Buying 2nd property.. Its confusing!

[sam178]

Hello All,

I am Samantha, Sam for short. One of my friends suggested this forum to get advice on where to buy.

My husband and I owned a property in Western Sydney and sold it a two years ago as there were plans of relocating due to family situations but now all is sorted & we plan to stay in Sydney. And we just started house hunting. We are now renting in Croydon.

We have a budget of 660 - 690 K. Can go a little higher but trying to play it safe as we are in a joint family, have a lil one and obviously because you can't be very sure about the job situation these days. Also, I am not working at this stage.

We have made a checklist of what is important
1. good daycare
2. safe suburb
3. must have access to train line (or ride to work in scooter)
4. must be maximum of 1 hour door to door each way. (to city)
5. 3 bedroom is preferred its it 2 bedder then big rooms so we can renovate later

Looking at Northern Suburbs like Hornsby, Normanhurst, Thornleigh, Wahroonga, Pennant Hills, West Pennant Hills, Cherrybrook, etc... Also at inner west like croydon park, strathfield, enfield. Any other areas you can suggest around this region?

One of our friends suggested North Rocks any thoughts on that area?

What is the strategy that we should be using? We realise that the range that we are looking at is the range that the first home owners are also very comfortable with & the competition is very high. I have been looking at properties on websites & most of the ones that suit our needs are already under contract.

Are there other websites where we can avoid the agent all together?

Looking forward to some expert suggestions

 

[Propertunity]

Are there other websites where we can avoid the agent all together?

Yeah, but they are mostly advertised by the vendors who want too much money for their property.

Are you looking for a house, t/house, villa, or unit?

For $690K in the Inner West you can sometimes get a dated renovator 3brm semi. I'm thinking of places like Union St in Dulwich Hill - which has a outdoor cafe coffee joint at the end of the street and a new light rail station, Arlington. Are you up for a reno? or do you prefer something already done?

 

[Rolf Latham]

Northmead is ok for that sort of money

ta
rolf

 

[sam178]

Yeah, but they are mostly advertised by the vendors who want too much money for their property.

Are you looking for a house, t/house, villa, or unit?

For $690K in the Inner West you can sometimes get a dated renovator 3brm semi. I'm thinking of places like Union St in Dulwich Hill - which has a outdoor cafe coffee joint at the end of the street and a new light rail station, Arlington. Are you up for a reno? or do you prefer something already done?

house is preferred... something detached... considering thouse or villa as well but something with lower strata fees... many of the new ones has strata of 1200 or more... not interested in one of those

something done is better... but the union st one... how bad is this place? is it livable for a year at least?

also how close to the light rail is this place gonna be?

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

Start going to the open houses in a few of those areas and have a look at the demographic, distance to those things that are important to you, what you get for your budget in that specific area and then go from there.

I don't think you should limit yourself to a unit and strata - I would consider a house.

I am also a bit biased in saying this because im from the North Shore but you will love the Wahroonga and Waitara areas. Great family vibe, excellent schools, train to the city in 50min and its on the train line to the city with regular service so not a lot of waiting around or changing trains.

Another option of course is to engage a buyers agent?

Regards

Shahin

 

[FelixL]

Baulkham Hills is pretty good, nice suburb, good schools, daycare.

although no train line but direct bus will get to city within the hour

for your budget you can get a 4 bedroom standalone house

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-baulkham+hills-113200427

 

[Aries]

North Rocks

Hi Sam

With North Rocks:

1. good daycare - there is a high recommended good council childcare in North Rocks. There are great preschools and local public schools there too.

2. safe suburb - I believe it is a safe suburb.

3. must have access to train line (or ride to work in scooter) - no train line, but I know there are buses to Parramatta and Epping Stations.

4. must be maximum of 1 hour door to door each way. (to city) - I am not so sure it will be a one-hour door to door to City though.

5. 3 bedroom is preferred its it 2 bedder then big rooms so we can renovate later - A friend bought a livable 3 BR house for around 600K late last year.

I hope this helps.

 

[sam178]

hi guys... thank you for the tips on north rocks and baulkham hills.

what is a buyers agent?

how do I go about getting one? how much do they charge?

 

[JayOh]

This may not work for you but have you considered renting where you want to live and buying an investment property? If you're not buying your first home then you don't any first home buyer incentives to help out and renting a house is usually cheaper than a mortgage unless you have a substantial deposit.

Unless of course you're not interested in property investment as such and just after location advice in which case please feel free to disregard my comments.

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

hi guys... thank you for the tips on north rocks and baulkham hills.

what is a buyers agent?

how do I go about getting one? how much do they charge?

There are a couple of really good BA's that post regular on the forum. BA's do many things include source the appropriate property based on what you are looking for. No harm in having a chat with one of them.

Regards

Shahin