Best place to buy around melbourne under 320K??

[melbournegirl]

Hi
I’m trying to find the best place to buy around Melbourne under approx. 320K – 3 bedroom +
We already have a house in Frankston (building now and will live in) and want to purchase a second house. Not fussed where it will be as we will rent it out, but trying to find somewhere that will go up in valve in around 5-10 years.
Have been looking at Werribee, Laverton, Wyndham Vale, Hoppers Crossing, and around the western suburb areas, but I really don’t know much about them. Werribee seems really cheap at 250-280K for a 3 bedroom but I understand there is a sewage plant there is this why it is cheaper, and also a traffic problem?
Also I wouldn’t rule out regional Victoria eg. Bendigo, Ballarat
Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Aaron_C]

First thing you need to distinguish between 'cheap' and 'low price'. They are not the same.

 

[The Y-man]

Hi
I’m trying to find the best place to buy around Melbourne under approx. 320K – 3 bedroom +

As your own home or for an investment property?

The Y-man

 

[melbournegirl]

As above - will be for an investment (will rent out)
Thanks

 

[The Y-man]

As above - will be for an investment (will rent out)
Thanks

Oh sorry - didn't read properly.

The Y-man

 

[tobe]

If its for investment, why does it have to be a house, and why 3 bedrooms? Houses usually have more maintance issues than apartments, and usually the yield is lower, so more holding costs.

Why is your time frame 5 to 10 years? Would you be happier getting a spurt of CG in 7 years, or a smaller spurt in 1 year (after some reno's for instance) that you could leverage into something else?

That said, Id investigae the median price changes over the last 10 years of those suburbs you are interested then drill down into specific suburbs, do some more research into rental prices.

Then Id actually get in the car and visit (do the werribee sniff test), and find undervalued pockets within the chosen suburbs and surrounds. Id put the feelers out with some estate agents, Id set some e lerts on real estate.com and research actual selling prices on onthehouse or similar, then Id wait until the right deal comes along.

After that sort of research, the deal of the century should come along approximately once a week.

Alternatively you could engage a buyers advocate, but that will cost (and save/make) you money.

Alternatively, I have heard great things about Ballarat, your $320k will go a long way, and it doesnt matter what kind of property you buy there, in 5 to 10 years it will have at least doubled....


Actual results may vary, this is a parody of investment advice spruiking.

 

[younguns]

Hi there. We purchased our first investment property - a 2 bed/1bath ground floor apartment in Brunswick West for $320K in 2009. We spent $12K knocking down a wall, putting in a new kitchen and tidying the rest of the place. It has been valued at $410 recently. It rents for $340 a week. I think if we had our time over we would have bought a house but that was all we could afford at the time. Good luck

 

[Aaron_C]

I think these days it is so important to buy houses/townhouses, particularly in Melbourne. There is a glut of apartments in the CBD/Docklands/Southbank/Carlton that you really need to have something that stands out from the rest. The fact that mortgage insurers do not even touch high rise apartments speaks volumes I think.

 

[melbournegirl]

If its for investment, why does it have to be a house, and why 3 bedrooms? Houses usually have more maintance issues than apartments, and usually the yield is lower, so more holding costs.

Why is your time frame 5 to 10 years? Would you be happier getting a spurt of CG in 7 years, or a smaller spurt in 1 year (after some reno's for instance) that you could leverage into something else?

That said, Id investigae the median price changes over the last 10 years of those suburbs you are interested then drill down into specific suburbs, do some more research into rental prices.

Then Id actually get in the car and visit (do the werribee sniff test), and find undervalued pockets within the chosen suburbs and surrounds. Id put the feelers out with some estate agents, Id set some e lerts on real estate.com and research actual selling prices on onthehouse or similar, then Id wait until the right deal comes along.

After that sort of research, the deal of the century should come along approximately once a week.

Alternatively you could engage a buyers advocate, but that will cost (and save/make) you money.

Alternatively, I have heard great things about Ballarat, your $320k will go a long way, and it doesnt matter what kind of property you buy there, in 5 to 10 years it will have at least doubled....


Actual results may vary, this is a parody of investment advice spruiking.

Thanks for your advice Tobe! I did a lot of research yesterday and also came to the conclusion of - I may be better off investing in an apartment in the city? Only thing I would hate to pay is the corporate body. I also have heard that a loan is more harder to get with an apartment? Especially if under 50sqm?

 

[The Y-man]

Thanks for your advice Tobe! I did a lot of research yesterday and also came to the conclusion of - I may be better off investing in an apartment in the city? Only thing I would hate to pay is the corporate body. I also have heard that a loan is more harder to get with an apartment? Especially if under 50sqm?

If you are going to get an apartment, I suggest you don't get a small modern "dog-kennel: sized thing - go for an older (70's ~ 80's) style aprtment with a decent floor size. Yes - anything around 50 sqm would be difficult to get finance for.

The Y-man

 

[oneuppmanship]

I know you already have a house in Frankston, but I'm selling off an investment property (modern, spacious 2 bedder in small group of only 4 stand-alone villa's/units) that I'm willing to undersell, because of wanting to up-grade our PPOR, and need the sale ASAP.

Bank recently valued it at $300K and would sell it at around $285. Rented @ $285a wk to very good tenants.

Thought it worth mentioning because that's the sort of information I'd like to hear about too...

 

[tobe]

body corporate in Victoria isnt very much, its usually comparable to house insurance (ie about $1000 per annum).

Check out lots of apartments, think carefully about off the plan, some are overpriced, some, especially large new developments in the city are dificult to finance.

Older apartments in more established suburbs may be worth looking at. Get a feel for the diferent layouts. For instance some have a combined lounge and dining/meals area, others have a seperate kitchen. Some have internal access, others a catwalk. Some have security entry, others might not have a carpark etc etc.

Some are still held in Company title, which can be dificult to finance, however this means the pool of potential buyers is limited, and you might get a better price.

 

[Propagate]

You'd get something in Somerville for that. You don't see many empty properties round here, and when they do come up they seem to get tenanted almost straight away.

It's got all the amenities & shops you need within walking distance of the centre, and has a train line, (albeit in-frequent but works well for commute times).

Emma drives to Frankston Station & trains it to the city for work every day.

Once the Peninsula Link opens and people realize it's still an affordable area, with some nice houses and good community, (for the most party), plus close to beaches and tourist spots but still affordable then I should think it will do well?

I'm biased though, I love it down here.

 

[strongy1986]

You'd get something in Somerville for that. You don't see many empty properties round here, and when they do come up they seem to get tenanted almost straight away.

It's got all the amenities & shops you need within walking distance of the centre, and has a train line, (albeit in-frequent but works well for commute times).

Emma drives to Frankston Station & trains it to the city for work every day.

Once the Peninsula Link opens and people realize it's still an affordable area, with some nice houses and good community, (for the most party), plus close to beaches and tourist spots but still affordable then I should think it will do well?

I'm biased though, I love it down here.

Yeah I agree with that but I would be looking in Langwarrin or Baxter first. Next to Frankston South and a fair bit cheaper.