Ballarat

[Normie]

I did phone a Ballarat letting agent who basically confirmed what has been said before - units are a much better letting proposition than family houses and stay out of Wendouree West, though she was quite positive about Sebastopol.

Certain media have said Wendouree West is worst neighbourhood in Victoria.

The residents of Wendouree West show love for the suburb.
http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/l...t-residents-show-love-for-suburb/2285839.aspx

Wendouree West takes stand against stigma.
http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/l...-west-takes-stand-against-stigma/2284905.aspx

With 85more train services i would be looking at places with walking distance to the railway station.
http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/l...n-services-for-wendouree-station/2283025.aspx

 

[Property Hoarde]

Hi all,

i had a look through 3 or 4 pages but couldnt see much information on Brown Hill. What are peoples thoughts on it? More specifically on the eastern side of the freeway.

Cheers

Ben

I do like brown hill. Brown Hill also benefits from being on the Melbourne side of town.

I would prefer to stay on the city side of the freeway as past there it is still just developing. Ie just new estates with a lot of room to develop.

If you could find one of the last blocks on the city side, I think that would be a better investment

 

[Property Meister]

just thought id give my recent consistent experiences,

a lot of vendors (not sure if they are older or not) seem to be insisting on a certain price,

eg. a property that I looked at sold for $250k, one a few hundred metres further away from the action is asking $290k, agent says, anything under $280 wont even be looked at, and its been sitting on the market for 2 months now

eg. one property that has been on the market through different agents for at least 9 months now, first agent said $280k (probably to get them excited), no interest, changed to a more realistic agent for $260k, dropped to $250, $240, $235k, got an offer for $230k, buyer pulls out, vendor gets annoyed and relists with orig agent for $250k

eg. one property advertised for $300k (overpriced) 10 days later gets sold for $270k, another one 3 doors down but not as good, vendor wants $300k and wont budge.

 

[Tony3008]

I was up in Ballarat last Saturday looking at 2-bedders for +/- $225K. Looked at ten (seven from street only), only three worth further contemplation. It would be different if I were a local and/or looking for reno/development possibilities along the track - I'm looking for no fuss buy and hold.

Something like this http://www.domain.com.au/Property/F...lat/VIC/Ballarat/?adid=2009253071&shortlist=1 - on a beautifully maintained estate looked good at first glance, but when you run some numbers (asking $209K, let at $205) it doesn't stand up unless you're expecting lots of CG or rent increases in the years ahead. Around 30 years old so minimal depreciation. Same probably true of this one http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/Townhouse/VIC/Wendouree/?adid=2009176597&shortlist=1 - didn't look at it but right side of Wendouree and looks really nice for the money (perhaps more garden than some tenants would want?). But I think I have one that will be a safe if unspectacular buy - will see.

 

[Property Meister]

hi everyone

was wondeing if a local or someone knowledgeable could tell me about a particular\street\area in ballarat?

There havent been that many properties for sale in this particular st snd was wondering from both a cg and rentability perspective

ta

 

[RedCat]

just thought id give my recent consistent experiences,

a lot of vendors (not sure if they are older or not) seem to be insisting on a certain price,

eg. a property that I looked at sold for $250k, one a few hundred metres further away from the action is asking $290k, agent says, anything under $280 wont even be looked at, and its been sitting on the market for 2 months now

eg. one property that has been on the market through different agents for at least 9 months now, first agent said $280k (probably to get them excited), no interest, changed to a more realistic agent for $260k, dropped to $250, $240, $235k, got an offer for $230k, buyer pulls out, vendor gets annoyed and relists with orig agent for $250k

eg. one property advertised for $300k (overpriced) 10 days later gets sold for $270k, another one 3 doors down but not as good, vendor wants $300k and wont budge.

I put an offer in on a Ballarat property today for $270. Vendor will only discuss offers between the advertised price of $285-$295 and it's been on the market for 4 months.

 

[Aaron_C]

I put an offer in on a Ballarat property today for $270. Vendor will only discuss offers between the advertised price of $285-$295 and it's been on the market for 4 months.

From Richmond to Ballarat - you get around

 

[RedCat]

I've been looking at Ballarat for ages. Been down twice to look at property so not really. It's an area I'm comfortable with.

 

[Tony3008]

I put an offer in on a Ballarat property today for $270. Vendor will only discuss offers between the advertised price of $285-$295 and it's been on the market for 4 months.

Similar here. I've been knocked back on a 2+1 unit in Canadian, asking $197K, currently rented at $195, built 1990 so minimal depreciation. Sound but it will need complete redecoration, carpets and kitchen replacement when the current tenant leaves - $10-15K? spend, rent $215? Plus side is 400m2 land, so a decent size garden (needs some money spent to make it low maintenance). I offered $182K unconditionally (got a B&P, finance in place), which I then raised to $187K but can't see the rationale for paying more when I can buy a brand/near new unit in Ballarat or Sebastopol for $200K renting at $210.

Agent's comment in declining my offer was "When we price property we don’t inflate prices as is the case in Melbourne. In this price category i.e. property below $200,000, we usually allow a negotiation of between $2,000 - $3,000. If we added $10,000 on to every property for negotiations we would be pushing them into a higher selling category which would make them extremely hard to sell.".

I guess it beats the first potential IP I looked at 2+ years ago, a 2+2 townhouse in Mitcham priced at $355K, agent's comment "if your offer doesn't start with a '4' don't bother"!

 

[RedCat]

Yes it beats the Mitcham situation but I'm not so sure they price property 100% correctly.

Can't help thinking about another poster on this forum that had said he overheard someone on the train almost laughing at how Melbourne investors come into Ballarat and pay full asking price whilst the locals start at 15% below the asking price. He was probably exaggerating but it's food for thought.

I think that maybe most people in Ballarat think their property has gone up $30K in the last 12 months when really the majority of growth in the past 12 months has been in Soldiers Hill.

Annoying. Last time I went down there I was concentrating on Soldiers Hill but only found one property that suited and my offer then was rejected also. As was another in Wendouree.

I kinda figure that if a property has been on the market 4 months and hasn't sold, and lots of locals have an investment property and haven't snapped it up then there's a good chance it is a bit overpriced.

 

[Tony3008]

Am still looking, any comments on the relative merits of these two

http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/Townhouse/VIC/Ballarat/?adid=2009267971 $237K - near new 2+1 so should be good depreciation, faces a semi-busy road and next to no sitting out space at back, bus stop almost outside and supermarket across the road, so looks like the sort of place that lots of younger tenants would lke - nothing for them to do (but new owner needs to replace front grass with something better!).


http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/VIC/Redan/?adid=2009320513 $239K - 3+1 house right next to the one above. Haven't seen it, but it looks to have lots of garden. 20-30 years old?, little depreciation?, higher maintenance? Good PPOR bad IP? Or much better value for money?

My reckoning is that the rents on the two would be much the same, $240 or so, probably higher rates, water rates and insurance on the house.

TYIA

 

[Tuppence]

Interesting, this line from your first ad: ''Currently rented to excellent tenants for what could be $240 per week''. Does that mean it's not $240 a week but is under-rented. Why is that? (just a question to be asking - it's curious wording)
When we looked in Ballarat just over a year ago, the general guideline was $240 rent (for e.g), meant buying around $240,000 ... $250 a week = $250,000ish ... and so on. I'm not sure if that's still the case, but it's probably similar.
FWIW, I like the location of the Redan one - although just going by the map view. Haven't looked a great deal closer.

 

[Tony3008]

Interesting, this line from your first ad: ''Currently rented to excellent tenants for what could be $240 per week''. Does that mean it's not $240 a week but is under-rented. Why is that? (just a question to be asking - it's curious wording)

AIUI the rent position on the unit is that it is currently on month-to-month at a lower figure, but if you buy as an investor then you should be able to let it at the higher figure to the existing or new tenants. The vendor probably doesn't want to push it in case they leave.

FWIW, I like the location of the Redan one - although just going by the map view. Haven't looked a great deal closer.

They are right next to one another. Ballarat agents seem to be fairly casual about the exact locale. Further up in this thread someone pointed out that one described as being in Ballarat was well into Sebastopol; I looked at one two weeks ago described as Sebastopol which was actually on the Redan side of the boundary.

 

[Tuppence]

ok, I see. We bought off that agent (the Pleasant Street South one) - found him to be smooth, IYKWIM good luck.

 

[Property Meister]

got a quick Q, hopefully people can help me out with,

basically, been looking at 3bdrs+ the whole time, so im pretty familiar with the market,

however, one has come up, but its 2 bdr which i havent even considered

price is ok
block size is very good for subdivision down the track
rent is good, almost up there with 3 bdrs of similar
condition is pretty good

so how would you guys view/assess the fair value of the property considering its 1bdr short??? and seems to fit most of my criteria

I did recall someone saying, 2bdrs for the same rent is a danger sign but im not too sure

thanks in advance

 

[sidknee]

got a quick Q, hopefully people can help me out with,

basically, been looking at 3bdrs+ the whole time, so im pretty familiar with the market,

however, one has come up, but its 2 bdr which i havent even considered

price is ok
block size is very good for subdivision down the track
rent is good, almost up there with 3 bdrs of similar
condition is pretty good

so how would you guys view/assess the fair value of the property considering its 1bdr short??? and seems to fit most of my criteria

I did recall someone saying, 2bdrs for the same rent is a danger sign but im not too sure

thanks in advance

Where abouts is it (roughly), what rental return, how big is the block

 

[Property Meister]

sure

its just off york st near main st ( its not on the market yet, will be next week

block is 895sqm
current rent is 245 pweek
asking price 245k
completely original
a little dated but nothing wrong with it

in my opinion 3bdrs rent for about the same
looking for a quick sale apparently

 

[Property Hoarde]

sure

its just off york st near main st ( its not on the market yet, will be next week

block is 895sqm
current rent is 245 pweek
asking price 245k
completely original
a little dated but nothing wrong with it

in my opinion 3bdrs rent for about the same
looking for a quick sale apparently

I am not a big fan of that part of town but I can see it improving as it is very close to town.

I would think it must be in good condition to be getting $245 for a 2 bed.

My newist unit in Ballarat North gets that. (also 2 bed)

I would only buy something like this if I knew I was going to develop it.

 

[sidknee]

sure

its just off york st near main st ( its not on the market yet, will be next week

block is 895sqm
current rent is 245 pweek
asking price 245k
completely original
a little dated but nothing wrong with it

in my opinion 3bdrs rent for about the same
looking for a quick sale apparently

Thats a nice size block & fairly central too. Over 5% return & if its in good nic (nothing wrong with it apart from a litttle dated), sound like good deal to me. Good luck PM

 

[Property Meister]

I am not a big fan of that part of town but I can see it improving as it is very close to town.

I would think it must be in good condition to be getting $245 for a 2 bed.

My newist unit in Ballarat North gets that. (also 2 bed)

I would only buy something like this if I knew I was going to develop it.

agree, i was a bit surprised by the higher rent as well for a 2bdrconsidering the fact that its completely original inside and in ok condition, must be due to proximity i personally am a fan of york st and eureka sts closer to the city due to larger blocks, good rents and good value for money for the record i think 245pw for 245k=5.2% yield is not that great for ballarat however for me, my intentions are to hold for a little while and then subdivide or dual occ so rental yield is always a consideration