Freestanding house and Torrens title on Ryde, NSW

HI guys,

I would like to know if my girlfriend and I would like to buy either freestanding house or townhouse/villa with torrens title around Ryde area. We want to use this as PPOR and further down the track (after 4 - 5 years), we will rent it out. We have a budget around 700k - 850k (including the purchasing costs) and we are looking to the area close to public transport since she will still be in uni for another 2 - 3 years. Around 1 hour commuter time is reasonable for her. The reason we choose Ryde because we think we still can get decent 2 - 3 bedroom house within our budget, close to Top Ryde shopping centre, public transport is okay (have few buses run to city through Victoria Road), safe environment (from what we've heard from our friend who lives there), and many home owner occupiers live there.

We started to look around on last Saturday and went to inspection to area around Buffalo Road. It's a quiet and nice place but the home is quite old and we are actually looking for modern house and/or already renovated house without any hassle to renovate it again. Few painting jobs would be okay for me, but not major ones (e.g. changing the bathroom, etc). That's why we are looking for an established townhouse/villa as well since they are quite new and do not require major renovations.

I would like to have your opinion on this. Do you happen to know any good streets and bad streets that we want to avoid ? Do you have any recommendation ?

Thank you.
 
I would say most of Ryde, North Ryde, Marsfield, Macquarie Park and Denistone East are pretty safe. I've got family in Denistone East and work in Macqaurie Park and have two lots of friends who've lived in townhouses in Marsfield and also had a family member live in a unit on Waterloo Road, Marsfield; never heard of any issues regarding safety. You might be under budget for a newer or renovated house in Ryde as most blocks are relatively large, you might find something older or a townhouse.

I would personally avoid streets near Top Ryde that have large unit blocks on them and you will find some of the small streets actually get a lot of traffic during peak hour with people trying to avoid the main roads (if this bothers you). Buffalo Road is quite a main road which I would personally avoid.

What are your priorities? Near Top Ryde or Macquarie Uni (I presume this is where your girlfriend is at Uni)? Have you looked at Marsfield (near the Uni) at all for townhouses?

Cheers.
 
I would say most of Ryde, North Ryde, Marsfield, Macquarie Park and Denistone East are pretty safe. I've got family in Denistone East and work in Macqaurie Park and have two lots of friends who've lived in townhouses in Marsfield and also had a family member live in a unit on Waterloo Road, Marsfield; never heard of any issues regarding safety. You might be under budget for a newer or renovated house in Ryde as most blocks are relatively large, you might find something older or a townhouse.


Yes, I think I only can buy older house with my budget or newer townhouse with torrens title.

I would personally avoid streets near Top Ryde that have large unit blocks on them and you will find some of the small streets actually get a lot of traffic during peak hour with people trying to avoid the main roads (if this bothers you). Buffalo Road is quite a main road which I would personally avoid.


That was the first time I went for inspection to Ryde and I can see that Buffalo Road is quite busy. I may look on the area near Meadowbank station or West Ryde station. Do you know any good street around here ?

What are your priorities? Near Top Ryde or Macquarie Uni (I presume this is where your girlfriend is at Uni)? Have you looked at Marsfield (near the Uni) at all for townhouses?

Cheers.

My girlfriend's uni is at eastern suburb (UNSW) and we would prefer to live somewhere near public transport, such as bus 506 and 507 or near West Ryde train station. There are our priorities at the moment.

Thank you for your comments, Tooth.
 
Where do you work? A work colleague lives over near Matraville (not too far from UNSW) and it's about 1 hour 15 mins on a good day, he reckons 1 and half hours is average to Macquarie Park where we work. The 506 can take a long time. What about over near Kingsford, Pagewood, Maroubra, Chifley? I know there are some places to avoid in Maroubra, not sure of the details I but can find out. You should be able to get a townhouse for the money you've got.

Unfortunately I don't know West Ryde too well, I drive through there to Eastwood/Epping quite often and it all seems fairly quiet and safe. My wife has some friends who moved there a few years back and they seem pretty happy with the area, not sure which road though.
 
Where do you work? A work colleague lives over near Matraville (not too far from UNSW) and it's about 1 hour 15 mins on a good day, he reckons 1 and half hours is average to Macquarie Park where we work. The 506 can take a long time.

I work in Concord area so I think it will only takes me about half an hour to commute from Ryde (I usually drive, but sometimes I could use buses to). Yes, I reckon the buses can take a long time too considering the traffic on Victoria Road during peak hours.

What about over near Kingsford, Pagewood, Maroubra, Chifley? I know there are some places to avoid in Maroubra, not sure of the details I but can find out. You should be able to get a townhouse for the money you've got.

I have been living on Maroubra for 5 years now and I think with my current budget, I only can afford townhouses near the HC area (around Fitzgerald Ave). The crime rate is not that bad in Chifley I think but less frequent buses. I want to avoid Kingsford since it is not a safe area. A lot of robberies have happened around Kingsford. My girlfriend lives in Kingsford before and she got robbed while she's at home. Until now, she still remembers that and definitely will not go back to the area. I am not really familiar with Pagewood. I know they have a lot of houses but I am not sure about townhouses around that area. I may consider Pagewood perhaps due to the location.


Unfortunately I don't know West Ryde too well, I drive through there to Eastwood/Epping quite often and it all seems fairly quiet and safe. My wife has some friends who moved there a few years back and they seem pretty happy with the area, not sure which road though.

I found one torrens title townhouse in West Ryde and located very close to bus stop that goes to Meadowbank train station. We are going to the inspection this Saturday. It looks nice and I like the floor plan. It's located on Thistle Street and seems to be a quiet area too. I have called the agent and the price guide is around 750k. The only problem is the property is going for an auction on 16th of Feb and we do not know what the price is going to be (could be go up as far as 850k, if a lot of people are interested).
 
Anyway, thank you, Toothman for your help. I am a newbie here so I would like to ask if you happen to know what's the initial deposit required to buy house ? My mortgage broker mentioned it to me that I would need 0.25% deposit initially and we will have 14 days cooling off period and then 5% deposit and after signing the contract it would be 10% deposit paid to the vendor. Is this the correct procedure ? or does each one has different way to pay the deposit depending upon the subject of the agreement ? When do we need to pay the stamp duty ?

Cheers.
 
Sorry for the late response, been caught up with a few things :)

Wow, can understand why you want to get away from Kingsford and surrounding areas. From my experiences it does seem a bit quieter round where you are looking now. I used to live in Eastern suburbs a few years back and it definitely has a different feel to places like Ryde, West Ryde, etc. You'll also definitely get more for your money.

Buying at an auction is a whole experience in itself with lots of theories on how to do it best, all I can offer is to work out how much your prepared to spend and try and stick with it. Although as you are buying to live in rather than investment, spend as much as you feel the place is worth, it will be more of an emotional decision rather than purely figures. Try and find out if there are any comparative sales to work out your price limit. You'll either find it goes straight over your limit or you might get lucky? You should have tried to go to one today to just see what happens. I've been to plenty but haven't bought at auction, only got two places at the moment but both were private treaty (regular type of sale).

Generally, you'll need a 10% deposit on the day of the auction unless you arrange something else with the vendor. There are certain reasons why you might want to arrange a 5% deposit, speak to the agent if this is the case. This deposit is paid to the agent and put in a trust (unless other arrangements are made). You'll need to have your finances pre-approved as if you win the auction you're buying (no cooling off period at auction). Also speak to the agent before the auction about settlement periods if you want anything else different to the usual 6 weeks; can be longer or shorter if everyone agrees. You pay everything else on settlement (stamp duty, other fees and the rest of the purchase amount) which your solicitor or conveyancer should arrange through your bank. The 0.25% thing is usually when you decide not to buy during the 5 day cooling off period for private treaty. I think the 14 day cooling off period is if there are certain required documents that should be in the contract but are missing. If your serious about the place next weekend you should already have a solicitor looking through the contract.

Your finance from the bank is generally for 80% of the purchase price and you pay the other 20% (this where your 10% deposit comes from) plus all other costs (stamp duty, solicitor, transfer fees, inspections, etc.).

There are also many ways of structuring your loan for your future investments, if your broker hasn't discussed this with you consider chatting to someone else ASAP. I found this out the hard way :)

Good luck with it all!!

Cheers.
 
Sorry for the late response, been caught up with a few things :)

Thank you for the reply, Toothman. No problem with the late response.

Wow, can understand why you want to get away from Kingsford and surrounding areas. From my experiences it does seem a bit quieter round where you are looking now. I used to live in Eastern suburbs a few years back and it definitely has a different feel to places like Ryde, West Ryde, etc. You'll also definitely get more for your money.

Yes, that is why I have been looking around Ryde area since it has a different feel to area around Kingsford and Maroubra.

Buying at an auction is a whole experience in itself with lots of theories on how to do it best, all I can offer is to work out how much your prepared to spend and try and stick with it. Although as you are buying to live in rather than investment, spend as much as you feel the place is worth, it will be more of an emotional decision rather than purely figures. Try and find out if there are any comparative sales to work out your price limit. You'll either find it goes straight over your limit or you might get lucky? You should have tried to go to one today to just see what happens. I've been to plenty but haven't bought at auction, only got two places at the moment but both were private treaty (regular type of sale).

Yes, I want to try to avoid auction too since it can be an emotional decision especially when we really like the house.I will just try to get into this one and see what happens. I do not think we will buy this particular house unless the price is right. I went to the open house on last Saturday and found that a lot of people are coming there... So there seems to be a lot of interest for the house.

Generally, you'll need a 10% deposit on the day of the auction unless you arrange something else with the vendor. There are certain reasons why you might want to arrange a 5% deposit, speak to the agent if this is the case. This deposit is paid to the agent and put in a trust (unless other arrangements are made). You'll need to have your finances pre-approved as if you win the auction you're buying (no cooling off period at auction). Also speak to the agent before the auction about settlement periods if you want anything else different to the usual 6 weeks; can be longer or shorter if everyone agrees. You pay everything else on settlement (stamp duty, other fees and the rest of the purchase amount) which your solicitor or conveyancer should arrange through your bank. The 0.25% thing is usually when you decide not to buy during the 5 day cooling off period for private treaty. I think the 14 day cooling off period is if there are certain required documents that should be in the contract but are missing. If your serious about the place next weekend you should already have a solicitor looking through the contract.

Yes, we already have the contract sent by the agent, but we are still doubtful that we can get the finance considering short time that we have now to settle if we win in the auction.

Your finance from the bank is generally for 80% of the purchase price and you pay the other 20% (this where your 10% deposit comes from) plus all other costs (stamp duty, solicitor, transfer fees, inspections, etc.).

There are also many ways of structuring your loan for your future investments, if your broker hasn't discussed this with you consider chatting to someone else ASAP. I found this out the hard way :)

Yes, I think I have a good broker already but it would be difficult to get the house in such a short time so I think we will pass this house, unless the house is passed in during the auction. Then, I will be able to negotiate.

I saw that the area around Epping and Marsfield are actually quite good too and the price is still reasonable (within our budget). We'll try to look around the area too. Are you familiar with Epping area ?

Thank you.
 
Epping is a nice area, my in-laws live there now. Anywhere within walking distance to the train station would be preferable. Marsfield is also worth looking at, I've had a few friends live there although they seem to view it as a stepping stone to somewhere else when they start a family; lots of smaller affordable townhouses in the area.

Cheers.
 
For transport, being close to Victoria Rd is good. Thistle st is close and you have the M52 at Victoria road which is not a bad run due to the limited stops past Top Ryde. You can also get the 507 from there, although it will take ages as it goes to Meadowbank then through Putney and onto Victoria Rd at Gladesville.

The area is nice and I have grown up in there. I would say most parts of Ryde and the surrounds are good places.
 
Hi Toothman,

Yes, I look around Epping area on last weekend and I have a good feel in the area. I think I will try o look around that area too.


For transport, being close to Victoria Rd is good. Thistle st is close and you have the M52 at Victoria road which is not a bad run due to the limited stops past Top Ryde. You can also get the 507 from there, although it will take ages as it goes to Meadowbank then through Putney and onto Victoria Rd at Gladesville.

The area is nice and I have grown up in there. I would say most parts of Ryde and the surrounds are good places.

Hi tez,

Unfortunately, I came short in the auction for Thistle street house. They sold it for 860k on last Saturday. I set my price to be around 800k max and I won't go that far in the auction. There are a lot of interests for the house. I will start looking around again this weekend. I spot few good properties up in Eastwood and Epping (townhouse). I also found Carlingford is more affordable than Ryde. Are you guys familiar with Carlingford ?

Thank you.
 
Back
Top