Preston v Essendon v Box Hill/Blackburn

[la_ngoc]

Hi all,

I am a newbie in this forum and also new to property. We have just sold our 2-bedroom unit in Preston and are looking for a 3-bedroom house for our family. Preston isn't bad in terms of amenities; however, I wanted to buy in Essendon. That's why we are renting here to try the area first. My husband always wants to move to Eastern suburbs - e.g. Box Hill, Box Hill South, Blackburn, etc. I am not a big fan because we both work in the city, so close proximity to the city is a must-have for me.

Essendon nearly ticks all the boxes for me: good schools, close to the city, close to Asian community. My only concern is the long-term capital gain for Essendon properties. After the boom in 2010, Essendon house prices have been stabilising while Preston and other Easter suburbs are having good growth spurt. Maybe it's because of Chinese/Asian buyers don't keep their eyes on Essendon compared with their sought-after suburbs such as the other ones. So perhaps in the long term, purchasing a house in these suburbs will bring more capital gain compared with Essendon. Anyway, it's just my thought and it can be wrong. I just want to ask for your second thoughts on what you think about these suburbs and your projection for their house price trends. Thanks heaps!

 

[la_ngoc]

Any comments? Thanks in advance.

 

[Redwood]

Hi all,

I am a newbie in this forum and also new to property. We have just sold our 2-bedroom unit in Preston and are looking for a 3-bedroom house for our family. Preston isn't bad in terms of amenities; however, I wanted to buy in Essendon. That's why we are renting here to try the area first. My husband always wants to move to Eastern suburbs - e.g. Box Hill, Box Hill South, Blackburn, etc. I am not a big fan because we both work in the city, so close proximity to the city is a must-have for me.

Essendon nearly ticks all the boxes for me: good schools, close to the city, close to Asian community. My only concern is the long-term capital gain for Essendon properties. After the boom in 2010, Essendon house prices have been stabilising while Preston and other Easter suburbs are having good growth spurt. Maybe it's because of Chinese/Asian buyers don't keep their eyes on Essendon compared with their sought-after suburbs such as the other ones. So perhaps in the long term, purchasing a house in these suburbs will bring more capital gain compared with Essendon. Anyway, it's just my thought and it can be wrong. I just want to ask for your second thoughts on what you think about these suburbs and your projection for their house price trends. Thanks heaps!

Hi there, welcome and perhaps give it some time before following up. What you have not mentioned is your price range which is important for the suburbs you mentioned and I assume it a PPOR.

If you are looking for a 3 BR house, in Blackburn or Boxhill on a fair chunk of land (i.e 700 sqm) you are looking at $900k to $1m. Both of these areas are heavily influenced by Chinese buyers as is Glen Waverley, so you would look and hope for Long term growth. You will pay similar prices for a townhouse in these areas.

In the long term - well anyone's guess hey, for me Box Hill is overpriced and Blackburn's average house price currently sits around $1m which has exploded in the last year. My office is in blackburn personally I love blackburn, but its heated, I mean heated.

So, in summary, need more info on purchase price but you are looking for a $1m price tag.

Remember Box Hill and Blackburn have good public transport so no issue with getting to the city by train, plus eastern freeway and eastlink going the other way.

There's some thoughts and I hope it helps.

Cheers Ivan

 

[The Y-man]

Any comments? Thanks in advance.

They're all fine. Really up to you as this sounds more a lifestyle decision than an investment one.

If someone said "Preston is the best" but you don't like living there, what's the point" Not worth it in my opinion.

The Y-man

 

[The Y-man]

My husband always wants to move to Eastern suburbs

Have you asked him why?

The Y-man

 

[tone1]

If I had the option to live in Essendon, I'd take it anyday over the other two suburbs. It's on the way to cracking 1 mil median price for a house and, once that happens, will only be the 2nd suburb to do so on the west side of the city I believe.

 

[Redwood]

Have you asked him why?

The Y-man

You don't like the East Y Man?
I live East - I love blackburn, I live in GW, but I grew up this side of the woods. I like Vermont as well.

Would not buy in Box Hill....

Cheers Ivan

 

[The Y-man]

You don't like the East Y Man?
I live East - I love blackburn, I live in GW, but I grew up this side of the woods. I like Vermont as well.

Would not buy in Box Hill....

Cheers Ivan

It is not a matter of whether "we" like it or not - I want to know why the hub has the east in mind in particular, as it will help me understand the motives eg is it because he likes the shopping in BH, or relos live there, or because he read it on the newspaper, or because people he knows says the west sux etc

The Y-man

 

[la_ngoc]

Thanks for all of your replies. Really appreciate!

@ Redwood: I am not after a big block (e.g. 700sqm) as I can't afford and also can't maintain it. I am after something around 450sqm around 700k-850k. I know Box Hill/Blackburn, etc have been heated by Chinese buyers. That's why I first thought why I need to bear all the heat and compete with these affluent buyers. The areas have been a bit overpriced in terms of the amenities and proximity to the city. But they are all in the East and perhaps with Chinese buyers, "East is the to way due to better fengshui" is their bible. I am not sure if at some points, the house prices in these suburbs would start to plateau like what happened with Essendon after the boom in 2010(?). I would really doubt it given more and more Chinese coming to Melbourne. So in regards to long-term capital growth, these may be a better option. If Essendon and Eastern suburbs all tick my box, it would then be the guess for capital gain to shape up my decision.

@ Y-man: I like to live in all of these suburbs as they all have pros and cons. That's why it's hard to make the decision. My husband likes Eastern because of better fengshui, closer to mountain/beaches to get away, more leafy streets, safety (as Essendon is surrounded by "rough" suburbs).

@ tone1: I second your thought as I feel Essendon is close to hit the 1 mil mark. Also, it's good to live in the same neighbourhood with all the 1-mil properties.

 

[The Y-man]

My husband likes Eastern because of better fengshui, .

Ah! Should sell you our home

It was built by an Italian man, but I think his wife was into geomancy. After we bought it we found many things that seemed to match a lot of the Feng Shui principles.

For example, my house is:
- on the high side of the road, on a slope with the high side to the rear.
- there are curved paths to the front door
- there is a water feature that this path goes past
- there is a very tortuous path from the front door to any rear door
- there was a crystal left hanging from curtain rods in the one bedroom that had view of the corner of one of my neighbours houses
- there was a wind chime in one of the bedrooms (not sure what this was for - have left it there)
- wind chime in the rear patio (but it never sounds....)
- fruit trees planted by them (we have since added many more)
- stair way offset to the front door

The Y-man

 

[jpcashflow]

Hi

Hi,

Hope you are well?

Buying your own home is allot harder then buying an investment property.

Every one will have their own opinion on where they want to live.

First thing I would do is look at your budget

 

[albanga]

I live in Niddrie which is Essendons neighbor and it definitely ticks a large majority of your boxes but in terms of the strong asian community where exactly do you mean? Essendon itself I would say has a very minute asian community, some suburbs within 10m drive do though such as Footscray, Maidstone, Sunsine.etc

Where abouts in Essendon are you more focused on? There are no considerable development projects underway or planned but if you are thinking very long term (say 20 years) then I think Essendon will go crazy based on the huge area around Essendon fields and the DFO area which is just waiting to be highly developed. Yes there is Essendon airport but I have already seen its land size minimise over the years to make way for these bigger developments.

Besides Essendon fields has Lamana and no nother suburb can compete with that . My friend lives in a beautiful home in Richmond, a stones throw away from Swan St and wants to move to Essendon to be close to Lamana

 

[tone1]

@ Y-man: I like to live in all of these suburbs as they all have pros and cons. That's why it's hard to make the decision. My husband likes Eastern because of better fengshui, closer to mountain/beaches to get away, more leafy streets, safety (as Essendon is surrounded by "rough" suburbs).

Definitely don't agree with that last point. Essendon is surrounded by blue-chip suburbs: Strathmore, Niddrie, Moonee Ponds/Ascot Vale. I would hardly imagine Essendon to have any safety concerns and is probably safer than the other suburbs you are interested in.

We have beaches in driving distance on the west as well, Great Ocean Road way. Maybe further than the east but the Princess Freeway connects directly to the Great Ocean Road towns so the drive is maybe 1 hour or so from Essendon. Plus the northern/western country is not that far away, plenty of getaway options.

Essendon is filled with leafy, beautiful streets, the best on the west side I think. In terms of lifestyle and amenities, you can't go wrong.

I think you need to do a drive-around of the suburbs you've chosen and go from there. Narrow east/west down at least before you go house hunting.

 

[albanga]

Definitely agree with Tone1, dangerous surrounding suburbs to essendon??
Unless 70 year olds who like lawn balls are considered dangerous then I think I'm pretty sweet in Niddrie.

 

[la_ngoc]

@ The Y-man: When my husband talked about fengshui, he meant the atmosphere of the East and the fact that it has more "green". We are not strict followers of fengshui, so we are not to fussed with what we are going to buy. It's more about the right location and good floorplan. If your house has a number "8" in its street number, it will make a fortune I guess .

@ jpcashflow: we have our budget in mind and know our limit very clearly.

@ albanga: I am more focused on the Windy Hill pocket and perhaps somewhere around Montgomery Park. I don't think we can get something decent in Windy Hill with our budget but let's just try our luck. Montgomery Park is more affordable although I know this is the less desirable pocket in Essendon. I am not interested in Essendon West or North. You are right there is no strong Asian community locally in Essendon but Footscray, Sunshine, etc is about 10m drive. I am more than happy with that. What is interesting in Lamana? I tried google but couldn't find anything. I would really need to do a number of drive-around this area to learn more about it. That's why I decided to rent here first - get to know Essendon before buying a house here. Do you have any ideas about good (and more affordable) pockets in Essendon? I read about Mar Lodge, Windy Hill and the pocket close to Moonee Ponds (e.g. Leslie Street, etc) being the most desirable ones but the house prices are obviously over the roof.

@ tone1: Apology for my English. I should have said "closer to rough suburbs". Anyway, I just think it's a matter of luck even if we live in a "safer" suburb with much lower criminal/bulgary rate. My heart was always with Essendon, that's why I moved here. Just because my friend has recently bought a 3-bedroom house in Blackburn South and did the reno. She loves that area and it makes me feel curious about living in the East. I have been always living in the West/North since coming to Melbourne. I need to give myself some more time to explore Essendon and enjoy the suburb

 

[willfong]

Have lived in both Box hill and Blackburn area. I'll take Essendon over both of them any day. Much better value for money and better amenities. The only plus side for box hill IMHO is the number of yummy and cheap Asian restaurants there.

Side note on mountain getaway. Have you visited mt macedon and daylesford area? They are not that far a drive from Essendon. There is much more around Melbourne than just mt Dandenong.

 

[albanga]

Well this is just my personal preference but I prefer Essendon North than the other pockets you have described but I do see the appeal of those as well.

The reason I like Essendon North is because in the right pocket you will sit just behind the best part of Keilor Rd with all the great restaurants and cafes. It will be no more than a 5 minute walk (likely less) to the tram stop which can take you to Essendon station or all the way into the city.

You are very very close to the hustle and bustle but its almost its only little quiet community. No one goes into it because it leads nowhere which means the only traffic is local traffic.

haha Lamana is an independent supermarket chain. Just do yourself a favour and go there and send me a message afterwards thanking me.

 

[crulj001]

Strathmore and Moonee Ponds are both neighbouring suburbs to essendon, and are quite frankly two of the best and least rough suburbs that I've seen in melbourne! I think you need to get out a little and explore the NW of melbourne with your blinkers off!
Good luck with it.

 

[jingo]

Essendon nearly ticks all the boxes for me: good schools, close to the city, close to Asian community. My only concern is the long-term capital gain for Essendon properties.

If Essendon ticks all the life style boxes for you, that would be the suburb I'd choose.

If hubby is seeking further capital growth etc, perhaps invest in shares, or buy an IP in the East.

All the best with it.

Regards Jason.

 

[JennyK]

Definitely don't agree with that last point. Essendon is surrounded by blue-chip suburbs: Strathmore, Niddrie, Moonee Ponds/Ascot Vale. I would hardly imagine Essendon to have any safety concerns and is probably safer than the other suburbs you are interested in.

Ascot Vale gets a bit dodgy around the corner of Union Rd and Epsom Rd and I cannot think of a comparable level of dodginess within a comparable proximity to Blackburn.