Landbanking and rural plots

[TMNT]

So I was driving towards bendigo this week, and I while I was a fair while away from the town, I was driving through whoop whoop, and saw a sign saying blocks of land for sale from $30k, blocks starting from 1 acre to 50 acres

I also caught up with a friend recently who grew up in Berwick, just a normal family, however their parents own 5 acres in Berwick,

now this might be worth a couple of million now, but when they bought it Ill bet they couldnt even give it away,

so my thoughts at the time while driving was "who the hell would want to live out here unless its a farm?? you've got no accessto anything, no one around you, no facilities, no shops, no nothing!!!! Not a chance in hell that anyone is going to want to build an estate out here"

but then I thought, fast forward 20-50 years, yes for investment, that might be a bit too long for most to even consider, but with our population expanding constantly, can one of these whoop whoop areas, miles from no where be full of estates down the track???? and Im not referring to a huge plot of land 500m from the outskirts of a major town,

whats everyones thoughts?

 

[The Fence]

The land under Melbourne used to be vacant once upon a time.

Just depends on how long you can live and hold the investment.

 

[alexlee]

And what the opportunity cost is. If you buy a block of land and hold it for 50 years, what could you have done with the money instead? While it seems very impressive to own a couple of acres that can be developed into houses (in 50 years), during that time you could buy an existing property and keep refinancing and buying more.

 

[westminster]

If you were a farmer or a market gardener it makes sense. I'm currently living on an ex market garden which is 16 acres and 12kms from the CBD. It's now 65 residential lots.

It was bought by 2 middle aged market gardeners who are now in their 80s so it was time to stop.

So holding income is paramount or if it's a PPOR.

I wouldn't pick woop-woop. You don't have to go ultra middle of nowhere, just somewhere between the outskirts of the current metro area, or outskirts of a regional hub.

 

[DaveM]

Depends on if the land comes with house construction rights or not, otherwise its just a block of land in the middle of nowhere you cant do anythinig with.

PS if you are in Bendigo want to go renovate a house for me?

 

[RetireRich101]

It may also fast tracked to a Just Terms Compensation which results in a Government acquisition for a public purpose, before any urban development.. By that time you probably be an old dude and not ready to fight them in court.