Mount Druitt-is this a good buy?
- Thread starter doozer
- Start date
My sister just bought a unit there as an investment property while she still lives at home and to possibly live in at some point (she's 23 and has only been out of uni for a year). She paid $297,500 for a modern 2 bedroom unit, 1 bath and a single garage. It is quite spacious and probably around 10 years old. It is on Hythe St so a short walk to Westfield and the station without being on the main road. How far is it from the station and Westfield? Is it to live in or as an investment? Mount Druitt has a good rental return and is still quite affordable given the location and facilities. The price doesn't seem too bad. I've seen ones advertised for $385k but you will have to wait a while for it to be built. Are you a first home buyer? If you are, to get the $15k grant and stamp duty exemption you need to live in it for at least the first six months.
Most of the regular forumites who are involved in mt Druitt bought a while ago and some are now looking at selling . Mt Druitt has gone up significantly in the last year , probably more than most places in sydney . Mt Druitt typically goes up quite quickly then goes side sways and down for long periods of time .
There is nothing distinctive about MT Druitt that means it will move upmarket socioeconomically . It's at the bottom of the ladder and IMHO will stay there for a long while.
Mt Druitt IS AN AREA WITH LOTS OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS . Anyone who tells you anything else is with bullsh...ing you , doesn't know the area , or is unaware of what it's like to live in an area without social problems . I worked out there for 19 years .
I mentioned to my wife I was replying to a post about buying an OTP in Mt Druitt and her comment was " I hope you're telling them not to " ( she's also worked out there and is hands on with our investing ( I'm the one who posts ) ) , but I said no , I'm not going to say that . I'll just give them some info and let them draw their own conclusion .
There have been several posts about mt Druitt over recent times .
I admit I missed the boat with mt Druitt this cycle . Normally mt Druitt is one of the last places in sydney to move but this cycle it has moved earlier . I'm not complaining though . While various forumites where buying there I was buying in centrally located places which I'm happier to hold long time.
Cliff
There is nothing distinctive about MT Druitt that means it will move upmarket socioeconomically . It's at the bottom of the ladder and IMHO will stay there for a long while.
Mt Druitt IS AN AREA WITH LOTS OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS . Anyone who tells you anything else is with bullsh...ing you , doesn't know the area , or is unaware of what it's like to live in an area without social problems . I worked out there for 19 years .
I mentioned to my wife I was replying to a post about buying an OTP in Mt Druitt and her comment was " I hope you're telling them not to " ( she's also worked out there and is hands on with our investing ( I'm the one who posts ) ) , but I said no , I'm not going to say that . I'll just give them some info and let them draw their own conclusion .
There have been several posts about mt Druitt over recent times .
I admit I missed the boat with mt Druitt this cycle . Normally mt Druitt is one of the last places in sydney to move but this cycle it has moved earlier . I'm not complaining though . While various forumites where buying there I was buying in centrally located places which I'm happier to hold long time.
Cliff
You don't think it will improve given that it is one of the few places in Sydney that a young single professional can afford to buy a unit? I haven't spent as much time there as you obviously have, but I have been there on a number of occasions recently and I quite like it. I grew up on the Northern Beaches and then in The Hills district and from what I heard I was expecting so much worse. I saw a few interesting looking characters but most people looked like ordinary families. I think it's great you can buy a reasonably modern unit for $300k or less within walking distance to a Westfield and a station with express trains to the city. I looked at a number of units with my sister and they were all well kept. We didn't see one that had tenants that weren't looking after the place. Some of the suburbs surrounding Mt Druitt have issues but the suburb of Mt Druitt itself seems alright. I wish my husband and I bought a unit there when we moved out together instead of renting a unit in Parramatta. Oh well you live and learn.
It has the stamp duty exemption but not FHOG. I am familiar with Mt Druitt's social issues as I used to live in Sydney. I understand it is still the joke of many people's conversations when they talk about Western Sydney.
From research I've done it looks like the unit would get about $360-70 a week in rent which means the yield isn't great. What I'm more concerned about is capital gain and whether we've missed the boom or whether there's still some steam left in this part of Sydney.
If only we had a crystal ball.....
From research I've done it looks like the unit would get about $360-70 a week in rent which means the yield isn't great. What I'm more concerned about is capital gain and whether we've missed the boom or whether there's still some steam left in this part of Sydney.
If only we had a crystal ball.....
For an established unit, you would get around $320 pw - $330pw if you are lucky.
Originally $289900 before we got screwed over.
$320-$330 for an older style 2 bedroom unit. For a modern 2 bedroom unit at least $340 some are advertised for up to $365.
What do you mean stamp duty exemption but not FHOG? That's a good yield for Sydney.
Don't know who your property manager/source is and what knowhow of the area is. Have a 3br villa, and aiming to get $350. And sis has 2br modern TOWNHOUSE getting $350. The rental market has been slow.
doozer;1192537 I am familiar with Mt Druitt's social issues[I said:
That's my point . Have you lived in Mt Druitt ? Are you really familiar with Mt Druitt's social problems ? Reading something and being there are completely different things .
Have you had to discuss the pro's and con's of someone having to do a midnight flit because they witnessed a murder in the house next door , the neighbors suspect this but haven't been arrested yet .....
Have you had to treat a broken leg because someone slammed a door on a car driver because they wanted to park in the spot the other person was standing in ?
Have you had a billiard ball thrown through the back window of your car , probably because someone was bored ?
In most places in Sydney , if someone was firing a home made bazooka through the local bus there would be Sydney Wide outage , but that incident ,which went on for months , only got into the sydney media on occasions and probably didn't rate a blimp on Alan jones radar ( I may be wrong , I don't listen to him ).
I could go on and on ...
I would be happy to buy in Mt Druitt as an investment property if I thought the market was about to jump , BUT , it has already jumped. In the last cycle we bought in Logan , which is similar . Made very nice capital growth as we bought before the prices jumped . Had some problematic tenants including one who's kids were throwing dog sh..t at the neighbor . Needless to say the neighbor was unhappy .
I've met numerous people who have bought in Mt Druitt because it was cheap and within a short period of time couldn't wait to get out .
Most people in Mt Druitt are very nice people , but there is relatively large rat bag element and if you happen to live next to one of them they can make you life a living hell.
Cliff
doozer - I agree with you. It's not just another suburb of Sydney. It's changing demographically. It hasn't just gone up with the growth of Sydney, the percentage of growth has exceeded the massive growth of Sydney.
It will no doubt continue to do so - but maybe it's reached its peak or close to for this cycle. That's a matter for the crystal ball.
Now may not be the time to jump on the Mt Druitt bandwagon. Everything will cool off eventually and when rents adjust and some get tired of paying off mortgages, get divorced etc, that's when you go in without all the competition.
Maybe, not now. It probably won't go through a down-side that corresponds to this crazy up-side but it will have a time when it's better to buy.
If you're looking for the prestige that goes with buying in an unrecognised gem, look in the places that some look down on. Like Mt Druitt, they should be close to transport, shcools, industry, etc. You might have to do some reserach, maybe go inter-state for now?
But then I may be wrong and it may keep growing in this cycle. I just like to buy something when there's no-one else around.
It will no doubt continue to do so - but maybe it's reached its peak or close to for this cycle. That's a matter for the crystal ball.
Now may not be the time to jump on the Mt Druitt bandwagon. Everything will cool off eventually and when rents adjust and some get tired of paying off mortgages, get divorced etc, that's when you go in without all the competition.
Maybe, not now. It probably won't go through a down-side that corresponds to this crazy up-side but it will have a time when it's better to buy.
If you're looking for the prestige that goes with buying in an unrecognised gem, look in the places that some look down on. Like Mt Druitt, they should be close to transport, shcools, industry, etc. You might have to do some reserach, maybe go inter-state for now?
But then I may be wrong and it may keep growing in this cycle. I just like to buy something when there's no-one else around.
We bought at a time when there was a stamp duty exemption on new properties, then the developer increased the price mid contract.
Not disputing the growth , but I think the driver is different . It's investor driven . People wanting to buy in sydney . They look for the cheapest place and that's where they buy . Mt Druitt is the cheapest .
Cliff
mmm . If you had a contract how did they do that , or was it before you signed ? If so , that sucks ...
Cliff
Being an off the plan contract it's pretty much anything goes ie the vendor can increase the price without giving too much reason. We can walk away if we wish at the new price or proceed.
You need to look at what else you could buy for that money around the country and then compare that to mt druitt IMO takeing into consideration what part of the cycle it is at, growth drivers etc etc
