Balga WA ?

I forgot to mention that I also lived in the first property I purchased in Balga for about a year and a half.

I had a relatively sheltered upbringing in the leafy Perth western suburbs, and I had the same preconceptions about "Bogan Balga" that most people have.

We had friends genuinely fearing for our safety and offering us places to stay if (when) we ever got broken into, or car wheels stolen etc etc.

But nothing ever happened! It funny looking back now, but it was just so normal and suburban. I forget the percentage, (you can look it up if you want), but Balga has one of the highest number and area of public parks and recreation areas of ANY suburb in Perth. Theres literally a nice green park on nearly every street corner.

My g/f used to walk our dog to the parks after dark, we went to the local shops and weren't mugged/harrassed.

After about 6 months with no problems, we started to relax a bit and even invited some friends and family round for dinners/BBQs etc. Before that we were too embarrassed to even say where we lived. Now, I couldn't care less if I still lived in Balga. Don't get me wrong, I would take a PPOR in Bicton/Attadale over one in Balga anyday...but it really isn't the Middle East guys !!:)

Cheers, Chris
 
IMHO Balga is still very undervalued, with a lot going for it. It wont be long until it catches up with Westminster as far as values go.
After that, there's Girrawheen, Koondoola...now them areas are dodgy!:D

Boods
 
gooram said:
I've been looking around Carlisle where you can still get development sized blocks for less than 450k. Again not a desirable place right now but given proximity to the city it's bound to come good.
Click to expand...

? Carlsile has been "desirable" for quite a while now - wouldn;t have any problems buying there
 
Acting Superintendent Rick Corkill said:
Acting Superintendent Rick Corkill said “The number of burglaries has decreased compared to last year by 25 per cent.”
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me...unless you're in the 75% that still got broken into :rolleyes:

Just wish I'd bought in earlier.
 
I think Chris R has got the right idea. I don't have a property in Balga/ Girrawheen/ Mirrabooka but, if I was in the market, that is where I would be looking for a long term hold.

There are a lot of social support services and good transport available in the area, which makes it attractive for new immigrants and low income earners, particularly those without a car. There is a lot of competition for reasonably priced rentals but not enough houses/units to meet the need.

As far as trouble or undesirable elements are concerned, well I live in a supposedly great suburb, but I still get the odd out of control saturday night party in the neighbourhood . I've had to call the police around here at times too. :)
 
Someone mentioned good & bad streets / sections of Balga.

How does Arkana Rd stack up , not the Wanneroo Road end..

or Tratton St ?

Drove past 12 houses on Monday, on this street were a couple of old houses on 728sm and 809sqm blocks. most of what I checked were 728m blocks. The Traton St one is obviosly bigger and says it has approval for 3 x dble l/up garage places. the other was 2 houses down from the one I was driving to (under offer).. not as good condition as the one under offer. The Tratton st one was reasonably cheap by comparison to others, with installed tenant (big 4x 1 house)...
 
Hahaha that comment made me feel a bit guilty Blue Card.


I'd better get out front and do something about my verge! It looks really bad since I stopped watering.
 
Blue Card! said:
Tratton is alright - just look for roads with good verges - them's the roads with owner occupiers.
Click to expand...

Yeah noticed that drivign around

Went to check one out yesterday afternoon.. street has a 90degree bend, I trun the corner and see 2 cop cars and 3 cops having a chat .... Saw the house next dorr to the one I was looking for first... yard littred with broken kids gym and toys and milk crate and weeds and grass of varous heights... kids playing in this with adults drinking on the verge watchign the cops. The house UI was looking at was empty so not quite as bad... Worked out why the r/e ad safowner o/s and must sell... psin it any way yu wnat, who the hell would rent that ?!? exactly....
 
up to 350 seems to get you a house on a triplex block


Any reasons not to bother with this type of property & location for IP # 2 ?
 
I'd been looking at Nollamara for a similar thing for the last few months. I swear it was about $380K for an old house on 786 sqm in Q1 this year, now it seems to be $420K?

I'm a big fan of "land banking" in this way, if you can afford the losses for the next 5 years or so...
 
Perth Investor said:
I'd been looking at Nollamara for a similar thing for the last few months. I swear it was about $380K for an old house on 786 sqm in Q1 this year, now it seems to be $420K?

I'm a big fan of "land banking" in this way, if you can afford the losses for the next 5 years or so...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I watch the prices and volumes in that corridor quite closely (Noll/Westminster/Balga).

For Jaycee - you could probably get a 3x1 that needs a bit of work on a triplex block for 330-340K, but you are pretty spot on.

In the Feb-May period I swear I was seeing triplex block listings in the sub 310k region, but they've now dried up...I'm not saying that this is sign of the market picking back up - but something has defintely changed in the last few months...:cool:

Volumes are down as well - this time last year = 184 listed on REA (all houses in Balga, any number of beds, includes the properties already "under offer", just for a simplistic measuring stick that I have).

Anyway - Feb 09 = 159
April 09 = 145
June 09 = 137
July 8th 09 = 114

I don't draw any conclusions with regards to price movement correlations, but I do like to see the listings dropping, and the lowest list price for a standard 3x1 triplex block move up 20-30K.

Rgds,

Chris
 
fact is, FINISHED blocks (retained, serviced, fenced) in Balga are selling for $125k TOPS - so there's NO WAY IN HELL a "triplex block" awaiting any kind of developer's eye - a block that costs $15k per strata lot to develop (so $50k outside to get the block ready) is worth anything more than $250k.

sorry, but the numbers just don't add up. you can't ask $375k for a bare triplex block awaiting development.

125k sale price holds $25k profit (20%), minus the $15k per lot subdivision / service / develop costs, minus the demo and clearing fee ($12k) leaves a lot that can't be acquired for any more than $81k.

81 x 3 = $243k - BEST CASE.

that's all anyone can expect to pay/receive for a triplex block in balga is outright subdividing and selling.

finished homes are selling for $335k. with 20% profit required out of that at $67k leaves $268k MAX for build and land. well, the land component of 100k finished, minus turn-key 3x2 home at $165k leaves minus site finish costs at $25k presently minus agent's selling fee of $10k makes you still $35k in the hole - or down to a 10% profit margin.

ridiculous.
 
Blue Card! said:
fact is, FINISHED blocks (retained, serviced, fenced) in Balga are selling for $125k TOPS - so there's NO WAY IN HELL a "triplex block" awaiting any kind of developer's eye - a block that costs $15k per strata lot to develop (so $50k outside to get the block ready) is worth anything more than $250k.

sorry, but the numbers just don't add up. you can't ask $375k for a bare triplex block awaiting development.

125k sale price holds $25k profit (20%), minus the $15k per lot subdivision / service / develop costs, minus the demo and clearing fee ($12k) leaves a lot that can't be acquired for any more than $81k.

81 x 3 = $243k - BEST CASE.

that's all anyone can expect to pay/receive for a triplex block in balga is outright subdividing and selling.

finished homes are selling for $335k. with 20% profit required out of that at $67k leaves $268k MAX for build and land. well, the land component of 100k finished, minus turn-key 3x2 home at $165k leaves minus site finish costs at $25k presently minus agent's selling fee of $10k makes you still $35k in the hole - or down to a 10% profit margin.

ridiculous.
Click to expand...

The blocks arent bare
 
the triplex blocks aren't bare, or the subdivided, strata titled lots aren't bare?

if the triplex blocks aren't bare - then there's $12k of demolition to factor in, which i already have.
 
there is a very wide misconception as to how much it actually costs to carve a lot up. the only way it can work is if you can sit on the house for a few years and preferably retain the house in the subdivision process

with villas selling in low $300's and build costs what they are etc, it just aint worth it.

these numbers are almost identical to midland
 
Hence why I am sitting on mine...

The final numbers don't stack up for me yet, but the rents are solid (320pw+) and IR's are low.

So I'll just wait, and every 10k the finished villas go up (only the cruddy ones are still under 345K BC...) my end value goes by N x 10k, where N is the unit yields of my sites.

A form of leveraging, kind of like an option.

Chris
 
Interesting thanks all.

I guess I am interested in investing in another property.

Land content ws one reason I wondered about an older properties rather than new (I have a budget), so wondered, if that was sort of the way to go, was Balga a good place to look

Im not thinking of carving it up & flogging it to a developer tomorrow or buiilding on them myslef next week... I have seen the advertised prices of whats been built on these types of blocks, about $335k, same price the tripex block with old houses are advertised for

I just wanted to invest in a rental property is all...

Chris, I have noticed the price chagne from about $310 to $340 now aswell

Ausprop earlier on discussing this topic you suggeted Midland may have better potential with more govt funding going on, I looked and found the same sort of numbers...

Now I'm confused.. is investing in property a good idea in th4e first place ?
If yes, what sor tof property & where... If no, then what ?!
 
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