Lakemba NSW

R

RedApple

Hi everyone,

I called up an valuer today for a quote on a unit I'm considering buying for investment in Lakemba. Knowing I'm from interstate the guy was very helpful and offered a lot of valuable local information :) .... He said the suburb is not very safe or easy to live in due to the demographic ...and that a lot of Sydneysiders would run when they hear the word Lakemba :eek: In particular there is a street in Lakemba that even the police would not go there due to danger but he had forgetten its name.

I've never been in this suburb before. Does anyone know the name of this bad street and if the above story is true ?

Have you got any experience on renting out or investing properties in this suburb ?

If the bad reputation is true has this had much effect on property growth in Lakemba over the past few years/decade ?


Please share your thoughts
 
I lived in Lakemba in the late 80s for 6 months.

I haven't been there for a while, but what I do know is that there is a mosque in that town and you do feel odd if you don't wear a veil over your head, if you are a female.

The street you are talking about is, I think, Haldon Street.
 
Redapple

There are certain people who will happily live in Lakemba
eg new migrants and the vacancy rates are quite low.
About 12 months ago I had 1 vacancy and the property was occupied the next day. I didn't even have time to go in and see if anything needs fixing.

I have no problem buying there or in the neighbouring suburbs Punchbowl or Wiley Park. You can tell from the look of the street and the condition of the block if its something you want to buy.

Just get a local agent to manage it, get landlord insurance and you'll be fine.
If you want to ask questions on rents or vacancies talk to the selling agent or if you aren't comfortable talking to them ask my PM
http://www.ljhooker.com.au/lakemba

Edit: You don't need a valuer to tell you what a property is worth.
You can look at past sales in the same block
Get a free subscription to
www.onthehouse.com.au
 
Also known as Leb-kemba, make of that what you will.

However, we are in the investment game, not the "places we want to live" one. Potentially there are pockets of gold everywhere and clearly with the nickname mentioned above there are people who choose to flock to the area, you just need to pick the right property and get it for the right price.

Choose carefully :)
 
Hi RedApple,

There's been a lot of discussion around Lakemba on this forum.

Suggest you go to google and type in "site:somersoft.com lakemba" and you will find heaps of info
 
Hi RedApple,

We have a place there and we have had great CG & Yield. Have even lived there for about 2 years and would have to say whilst we certainly couldnt go back there, at the time had no issues and felt at ease (our friends didn't when they came to visit....;)) If you can find something at good value on croydon st its quite desirable as it is parallel to main street so a stroll to shops and also train station without being on the main street.

TLP
 
Honestly, it's one of those tricky ones I suspect. It's the geographical centre of gravity of our Lebanese citizenry, who seem to have incredible business drive, a culturally-complex identity, and some disaffected but noisy youths.

Nothing there different to more Anglo-type suburbs, of course, except other people's prejudices. It's those prejudices you'd be investing alongside that makes it tricky, not the local population, because they're just getting on with life like the rest of us.

Sounds solid to me.
 
" you do feel odd if you don't wear a veil over your head, if you are a female."
... the exact quote he said to me on the phone :)

Has the demographic and suburb changed much since the 80's hiflo?

Is Hamden Rd safe/desirable to people hiflo ? or is it as bad as Haldon St ?


hiflo said:
I lived in Lakemba in the late 80s for 6 months.

I haven't been there for a while, but what I do know is that there is a mosque in that town and you do feel odd if you don't wear a veil over your head, if you are a female.

The street you are talking about is, I think, Haldon Street.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Thanks BV for the PM recomendation :) ... seems like rental vancancy is extremely low in the area :)

oh and thank you for www.onthehouse.com.au
you are a gem :)

BV said:
Redapple

There are certain people who will happily live in Lakemba
eg new migrants and the vacancy rates are quite low.
About 12 months ago I had 1 vacancy and the property was occupied the next day. I didn't even have time to go in and see if anything needs fixing.

I have no problem buying there or in the neighbouring suburbs Punchbowl or Wiley Park. You can tell from the look of the street and the condition of the block if its something you want to buy.

Just get a local agent to manage it, get landlord insurance and you'll be fine.
If you want to ask questions on rents or vacancies talk to the selling agent or if you aren't comfortable talking to them ask my PM
http://www.ljhooker.com.au/lakemba

Edit: You don't need a valuer to tell you what a property is worth.
You can look at past sales in the same block
Get a free subscription to
www.onthehouse.com.au
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Hi tlp, yes i've noticed that croydon st sure is quite popular hence properties there are a bit dearer than on the other streets

are you familiar with hampden street ? is it safer and more desirable than the main st (halhon st) ?

tlp said:
Hi RedApple,

We have a place there and we have had great CG & Yield. Have even lived there for about 2 years and would have to say whilst we certainly couldnt go back there, at the time had no issues and felt at ease (our friends didn't when they came to visit....;)) If you can find something at good value on croydon st its quite desirable as it is parallel to main street so a stroll to shops and also train station without being on the main street.

TLP
Click to expand...
 
thanks Belbo, that's what i thought ...people are people ...

however still wondering ... what are the locals\tenants like in the suburb ? ... if even the police are scared of going there, that particular street ? imagine what they could do to a PM or the property ?

"incredible business drive, a culturally-complex identity " ... is this one of the
reasons why some people don't feel comfortable there or the cause of conflict/crime in the area ?

btw does this area have a high crime rate ?



Belbo said:
Honestly, it's one of those tricky ones I suspect. It's the geographical centre of gravity of our Lebanese citizenry, who seem to have incredible business drive, a culturally-complex identity, and some disaffected but noisy youths.

Nothing there different to more Anglo-type suburbs, of course, except other people's prejudices. It's those prejudices you'd be investing alongside that makes it tricky, not the local population, because they're just getting on with life like the rest of us.

Sounds solid to me.
Click to expand...
 
Hi everyone,

Just one more quick question. I submitted an offer which the vendor turned down. I've since increased this a bit and the agent says the vendor wants a significant amount more however he says if i sign the contract to buy as is and hand in a 10% deposit then he might be able to persuade the vendor into accepting my offer since he is keen to sell.

I said I can only sign the contract with a clause subject to strata report and building inspection in case something is wrong with the building. It costs no less than 1K to do the due diligence and I don't want to commit to this cost if I don't know the vendor will agree to sell at the price I can pay. In other words, sign the contract with clause: subject to inspections.
The agent says this is not allowed in Sydney or at least by his agent :confused: ????

The most he could do was offer a cooling period which will mean I will loose around .75% from memory of the deposit if i pull out due to any reasons including major defect found in building ... This morning he has called to say the cooling period offer is also removed and that if I want him to push the vendor into accepting my offer then i must bear the risk of loosing the deposit (if i pull out) or do building inspection prior to him negociating prices down with the vendor ... the unit is 38 years old :eek:

does this sound right to you ??? ... it gives me cold feet

Please advise ... many thanks :)
 
No it doesn't sound right.
Your deposit during the cooling off period is 0.25% of the contract value so for a $200K property it will be $500
If he doesn't want to add clauses to the contract then get a strata report during the cooling off period which is 5 business days but you can often ask and have it extended to 10 days
You can also go to the block and knock on the doors of the neighbours and have a chat. They will tell you if there are any building issues
 
Do not sign anything until the vendor has agreed to your offer. And possibly, conditions.

The agent is playing games - as they do - it's your money so play hardball with him.
 
The rea is lazy

RedApple said:
Hi everyone,

Just one more quick question. I submitted an offer which the vendor turned down. I've since increased this a bit and the agent says the vendor wants a significant amount more however he says if i sign the contract to buy as is and hand in a 10% deposit then he might be able to persuade the vendor into accepting my offer since he is keen to sell.

This is the agent's spin. Everything is negotiable, and you have your right to sign a contract subject to your chosen conditions, just as the vendor has a right to not accept.

I said I can only sign the contract with a clause subject to strata report and building inspection in case something is wrong with the building. It costs no less than 1K to do the due diligence and I don't want to commit to this cost if I don't know the vendor will agree to sell at the price I can pay. In other words, sign the contract with clause: subject to inspections.
The agent says this is not allowed in Sydney or at least by his agent :confused: ????

What the agent is not saying to you is that, the rea themselves cannot right up the "subject to....." clauses you have. These have to be done by a solicitor (maybe?? conveyancor) in NSW. The rea is incorrect saying that it is not allowed. What the rea should have said is that "I, as an agent am not allowed to do it"

The most he could do was offer a cooling period which will mean I will loose around .75% from memory of the deposit if i pull out due to any reasons including major defect found in building ... You will lose 0.25% however the clock is ticking.....5 business days..... This morning he has called to say the cooling period offer is also removed and that if I want him to push the vendor into accepting my offer then i must bear the risk of loosing the deposit (if i pull out) or do building inspection prior to him negociating prices down with the vendor ... the unit is 38 years old :eek:

does this sound right to you ??? No, it is not right.... it gives me cold feet

Please advise ... many thanks :)
Click to expand...

Red Apple, suggest you contact your solicitor to word your "conditional offer". No doubt you will engage one anyway to assist with your DD, strata evaluation, etc., and the ensuing settlement so why not run your offer past them. The rea is looking for the easy way out.............. :cool:
 
RedApple said:
Hi everyone,

Just one more quick question. I submitted an offer which the vendor turned down. I've since increased this a bit and the agent says the vendor wants a significant amount more however he says if i sign the contract to buy as is and hand in a 10% deposit then he might be able to persuade the vendor into accepting my offer since he is keen to sell.

I said I can only sign the contract with a clause subject to strata report and building inspection in case something is wrong with the building. It costs no less than 1K to do the due diligence and I don't want to commit to this cost if I don't know the vendor will agree to sell at the price I can pay. In other words, sign the contract with clause: subject to inspections.
The agent says this is not allowed in Sydney or at least by his agent :confused: ????

The most he could do was offer a cooling period which will mean I will loose around .75% from memory of the deposit if i pull out due to any reasons including major defect found in building ... This morning he has called to say the cooling period offer is also removed and that if I want him to push the vendor into accepting my offer then i must bear the risk of loosing the deposit (if i pull out) or do building inspection prior to him negociating prices down with the vendor ... the unit is 38 years old :eek:

does this sound right to you ??? ... it gives me cold feet

Please advise ... many thanks :)
Click to expand...

Hi RA

From seeing your posts, I suppose you have taken so much workload to buy into lakemba suburb, why can't you spend much less resource to buy into another safer suburb.

I'm not saying you shouldn't buy in lakemba, but the more questions you ask, i suppose (feel) you are not ready to take a huge risk at the moment. think twice, may be 10 times.

Also, regarding your contract negotiation with REA, its your money play hard as much as possible, with market going anywhere at the moment, just walk away without having any emotional attachement.

Good luck
 
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