maylands, Perth ???

[eyespy]

I've seen some cheap apartments in Maylands. suburb is close to perth city, is by the river and has good transport links.

What is this area like nowadays ? have read that it is rough but is this changing ? Woudl appreciate some local views as i am sydney based.

Maybe this is bit like our redfern....will gentrify with time ? its next to good suburbs of mt lawley.

Have found 2 bedders for about $230 000, renitng for $280.

 

[meconium]

I've seen some cheap apartments in Maylands. suburb is close to perth city, is by the river and has good transport links.

What is this area like nowadays ? have read that it is rough but is this changing ? Woudl appreciate some local views as i am sydney based.

Maybe this is bit like our redfern....will gentrify with time ? its next to good suburbs of mt lawley.

Have found 2 bedders for about $230 000, renitng for $280.

I looked at a one bedder in Maylands back in 1996, located in a large complex of flats. The asking price was $20,000. Foolishly I considered it too expensive, given the crime and drugs in the area.

For $230,000 today, you could do a lot better.....if you hunted around, you could find an entire house in the outer Perth suburbs, something on a redevelopable block. I saw an old house on a dual occ site in Kelmscott (asking price was $280,000, renting for $$350pw). You'd probably get more capital gain from that in the long run, without he hassle of druggie tenants in a large complex. Demolish the old house and you could replace it with two new units, if you had the time and energy.

But Kelmscott is miles away from the city. If you were holidaying or retiring in Perth you might not want to live there. If so, Maylands might be your thing - it's almost walking distance from the city (if you are very fit).

 

[Jen_PFR]

Maylands is a great little spot - very close to the city, close to the river, good public transport links, etc. We'd be investing there ourselves, but it's just a bit too far away from our own home (we're very hands-on investors) compared to where we've bought. I had a property there in the late 1990s for a couple of years and trust me, gentrification has been occurring for some time It's still not a green leafy suburb, but I certainly wouldn't have any concerns buying there again.

 

[Western Man]

Having driven through it on the way to work for years, Maylands is definitely a suburb on the up - the local council is investing heavily in a new community centre and establishing a cafe strip, the train station was almost entirely rebuilt in 2004 and a couple of new apartment developments have put some polish amongst what is largely outdated stock. It's also, apart from perhaps the bit of West Perth in the Town of Vincent, the last affordable suburb that near the Perth CBD.

One aspect you do have to consider is that Maylands consists of a few distinct sections. It's separated by the rail line for a start and the northern part adjacent to Mount Lawley and Bayswater has a much less shabby feel (possibly because there's only a few large blocks of flats there, on Tenth Avenue). There's also the newer high priced subdivisions on the peninsula and some scattered urban renewal - with the area in between still "flatland" from the 60s and 70s.

That said, I think the potential for huge capital gains has come and gone. Given that some of the very cheap buys are in blocks that look like they're on the verge of falling down, probably the best thing to aim for is a complex where some beautification works have already taken place. There's more than a few of them out there, and you won't cop the large special levies required to carry out the works!

 

[meconium]

That said, I think the potential for huge capital gains has come and gone. !

So true. Should have done it years ago. As late as 1993, it was possible to buy an older home on a development sized block for less than $100,000. But that's no longer possible these days........

 

[Joe D]

some cheap apartments in Maylands.

"Apartment" seems to be the upmarket word for "flat".

Maylands as a suburb has potential being close to the rail and city particularly given the recent rejuvenation of shopping precinct near train station, however, there are far too many older "blocks of flats" on the river side of Guildford Rd with less than desirable tenants.

Stick close (500m) to rail line in small block and you may do okay.

nb: If this is the location of the "apartment" you are looking at I would think that you could do better in other suburbs albeit at a slightly higher price. (eg. Wembley, Mosman Park)

 

[meconium]

Stick close (500m) to rail line

Yes, keep away from the large blocks. Full of drug sellers, ladies of the night and druggies. Even at $20,000, I found it too hard to deal with. Mea Culpa.

 

[jaycee]

"Apartment" seems to be the upmarket word for "flat".
Maylands as a suburb has potential being close to the rail and city particularly given the recent rejuvenation of shopping precinct near train station, however, there are far too many older "blocks of flats" on the river side of Guildford Rd with less than desirable tenants.

Stick close (500m) to rail line in small block and you may do okay.

nb: If this is the location of the "apartment" you are looking at I would think that you could do better in other suburbs albeit at a slightly higher price. (eg. Wembley, Mosman Park)

You noticed this too these days eh ?

 

[eyespy]

thanks for all teh comments.

what i find weird with this suburb is that you've got beautiful expensive houses in short proximity to these ghetto "flats".

 

[sammmeee]

Eyespy, Maylands is NOT like redfern. Having lived in both sydney and perth I would say that maylands is definately not redfern.

Yes there are rough spots and there are very good spots. It does tick a lot of boxes, close to city, freeway, trains, ect..the units are very small though barely 50sqm.

 

[eyespy]

hi sammee..
can u clarify how maylands is different to redfern ? redfern used to have a bad name to it yet parts of it now are quite desirable....lots of new unit blocks there.

also....i agree most of the units are quite small-50m2, but most of the units in inner city perth are small....most i have seen online are onpar with this sizing. I take it the cheaper price of these units is bc of the reputation of the area, not purely bc it is small ?

 

[eyespy]

the other area that i am interested in is Thornlie and here i would look for a house.
unit in maylands or hosue in thornlie ?

 

[sammmeee]

Eyespy,

Differences between redfern maylands
1. Maylands is literally right on the swan river
2. More million dollar+ properties in maylands
3. No riots have occured in maylands (in recent memory), the crime statistics are FAR FAR worse in redfern...
4. Closer to the city

IMHO maylands would be good if you find the right property. Try and stay clear of the 1960's 100 story buildings. There are some great ones with under 20 units in them.

Not sure on Thornlie, I have seen it hot spotted in API as an upcoming suburb. Which usually means its too late as everyone will jump on the bandwagon. But 2 totally different suburbs..one land one unit ect.

Do your research and see what suits you best and what based on your research makes the most sense.

 

[eyespy]

thanks for the detailed advice sammeee....appreciate it !

 

[globaljat]

There is nothing to loose if you invest in a cheap property in Maylands..so easy to rent out your unit there. I have seen the area improving drastically in last 4-5 years. There is a room for the units to go up a bit. So called 'bad area' is not actually that bad as these are the areas which can make you some money not the property in 'good area' they have gone up as much as they could.