How much? Docklands - Victria Points (100 Harbour ESP)

[kai41314]

Hi everyone,

I know many people do not like Docklands but I just want to get some ideas. Currently there is a one bedroom plus study apartment for sale in Docklands as the following link shows:

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-vic-docklands-113241675

The asking price is $495K - $540K.

I found another lower level unit (unit 709) which has same size and floor plan was sold for $430K in June 2008.

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-vic-docklands-104804824

How much will you offer for the apartment or how much do you think it is worth? Opinions?

 

[cimbom]

Wow, I thought Canberra prices were bad! The size looks to be ~65sqm which is good but I don't like the floor plan. It would have been better if the living area was a large rectangle shape and didn't have the "study" to the side (making an L shape) as it's not the best use of space. Also, I'm certain you can do a lot better for that price.

Those floor plan images with the furniture are very misleading. I live in a similar sized 1 bedroom apartment atm. I don't have a "study" bit so the living room is bigger but the total area is the same. There is no way I'd be able to fit a normal sized couch, coffee table, TV unit, 6 seater dining set and study desk with chair comfortably in there. I guess I could probably squash in a really small desk if I wanted to but it's certainly not going to be nicely spaced out like the picture. I would keep looking.

 

[The Y-man]

How much will you offer for the apartment or how much do you think it is worth? Opinions?

Depends - for renting out or living in?

The Y-man

 

[kai41314]

Depends - for renting out or living in?

The Y-man

Hmmm...I didn't know the price could be different for renting out and living in. May I know your opinions for both cases?

 

[nhg]

Hmmm...I didn't know the price could be different for renting out and living in. May I know your opinions for both cases?

eg. for it to be a worthwhile investment you would pay consideribly less than if you wanted to buy and live in it for which you would pay more if you really wanted it.

Personally I would buy elswhere for better returns and potential, and rent for lifestyle.

I do something similar now, say 2 of my properties are worth $700k and it rents for $920/week + depreciation. And I pay $500/week in rent to live in a gorgeous $700k house by the beach overlooking the golfcourse.

One makes a better investment than the other, but I don't have to loose out on lifestyle.

 

[The Y-man]

Hmmm...I didn't know the price could be different for renting out and living in. May I know your opinions for both cases?

As nhg alluded to above;

• To live in: if you like the lifestyle, etc, just buy it. Price is secondary IMHO as long as you can afford it (including all ongoing costs as outline below).
• As an investment? Need to know OC costs, future plans, sinking funds, past AGM meetings, attendance rates to meetings (highly active, all passive etc), comparative rent in the area, rates - mind you , a good idea to know these even if you are going to live there!

Also check if the views can be built out (as this one is not on the water's edge)

The Y-man

 

[TMNT]

As nhg alluded to above;

• To live in: if you like the lifestyle, etc, just buy it. Price is secondary IMHO as long as you can afford it (including all ongoing costs as outline below).
• As an investment? Need to know OC costs, future plans, sinking funds, past AGM meetings, attendance rates to meetings (highly active, all passive etc), comparative rent in the area, rates - mind you , a good idea to know these even if you are going to live there!

Also check if the views can be built out (as this one is not on the water's edge)

The Y-man

whats the pros and cons for having passive/highly active members at these BC meetings?

 

[The Y-man]

whats the pros and cons for having passive/highly active members at these BC meetings?

Highly active

Pro - proactive, things get fixed before becoming disasters

Con - a few "power players" might be in there to form a faction to get unnecessary things done (which might benefit them and not others). There may be several factions, and decisions may be hard or impossible to reach

Passive/Dormant

Pro - if you decide to take action, then it might be great as no one will object to your plans

Con - nothing gets fixed until the building falls down or at best needs expensive replacement because of long term neglect

The Y-man

 

[kai41314]

As nhg alluded to above;

• To live in: if you like the lifestyle, etc, just buy it. Price is secondary IMHO as long as you can afford it (including all ongoing costs as outline below).
• As an investment? Need to know OC costs, future plans, sinking funds, past AGM meetings, attendance rates to meetings (highly active, all passive etc), comparative rent in the area, rates - mind you , a good idea to know these even if you are going to live there!

Also check if the views can be built out (as this one is not on the water's edge)

The Y-man

Thanks for the valuable information. Do I ask the real estate agent or building manager to get the sinking funds details? How do I identify the sinking funds look good?

In addition, what do you mean about "future plans"? What kind of future plans I should beware or expect?

Cheers,
Kai

 

[The Y-man]

Thanks for the valuable information. Do I ask the real estate agent or building manager to get the sinking funds details? How do I identify the sinking funds look good?

In addition, what do you mean about "future plans"? What kind of future plans I should beware or expect?

Cheers,
Kai

Sinking funds: It will be in the Section 32 for Owner's corp costs etc.

There is no "good" or "bad". It's bad if it is not there, in that there is no anticipation for needing capital in the future for major building works etc. Bad if it's there in some ways, because you can't claim it as an expense on your tax (capitalised).

Future plans - they may have discussed building a helipad for $3 million that they haven't got sinking funds for, and they will levy everyone $250,000 each next year or something like that.... OC meeting minutes (past few agm's would be good)

The Y-man

 

[kai41314]

Sinking funds: It will be in the Section 32 for Owner's corp costs etc.

There is no "good" or "bad". It's bad if it is not there, in that there is no anticipation for needing capital in the future for major building works etc. Bad if it's there in some ways, because you can't claim it as an expense on your tax (capitalised).

Thank you for the example for explaining "Future Plans" . I now know what to look at.

However, I am still not quite sure about "Bad if it's there in some ways, because you can't claim it as an expense on your tax (capitalised)." Can you give me some examples of what can be claim as an expense in sinking funds and what cannot be?

Cheers,
Kai

 

[The Y-man]

Thank you for the example for explaining "Future Plans" . I now know what to look at.

However, I am still not quite sure about "Bad if it's there in some ways, because you can't claim it as an expense on your tax (capitalised)." Can you give me some examples of what can be claim as an expense in sinking funds and what cannot be?

Cheers,
Kai

I beleive sinking funds can't be claimed, unless it is "used" for a repair and not a reno or upkeep - which is near impossible to track. The only practical way to claim it is by reducing your cap gains by the amount you contributed to sinking fund during your ownership when calculating CG tax when you sell. Same as changing carpets etc.

The Y-man