Kalgoorle/Geraldton-are they goers?

[mitchp]

Hi,
I'm looking at potentially Kalgoorlie for an IP because 1) I prefer to stay local if possible and Perth not looking great at this point in time, and 2) growth according to REIWA has outstripped Perth and other recent strong regional areas such as Geraldton. Trouble is, I know very littkle about good/bad areas (purely investment wise) in Kal. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about Kal? Geraldton has been a strong investment place for a few years now, but median prices are about 50000 above Kal (c.$280000 according to REIWA). So, if I put the two together, Kal looks to be the better bet. Qu: is the Kalgoorlie growth likely to slow in the next copuple of years? It would be great to get some feedback from the forum.
Cheers
Mitch

 

[Rainshadow]

We've had an investment property in Kalgoorlie for several years. It always rents out and the tenants are always transient types and there is always a bit of cleanup work when they go ... the best bits about Kal are
1. the vibe of the place, it is an exciting energetic place with lots happening.
2. Hammond Park (big park the kids like, has lots of green grass not to be found elsewhere in Kalgoorlie!) and Star and Garter Karaoke nights (Sat).
3. Lots of tenants.
4. Lots of old houses if you are into d-i-y-ing, there is plenty of scope. We have learnt HEAPS on our place in Kal.
5. The main reason we chose to buy in Kal is that it was not JUST dependant on the gold - there is nickel (huge) as well as tourism (also very big) and then other minerals lie silver around as well. So there is a bit of diversification and if gold prices drop, the town will not die.

Suburbs - Lamington (where our house is) akin to Subiace, old houses, leafy streets, classy, good schools, walk to town about ten minutes.
Hammond - top of the range, Coles there has a huge organic section and lots of gourmet foods; all new brick homes, well funded primary school, dont walk to town but that ok because if you live in Hammond you have a 4xdrive.
Picadilly - close to hospital, slightly closer to town centre than Lamington but not quite as nice, walk to oval. Say like Wembley maybe?
Town Central - might not be name of suburb but MacDonald St is pretty central, lots of good rentable older homes. Like say Northbridge I guess?
Boulder - like Medina maybe a bit better. Houses here generally cheaper and further from everything.
Williamstown - mostly black camp on the edge of town on the way to the tip. Don't buy there.
South Kal - OK. HIgh school here.
O'Connor - think I have that name right - lots of new houses lacking character but probably very nice to live in and good to rent. Too far to walk from there to town, but close to swimming pool and rec centre. Maybe like Success or Bertram? Low maintenance, a lot to recommend it really!
Adeline - Bagla, worse than Balga, worse than Koongamia or Medina; dont get out of your car at night time, in fact I wouldn't drive through in the dark. We own houses in "worse" parts of Perth; i appreciate growth potential, I think buying in Adeline would be using a lot of time and energy and insurance claims, not worth the headache.

Bad bits of Kal - property managers. We manage our house there ourselves now as we have a stable tenant and all is going well, we have done that a few years. We have tried numerous Property Managers in town and been frustrated and disappointed. The good ones move on, there is a lot of turnover, they are not interested in a cheap rental like ours.
Also hard to find a good handyman - mine pay is too good.

Hope this helps!

 

[mitchp]

Thanks for your post Rainshadow; sounds like you have some good local knowledge. Hmmm... don't like the sound of probs getting property managers especially with transient renters. Also issue with getting tradseman is something to consider esp when seems like many houses in inner Kal are older. Are there some relatively new houses/units in the inner Kal or Piccadilly areas? I guess in theory tradesmen are less likely to be needed if the house is newish.

 

[knightm]

I have heard about the transient renters too, but not experienced it personally. I have had a place in clancy st boulder for 2 years and had same tenant in place, which is more stable than my brisbane place. From my impression the worst area is south boulder (south of burt st) and there are a few other small pockets of nasty areas but mostly ok. I have had no probs in clancy st and the sales price of others in that and surrounding north boulder streets indicated there is some money there as well as the "better" suburbs - lamington etc. I believe the value is still there even though there has been a lot of growth recently. I think the best ones to get are the old houses on big blocks, do a renno, subdivide and then either sell the bits or build and hold. I am way biased coz that is exactly what i am doing to my place right now (subdividing). The cosmetic renno we did straight away and this increased value and rent dramatically. If you don't have the time/energy for that though i guess you could look at newer places but i think the returns would be lower. When we finish the sub we will either sell the bits (if we find our dream home in the south nsw coast town we have just moved to) or maybe build and do another one there (if we decide to keep renting here) not sure yet. Gold hasn't finished its run yet, historically its supposed to peak later than most other minerals and I like it as a hedge against some major world catastrophy. So I like it as a place to hold investments. I would think it too risky to have all of my portfolio there tho.