New townhouse vs old house on large block?

[Ghrill80]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if I could please get your opinions on this situation...
My husband and I are first home buyers. We've got kids. We live in Brisbane and have saved up a 20-30% deposit and are looking at both houses and townhouses to buy as owner-occupiers.

We're currently looking at a townhouse which is almost new, has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 toilets and a decent-sized backyard (not easy to find with townhouses but there are some out there!)

We are also looking at an old house (about 40 years old, made of brick, lowset) on a large 700 square metre block with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom/1 toilet. It has a modern bathroom and kitchen but the rest is in its original state.

Both properties are going for the same price and are in the same suburb.

The pros of the townhouse are that the whole property is quite new and modern, no renovations needed and there is more than one bathroom and toilet, which is what we feel we need. There is the security of living in a gated complex which also has a swimming pool and games room that we could use. The cons are the ongoing body corp and no land value or prospect of ever developing the property externally.

The pros of the old house is its land value and no body corp and the possibility of extending the property or developing. The cons are only having one bathrooom and toilet and the fact that we might have to add another bathroom onto the property sooner or later because one bathroom and toilet is going to become inconvenient pretty quickly. I guess another con would be the cost of renovations that we would have to do.

My husband and I are toying with the idea of buying the old house and doing renovations and perhaps extensions over time. We hope that the land value (this is a suburb where land is quite valuable) and renovations would make the property's value go up more quickly than with a townhouse.

We have tried looking at houses which already have more than one bathroom and are new or at least renovated but it seems they're out of our budget.

My husband and I have been discussing our options to no end and even researching the cost of extensions, etc. but I just wanted to get the input of you gurus before we make any final decisions.

Thanking you in advance.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hi GHR

Welcome

A lot does come down to what the suburb is, and what your LONGER term intentions are for the property ?

ta
rolf

 

[Graingrower]

Also remember that rennovations always take longer and cost more than you first thought. Perhaps much better to live in a comfortable home so you can concentrate on advancing your career, rather than coming home from work to a half renovated house and the stress of that affecting your work in your real job. A bit negative perhaps, but do whatever floats your boat.

 

[willair]

Both properties are going for the same price and are in the same suburb.

The pros of the townhouse are that the whole property is quite new and modern, no renovations needed and there is more than one bathroom and toilet, which is what we feel we need. There is the security of living in a gated complex which also has a swimming pool and games room that we could use. The cons are the ongoing body corp and no land value or prospect of ever developing the property externally.



My husband and I are toying with the idea of buying the old house and doing renovations and perhaps extensions over time. We hope that the land value (this is a suburb where land is quite valuable) and renovations would make the property's value go up more quickly than with a townhouse.

That's the bottom line,the land content and depending on what area and the street layout the house sounds a lot better then a townhouse on bugger all land,and problems from other title holders,just depends on the area..

 

[pieman]

If you are interested in making money, buy the house and try to live in it as best you can with the intention of dual occing it or building/renoing it later.

This, of course, will be the hard road instead of living in a low maintence new 3br but this is the sacrifice you need to make to get ahead.(if you could be bothered) Trust me, land goes up buildings go down and its the ability to change usage/improve that makes you dough. There is little scope for that in a town house.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

The townhouse will be much more comfortable to live in and you'll probably have a better quality of life, as it is almost new.
By the way, the townhouse does have land value, even more so since it has a large backyard.

The old house will have more potential to value add, but will still cost you if you're not a handy or practical person, may even cost alot more than expected if there are problems with the site.

Personally, for a PPOR, next one I buy will be at least 98% complete and modern, I don't want to do anything.
I'm not looking to make profit from my PPOR.
However, it was a different story when starting out as the only way I knew to make money was renovations, and PPOR was a great low pressure way to start while keeping costs down.

It really depends on how you want to make your money.
You don't have to treat PPOR's the same way as you select IP's.

 

[JIT]

I faced a similar question this year for my first PPOR, and chose the new townhouse over the old house.

If it's a good development (I generally stay away from blocks with features like swimming pools or games rooms) in a good location of a good suburb, not too far away from the CBD (<10-15km) and public transport, I think there will still be CG potential.

Also, if you decide to move out it could be much easier to rent the townhouse and could be neutrally geared after tax if so, and you could utilise the 6 year CGT free rule to wait for some more CG before selling.

I already had a few investment properties, so took a more practical approach to the PPOR purchase.

Hassle free living in a new home is great, and with kids in the house too I think this makes things easier.

Does depend also on what your job is and income here is, for a high income earner it may make more sense to put more time into their career development and increasing their earning capacity further, rather than spending valuable weekends doing renovations and potentially over-capitalizing.

Alternatively, for someone with particular handyman/renovation skills, the old house may give you better value for money.

 

[DaveM]

Townhouse... I would not want to live in one with kids unless it was completely free standing, no common walls.

For my home, I prefer my space and having a big yard and a dog and all that kind of stuff that townhouses with body corporates and the issues their inhereant busy body old biddy committee members.

Kids playing in the driveway area... notes under doors. Kids playinig in the yard, notes under door about inivading their peaceful enjoyment.

Having as much distance between you and your neighbours as you can is a good thing And nobody to tell you what you can and cant do, when you can and cant do it, in your own home.

As an investment, townhouses are good. You can get more rent per bedroom than an apartment, and I own two townhouses myself (almost had a 3rd for $293k with tenants paying $375 pw grrrr slow approval from lender I lost it....)... to live in with kids, it would be horrible I reckon.

 

[beachgurl]

From an investment point of view, definitely the house. But from a living perspective, I'd go the townhouse.

A while back I had this same decision to make - a townhouse with a nice yard or an old house on a big block. 9 years down the track, there is a massive gap in price between the two - the house much more valuable both in land value and subdivision potential. But at the time I was a young single girl who didn't even know how to hammer a nail and the idea of living in a cold old house with a massive yard was not appealing at all. I know I would've hate living in the house and I'm sure dad would've hated having to mow the lawn for me.

 

[Andrew_A]

Hi Ghrill80,

Might be worth really working out in fine detail the importance of the lifestyle vs investing decision.

The first home buyer bonuses are very tempting but need to be weighed up against the lifestyle and investing factors. One possible idea could be to rent in a nice complex where someone else will be paying the B/C for the pool and facilities, this could allow separation of lifestyle and investment decisions.

If the house is viewed as a better investment then buying that as a PPOR with a view to turning it into an IP would also be an option, personally I wouldn't want to do renovations with kids in the house or have to move home more than once but that all comes back to what is important based on your own situation.

 

[gottabespotless]

I'd buy the house. Absolutely. No body corp fees; not having to put up with other owners (especially if they happen to be retired and at home bored all day) whinging about anything and everything, eg. kids and kids bikes, etc, in the common areas; not as 'confined' living; a house on a block of land will always increase in value more than anything in a complex (remember that the townhouse is nice and 'modern' now but soon it won't be); townhouses are harder to sell if you ever want/need to sell; more freedom to 'do your own thing' to YOUR property; ability to extend at a later date if you so choose.

A previous poster mentioned if the townhouse was freestanding or not - personally, I would never live in another newly-built townhouse that was attached to another as I don't want to hear their dunny flush every time they 'go' or hear about the dramas in their personal lives through the paper-thin walls that most attached townhouses/duplexes, etc, are made from today.

I've rented, owned and lived in units, townhouses (attached and freestanding) and houses and for mine, I'd buy the house over the townhouse for sure.

Best of luck with your decision.