Investment property- Cairns

Hi,

I currently own one house in Darwin which I've had about 5 years. I've got a fair bit of equity now so thinking of buying an investment property. Darwin is too expensive so I'm looking elsewhere.

I'm thinking Cairns for the following reasons:

- cheap (compared to Darwin...)
- similar climate. I like the idea of owning an investment I could potentially live in if I decide for a change in a few years.
- casino project
- high demand for house rentals

I've been researching 3 bedroom houses around Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans beach etc.

I am hoping to spend around $350K neg for a place close to the beach, easy access to cairns city.

Any opinions, feedback etc would be greatly appreciated.
 
Cairns market has moved but is still moving if you're quick. Beach suburbs are a sought after area to live/invest but research is needed for flooding/cyclone prone areas. Machans Beach should probably be at the bottom of your list for the beaches.
 
thanks for replying guys,

I was thinking Machans beach might be too close to the airport too? Noisy?

I will be doing plenty of research and a trip over soon too.
 
You should contact Kinnon Bell on here. She is a local Cairns mortgage broker and knows the area well - and can arrange finance too if you don't have a broker.
 
Yes Kinnon is a great forum member and broker who could assist you.

Otherwise Redom does fly to see clients all the time, he might come up?
 
Machans is simply not as nice as the other beach suburbs and therefore may not attract the highest quality tenant. Drawbacks of the beaches are the airport noise but it's not that bad, and all the roundabouts into town. Traffic during peak times is a nightmare. The southern suburbs got a massive boost with the Highway upgrade in the last 2 years whilst the beach suburbs have not had any upgrades (Captain Cook Highway). Road splits have significantly cut commute times into town for the southern corridor.
 
Thanks Doozer for the tips. Seems from afar like Hollaways Beach or just North of there could be good opportunities.

I'll be getting over there soon for a few days to really have a better look and get a better understanding of the place.

Westminster: Thanks for your tip. I have contacted Kinnon and she gave me a few handy pointers as well.
 
holloways

holloways is a nice spot.Great little licenced cafe on the beach.Ive got a place there and its been performing fairly wellover the last 10 yrs.Vacancies usually low.
renatal ylds on the up .
AQIS casino integrated resort still on the drawing board but wih positive spin from the new qld govt
 
Are you definitely sold on the beaches?

I withdrew on a place at Machans for the termites, and the fact that when it floods (not infrequent), you are landlocked. The other beaches were nice to visit, but living there requires driving into the 'city' with everyone else.

I lived at Edge Hill, and would go back there. I have a house here which has done quite poorly in both CG and CF, but I overpaid and bought at the peak. In saying that it's never been vacant, and whilst still negative isn't a major pain with hopes in the future.

It's got the markets, botanic gardens, a few cafes and that 'village feel', plus the popular climbing tracks to the lookout (Blue and Red Arrow).

It's minutes to the city and airport, no traffic.

The suburb itself is landlocked, the nearest supply when I was there last was out Brinsmead way, and further North, none of which i though as appealing.

My 2 cents.
 
Thanks for your 2 cents. I'm not sold on anything at the moment. I've all but put a line through Machans beach afters speaking to some people who live in the area. Too noisy being so close to the airport im told

I like the idea of buying close to one of the beaches due to the fact it would rent easily and possible CG down the track. Flooding and surge is definitely something I will be keeping in mind when I start viewing properties.
 
Hi Topendlad, i live in Cairns and am an v active property investor. I also have 2 IP's and 1 PPR here. Would have been 1IP and 1PPR but we have just upgraged the home and turned the old PPR into an IP.

To be honest, there is nothing much happening around here, the market is slow and there is still no Guarantee that the $8.5B casino project is going ahead. IF it does that will be a totally different story. There are trickles of of activity and buidling approvals are up 40% from last year (latest herron todd white report - April 2015). But we don't have the most useful councilors and government around.

We have high insurance costs here and that really stuffs up your numbers. Especially if you are close to the beach!. But i am curious to see if things move along, we are a soley tourist driven economy. However Towsville on the other hand is very diverse. I would suggest getting a high yielding proeprty if you must here as you'll need it cover costs.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions mate, happy to help.
 
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