First Home Buyer looking in SE Melbourne

[D.L]

Hi everyone,
It's been great reading all the informative posts and fantastic to be able to access such a great resource. It's my first post and I'm a newbie, so please be gentle.

I'm a first home buyer looking at purchasing in SE Melbourne, with approx $500-600K budget.

My plan is to purchase a property as PPOR and live in for 12 months to take advantage of stamp duty savings as FHB and then lease it out afterwards as an investment property (while I rent someplace else) for negative-gearing/tax purposes.

The reason I am looking to buy in the SE Melbourne area is because both myself and my partner work in SE Melbourne. I have thought about inner west (e.g. Footscray), but the daily commute wouldn't be very feasible for the both of us.

Some options I am considering include...
(1) Purchase a detached/semidetached unit that has a smaller land component within approx 15km radius from CBD in a blue-chip suburb (e.g. Carnegie, Oakleigh, Bentleigh east)

(2) Purchase a detached/semidetached unit or house further out in a non-Blue-chip suburb that has a larger land component (e.g. Mulgrave, Clayton, Wantirna, Mitcham)

Any suggestions/opinions? Or areas you would highly recommend/consider? I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you all in advance!

 

[rabidz]

Some options I am considering include...
(1) Purchase a detached/semidetached unit that has a smaller land component within approx 15km radius from CBD in a blue-chip suburb (e.g. Carnegie, Oakleigh, Bentleigh east)

I will choose this option. If you can afford Malvern East, it would be better.
These areas are well proven, in terms of high capital growth.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[D.L]

Thanks rabidz! Unfortunately Malvern East is a bit too pricey for me.

 

[LoneWolf]

Based on your 500-600k budget, have a look at what you are able to purchase within these areas, do some filtering and see your options

Only then you are able to see what is available, rather than simply looking at geographic

 

[Spades]

Hi D.L,
My preference would be house and land with your budget.

Mulgrave,rowville,noble park north,noble park?(rail upgrade)Dandenong north,springvale,keysborough etc.

Maybe a radar a couple km's radius from junction of monash and Eastlink?

30km's from CBD,what would you get in sydney?

Population prediction,there saying melbourne is going to take over sydney by 2028?

Who knows.

Cheers Spades.

 

[zoom]

I wouldn't think Noble Park would be an ideal area if you are able to afford more "Blue Chip" regions. I feel like there would be too many issues relating to the demographic of the area. I am completely unaware of the growth figures, but it seems like a more risky proposition.

 

[strongy1986]

Hi D.L,
My preference would be house and land with your budget.

Mulgrave,rowville,noble park north,noble park?(rail upgrade)Dandenong north,springvale,keysborough etc.

Maybe a radar a couple km's radius from junction of monash and Eastlink?

30km's from CBD,what would you get in sydney?

Population prediction,there saying melbourne is going to take over sydney by 2028?

Who knows.

Cheers Spades.

Hey spades

I've been seriously considering the suburbs you mentioned above but I just can't get over the fact that I don't like the look of the areas. Busy roads, not many trees and most of the houses all look the same.
But then I think a lot of people who live in these areas are immigrants to Australia and their kids will start going to Uni and earning the big bucks. Will they want to stay in these areas or move? I'm thinking they will stay because it's what they grew up with. They are comfortable with it. These areas also have good access to the freeway and train stations.
I actually think in ten years some of these spots will be considered desirable

Without being too generalistic about it which suburbs are favoured by the following Indian, Sri Lankan,vietnamese, Chinese ?

Also any thoughts on dandy north - it's cheap!

 

[D.L]

Hi Lonewolf, thanks for the advice. I have done some filtering, which has come to my original question regarding the options.

In slightly further out areas like mulgrave, rowville, etc, I would be able to get a house with my budget, which would be nice, but so often I hear/read that when looking for a capital growth type investment grade property in capital cities, look for one that is close to pubic transport, not too far out from the CBD, close to lots of infrastructure, and better to get a smaller place in a good location than a larger place in a less desireable location, etc.

As a result, now I'm quite confused... which way would be the better way to go for investment intentions?

 

[nikkig]

Rowville

Growing up Rowville was a nice place to live but very cut off from things. Things have certainly changed there in the last 15 years though. Stud Park Shopping Centre is changing and there are plans to give it a major overhaul. There are quite a few bus routes that stop at the Stud Park interchange now, but don't let anyone convince you of the proposed rail extension...it will never happen. The area is seeing a lot of development at the moment. The estate on the other side of Stud Road (opposite Stud Park) used to be where a lot of the housing commission houses were, but driving around the streets now and there are heaps of blocks being sub-divided, and houses being renovated.
Quite a few of the people I went to High School with still live in the suburb. Rowville Secondary College has a good reputation and also has special scholarship programs in Arts and Sports. I was talking to family at work the other night (I'm a waitress) and they had moved from Adelaide just so their son could attend the Sports Academy there.
There are lots of things to do in the local area including 5 golf courses, and Churchill National Park. It has easy access to both South Eastern/Monash Freeway and EastLink.
You made a comment about trees...if you want trees in Rowville then look in the pocket off Taylors Lane behind St Simons Primary. Houses are on large blocks. I have no idea on current pricing in that pocket though.

 

[rabidz]

Hi Lonewolf, thanks for the advice. I have done some filtering, which has come to my original question regarding the options.

In slightly further out areas like mulgrave, rowville, etc, I would be able to get a house with my budget, which would be nice, but so often I hear/read that when looking for a capital growth type investment grade property in capital cities, look for one that is close to pubic transport, not too far out from the CBD, close to lots of infrastructure, and better to get a smaller place in a good location than a larger place in a less desireable location, etc.

As a result, now I'm quite confused... which way would be the better way to go for investment intentions?

I think mulgrave & rowville is better areas than dandy north & noble park..
A house is still achievable around 500-600.

 

[The Y-man]

I grew up in Mulgrave and still work there (for the past 25 years).... Jeff sold my old primary school off to developers tho.....

The Y-man

 

[D.L]

Thanks for the insight into Rowville nikkig!

Y-man, great to hear that you're a mulgrave local! Are there any pockets of mulgrave you think are desireable, or that you'd want to stay away from?

Cheers,
D.L

 

[The Y-man]

Thanks for the insight into Rowville nikkig!

Y-man, great to hear that you're a mulgrave local! Are there any pockets of mulgrave you think are desireable, or that you'd want to stay away from?

Cheers,
D.L

We've always been down the north-west corner - near Wellington and Sprigvale Rd. But we have friends living closer to the Waverley Garden end, and no problems as such over there either.

My argument for being near Springy rd is the 902 bus which pretty much runs all day everyday and can get you to either GW or Springy Station.

The Y-man

 

[The Y-man]

Trivia:

When I was growing up, there was a 100 year old church (so it would have been heaps older than that now!) on the corner of Springvale and Wellington Rds.

They knocked it down and built the McDonalds that stands there this day.

The corner where the Kmart offices are now used to be the AV Jennings building.

A lot of people in the are used to work at Peter's. Really sad to see it gone - we used to get free ice cream in high school because our form teacher's hubby worked there, and she'd organise "taste test days" when we'd binge out on new flavoured ice cream they were developing in return for filling in a quick ratings survey for each one.


Mum used to take us to Chadstone shopping centre by bus - it used to be this tiny (by today's standards) shopping mall with Myer down one end and Coles New World down the other, with a row of small shops down each side between the two. There used to be a little inddor ferris wheel in the lower level of the mall, and a "rocket ship" in the playground outside.

http://museumvictoria.com.au/collec...ure-chadstone-shopping-centre-floor-plan-1960



The Y-man

 

[Timmyd]

Thanks for the insight into Rowville nikkig!

Y-man, great to hear that you're a mulgrave local! Are there any pockets of mulgrave you think are desireable, or that you'd want to stay away from?

Cheers,
D.L

There are quite a few pockets in musgrave that have commision homes... A close friend used to do repairs on the homes through the government and always tell me where to stay away from....

But obviously there are good parts and a simple drive will tell you the not so good parts...

 

[D.L]

Thats really interesting facts about Chadstone! I've been there so many times throughout my life. Had no idea of such humble beginnings.

Wasn't really aware about commission housing around mulgrave. Apart from driving around, does anyone know where we can look up locations of commission housing?

 

[Melbournian]

Without being too generalistic about it which suburbs are favoured by the following Indian, Sri Lankan,vietnamese, Chinese ?

Also any thoughts on dandy north - it's cheap!

dandenong north - i think you might want to forget it. those suburbs have lots of undesirable elements

Many mainland chinese ppl want to invest & stay in glen waverley but it's getting too pricey and there is the flow out effect of going to next door suburbs like wantirna south now has some places going for 900K which is unheard of.

 

[Jaguar Driver]

Hi everyone,
It's been great reading all the informative posts and fantastic to be able to access such a great resource. It's my first post and I'm a newbie, so please be gentle.

I'm a first home buyer looking at purchasing in SE Melbourne, with approx $500-600K budget.

My plan is to purchase a property as PPOR and live in for 12 months to take advantage of stamp duty savings as FHB and then lease it out afterwards as an investment property (while I rent someplace else) for negative-gearing/tax purposes.

The reason I am looking to buy in the SE Melbourne area is because both myself and my partner work in SE Melbourne. I have thought about inner west (e.g. Footscray), but the daily commute wouldn't be very feasible for the both of us.

Some options I am considering include...
(1) Purchase a detached/semidetached unit that has a smaller land component within approx 15km radius from CBD in a blue-chip suburb (e.g. Carnegie, Oakleigh, Bentleigh east)

(2) Purchase a detached/semidetached unit or house further out in a non-Blue-chip suburb that has a larger land component (e.g. Mulgrave, Clayton, Wantirna, Mitcham)

Any suggestions/opinions? Or areas you would highly recommend/consider? I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you all in advance!

This is a very common question- do I buy a small pad close to the city or a large one with plenty of land further out?

My advice would be option 1.
don't worry too much about the land component- as long as location is present [ i.e. blue chip suburb], it will trump the CG from land in the long term.
But...you have to hold onto it for the long term. Plus, I think you will like living in blue chip suburbs more than way out somewhere. They are also easier to rent and the rent generally fetches more $. Needless to say travel times are less and thus the cost associated with travel.

 

[8Faye]

Thank you for the bit of history about the church that is MacDonald now.
DL
I was looking at Glen Waverley sth and Wheelers Hill about 3 yrs ago . I told myself I would buy here cause I will sell to the Chinese migrants when the time is right. So I bought a 3 br in Wheelers Hill for 570k and a 2 br unit in Gel Waverley for 430k.

I still think it is the right decision always keep in mind who are you going to sell to in lets say 7 yrs time.

 

[D.L]

This is a very common question- do I buy a small pad close to the city or a large one with plenty of land further out?

My advice would be option 1.
don't worry too much about the land component- as long as location is present [ i.e. blue chip suburb], it will trump the CG from land in the long term.
But...you have to hold onto it for the long term. Plus, I think you will like living in blue chip suburbs more than way out somewhere. They are also easier to rent and the rent generally fetches more $. Needless to say travel times are less and thus the cost associated with travel.

Hi Jaguar Driver, thanks for your advice.

What's your thoughts about the alternative of purchasing in suburbs adjacent to areas like Glen Waverley and Wheelers Hill that will have the flowout effect, especially where property prices may be pushed up by Chinese migrants, as Melbournian and 8Faye alluded to, compared to a blue chip suburb closer to the CBD?

I guess this is one reason that has got me asking myself whether it may be a good idea to purchase in areas like Mulgrave, Wantirna, Vermont & Rowville (where you can get more land witht he same $$$ and at the ame time there are drivers such as Chinese migrants, etc pushing the land value up like what has already happened with suburbs like Glen Waverley and Wheeler's Hill).