University Towns

[Elliotte]

After some great info from these boards I've been learning all about the risk of buying boarding houses so have been now considering a student house strategy - cheapish properties that I could get good yields, that are unlikely to be council inspections magnets - so no 10 room places etc. But that I rent out rooms separately to students safely - no overcrowding, bunks in illegal granny flat type things.

Toowoomba is one, maybe Gatton, Lismore, Armidale, and Albury-Wodonga I'm thinking so far. Toowoomba has the "hotspot" label attached and Albury-Wodonga a "warm" label according to Ms Lomas although many are backing Toowoomba I think. There is also Bathurst and Newcastle but I feel like they may have already moved a bit.

I'm thinking Armidale may be the weakest link for an kind of CG - small town, reliant on university. Lismore has the flooding issues but seems to be a fairly vibrant uni town.

Any thoughts on any of these towns or this strategy or even any fun places to visit? I am going to do a campervan relocation next week where I've got a van to drive back from Ballina to Sydney for $5 a day so I'm actually going to visit Lismore and Armidale at least.

 

[RetireRich101]

I am bit puzzled to my understanding the differences between a 'student house' and a 'boarding house', perhaps if anyone can share their understanding.

I understand the new generation boarding house or even traditional does not require self contained kitchens etc, but can be shared bathroom/kitchens

The council in Sydney I seek to do a 'student house' or renting out say 2 or more unrelated guest is classified as a boarding house and requires Council Approval. I hear some members here indicate other Council say a threshold of 4 or 5 unrelated guest before a boarding house applies, so it must be council specific...

We can fly under the radar and eventually caught by council which I am not too concerned of, but rather fire safety and insurance claims when student accidentally burns the house down and risk is high when you have more unrelated guest that don't take 100% responsibility because they're not that connected with other flat mates. On the other hand, if rented to 1 family they always take full responsibility for the fire side because it's their immediate family at stake. Having said that I wonder what is the percentage of fire that were caused by boarding houses. Fire safety is probably the reason why there is an attractive financial incentives by the government to upgrade safety requirements.

 

[Elliotte]

It is council by council as far as I know. Some councils allow "student houses" to be a different category than "boarding house" with less requirements - I think I saw that in Brisbane. I tend to think if you don't have too many rooms, and don't overcrowd and you watch noise and mess so neighbours don't complain then you most likely will fly under the radar. One place I looked at to rent I didn't because it had already been reported to council as an illegal boarding house - simply because of the mess in the yard/lack of care AND they lined up all their shoes along the front and you could see over 30 different pairs/sizes from the street.


You're totally right about fire. Actually any issue I've found with unrelated people that NO ONE will take responsibility or look out for each other. From emptying rubbish, to reporting faults, fires, things that are dangerous everyone ignores it! We have our fire panel direct wired to the fire brigade and I think they come out at least once every 3 months. Usually food left unattended while cooking. Once an exploding heater.

I'm very glad I've got a legal boarding house this week because one girl was dodging paying her rent and didn't really know many people. We always did get it eventually but a few weeks ago it was four days over due which was too long. We eventually opened her room to discover she'd most likely tried to self harm - blood, lots of alcohol bottles and bad poetry/diary stuff and then she'd run away leaving all her belongings. I had to call police and there's now an active missing person investigation and I just am grateful we had her proper ID on file, and that we're above board so no questions are raised about all the people living together at least and I'm not panicked about police crawling everywhere who could report anything to council if they really wanted too. Poor girl too.

Another time I've been really glad to have all the proper insurances for the boarders was when the entire balcony fell off the house one night! Luckily no one was standing on it but what a close call. Would have been some injuries I think if that happened even though it wasn't high.

 

[Tim86]

I know that, at least in brisbane, student accommodation requires the exact same stuff as boarding houses, except you don't have to register it as a boarding house. However you still need it zoned as multi unit dwelling, and it still needs to be up to fire code and inspected by the fire department etc... The only real difference is that it's called student accommodation instead of a boarding house...

 

[Jake Milne]

Just be sure that if you're going down this road that you buy into a place with a diverse economy rather than a "one horse race" if you know what I mean.

Bathurst and Albury are good examples of diverse regional centres.

 

[Kenny]

Having only driven through Albury-Wodonga briefly, does anyone have any opinions on good and bad areas in the city?

Where are the DoH areas?

Cheers,

Kenny

 

[bcole2012]

As far as uni towns go, have you thought about Coffs Harbour? Mid north coast of NSW, nice climate, great beaches, decent size uni for a regional centre. I have relatives who live there and apparently there is a shortage of student accommodation every year. Worth thinking about perhaps?

 

[Brady]

I have properties in 2 University towns...

Wagga Wagga & Bathurst.

But they are both 3bedroom 2bathroom.

Rented out to families.

 

[Simon]

. There is also Bathurst and Newcastle but I feel like they may have already moved a bit.

.

Why wouldn't you buy somewhere that is moving n the right direction. Has got to be better than buying somewhere that hasn't moved at all.

Momentum is a safer bet than trying to pick the next big thing.

 

[JohnHenry]

After some great info from these boards I've been learning all about the risk of buying boarding houses so have been now considering a student house strategy - cheapish properties that I could get good yields, that are unlikely to be council inspections magnets - so no 10 room places etc. But that I rent out rooms separately to students safely - no overcrowding, bunks in illegal granny flat type things.

Toowoomba is one, maybe Gatton, Lismore, Armidale, and Albury-Wodonga I'm thinking so far. Toowoomba has the "hotspot" label attached and Albury-Wodonga a "warm" label according to Ms Lomas although many are backing Toowoomba I think. There is also Bathurst and Newcastle but I feel like they may have already moved a bit.

I'm thinking Armidale may be the weakest link for an kind of CG - small town, reliant on university. Lismore has the flooding issues but seems to be a fairly vibrant uni town.

Any thoughts on any of these towns or this strategy or even any fun places to visit? I am going to do a campervan relocation next week where I've got a van to drive back from Ballina to Sydney for $5 a day so I'm actually going to visit Lismore and Armidale at least.

How about in Wollongong ?

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/11/01/11/50/couple-fined-for-illegal-renovations

That is quite common in Keiraville and Gwynneville suburbs area near the University. There is no high rise apartment, just a leafy quiet detached house suburb with some apartment no higher than 5 floor.

Mostly Chinese, Thailand and other Asian country due to the Nan Tien temple build in there. (one of the biggest temple in Southern Hemisphere).