Brisbane investing HELP!

[WebBoard]

From: Greg C


I have just returned from a quick visit to Brisbane where I looked at Several IPs.
Being a Sydneyite I have no experience of Brisbane But it does suit my budget & I believe has good medium term potential.
I was Shown property at
1.Thornsides(New 3 bed townhouse)$215K
2.St Lucia new 2 bed Luxury apartments $275K
3.Morningside new 2 bed apartments $220K
4.Sunnybank new 3 bed townhouses $220K
5.Yeronga new 3 bed townhouses $247K
I know Sydney like the back of my hand,
(where to invest & where not to invest) but I was hoping any Brisbaneites could advise on the potential of these areas as well as other good and bad areas( obviously I am not looking to offend anyone)I would suspect the areas closer to the CBD are going to perform better in the long run, but what of places like Thornside and other coastal towns.
Where can I get historical capital growth data on these & other Suburbs?

Your comments will be appreciated

Thanks
Greg

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 1
From: Dave


Hi Greg,

I'm no expert in Brisbane. However, I do have some family that lives in
Sunnybank. Unless things have changed over the last few years,
Sunnybank is not a growth area. The demographic make-up is generally low
income, unemployed, etc etc. It would probably be a good suburb to do
wraps, or one where you'd find motivated (i.e. - desperate) vendors to
sell you a cheap property that could be cash flow positive for you.

I could be way off here...so I'm sure I'll be corrected if that's the
case.

Cheers,

Dave


{Life's short..play hard}

 

[Robert]

Reply: 1.1
From: Robert Forward


Hi Dave

Sunnybank isn't a place for wraps. Sunnybank and the immediate area is becoming the Brisbane suburb with the most amount of houses over the $1m mark.... (mind you, they are huge 50sq+ homes on acreage but still they are bringing the market up).

I own in the area and have got taken 15% Cap Growth recently (as in months) on properties in and around that area. So maybe your family are now in a real good house for the area.

Hi Greg

As for some of the prices you've stated they are getting rather high for Brisbane. Especially since what you have looked at are only townhouses or units. For those prices you can get very good houses in the same area. And if you are that interested in units/townhouses etc there is a new zone at Newstead that Mirvac (I think it's Mirvac) is about to redevelop at a cost of $800m.

It will be one of the next trendy spots to be in Brisbane as it will be mostly water front, shopping centers, parklands and cafes etc.

Cheers
Robert

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 1.1.1
From: Dave


Wow..thanks Rob. I told you I'd be corrected.

I may just get onto the phone and give those "see 'em once a year" type
relo's an offer.....

**bright light flashes**

....that's just another example why I don't buy in areas I'm not familiar
with. If I'm buying bricks'n mortar, I'd like to know the difference
between shit and clay.

Dave

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 2
From: The Wife


Hi Greg,

Who showed you all the townhouses and apartments??

Dave, I got property in Sunnybank as well, its starting to take off quite nicely. Except the townhouses. It would be a waste of damn sweet capital growth wrapping there.

TW
~Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all~

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 1.1.1.1
From: Greg C


On 8/14/01 1:40:40 PM, Dave wrote:
>Wow..thanks Rob. I told you
>I'd be corrected.
>
>I may just get onto the phone
>and give those "see 'em once a
>year" type
>relo's an offer.....
>
>**bright light flashes**
>
>....that's just another
>example why I don't buy in
>areas I'm not familiar
>with. If I'm buying bricks'n
>mortar, I'd like to know the
>difference
>between shit and clay.
>
>Dave
>
Hi guys,thanks for the replies
Robert, the properties were shown by
a)The Investor Club, Sunnybank & thornsides
b)Which Property Group, St Lucia & Morningsides.
They are all New Properties,
Being from Sydney where you probably pay $450K for the units & 550-600K for townhouses in similar located Suburbs(relative to the CBD)I thought the prices were ok(But i am happy to be corrected)

Would it be possible that Brisbane has already seen substantial capital growth in this cycle and that the new prices reflect that?
Also these properties I would consider to be well constructed, largish and attractive as well in good locations within their respective suburbs
Any Suggestions for alternate sourcing of property in Brisbane would also be appreciated( It is a bit hard to do long distance & I am not keen on cold calling local estate agents)
Regards Greg

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 1.1.1.1.1
From: The Wife


Greg,

If your not keen on cold calling agents, and doing the leg work, then probably investors club is for you, I personally think there may be some sort of over supply in Brisbane of townhouses, but I may be wrong ;o)

good luck

TW
~Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all~

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 3
From: Greg C


Sorry
dont Know how that got attached to the other reply
TRY Again
Hi guys,thanks for the replies
The properties were shown by
a)The Investor Club, Sunnybank & thornsides
b)Which Property Group, St Lucia & Morningsides.
They are all New Properties,
Being from Sydney where you probably pay $450K for the units & 550-600K for townhouses in similar located Suburbs(relative to the CBD)I thought the prices were ok(But i am happy to be corrected)

Would it be possible that Brisbane has already seen substantial capital growth in this cycle and that the new prices reflect that?
Also these properties I would consider to be well constructed, largish and attractive as well in good locations within their respective suburbs
Any Suggestions for alternate sourcing of property in Brisbane would also be appreciated( It is a bit hard to do long distance & I am not keen on cold calling local estate agents)
Regards Greg

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 4
From: Wayne Scholes


With regard to investing in Brisbane I would also like some advice. My daughter has found two units in Spring Hill which are 19-20 years old. They are both 2 bedroom units with garages and swimming pools in both complexes. One is $145,000 the other $149,000. I am not really familiar with Brisbane suburbs but I know that Spring Hill is about 3km from the city. The current rental is $180 pw. Does this sound a reasonable price for units of this age? Does anyone know what the growth is like in Spring Hill? Is it possible that these units may have already reached their peak and that there won't be much more growth to get out of them.
Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 4.1
From: The Wife


Wayne,

I am a Brisbane person, I would say that the Spring Hill units are at their peak, and being 19-20 years old is going to go against you, as they are busily knocking down houses and putting up new blocks of flats,your customer base ( tenants) are going to prefer to live in the new ones, especially as they will be price competitive, and will offer weeks of free rent to secure a bigger chunk of the tenant base.

Actually, thats IF they live there, I am amazed at the number of units /flats/ townhouses/ apartments that are going up in Brisbane, when it is traditionally, ( and still is as far as I can see) a lifestyle city, people like a house, on a block of land with a pool, and a little bit of space, its to damn hot to be living in small flats.

Ever noticed how its rare to find something with air conditioning? people dont bother, they live outside, quite often the outdoor table and chair setting is SO much nicer and more expensive that the indoor, they buy a lot of sun sails in Brisbane.

Summer time, rentals go flat on flats, pardon the pun.

Also, the trend has moved from Spring Hill for 'flat' dwellers to kangaroo point, and New Farm area, and I would imagine that is because they has produced some HUGE complexes in those places, lots of flats, real cheap, 2 weeks free rent as well in a lot of them.

I would still buy in Spring Hill, I would prefer a house there on a piece of land, but I would buy the Spring Hill flats, if they were cheap enough, and I dont think right now they are cheap enough, try to negotiate a better price if you are still keen, although it may be difficult, because the market is running so damn hot.

Did I mention that Spring Hill already has a huge amount of flats?

TW
~Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all~

 

[IanF]

Reply: 4.2
From: Ian Findlay


On the positive Spring Hill is a good, popular area and likely to gorow in
value. However these units are rather old and will likely need some
extensive maintenance which your daughter would need to look out for. $180
per week is very low for these prices (for $180 I'd be paying about $125k)
unless the rent is low for a reason - another reason not to buy.

Ian

> With regard to investing in Brisbane I would also like some advice. My
daughter has found two units in Spring Hill which are 19-20 years old. They
are both 2 bedroom units with garages and swimming pools in both complexes.
One is $145,000 the other $149,000. I am not really familiar with Brisbane
suburbs but I know that Spring Hill is about 3km from the city. The current
rental is $180 pw. Does this sound a reasonable price for units of this
age? Does anyone know what the growth is like in Spring Hill? Is it
possible that these units may have already reached their peak and that there
won't be much more growth to get out of them.
> Any advice would be most appreciated.
>

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 4.2.1
From: The Wife


Oh thanks Ian, I did sound rather negative didnt I, ;o)

TW
~Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all~

 

[NigelW]

Reply: 4.3
From: Nigel W


Wayne,

I'm also a Brisbane person (currently in exile due to work committments). I used to live in Spring Hill. The Wife is exactly right.

In fact I suspect the units you're looking at are probably in Phillips St or on St Pauls Tce (am I right??).

Pulling 180/wk I would pay even less than one of the posters suggested.

Spring Hill has shown some very good cap growth in the past for units and in particular houses. And in the long term I suspect it will continue to do so because you can actually walk to the CBD in about 8-12 minutes, whereas for the other (now trendier) suburbs that TW mentioned, the best route to the CBD is often by Ferry. (Not that that's a bad thing on a fine morning!)

There have been some substantial unit developments thrown up in and around spring hill eg Spring Hill Manor and Cathedral Place (Devine I think) and someone is putting up the Tribeca apartments.

Also, some smart cookie cottoned onto the great idea of buying run down hotels, refurbing the motel rooms into units of varying sizes and flogging them off at a price slightly below new built units. GREAT idea if you're on the selling end!

So, to cut a long story short. If you can get them around the 100-110K mark I'd buy, but otherwise go for a house or something in another suburb.

Cheers
N.

 

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Reply: 4.3.1
From: Rick Gibson


Wayne,

I know rent for the units you described should be more around the $200/wk mark from what I have seen in the area.

Maybe they haven't risen in a while, why?

Rick