mirrabooka, balga, nollamarra

hi guys,

I;ve noticed that houses on ok sized blocks sell for sub 350k in these suburbs - which are only about 10km from perth. Proposed light rail in future may also improve capital growth
I'm from sydney and wanted your opinions on what these suburbs are like. i have read that they are lower social economic, are they improving ? how bad is it ?
how would you compare these areas in terms of the type of people vs say thornlie ?

thanks in advance
 
I own a townhouse in one of these suburbs. Yes they are lower socio economic, I would say similar to Thornlie but better than Armadale/surrounds (other popular cheaper suburbs). Simply because these suburbs are bordered by some very nice suburbs and they're all close to the city. Closer than Thornlie by about 50%!! (10~ km as opposed to 20~km).

girrawheen and parts of koondoola are set to go through rezoning, nearly every property in girrawheen will go from R20 to R40 as far as i know. in comparison, in parts of balga they are actually down-zoning (bit of resistance to all the small places going up). lots of investors know about the rezoning in girrawheen but not so many about the parts of koondoola that will be rezoned (probably) so you could start your search there.

another reason i think these suburbs (balga/nollamara mainly) is better than the south east ones you mentioned is they are in City of Stirling. It's one of the richest and most well known councils in the state.

good luck, cheers
 
+1 for Beijos said.

Mirrabooka is only zoned R20 which is 500sqm per block - there is a small pocket near the shops which is R30 but it is newly developed.

They are lower socioeconomic but the govt has spent a lot of money under the New North programme to gentrify the area. They pulled down many of the flats which were causing too many problems as they were all housing commission. Now the suburbs are a mixture of private and some housing commission.

http://www.satterley.com.au/go/residential-estates/new-north

So yes you could find sub 350k in Mirrabooka but you can't subdivide, you could find sub 350k in Balga if you look closely. In Nollamara you'd be able to find a villa for that price.
 
The light rail is a while away and this would of been a good time to buy, however because the interest rates are so low all of the houses are being purchased by first home owners and investors which is shooting the price up.

I lived in this area for over 25 years and watched it change massively. It was only a bad area if you are looking at it from the outside, if you had of lived in it you might have a different opinion.
 
Out of the three suburbs you named,
Price wise (high to low) it'd go
1. Nollamara (south of Reid Hwy)
2. Balga (lots of places been developed)
3. Mirrabooka (still a bit under the radar)

If you come across Westminster in your searches, that used to be part of Balga but when Reid Hwy was built, it got renamed. As I mentioned you could look at Girrawheen and Koondoola. Bit further out you could look @ Marangaroo. Or a bit east you could look at Ballajura. All those suburbs are usually grouped together when people think of that area.
 
User westminster above seems to have made a nice deal with his/her development here, but I can't see how any future development in the area would stack up unless you have massive cash upfront, or are taking massive cash flow losses if you have a decent sized construction loan. The excessive zoning in this pocket of City of Stirling has created a massive high-density zone with the associated crime, bad neighbours etc
 
hi guys,

I;ve noticed that houses on ok sized blocks sell for sub 350k in these suburbs - which are only about 10km from perth. Proposed light rail in future may also improve capital growth
I'm from sydney and wanted your opinions on what these suburbs are like. i have read that they are lower social economic, are they improving ? how bad is it ?
how would you compare these areas in terms of the type of people vs say thornlie ?

thanks in advance

If you were to buy, what is your plan?
 
Thanks all for such helpful advice. I will have a look at koondoola and girrawheen - development potential is good.
Westminster- my original plan is to buy a property in good condition (don't want tenant problems) and build a granny flat at the back if/when laws allow. (i gather this is not possible at present. i was told by an agent in another WA council that it was coming in soon ???

Whilst development in future is a possibility.....i'm interstate and it is probably out of my comfort zone at present, good ot have that option in future when i am ready. And as Western rat pointed out- cashflow +cash upfront is needed. hence i prefer to keep the existing property and just build another dwelling if possible.
 
with regards to the rezoning in girrrawheen- it is proposed but that doesn;t mean it will definatley go through. do you know of any confirmation of when it will take place ?
 
Not sure but I did call the Council (Wanneroo?) to ask once and they were very helpful ( just can't remember their response ).

Just call them and Im sure theyll inform you how far along the process is.
 
girrawheen and parts of koondoola are set to go through rezoning, nearly every property in girrawheen will go from R20 to R40 as far as i know. in comparison, in parts of balga they are actually down-zoning (bit of resistance to all the small places going up). lots of investors know about the rezoning in girrawheen but not so many about the parts of koondoola that will be rezoned (probably) so you could start your search there.

Beijos2, how do you keep updated with zoning and proposed zone changes, constantly following up with the council/website? or is there another way?
 
Some of the leads come from posts on this forum, I call the council from there. (Just do a search for "zoning" or "zone" or "R codes" etc, every now and then).

Also I monitor local papers because these usually have info about rezoning and housing issues; whereas the state papers don't cover such micro issues.

Cheers

Property Observer is also a very good email subscription
 
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Beijos2, how do you keep updated with zoning and proposed zone changes, constantly following up with the council/website? or is there another way?

For me, I have my areas of interest and I follow the councils for those areas. Luckily councils move extrememly slowly so you don't have to look too often. The City of Wanneroo has been planning to change the zoning for around 3 years so far and we are still waiting for it actually to happen. They have a list of areas which will be done and working through it.

The downzoning of Balga has been on the cards for the past year and still no movement on that either.
 
Girrawheen and Koondoola

Hi All

This may be of interest to those looking at development opportunites in the future.

I have attached a couple of links, City of Wanneroo Planing Policy and an interactive map.

I have purchased 3 properties in Girrawheen now, landbanking for the proposed rezoning, R40/R60.

From my research, Girrawheen is considered a better area, in particular properties close proximity to Wanneroo Road.

Most blocks are around 698 sqm2, very difficult to build 3 decent units, so what I look for are properties which I can maintain front and build at the rear, so you need enough access and the property to be in the right position on the block. There are plenty around but there are also plenty of buyers. One of the properties I purchased is on 840 sqm block, however as I mentioned they are rare in this area.

I started looking in Girrawheen about 6 months ago and prices have gradually crept up, from low $300s, now I believe you will need to pay $350K+ depending on the condition for same product.

The rents in Girrawheen are far superior than those in Koondoola (approx $50 short fall in Koondoola), my properties are all pretty much looking after themselves. Rental range of $380 upto $420 per week. It is important that you get the right tenants, we knocked back many, so just need to be patient with this.

I still think there will be some great buying opportunities and I really don't know where you can purchase property at this price that is only 12km from the city. Surrounding areas are all higher entry levels.

I also believe it may be difficult for these areas to break through the $400K barrier, however, in saying this some have already achieved this because the property is unique, by this I mean corner block, larger than normal land component.

Cheers, MTR


http://www.mapimage.net/IntraMaps75...configId=fae0c365-f0b7-4269-805d-2f6b46741b51
http://www.mapimage.net/city_of_wanneroo/ which takes you to an interactive map that can be searched easily. To view the areas affected by the Policy, select the 'zoning' module on the left-hand side of the screen, and then 'check' the Housing Strategy layer
 
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I had my offer on a place in Nollamara accpeted 2 weeks ago and should be settling in Jan. Finally off the mark and back into property investment after nearly an 8 year hiatus :)

Competition is high amongst buyers in this area and Westminster, I must have gone to nearly every home open and all but one place on sunday they were getting big crowds.

I ended up buying a new 3/2/2 villa finished to a higher than normal standard, hopefully will get $450+ pw rent. Many thanks to Westminster on this forum for his advice and insights into this area for property investment, hope your latest project goes well.

Would love to buy a dev block as aforementioned that you can retain front property and build at rear, lovely way to manufacture equity.
 
Hi Venno
Deaseased Estate, just was emailed to me. This will snapped up very quickly.

At this price, appears to be very cheap compared to what is on the market, check out realestate.com.

Looks like it needs a reno, if you only need to spend $10-15K its worth jumping in, there also may be a possibility of building at rear, you will need to do your homework on this, contact Wanneroo Council. I would expect this to be worth closer to $360K+ when cleaned up.

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-koondoola-112568791?rsf=emailalert-propdetails

Cheers
MTR
 
On the wanneroo website for r40 rezoning they say u can build 3 units potentially on 660 to 879 m2. 660 seems pretty small to have 3 units. So u are saying I should aim for how more than this to make sure 3 can fit on? What other factors should I look for ? Large frontage .....flat land ? .
 
Hi eyespy

The average size block in Girrawheen/Koondoola is 698 sqm2 and most will be rezoned - 3 unit sites, however I have spoken to my guy who has been developing stuff for over 20 years and he said that 3 unit site on this size block is way to small and not a viable option. With all my purchases I got most of the info from Council and then I got my guy to view the properties over the net and he was able to tell me whether they met the criteria, position of house, easements etc.

I have only been interested in properties with adequate rear access so I can build at the rear. I think this will be very cost effective and also be able access equity on completion and cashflow positive. However I did pick up a 840 sqm2 but they are harder to acquire.

Can I suggest in the first instance you contact Wanneroo Council as they will be able to provide you with all the information you require, what access (mtrs) required, any easements, zoning, position of the house - however I think you may need to get someone to view this for you. Alternatively you need a much larger block where 3 units is doable and therefore you are just pulling the house down. This Planner has been very helpful/informative.

Jordan Koroveshi
Project Planner
City Growth



T : 08 9405 5523
F : 08 9405 5499
E : [email protected]

23 Dundebar Road, Wanneroo WA 6065
Locked Bag 1, Wanneroo WA 6946
wanneroo.wa.gov.au
 
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