Brisbane: Indooroopilly and surrounding suburbs

[Propertynewby]

Hey Guys,

Getting really close to buying an investment property in Brisbane. I?ve done my research and narrowed it down to the western side of the river up to 6kms from the city.

Suburbs include Paddington, Milton, Auchenflower, Toowong, Taringa, Indooroopilly. Looking to spend 400-500k on 2br unit.

I?m leaning towards Indooroopilly at the moment due to the the redevelopment of the shopping centre and some hot-picks from well-known real-estate experts. Plus it?s a little cheaper than the others closer to the city.

Aim is CF neutral (or close to it) and steady capital growth over next 5 years.

Does anyone have an feedback about this suburb? Is there anything I should know about it? Streets to avoid? Good areas/bad areas?

How does it compare to say Auchenflower? Similar demographics?

Any help on this area would be much appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Perp]

This is my 'hood.

There are no bad areas of Indooroopilly that I can think of; only "good" and "better". For a unit, I'd be prioritising proximity to the shopping centre, or at least bus or train line.

Auchenflower's a nice suburb, but unless you drive, there's not a lot of shops. So definitely would want to be very close to train station or one of the few small shopping centres that there are. If you haven't picked it up, Auchenflower north of Milton Rd is very prestigious, and that's prime "PPOR house for professionals" area; south of Milton Rd has more units and is good for renting to students and hospital employees. (The Wesley Hospital.)

I think Indro - as we locals say - has the units and houses more mixed together than Auchenflower, and that means it's more uniformly desirable. (Not that any part of Auchenflower is by any means undesirable.)

Personally, I'd prefer Indro for growth potential; the heavy traffic on Milton Rd and heritage listings etc make it hard to see how Auchenflower can change very much. But I can see Indro becoming a huge focal point for the western suburbs. (It already is, but even more so.)

I think you could also get good growth out of a unit in Taringa, but I'd stick to a smaller and older complex with potential for improvement and maintaining scarcity. There are some large complexes of units in the vicinity of Burns Rd, but I think these complexes are so large that there's always going to be lots of comparables to compete with, and thus it'll be hard to keep prices up.

 

[Propertynewby]

Thanks for your info!

Everything seems positive for Indro which just reaffirms my throughts all along.

Just have to decide weather to go for an entry level 2br unit @ around $350-375k or get something new/nicer (or possibly 2-3 bed townhouse little further away from the shopping centre) for around $450 mark.

What are the demographics in Indro? Is it right to assume most that live within 1km of the shopping centre/train station would be considered professionals or young couples and prefer units?

 

[Perp]

What are the demographics in Indro? Is it right to assume most that live within 1km of the shopping centre/train station would be considered professionals or young couples and prefer units?

Personally, I'd go for the unit in closer; the townhouse out further has more competition, and they're nearly as much to rent/buy as a house. I think if I were renting I'd either go for a house with maintenance but more space, or a unit that's convenient to everything, but a townhouse that's not right near the central area seems like the worst of both worlds.

The demographics of Indro are pretty diverse, though notably very few working class. Mostly middle-upper professionals with families and teenage kids - very popular for families in that demographic in particular because of presence of, or easy transport to, excellent private (and public, for that matter) secondary schools. Most of these people live in their own homes, but there's a significant population of mobile professionals - from interstate and overseas - who are perhaps only working in Brisbane for a year or two, so there are still a significant number of home renters.

The other main demographics are younger couples without kids who like the convenience of catching the train to work and walking to lots of restaurants (who both buy and rent), and students who have easy transport to UQ (who predominantly rent, obviously).

Retirees, less-well-off working families, and other demographics are pretty under-represented.

 

[KAP]

+1 for pretty much everything said above.

Swann Road or something just North of it would be my pic in Taringa.

In terms of demographic, I have quite a few friends who are either young proffesionals or in their last years at Uni renting in Indro, Taringa, Toowong etc.

 

[Icarus]

Finney Rd (coming out of Indro shopping centre the back way towards Moggil Rd) would be one street I'd avoid.

Heaps of traffic (busses included), no parking, skinny street and I saw another block of units getting built when I drove through last week which will only add to the problem.

But, I suppose, plenty of transport at Indro, so maybe tenants don't need a car park?

As others mentioned, good suburb! Chapel Hill is our hood, suburb next door.

 

[starter]

Good info in here. I'll just reiterate what Perp said above in sticking to the older units in the small blocks rather than any of the high density blocks.

 

[monty]

What are nearby Chelmer, Graceville and Sherwood like? The few previous mentions on the forum seem to indicate they are nice suburbs. Looks like there are some areas to avoid due to flooding though.

 

[Peter Parker]

What are nearby Chelmer, Graceville and Sherwood like? The few previous mentions on the forum seem to indicate they are nice suburbs. Looks like there are some areas to avoid due to flooding though.

These are all good suburbs with higher than average incomes.

You'd probably want to check to see how much the bridge over the river slows traffic to lengthen travel time versus closer in. All three have a good rail service and are within 20 min of the CBD.

The western side has the nicer houses, with average looking places to the east. There is some redevelopment and densification in the area.

Prices are lower than Indooroopilly and it may be better to get a unit with a garage in a small complex in one of these areas than a smaller unit without a garage in a large complex in Indooroopilly or Toowong.

Rental demand seems to be OK. Corinda & Oxley are cheaper again and are still handy. This might have been an OK buy http://www.realestate.com.au/property-unit-qld-corinda-117372871

 

[monty]

What gross yield would you guys be aiming for in these suburbs (for a 2-bedroom unit)? From time to time on this forum I see people mentioning gross yields of 7% or even more. You wouldn't find that in these areas would you?

 

[Dbz_Vic]

What gross yield would you guys be aiming for in these suburbs (for a 2-bedroom unit)? From time to time on this forum I see people mentioning gross yields of 7% or even more. You wouldn't find that in these areas would you?

7% and above yields are in Logan City, you will be hard pressed to find that yield in Brisbane even with a dual living setup because buy in prices are higher. Also in QLD because of the high council/water rates 7% could even mean you are still slightly negatively geared. So do your calculations.

 

[Perp]

What gross yield would you guys be aiming for in these suburbs (for a 2-bedroom unit)?

7% and above yields are in Logan City, you will be hard pressed to find that yield in Brisbane

I agree with Dbz_Vic; it's hard to get 7% - on standard resi properties - anywhere in Brissie, let alone in a relatively middle-upper area like Indro.

 

[monty]

So around 5% is what you would expect?

 

[Perp]

So around 5% is what you would expect?

Looks like that's about right, yes.

 

[Propertynewby]

Thanks for all your help...

My biggest battle is understanding why a relatively new (< 5 yr old) 2bed, 2bth 1car apartment in small block about 500m away from indro shopping centre for $430-450...

Then a similar floor-space, 2 bed, 1bth, 1 car 1970s unit in small block which needs work (or at least updated) is around the $380-$420k mark

to me an extra $50k for a newer, bigger and modern is a no-brainer - especially as its more attractive to tenants.

Here is the link for the 2 x examples im looking at. Please tell me if im missing something here?

http://www.domain.com.au/property/f...flat/qld/indooroopilly/?adid=2011379535&sp=19

http://www.domain.com.au/property/f...-flat/qld/indooroopilly/?adid=2011405833&sp=2

Do you think this limits my capital gain by purchasing the newer one?

 

[starter]

Thanks for all your help...

My biggest battle is understanding why a relatively new (< 5 yr old) 2bed, 2bth 1car apartment in small block about 500m away from indro shopping centre for $430-450...

Then a similar floor-space, 2 bed, 1bth, 1 car 1970s unit in small block which needs work (or at least updated) is around the $380-$420k mark

to me an extra $50k for a newer, bigger and modern is a no-brainer - especially as its more attractive to tenants.

Here is the link for the 2 x examples im looking at. Please tell me if im missing something here?

http://www.domain.com.au/property/f...flat/qld/indooroopilly/?adid=2011379535&sp=19

http://www.domain.com.au/property/f...-flat/qld/indooroopilly/?adid=2011405833&sp=2

Do you think this limits my capital gain by purchasing the newer one?

Looks like the second unit was just overpriced initially, has been reduced now so the price differential is closer to 90k.

 

[Joostoz]

Mind you: Lambert Road is a terrible road to live on (in my opinion), since all the school traffic to St Peters is basically bumper to bumper from 7am onwards, and then again from 2pm. When I pass there around 6pm there's always still a lot of traffic. Plus bus routes pass through Central avenue, then turn onto Lambert.

On the plus side: Indro station is just around the corner!

 

[Joostoz]

Also, check the development plans for the site next door to the Lambert road unit... It seems something is going to go up there very soon. May or may not be a good thing.