants.
Recently , I was lunching with a friend who spends the summer in Melbourne and winters at Broadbeach . His comment to me was that when he was in Melbourne , his Broadbeach home was rented for every minute. The property manager's comment to him was "I wish you were in Melbourne more , I could rent your unit at any time."

This got me thinking , perhaps some units are sure fire winners. Perhaps if they are high up in the building and on the north east corner it makes all the difference . Same building, but lower down, the demand may be much less.

My friend's appartment is on the 13 th floor. I don't know what the aspect is.

Does anyone with experience have a comment ?

 

[Propertunity]

This got me thinking , perhaps some units are sure fire winners. Perhaps if they are high up in the building and on the north east corner it makes all the difference . Same building, but lower down, the demand may be much less.

How did you arrive at these conclusions? What has caused you to think that 'higher up' or 'NE corner' is better? or 'lower down = less demand?'

 

[MUR]

I said " perhaps ".

My point was , maybe there are factors that one might not immediately think about that are important. I was hoping to elicit a response from people who have had experience in the area.

 

[Propertunity]

I said " perhaps ".

My point was , maybe there are factors that one might not immediately think about that are important. I was hoping to elicit a response from people who have had experience in the area.

Well I lived on the Gold Coast for a number of years - perhaps that qualifies me in some way?

General comments:

The Gold Coast used to go thru quite sharp booms & busts but as the population has grown over the last 25 years or so, this has tended to settle things down a bit as it is not just a holiday destination anymore.
Views are always a seller - especially of the ocean. Yes, you will pay more for being up high - especially a penthouse apartment.

Generally, I don't like serviced apartments for investing - high management fees. I don't like highrise because of high strata levies - lift maintenance. (But you have to temper that on the GC as there are lots of high rise and people have done very well with them long term).

I also don't like lots of units in the one tower - explained more in this thread: http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49163

Cheers.

 

[MUR]

I understand the idea of avoiding high rise apartments , but on the gold coast , apartments make up the vast majority of the real estate.

They also allow the property to have an asset that most people living on the coast are after............... a view of the ocean.

 

[Propertunity]

I understand the idea of avoiding high rise apartments , but on the gold coast , apartments make up the vast majority of the real estate.

Yes, that's why I said: (But you have to temper that on the GC as there are lots of high rise and people have done very well with them long term).

 

[topcropper]

This got me thinking , perhaps some units are sure fire winners. Perhaps if they are high up in the building and on the north east corner it makes all the difference . Same building, but lower down, the demand may be much less.

My friend's appartment is on the 13 th floor. I don't know what the aspect is.

Does anyone with experience have a comment ?

I've been holidaying on the Gold Coast all my life. I would only stay in a building withing 100 metres of the beach and withing walking distance of shops and cafes. I would only stay in a unit above say 5 floors. The higher the better really. The climate 20 floors up, 50 metres from the ocean is simply idilic in the summer. It is always much cooler up there, there is always a breeze, and how much breeze depends on how open you have the doors and windows, and there is never any mozzies. The ocean and surf is very loud up that high too, and that is good.

I know people living in houses on the Gold Coast, say inland a few k's, obviously at ground level, and the heat and humidity is terrible. I can't wait to get back to my unit after visiting them. The right unit in a well designed building, and I would never want airconditioning.

I would never want to stay in a unit without a balcony. I notice Q1 has no balconies.

See ya's.

 

[ger]

Just came back from holidaying there
lots of properties for sale and alot of apartments with Vacancies
read an article about an auction in Miami
beachside shack bought in 2006 for $13.5M
last year they had an offer for $14.5M but declined to sell
sold in the last couple of weeks at auctiom for $9.1M

 

[Property Meister]

^^^

yep, I saw that one, I thought, someone must have got a bargain!

surely, if equity and cash was no issue, this would be the bargain of the century,

say 5% yield at 14million, thats $700k pa in rent, if you paid $9.5 million for it say 100% finance at 5% interest rates. that'll cost you $475k pa

so you make $325k pa without doing anything, wait a few years, and if the value goes back up to $14.5million, you've made an extra $5 mill!

 

[topcropper]

^^^



say 5% yield at 14million, thats $700k pa in rent, if you paid $9.5 million for it say 100% finance at 5% interest rates. that'll cost you $475k pa

so you make $325k pa without doing anything, wait a few years, and if the value goes back up to $14.5million, you've made an extra $5 mill!

You don't get 5% yields on 14 mil properties though. And anyone who was smart enough to be making enough money to pay $2000 a day rent would surely want to own their own beach house rather than being a tennant.

See ya's.

 

[troyhunt]

I notice Q1 has no balconies.

It's got these quasi indoor-outdoor style balconies where the facia is flush but get a tiled "outdoor" area for a day bed etc. I'm with you though, far prefer something completely open to the breeze.

 

[troyhunt]

Just came back from holidaying there
lots of properties for sale and alot of apartments with Vacancies

Still a bit of a mixed bag of negative and positive news for the GC at the moment. This from the AFR on Monday last week:

Gold Coast Property Market - Ray White Surfers Paradise - Ray White Surfers Paradise, which held "super-auctions" yesterday, achieved a much healthier clearance rate than most 2008 auctions. The auction, which was attended by 1200 people and attracted 350 registered bidders, reaped $31 million, only $1 million less than the same auction last year.

 

[sue78]

I know Q1 is renting very well and it wasn't that expensive to buy.

It's always so expensive or full. The other one that's quite good is Mantra on Cavill. I think they're selling apts there too. You would get pretty good occupancy rates @$180p/n for 2br but they're asking $350 p/n for 2 br and even then it's quite full.

The problem with these investments is when it's quiet, if it ever gets quiet, and you have a $600k loan to service. You need a good buffer.

I have to Q1 and Mantra on Cavill and the 2br have almost 360deg views to die for...all windows are floor to ceiling except I'm scared of heights.

 

[sue78]

topcropper - i spent last week at Crowne Plaza with ocean view room. I was on the 22nd floor with a balcony and it annoyed the hell out of me. It has a small table and 2 chairs and my son could easily climb ontop of the table and fall off in a split second. Also, each time you open and close the balcony, you have to reset the air cond. Omigosh, my mum drove me mad coz she was going out so often for a smoke and at 2am the air cond finally broke down from all the re-setting and we had to call someone up to fix it!!

so I've had enough of balconies for now.