Buying Interstate in Brunswick Victoria

[BenG]

Hi forumites,

Me and my wife are looking at buying the Brunswick. I have read quite a bit on the forum about the suburb and also have friends who live in Melbourne that say the suburb is very up and coming/trendy. With the current heat in the inner city suburbs I'm finding it difficult to know how to approach this.

I was wondering if anyone had a good agent they would recommend speaking to about the area? I have also heard that some areas of Brunswick are less appealing due to housing commission??

Basically I'm good to go on the finance side of things and I'm prepared to pay market rates but also feel the longer it takes to fins a place the harder it will be to get something in my price range?

Any advice or contacts would be really appreciated.

Thanks

 

[peastman]

As a long term investment I would say Brunswick would be a good area. Yes there are housing commision blocks around but I dont think it really makes much difference. When buying interstate, I find Google Earth to be a very good tool, you can see where the property is in relation to everything. If you are concerned about not knowing the area, a return plane ticket is cheap. Come down for a day.

 

[bunjiBing]

BenG,

I live in Brunswick West.

What kind of IP are you after (house/unit/apartment) and what's the price range? Went to an auction last year where a 4 bed house went for $900K. On the other side of the scale there are flats available for $200K.

Are you looking at Brunswick proper or also B'wick East/West? There are variations in lot area depending on which area you're looking at. Eg. generally, larger lots near the Moonee Ponds Ck in the west and the Merri Ck in the east, smaller lots around Sydney Rd.

Housing Commission housing - the multilevel type - only exists in a small pocket, west of the Jewel train station, I wouldn't worry about it.

Can't help you with the good agent question - we bought with Thomson (www.tre.com.au) can't say good or bad things about them - they weren't dodgey in my experience. There are many REAs servicing the area.

-BB

 

[neaka]

I was looking in Brunswick mid last year and i unfortunately missed the boat on that suburb. Not sure what you want to spend but there isnt much in the way of houses under $550-600k

Great area though! Close to city, just be careful what part of Brunswick you buy in, there are some pretty dodgy spots and some really nice spots.

I think it would be a great place to invest for the future.

Good luck!