Thoughts on Brisbane $480k - $500k

[Phantom_X]

Hi all,

Well we finally have our loan pre approval sorted out and are going to Brisbane next week to scout out some areas and possibly purchase our first investment property. We are from Sydney so don't have a great knowledge of the suburbs in Brisbane. I've been reading up and doing as much research as I can.

I'm tossing up between older 3 bedroom houses (no Reno needed immediately) and newer 3 bedroom townhouses.

Any recommendations on suburbs to check out in particular? I've been told the north side of Brisbane is better by a relative but have no real info to back that up. Any truth to this?

I've been looking at Chermside in particular, Zillmere and Kedron. Some are getting out of my budget though.

What should I look at on the south side? Holland Park and Mt Gravatt look ok but open to ideas.

I've heard about flood zones in Brisbane, how do I check whether a house is within a designated flood zone?

Depending on how confident I feel during or after our visit I may consider a buyers agent. I tried Andrew Allen but was told he is not taking any new clients at the moment (he must be good...?)

Thanks for any help in advance.

Neal

 

[Beanie Girl]

Flood maps

Brisbane flood map for Brisbane City Council areas only.
Key in any address.
Click on 'Flood sources' and click on each flood source - 'river', 'creek', 'storm tide' and 'overland flow' to check how water from each flood source will affect any particular property. You should also click on 'Historic floods' for how the 2011 and 1974 floods affected the property (if they did at all).

http://floodinformation.brisbane.qld.gov.au/fio/

Free Floodwise property report on individual property
http://flood.brisbane.qld.gov.au/floodwise_property_report/

Check Logan City Council map here
http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/communi...mergencies/flood/flood-ready-logan/flood-maps

Check Moreton Bay Regional Council here
https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/general.aspx?ekfrm=113995

for places like Everton Hills, Arana Hills, Eaton Hills, Samford Valley, Ferny Hills or any of the Redcliffe seaside areas (Scarborough, Margate, Kippa-Ring, Clontarf etc)

You also have to check the position of each property in relation to other properties around it. e.g lower than other properties, hence water will flow down to it from other properties (water takes path of least resistance)

Or if property slopes from back to front to front to back or from left to right side and vice versa - how bad the slopes are. Where the water from heavy rains will run to and affect fastest (damp wood attracts rot and termites, I think).

You can click on 'contours' for contour maps on Brisbane PDonline to check elevation of any property. Can you read a contour map? Some properties can drop as much as 28 feet from back to front , that may affect how hard or easy it will be to develop a potential development site. The flatter or the more level the property the better for development.

http://olr13.brisbane.qld.gov.au/website/MN_CP/

Curious, for 480-500k why are you on the special lookout for Chermside and Zillmere which are quite different to Mount Gravatt and Holland Park? And why not Runcorn, Mansfield and Wishart for example? Or Sunnybank Hills?

 

[Phantom_X]

Thanks Beanie Girl, that's a great help!

I'm not really set on any area in particular yet. That's the main reason I am going up there next week in order to get a feel what each area is like.

My main aim is capital gain. I plan to hold onto it for the long term and hopefully it will be one of many to come in the future.

Where would you advise to look at for up to $500k?

I'm also deciding between houses and town houses. Should I expect significantly more maintenance or issues with a house? I assume it's the tenants responsibility to keep the lawn mowed and in a tidy state.

My gut tells me a house will rise in value faster and doesn't have the extra strata fees associated with a town house. However a town house may be less hassle and maintenance. Thoughts?

 

[A Jeremy]

Feel free to swing me some properties or addresses and I'll try to give you a run down of the area, pros and cons.

 

[Phantom_X]

Thanks A Jeremy.

What's the general thought on the southern suburbs such as Annerley, Green Slopes, Holland Park or Morningside? There are some decent town houses I've seen around these areas online.

On the North Side Chermside seems to stand out from reading articles online. What about Stafford Heights, Stafford, Kedron, Alderley or Everton Park?

Any pros or cons to whether to invest in the southern or northern suburbs? Any areas or suburbs to steer clear of in particular?

I'm really looking forward to getting out on the ground and getting a look for myself so really keen to try and eliminate some suburbs and narrow down my search.

 

[Tim86]

Thanks Beanie Girl, that's a great help!

I'm not really set on any area in particular yet. That's the main reason I am going up there next week in order to get a feel what each area is like.

My main aim is capital gain. I plan to hold onto it for the long term and hopefully it will be one of many to come in the future.

Where would you advise to look at for up to $500k?

I'm also deciding between houses and town houses. Should I expect significantly more maintenance or issues with a house? I assume it's the tenants responsibility to keep the lawn mowed and in a tidy state.

My gut tells me a house will rise in value faster and doesn't have the extra strata fees associated with a town house. However a town house may be less hassle and maintenance. Thoughts?

I would go for a house over a townhouse any day of the week.

Those northside suburbs you mentioned seemed to be the ones people are recommending lately. They seem to be better value for $ and still pretty close to the city and along the train line more so than the south side suburbs.

Mt Gravatt and Holland park are good suburbs. Not cheap though and you might get better value on the northside.

I'm in Salisbury, but to me everything seems so expensive in the area now. But compared to sydney everything in brisbane is a bargain.

 

[Sam Yue]

along the railway from alderley, enoggera to mitchelton is not bad. Not much flood area, close to city, lower unemployment rate than south suburbs, good transport and the house is still not that pricy.

I prefer house to townhouse, since in brisbane house is not that expensive and the land content gets more capital gain.

 

[Sam Yue]

BTW, $480K - $500K can buy a good located house within 10km from CBD. If using that budget to buy a townhouse in brisbane, the townhouse must be quite new and luxury, which means more building content and less capital gain.

If you are confident that property price will rise greatly in the next few years, you should definitely try to be fully geared and buy a house as big as you can!

 

[A Jeremy]

What goal(s) do you hope to achieve with this investment property?

Greenslopes is nice and quite. It has a private hospital which makes it popular with older citizens but it isn't an elderly suburb like nearby Fairfield or Yeronga. There are quite a few high value properties there.

Morningside is expensive which gives it some exclusivity. Like any suburb, it has a range of house types and quality. Annerley is next to Moorooka which has the 'Magic Mile' of car yards. There are a lot of mixed feelings about Annerley however my strategy is about numbers and negates growth and subjective popularity.

Holland Park retains some of the nice characteristics of Greenslopes while transitioning to the suburbs a little further from the CBD, on the other side of Creek Rd. It's near, but not too close, to the highway which can be a positive.

I can't comment too much on EP and Stafford, though having visited family there my entire life it seems there are some nice properties tucked away. I'd say it's suburbia epitomised. Stafford Rd is a thoroughfare which leads to and from the Airport Link tunnel. The Grange is quite a valuable suburb which backs onto Stafford so maybe if you can benefit in Stafford from the Grange values there may be an opportunity for you.

Chermside is always in demand and Kedron has the same perks but closer proximity to the CBD. While I don't follow growth trends I get the feeling that in Brisbane, Chermside is usually the one to sprout first. This may have already happened with whatever this thing is that the market is currently doing.

North or south doesn't matter unless you're from Brisbane and you like to tease your mates and in terms of suburbs to avoid, I would avoid the nonprofitable ones. If you can make a profit, after you've weighed up all of the risks and rewards of the place you're investing, I would encourage you to do so.

Good luck.

 

[Beanie Girl]

Phantom_x, if this house was not 2 houses away from a creek flood path
This would have been an excellent buy for your money in Runcorn!
Lucky Number 8 too!

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-runcorn-116521271

 

[willair]

.

I've heard about flood zones in Brisbane, how do I check whether a house is within a designated flood zone?
l

You could always take a punt on Rocklea 4106,0ver 80% floods but there are some small pockets that are above the 1974-2011 floods levels that have been rezoned or already industrial 0r 'LMR',,a few with dual street entry,floods insurance would be above 2k but below 3k,very low "UCV"land value good for land tax issues,but the values hit rock bottom after the 2011 floods, a few very kind real estate people in BMW'S and high heels offered me 100k just after the floods the same properties now are above 350k,and still trending upwards just something to think about..imho..

 

[Westbrook]

Also in Runcorn, would something like this suit? I'm not sure if the downstairs is legal height however so it is probably technically a 3 bedder as opposed to a 5 bedder.

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-runcorn-116702907

 

[Phantom_X]

Thanks for the advice so far.

The goal of the property is to achieve capital growth to enable me to buy more property in the future and ultimately retire in my 40s if possible. I don't plan on selling anytime soon if all goes well.

I'm actually pre approved for two properties at roughly 500k each. Am thinking one in Brisbane and one in Sydney depending on how things go.

What is Runcorn like as a suburb in terms of demographic, transport, access to the city, schools etc? Is it generally an area that floods? It hasn't been on my radar, but you certainly get a lot of house for your money by the looks of it.

 

[strongy1986]

You could always take a punt on Rocklea 4106,0ver 80% floods but there are some small pockets that are above the 1974-2011 floods levels that have been rezoned or already industrial 0r 'LMR',,a few with dual street entry,floods insurance would be above 2k but below 3k,very low "UCV"land value good for land tax issues,but the values hit rock bottom after the 2011 floods, a few very kind real estate people in BMW'S and high heels offered me 100k just after the floods the same properties now are above 350k,and still trending upwards just something to think about..imho..

12 months ago you could of bought in rocklea for 200k

Boats sailed

Maybe just buy in flood area after a flood and hold for a few years. Easy 100k profit

Midnight oil - short memory

 

[A Jeremy]

What are the predictions for growth in the next 5-10 years?

 

[willair]

12 months ago you could of bought in rocklea for 200k

Boats sailed

Maybe just buy in flood area after a flood and hold for a few years. Easy 100k profit

The problem is there are still several properties in those areas that are still the same as they were in 2011,,plus another cyclone could come from nowhere and flood the whole area again at least we have the right flood insurance this time,as far as predicting the next 5 years buy your own dart board..

 

[strongy1986]

The problem is there are still several properties in those areas that are still the same as they were in 2011,,plus another cyclone could come from nowhere and flood the whole area again at least we have the right flood insurance this time,as far as predicting the next 5 years buy your own dart board..

We are about to go into El Ni?o.
La Ni?a was 1974 and 2011

 

[Phantom_X]

On a side note, does everyone in Brisbane now buy insurance with flood protection or only those in designated areas from 2011?

 

[Beanie Girl]

Runcorn is on Margaret Lomas hotspot list 2014 when she did a roadshow in Brisbane recently

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96891&highlight=Lomas+runcorn

Runcorn is approximately 15-20 minutes drive to the city, 15-16km distance approx.

It has good transport infrastructure, serviced by 2 train stations Runcorn and Fruitgrove and buses, There is a Woolworth's and restaurants Little Nyonya, Pizza capers and PappaRoti on 261 Warrigal Road (They call it Eight Mile Plains shopping centre but really borders North Runcorn). There is also a nearby shopping centre in Sunnybank Hills, corner of Beenleigh Rd and Pinelands Rd called Centro Pinelands with Coles, Cellarbations etc...

Schools - Runcorn Heights State School, Warrigal Road Primary school, Sunnybank Hills primary school

Runcorn is bounded by Eight Mile Plains to the North, Sunnybank to the north-west and Sunnybank Hills to the south-west.
All these suburbs are extremely popular with East Asians and expensive.
Sunnybank, Eight Mile Plains - strong Chinese demographic (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China)
Sunnybank Hills - first popular with Koreans and now increasingly populated by Chinese who can't afford Sunnybank
Eight Mile Plains - very expensive, Chinese love "Eight'
Runcorn - spillover from people who can't afford the above 3 suburbs

I have no properties in any of the above suburbs. I am just telling you what I know. I have been to Sunnybank several times.

I think the Mount Gravatt corridor is quite popular with an Indian professional demographic. A large tax office is there, I think so it is easy for them to live and work nearby, just guessing. I could be wrong, happy to be corrected. But I think Mount Gravatt and Holland Park is appealing to all demographics, regardless of race or ethnicity. There is a Holland Park corner that is full of housing commission streets but who cares? 1 or 2 streets above this corner are million dollar plus properties...when you're that close to the city...it's kinda immaterial I think....

Hope this helps a bit

 

[willair]

On a side note, does everyone in Brisbane now buy insurance with flood protection or only those in designated areas from 2011?

I think you may well find the most insurance companies in QLD now have a flood cover in all the paperwork,and they are very good at predicting outcomes by gauging what and can happen again from the last flood,we had flood insurance but we just were not covered for the type of flood that happened that's why I signed up with a WA Legal company in a class action lawsuit nowin nopay for 500k that we lost..