Best PPOR/IP area between Mt Gravatt & Tugun?

[Eucrow]

Hello. Our family is looking to move to SE Queensland from New Zealand some time in the next 18 months. My husband would likely be employed in the Mt Gravatt area so our plan would be to purchase a small property between Mt Gravatt and Tugun that we would live in for a year or two before buying a larger family home. We see no benefit in renting if mortgage repayments are only $100-200 more per week. Our large family home in NZ will be mortgage free shortly and we would expect a rental return on it of NZ$40-50000 p.a. in our absence.
The house we initially purchase would become a rental after we sell our property in NZ and freehold purchase the larger property.
We would be satisfied with a steady, if unspectacular, return on the rental but our main concern would be that it's in a safe location with good primary and secondary schools. We would be looking at spending around AU$300000 (perhaps a bit more), possibly with a 100% mortgage.
Is anyone aware of the benefits (or otherwise) of borrowing against our existing NZ property to purchase in Australia? Would it be better to borrow a deposit in NZ and obtain an Australian mortgage for the remainder of the purchase price?
I come from a family of residential property investors but the property is primarily in NZ so I have no experience/knowledge of the ins and outs of the Australian property market! At this stage we are working on our financial plan so would really appreciate the input from anyone who cares to comment, especially regarding where the better schools are. We would happily sacrifice the property size/section size for a nice neighbourhood/good schools but our minimum requirement would be 2+ bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
Thanks in advance of any comments you may have.

 

[HD_ACE]

Just thought i would make sure your aware of stamp duty when purchasing in aus. So it may affect you if your buying a few in quick sucsession. And also if you rent your nz house out while your a resident in aus and then sell the house later down the track you could be up for capital gains tax aswell.

And also if your new ppor will be rented out not long after living in it then you may wantto look into borring it at a high lvr as possible so when you rent it out the tax deductions are increased and then use the extra funds for your new ppor when you buy it as its non deductable debt.

Just make sure you plan it all properly.


Cheers

 

[1911naomi]

Tugun

I live in Tugun and have done so for 3 years.
Its a lovelly area close to the beach, close to all of the Gold Coast (nicer areas anyway but still far enough from Surfers to be more relaxing and not so busy. Only downside is the planes which can get very anoying when you are trying to watch a movie. I am directly under the flight path - lucky me. Luckily these days you can pause tv. There seems to be some basic houses around for the $350+ mark. I havent personally kept an eye on units/townhouses but Im sure there are plenty around for under $300k.
Good luck.

 

[Eucrow]

Thanks!

Thanks for your replies! The more research we do, the narrower our search area becomes. We're leaning towards the Robina/Elanora/Tallebudgera area, rather than further north or the more touristy areas right on the coast. I've learned a lot from reading some of the posts in this forum and we're taking this information into consideration. It helps to have regular holidays in Queensland and to have relatives already there! The school thing is non-negotiable as we're in a decile 10 catchment area here in NZ and would not be prepared to "downgrade". We just need to be sure that the initial property we purchase to live in (apartment/unit/villa/duplex/whatever it turns out to be) will make an OK investment after we move out. Any comments regarding what makes a successful IP in the Robina/Elanora/Tallebudgera area?
In gratitude,
Eucrow.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Robina has better transport options being closer to Varsity station and Bond Uni

A little further afield, Parkwood near the new GC hospital looks great but is a long hike from the border.


ta
rolf

 

[wylie]

If your husband will be working in the Mt Gravatt area, I'm curious why the interest in the coast. My hubby was working for about a year at the coast and we live in Coorparoo so very easy access to the freeway and just one entry/exit from the Mt Gravatt entry/exit. The comment he made was that the trip to work in the morning and the trip home in the afternoons were easy as they were travelling against the traffic, but the traffic coming into Brisbane and heading from Brisbane to the coast in the afternoons was very congested and often looked like a car park.

If you really want to live at the coast I'm guessing you've thought of the freeway traffic your hubby will sit in each day. If you don't need to be at the coast, I would suggest you buy somewhere within an easy travelling radius of Mt Gravatt, especially as it will only be a rental after the first year.