North Rosebery Precinct. NSW and Surrounds

[schmick]

Hi All,

Happy New Year! Partner and I are preparing/researching for a purchase in 2014 in Sydney. We're both a bit vanilla with Sydney having only moved here from Melbourne (1 x IP in North Melbourne) in April 2013.

Similar to our North Melbourne property, looking for a property to initially live in as a PPOR (~3 years) and then later convert to IP to add to our portfolio. Slow way to build wealth I know but we like living in our own place.

We currently live in Waterloo in a 2/2/1 apartment and enjoy the area so have been looking around Waterloo, East and Surrounds. What we love about the area is access to CBD, Cafes/Bars (Surry Hills, etc) and also the Beach (Coogee/Maroubra).

Budget of around $800k would be ideal and following the market through mid to end of 2013, it would appear that a House would be out of the question in any of these areas, including the inner west. Sad but guess we're also buying at the top end of the market in the areas we like.

On that basis, preference would be for a Townhouse but they are either rare or again over our budget. We've seen some Apartments in larger complex's that would be similar size to a Townhouse which have caught our eye.

We'd like to avoid Zetland as there are just too many high rises built in the area and whilst close to the CBD and ultimately most affordable, it just doesn't have that 'homely' feeling walking the streets if that makes sense.

North Rosebery has caught our eye and I've read the development proposal for gentrification in and around that area. The North Rosebery precinct is situated between the Epsom Park precinct to the north and the Rosebery Estate to the south and is within the Green Square Urban Renewal Area. It is generally bounded by Epsom Road, Dalmeny Avenue, Kimberley Grove and
Rothschild Avenue.

What I like about it is distance to CBD (6kms), good public transport access, still close to beaches, CBD, cafe's/bars and it appears at this stage to not be a Zetland like suburb although its still rather industrial/raw (kind of like parts of North Melbourne I guess). Planning seems to want to keep buildings to no more than 7 stories high with green areas proposed throughout. Obviously there's some big developments currently underway such as Otto and mature developments like Artise already in the area.

Does anybody have any local knowledge or feedback on the area. Interested in peoples general thoughts but also comments on flight path, future CG and future rent potential looking.

Alternatively, suggestions for areas to investigate would also be appreciated.

As mentioned, looking for something we can live in for 3 years or so and then rent out and move on.

Cheers.

 

[SeafordSunshine]

North Rosebery!

I have lived in Redfern (which became East Redfern in the late 90's.. ) since the 80's and seen lots of changes, most of which have been fabulous, the street landscaping , bike paths, and the parks, also the bars restaurants and nightlife.
You are looking a bit further out, to have access to all those things, have a little look at Redwatch etc, all the development plans, and make sure they are what you are looking for.
I have to say I love North Melbourne, and feel quite at home there too.
How big are the trees going to be? quality of landscaping make quite a difference. Also library, parking , and bus schedules, (unless like me you walk)
Check out who your neighbours are.
Are they apartments full of English language students?
How big are the levies?
What is the vacancy factor currently? In 3 years are there a raft of apartments due to be completed, competing with yours?
How about shops?
Are there any plans to sell the Airport railway to the govt?
Also the tram line from Surry Hills to the University will make a huge difference.
Best of luck!

 

[beachgurl]

Have you considered Pagewood or Botany? There's a large townhouse development in Pagewood near the golf course. While we didn't buy there we were very close to doing so. Large living areas and plenty of parking. If any come on the market you may secure one at your budget.

Botany has come a long way in the past few years and there are some nice developments there. Lots of families are moving to the area as they are priced out of the beach suburbs.

Is the land you are talking about where the Hillsong church were supposed to build their mega-centre?

 

[mflying]

You may want to look at Alexandria (Unit) or Tempe (Semi). I know tempe may be out of your radar.. but it has good CG potential.

I am not a big fan of units but if number stacks up.. it is a good location.

Tempe: Closer to city, marrickville is catching a "Trendy Bug" from newton, Alexandria, surryhills and it has train station too.

not long ago you could have easily found (Reno project)semi for around $800k in Tempe... not sure what is available in market at the moment.

 

[schmick]

Have you considered Pagewood or Botany? There's a large townhouse development in Pagewood near the golf course. While we didn't buy there we were very close to doing so. Large living areas and plenty of parking. If any come on the market you may secure one at your budget.

Botany has come a long way in the past few years and there are some nice developments there. Lots of families are moving to the area as they are priced out of the beach suburbs.

Hey beachgurl,

We've included Pagewood into our search. What street was the Townhouse development on and do you recall what the selling price was at the time? What made you consider elsewhere in the end?

We drove around Botany yesterday also, agree with you, seems like a nice family area and lots of development going on especially around Myrtle Street. We did inspect an apartment there, large top floor, city views, etc. but felt that the transport links weren't as good from there.

Did you ever consider Mascot in your search at all?

Is the land you are talking about where the Hillsong church were supposed to build their mega-centre?

I believe the Hillsong Church project wasn't approved after public backlash. The land I believe now is the site of 'Otto Rosebery'. Looks to be a high density master planned community being sold by Colliers.

 

[schmick]

You may want to look at Alexandria (Unit) or Tempe (Semi). I know tempe may be out of your radar.. but it has good CG potential.

I am not a big fan of units but if number stacks up.. it is a good location.

Tempe: Closer to city, marrickville is catching a "Trendy Bug" from newton, Alexandria, surryhills and it has train station too.

not long ago you could have easily found (Reno project)semi for around $800k in Tempe... not sure what is available in market at the moment.

Mflying,

Thanks for the response. We've been looking in Alexandria for sometime. Priced out of houses/terraces in this area and I've only seen one Townhouse come up over the past few months which eventually sold at Auction for $1.2m.

We don't mind units, have been living in them for a while. The issue is we'd like 100sqm with a useable outdoor area and in a small block. Unfortunately, lots of 2/2/1 units these days are barely 100sqm in total within new high density developments. Ideally, townhouse in small strata complex or torrens title would be a dream but those seem rare here in Sydney, well from my research anyway, others might be able to point me in the right direction.

Went for a drive to Tempe yesterday to inspect a couple of properties. Seems like quite a family type suburb and worth considering more. One thing that we noticed immediately was the aircraft noise. I've posted about this in another thread as I'm interested in peoples feedback.

 

[beachgurl]

Begonia st was where we looked at a few townhouses. They were selling for low 5s at the time (2006). We were renting a 3 storey townhouse at the time and were put off by the levels. The bus service to the city wasn't as great as maroubra so we bought a unit there and didn't want to be too far from the beach. In hindsight Begonia would've been a much better investment but back then we were time poor professionals who just wanted convenience. We could've got a semi in matraville at that price too.

We were gazumped on a semi in mascot a few months earlier than our end purchase. We liked the idea of a house but again we wanted the beach and frequent buses of maroubra.

 

[schmick]

We liked the idea of a house but again we wanted the beach and frequent buses of maroubra.

This is our conundrum also. Having moved from Melbourne and now having access to all these wonderful beaches (I surf), being close to them is important for us also but so is the commute to the CBD.

Presently Waterloo offers us all that.

We currently live in a unit also but would like a Townhouse for a bit more space, especially outdoor space.

A few Townhouses have come up in Maroubra but they were in the Housing Commission part (one of those American streets!). We drove through and didn't get the best impressions of the neighborhood at all!

We know we'll potentially need to sacrifice on something as getting a place which ticks all our boxes at our desired price point doesn't achievable at this point, albeit stock levels are extremely low.

Where in Mascot were you looking out of curiosity? Was the place affected by Flight Path/Noise?

 

[beachgurl]

Lol at the American streets. We lived in a townhouse in that cluster for 12 months and it was nice to get out of there. When we lived there the buses stopped operating after 8pm for safety reasons. That said, we used to walk to the beach every afternoon after work which was great. If you can get one on the northern fringe it will be ok.

House in mascot was in Hardie st. Didn't seem to have much aircraft noise.

 

[schmick]

Lol at the American streets. We lived in a townhouse in that cluster for 12 months and it was nice to get out of there. When we lived there the buses stopped operating after 8pm for safety reasons. That said, we used to walk to the beach every afternoon after work which was great. If you can get one on the northern fringe it will be ok.

House in mascot was in Hardie st. Didn't seem to have much aircraft noise.

Hmm, interesting feedback re: that area of Maroubra. As mentioned we were very turned off that part once we had a good drive though.

There's actually one for sale now: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-nsw-maroubra-115852199

So would you suggest looking anywhere North of Fitzgerald Avenue? What is Boyce Road like? Busy?