Ballarat & Orange ?

[pwinne]

obviously all things being equal you'd take 4 bdrs over 3

however, is 3 enough for the average family?

does the 4th bdr increase growth/rent?

family homes are fine. 3-4 in ballarat is rare in the inner areas and you pay $ for em.

1 bedders are common, easy to rent and sit around 125k unrenovated and 135-140k renovated.

you get people seeking 160k plus for apartments that dont ever seem to sell.

3-4 seem common in mt helen, mt clear, delacombe and alfredton: with a smattering on 50 year old 4 bedders in redan.

5 bedders are getting legs close to the uni, but a nightmare to manage if u get 5 students! (unless you live in ballarat), and you wish to do it yourself.

cheers

 

[Property Meister]

in a town like ballarat, how important is proximity (or closeness or simpletons) to the central area, there seems to be a fair few say 5-10 kms out, but they dont seem to be that rentable, even though the real estate agent i spoke to kept on going on and on about how the vacancy rate was like 1% and they they can't keep up with the demand.

I was thinking about in terms of best rental returns and minimise vacancy to look for a 3br+ quite close to the centre,

Im a little bit skeptical about 1bdrs in regional areas, unless its right next to a uni, I think it would be safer to target the average or young family who work in the area or simply cannot afford closer to the city and to buy one that needs a fresh coat of paint and maybe a new kitchen etc.

 

[pwinne]

Im a little bit skeptical about 1bdrs in regional areas, unless its right next to a uni, I think it would be safer to target the average or young family who work in the area or simply cannot afford closer to the city and to buy one that needs a fresh coat of paint and maybe a new kitchen etc.

hi property meister. 1 bedders in good nick, rent quickly and well. set and forget with a small budget to spruce up.
i don't see ballarat as a regional city any more, its close to being a outer suburb

cheers

 

[Property Meister]

hi property meister. 1 bedders in good nick, rent quickly and well. set and forget with a small budget to spruce up.
i don't see ballarat as a regional city any more, its close to being a outer suburb

cheers

great!

Im currently looking for
3 bedders or 4 as i feel that in terms of vacancy. A 1 bedder has a higher rent per person or room
so i believe that it,ll be safer this way that is unless every renter in the area is a student but ill double check

i believe if you get a good 3 bedder at a good yield that requires a simple paint job etc then you have not much to worry about

but at this stage im trying to work out how important it is to be close to the central square and what distance

 

[newbyinvestor]

great!

Im currently looking for
3 bedders or 4 as i feel that in terms of vacancy. A 1 bedder has a higher rent per person or room
so i believe that it,ll be safer this way that is unless every renter in the area is a student but ill double check

i believe if you get a good 3 bedder at a good yield that requires a simple paint job etc then you have not much to worry about

but at this stage im trying to work out how important it is to be close to the central square and what distance

Meister I'm starting to think that the best deal in Ballarat is to go new. Don't worry about going for a McMansion just shop around for a turn key package and if it's not too late consider hooking up with the NRAS deal.
Anyhow it's just something thats in the back of my mind.

 

[Property Meister]

Meister I'm starting to think that the best deal in Ballarat is to go new. Don't worry about going for a McMansion just shop around for a turn key package and if it's not too late consider hooking up with the NRAS deal.
Anyhow it's just something thats in the back of my mind.

hi newby

what makes you think to go new is better?

say you pick up land for $100k, $250k to build, you are looking at $350k minimum, or did you mean buy a 1-2 year old mcmansion?

 

[newbyinvestor]

hi newby

what makes you think to go new is better?

say you pick up land for $100k, $250k to build, you are looking at $350k minimum, or did you mean buy a 1-2 year old mcmansion?

Meister, I don't think it will pay off to build a 4 bedroom 25 sqm castle in Ballarat as an investment property. I'm at the early stages but my gut feeling is build a 3 bedroom, two bath basic house, say 16 or 18 sqm and keep the build cost around $300k.
Nothing wrong with Turn Key Packages from the big guys, just put some thought into the options and make sure the house next door isn't a mirror image of yours.
I'm thinking maybe have a look at the NRAS arrangement which hooks the house up with a tenant for ten years?

Anyway I'm keen on feedback from others who might already have built a place in Ballarat and hooked up with the NRAS

 

[Property Meister]

Meister, I don't think it will pay off to build a 4 bedroom 25 sqm castle in Ballarat as an investment property. I'm at the early stages but my gut feeling is build a 3 bedroom, two bath basic house, say 16 or 18 sqm and keep the build cost around $300k.
Nothing wrong with Turn Key Packages from the big guys, just put some thought into the options and make sure the house next door isn't a mirror image of yours.
I'm thinking maybe have a look at the NRAS arrangement which hooks the house up with a tenant for ten years?

Anyway I'm keen on feedback from others who might already have built a place in Ballarat and hooked up with the NRAS

hi newby

sorry i cant help with nras. What sort of rent would you expect with a turnkey

say it cost 300k youd have to rent for 385 per week to match average yields

i get the gut feeling that it might be too expensive for this area?

 

[newbyinvestor]

hi newby

sorry i cant help with nras. What sort of rent would you expect with a turnkey

say it cost 300k youd have to rent for 385 per week to match average yields

i get the gut feeling that it might be too expensive for this area?

Meister,
there is the $9600 tax benefit each year with the NRAS to take into consideration, not to mention claiming depreciation on the new place.
Anyhow maybe somebody like Belbo will read this thread and spell a few things out?

 

[Property Meister]

I was wondering if dual occ with a granny flat out the back for a student would work in Ballarat?

 

[pwinne]

great!

Im currently looking for
3 bedders or 4 as i feel that in terms of vacancy. A 1 bedder has a higher rent per person or room
so i believe that it,ll be safer this way that is unless every renter in the area is a student but ill double check

i believe if you get a good 3 bedder at a good yield that requires a simple paint job etc then you have not much to worry about

but at this stage im trying to work out how important it is to be close to the central square and what distance

evening propertyM..

I agree with you: for disclosure I have 1, 2 and 3 bedders in ballarat.

ballarat property group has a couple of off the plan purchases coming up in the midvale area (not far from the uni), that will be worth looking at.

its worth noting that prices have jumped in the last year, I purchased a small OTP 3 bed, 2 bath, single garage place in central ballarat for 240k in June last year, not 100m from this house is a similar OTP property selling for 279k.

that said, sebastapol in the tait st area has lots of turnkey places popping up. again the ballarat property group has been selling them via elmstone homes. these are under 250k and IMHO OK.

Andrew Ferguson is the RE from the ballarat property group marketing them, and in his opinion the sales in the 1st stages were to majority first home buyers so its not a rental slum!

disclosure 2: ballarat property group manage my properties and have found them EXTREMELY proffessional.

cheers and good luck.

 

[mysrh]

I've been eyeing orange and ballarat but since I don't live there, I'm unsure about the areas for IP.

In your opinion, can you advise which areas I should avoid and areas to look for.
I've read a few about them and i'd like to see more people opinion on these.

 

[beachgurl]

Take note of the addresses listed on realestate.com.au and then look at google street maps. That will be a good start. Much earlier in this thread I think I mentioned a few areas in Orange.

 

[luce.rocks]

I've been eyeing orange and ballarat but since I don't live there, I'm unsure about the areas for IP.

In your opinion, can you advise which areas I should avoid and areas to look for.
I've read a few about them and i'd like to see more people opinion on these.

People will tell you to avoid Bowen and Glenroi in Orange, but I think this is a bit too general. Where you really want to avoid (and I hope you're looking at a map for this) is:

1. The area in Glenroi with the curved streets to the left of, and including, Lone Pine Avenue. The other parts of Glenroi (the area with the straight/gridded streets) are pretty working class but while they might not be glamourous, they are safe. The area further to the right, over near the train tracks and Peisley Street, with the longer blocks, actually has some really nice, old, well-cared for character cottages and bungalows. And it's only a short walk into town. I would happily live there.

2. The area in Bowen, up near the showground, where Spring Street does a big loop. I think if you could look at fire station records, this would probably be the area they get called out to most often! Haha. Followed by the curved streets in Glenroi. Again, the rest of Bowen has some unglamourous, working class parts, and the part of Bowen that is closest to town has some lovely character cottages and bungalows that are getting done up.

I'm biased though: I have a house in Glenroi and my mum has a house in Bowen.

Cheers,
Luce

 

[Toon]

I've been eyeing orange and ballarat but since I don't live there, I'm unsure about the areas for IP.

In your opinion, can you advise which areas I should avoid and areas to look for.
I've read a few about them and i'd like to see more people opinion on these.

This is the latest article in the local Ballarat newspaper regarding suburbs' price growth:

http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/lake-gardens-buninyong-house-price-boom/2199318.aspx

As far as vacancies rates go, they are still very low. Yields should be easy to find in the 5-6% range.

 

[buzzlightyear]

I lived in Ballarat in the mid-90's and at the time was renting a 1br unit. A converted Victorian double fronted house that was split into two residences. I was renting at $90pw. Ahhh, nice! I recall period homes in walking distances of Sturt Street selling with yields of 10%. Even nicer.

Aside from not wanting to take the risk to purchase or have the right mindset to purchase, my overwhelming thought was, is there going to be capital growth? That question was answered in the years ahead. The question is, will capital gains and rents be as strong going forward?

Anyway fast forward 15 years and yields are no longer that good. I also have been looking recently at the cheaper side of the market eg Wendouree, and yields I have seen are around 6-6.5% gross and depending on outgoings are going to be 5% after tax (assuming 40%marginal tax) from my limited due diligence. These are for 1-2 br units.

But how does that compare to buying bank shares today with dividend yields of ~7% (fully franked)?

My initial thoughts are it will be a relatively solid resi yield play.

 

[cyan1978]

Hi all, first time poster and first time investor too, we recently purchased a 4 bed, 2 bath, on ~650sqm land in Ballarat, recently renovated as well, settlement in about 30 days. Its all very exciting but at the same time, its also a bit daunting. Purchase price was $252k and current rental at $280/wk, I guess I am just wanting some feedback if this was ok or could we have overpaid. Its in Ballarat East.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[sidknee]

If im not mistaken thats nearly 6% return, sound good to me. What street did you buy in if you dont mind me asking?

 

[our obsession]

Longer term, Ballarat (as is similar to Bendigo), average growth per annum for 1998 to 2008 decade, (must update) has been around the 10% mark. Units/apartments around the 9% for decade, and vacant land block growth, around the 11.9%. There is a breakdown of Ballarat suburbs by suburb, as is Bendigo, sister regional city.

That is the 'general' decade av growth for Ballarat as a whole, if you want, and it interests you PM me and I will fwd you what I have in email, copyright forbids me lumping the entire State details up here on the forum.