Hi Toon,
As you would know Machans is the first beachside suburb north of Cairns CBD, it is quite small, and to me has quite a beachside holiday home feel (a little alternative) about it..lots of little old cottages in desperate need of reno, and some newly reno'd/constructed homes on the foreshore. A once prolific poster, Sailor, bought a beach-front Queenslander on the Esplanade a couple years ago and reno'd it, including raising the whole home..it is literally less than 10m from the water,(
http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29559) and I actually just messaged her to ask how she fared in the recent big rains..
Unless they have done something about it in the last 12 months the access road from the highway into Machans is quite flood prone, and when I lived in Cairns would become impassable a couple days a year, if a big monsoon/cyclone came nearby. I think Machans itself would be quite flood prone as well, but didnt live there long-enough to see it happen..The Cairns Council has quite a good website with all the overlays and zonings (Cairns Plan -
http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/include/IA/index_pages/planningInfraBldg/planningSchemes.html.)
As far as tenantability, I dont think you would have too much problem, especially if your property was in reasonable condition, as it is the classic beachfront lifestyle, while only a few km from the city. I have 2 mid-range IPs in Cairns, and haven't had the prob of people leaving in the wet. Of course if it was a holiday let it would be a different story..
One thing to check with a prospective IP is proximity to the creek (southern end of Machans), as the mozzies and sandflies can be horrendous, although for many who live in Cairns permanently its is par for the course, just a minor downfall of living in the tropics.
As for the market in Cairns at the mo, my PM tells me it is still pretty flat, after many years of high growth, although mid-range properties are holding their own...upper range properties are losing out a bit, and are more difficult to tenant, not sure what the current vacancy rate is, but it took me 2 weeks to tenant my 350/wk IP last April. There is a lot of new stock for sale in the new subdivisions.
Hope this is of assistance.
Cheers,
Nadia
