Buying in Braybrook, Footscray, West Footscray, VIC

Hi all. I am more familiar with the east suburbs of melbourne but prices are getting insane in the eastern suburbs. Just wanted some opinions on the west of melb:

1) Braybrook, Footscray, West Footscray are good places to invest for capital growth in next 5-10 years? These seem to be close to CBD about 5-8km but median prices still below melb avg.

2) I know this part of melb is considered a rough place, but are there any good pockets to buy into?

Thanks
 
Hi all. I am more familiar with the east suburbs of melbourne but prices are getting insane in the eastern suburbs. Just wanted some opinions on the west of melb:

1) Braybrook, Footscray, West Footscray are good places to invest for capital growth in next 5-10 years? These seem to be close to CBD about 5-8km but median prices still below melb avg.

2) I know this part of melb is considered a rough place, but are there any good pockets to buy into?

More than most suburbs, Braybrook is like a patchwork quilt of a few bad streets, a few OK streets, a few industrial streets, a few retail streets, vacant blocks, and a few new housing streets.

There is no substitute for exploring the whole suburb. You can walk from one end to the other, back again then around towards the river in half a day or so.

Having said that, have you done a virtual tour with Google Streetview?

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&...=eDhrY7IL6pJl1KZHtwyIKg&cbp=12,305.56,,0,7.29 (Wonder how much rent that caravan dual occupancy would get)

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&...d=i9Oe2rb8Zm8gK1s07PJAgQ&cbp=12,7.85,,0,-3.82

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&...=20QHN4X4HL9YOnrfb4oKgA&cbp=12,171.26,,0,8.79 (Classic Commission style with the portholes)

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&...6KbJOpAmSqk2ezXagtyDoA&cbp=12,298.41,,0,-0.65 (by the river)
 
Good answer Spiderman. If it isn't intrusive, can I ask whether you have a property in Braybrook? I suspect I will be purchasing in that zone within a year.
 
Great areas, well serviced by public transport and with good infrastructure. The best areas of Footscray, IMHO, are around the Commercial Rd-Geelong Rd-Droop St triangle and just north of the CBD - Stirling St, Lynch St etc. Best areas in West Footers are around Stanhope-Alma Sts, the Stanley-View Sts area and Clive St. Lovely big blocks too - 500m2 generally, but a doer-upper is going to cost at least $550k these days.
Personally, I'd steer clear of things on Cross or Rupert sts because they already front the railway line and they're going to front that godawful tunnel when it gets built. Also, the part of West F'scray south of the railway line, which used to be Tottenham, is an up and coming area but quite a bit more industrial and definitely the cheaper end of the suburb.
I don't know Braybrook so well, so will leave you to discover that on your own.
cheers.
 
Great areas, well serviced by public transport and with good infrastructure.

Although note that the stations are on the edge of the suburb and due to roads, traffic and bridges are an unpleasant walk from most residential areas. Not something most people would want to do at night. And unlike Sunshine or Footscray, express trains don't stop.

On paper the buses offer a frequent service 7 days a week. However they have a poor reputation for reliability due to high traffic volumes in the area (especially the routes along Ballarat Rd).

You should really do the peak commute via all available modes of transport before buying in this and any area imho.
 
Hi all. I am more familiar with the east suburbs of melbourne but prices are getting insane in the eastern suburbs. Just wanted some opinions on the west of melb:

1) Braybrook, Footscray, West Footscray are good places to invest for capital growth in next 5-10 years? These seem to be close to CBD about 5-8km but median prices still below melb avg.

2) I know this part of melb is considered a rough place, but are there any good pockets to buy into?

Thanks

Mate check out the thread called "Here's one for Deltaberry"...

According to some 'seasoned investors' here (and I obviously use this term loosely), you can extrapolate their advice to be buy in West Footscray not Footscray.

Footscray recorded negative growth but West Footscray has recorded positive growth. You say they're next door to each other? Nah that doesn't matter. The papers never get it wrong according to this guy called toony.
 
Although note that the stations are on the edge of the suburb and due to roads, traffic and bridges are an unpleasant walk from most residential areas. Not something most people would want to do at night. And unlike Sunshine or Footscray, express trains don't stop.

On paper the buses offer a frequent service 7 days a week. However they have a poor reputation for reliability due to high traffic volumes in the area (especially the routes along Ballarat Rd).

You should really do the peak commute via all available modes of transport before buying in this and any area imho.

I agree with you on most of this. I've personally felt quite apprehensive waiting for trains at Tottenham and West Footscray stations, even during the middle of the day.
However, I'm not sure that this is all that different from many other Melbourne suburbs - and probably goes some way to prove that our public transport system has big problems, more than it does that these areas are not all that well served by what does exist.
I'm also not sure that I need commute into the city from three different suburbs by three or four different means simply to find out if the public transport is any good. Not everyone goes into the city for work, and not everyone goes at peak hour (despite appearances). Yet, strangely enough, quite a few thousand people find some reason to live in these areas.
I believe that these areas - with perhaps the exception of Braybrook - have, at the very least, similar public transport and other road and infrastructure options to other Melbourne suburbs that are a comparable distance from the CBD. And considerably better options than many that are further out.
Just my 2 cents tho.:)
 
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