How close is close to public transport ?

[bits1010]

I guess this question is the same either for PPOR or IP.

If you / potential tenant will need to catch bus / train to work, how far do you think is the walking distance limit from the property to station / bus stop ?

for me 400 meters is the limit... what's yours ?

driving everyday to the commuter car park / bus stop is not ideal ...

 

[Peter Parker]

I guess this question is the same either for PPOR or IP.

If you / potential tenant will need to catch bus / train to work, how far do you think is the walking distance limit from the property to station / bus stop ?

for me 400 meters is the limit... what's yours ?

driving everyday to the commuter car park / bus stop is not ideal ...

400 metres (or about 5 min walk) is a common figure given in passenger surveys for reaching local buses, so your limit is typical.

However people are willing to walk further (eg up to 800m) to faster or more frequent services (eg trains, light rail, or busway buses) especially during peak times.

In fact some might prefer living 600 metres from the station rather than 50 metres away due to it being quieter.

 

[BayView]

The noise factor, and not on a main/busy road would be the factor as was mentioned.

So, maybe a couple of blocks - walking distance would be a good indicator.

 

[Jake Milne]

I'm happy with anything up to 1km. 1km = 10 minutes walk.

If your tenants are too lazy to do that then they may be too lazy to look after your IP properly.

 

[oc1]

One other example is where some tenants/owners will walk 1km further than the neares station if it means the train station is Zone 1 rather than Zone 2 (VIC). Will save them money each month.

 

[7smurfs]

I go by 750m walk or 5-10min

 

[roberto]

I live 1.2KM from the train station, for me is a long walk (15mins) and it is not very pleasant on bad weather. However, there are many other factors that make you compromise, money, schools, noise, community feeling.

 

[bits1010]

thanks for all your reply...

however when I think of distances from public transport I use the worse case scenario, what if it is dark, raining, after a full day of work, with 4 bags of supermarket groceries ?

700m-1km and 200m will make a huge difference in this case....

 

[bits1010]

this works both ways I think, if the tenants are very agile and mobile and don't mind hard work, they will probably move if you try to increase the rent / find a better place when it becomes available ?

if they are super-lazy, they might not even bother to move at all... then you can just keep increase the rent ....

If your tenants are too lazy to do that then they may be too lazy to look after your IP properly.

 

[Paul j F]

Too many other factors to consider. We're 1k (12-15min walk) very flat easy walk or 3-4 min ride and in zone 1. We're much closer to school, cafe, shopping and its a great area. Take all the other factor's out and ideally around the 500m range.

 

[shereeb]

I'd say 1k, it was close enough for me to walk it most times when I was working, else I'd drive and park on rainy days or if I was running late

 

[bits1010]

lucky you ! coz I think most commuter car parks are all full in Melbourne by 7:30am ?

these kind of issues are usually forgotten during the house hunting and inspection process.... however it bothers the person on a daily basis....

else I'd drive and park on rainy days or if I was running late

 

[Richard Feynman]

PPOR-wise, I'm 350m from train (plus bus is right outside). I use to have to walk 850m to the station from my old place which was easily doable, but in rain, or really hot weather, not much fun.

I'd never want to stray more than 1000m from a train. Not in Sydney.

 

[Rentwithpets]

My apartment is 1km from the train station and shopping mall, which is a 12 minute walk. I wouldn't want to be any further than this when it is bad weather or I am carrying something heavy. On the other hand I don't want to be too close to the station as it gets noisy, more break ins, etc.

There were also other location factors that I considered when I bought this property - proximity to the city, multiple ways to drive to city, 2 train lines, quiet street, wide roads, near schools/restaurants/shopping. Also property factors like lock up garage, internal laundry, balcony, size of the unit, good neighbours...all these are difficult to change, and they could be dealbreakers for securing that ideal tenant or when you're trying to sell your property. I have a list of criteria that are essential (location, floor plan), and other criteria that I could compromise on coz they are fixable (carpet vs hardwood floors, leaky taps). It was tough to shop for a property this way, but I am glad I took my time and didn't settle for less. Because of these criteria, units in my building tend to rent or sell quickly. I am happy to own a property that if I ever do decide to sell, people will beat the door down to make me a good offer.

Yen

 

[Phiber]

For me it would be up to 10 min walk.
I think in this instance distance is not the main criteria, rather the time it take to actually walk to the place.
You could be relatively close to the station, but if you have a major street or highway to cross, or if you are forced to zigzag in smaller streets, if there is a cul-de-sac and that you have to go around the block, or if the terrain is going uphill, you could end up needing longer.
I guess my point is that it's great to use the distance as a tool on the map to find out within which radius you can look for a property, but in the end when you are looking at a specific property, I always go on site myself and do the walk a few times to see how long it actually takes me.

 

[RPI]

Brisbane City Council has just changed their definition of close to transport for the purposes of allowing higher density from 200m to 400m. Hope that helps

 

[Rentwithpets]

I totally agree with you about walking rather than measuring distance on a map. Depending on where you are, terrain, shortcuts, hills, traffic lights, etc...that 1km walk could take anything from 10 - 30 min. walking will also give you an idea of what landmarks are along the way, which could also affect the time it takes to walk. eg some Chinese would rather go on a detour than walk next to a cemetary.

 

[westminster]

I guess this question is the same either for PPOR or IP.

If you / potential tenant will need to catch bus / train to work, how far do you think is the walking distance limit from the property to station / bus stop ?

for me 400 meters is the limit... what's yours ?

driving everyday to the commuter car park / bus stop is not ideal ...

I think 500m for a bus and 1km for a train

 

[Of The Vultures]

Agree with Westminster on this. I'd personally walk a lot further but I suspect for most people >1km is no longer 'close'.

 

[westminster]

In terms of WA Zoning the onsite parking requirements are less for 250m from a high frequency bus route and 800m from a train station.

If your multi dwelling (apartment block) is within these parameters you are allowed to provide less tenant/owner parking. Presumably that is because people are more willing to use public transport within those parameters.