Western Suburbs, Melbourne

[Motiv8]

Hi
I was wondering if anybody could please offer advice on purchasing IPs in Melbourne's Western Suburbs, particularly Sunshine or Altona? Is there anyone here who has purchased IPs in this area?
What has been your experiences with your tenants? Ive had people advise me not to invest in Sunshine, because the types of tenants I will be attracting are ones I would not want to deal with, especially because the property I am looking at is in West Sunshine in a street with a few DHA houses (and some annoying tenants).

 

[MJK]

I prefer Altona, near the water etc. The price in Atlona will be alot higher than Sunshine. You are from Melb, surley you know these places? Sounds like you are concerned with cashflow?

MJK

 

[Motiv8]

Hi MJK

Yes Im more concerned with cashflow.

Im actually living in West Sunshine at the moment, however have not been here long enough to know which parts of Sunshine are better to buy an IP in. I was hoping there would be someone on here who has purchased an IP in Sunshine or Altona.

Thanks.

 

[TomL]

Have you talked to the local RE agents? And any RE property managers?

They are usually happy to tell you their opinion.

 

[Kristine..]

Hi Motiv8

Welcome to the forum

In each suburb there are pockets of opportunity.

Every suburb has a 'right' and 'wrong' side of the tracks.

The knack with investing is determining what your own priorities are then finding the property which best suits your own aims and objectives.

Sometimes, investors worry that if they wouldn't live 'there', then no-one else will. Yet a walk along any street will indicate very few vacant properties, so obviously people live 'everywhere'.

I have an elderly relative who lives in Derby Road.

She and her husband bought the house from her parents when they married, about 65 years ago. She was born in the house, so has lived there about 85 years.

I can remember visiting as a child, and the house was surrounded by paddocks. Now, it is surrounded by industrial and commerical facilities. Inbetween, the main use of the area was residential.

If you check the www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au website you will find that the council expects eg Seddon's population to continue to shrink as residential use is overtaken by commercial use.

Part of what makes investing fun is the thrill of the chase. There certainly are investors on this forum who have property in the Western suburbs, but of course not everybody logs on every day.

In the meantime, the usual web search sites such as www.realestate.com.au can help you get a feel for the place, and don't forget to search the For Rent as well as the For Sale pages so you also get a realistic idea of rental returns for what type of property.

Also, don't overlook Melton in your searches. I consider Melton an uncut diamond, it has a lot more going for it than meets the eye.

Regards

Kristine

 

[BKH]

I lean towards Altona as Sunshine has flattened out over last 6 months and Altona is still to be fully discovered as a Suburb by the Bay. Over the last 6 months prices have gone down or stabilised. West Sunshine has a very new area when houses are only a couple of years old and have probably attracted better quality of tenants.


I was wondering if anybody could please offer advice on purchasing IPs in Melbourne's Western Suburbs, particularly Sunshine or Altona? Is there anyone here who has purchased IPs in this area?
What has been your experiences with your tenants? Ive had people advise me not to invest in Sunshine, because the types of tenants I will be attracting are ones I would not want to deal with, especially because the property I am looking at is in West Sunshine in a street with a few DHA houses (and some annoying tenants).[/QUOTE]

 

[suburbangirl]

Hi Motiv8

My husband and I are also looking at purchasing an IP in the Melbourne's Western Suburbs within the next 12-18 months and we are currently researching our options - one of them being pockets of Sunshine.

As Kristine said:
"In each suburb there are pockets of opportunity.
Every suburb has a 'right' and 'wrong' side of the tracks."

Sunshine has some really nice and extremely affordable 'pockets' where you can buy period houses for around (and under!) $250K - for example, the Albion & Ardeer pockets offer great potential, and neither have DHA homes in the area. I also believe these pockets are destined to pick up immensely in the longer term, given the type of housing, potential for renovation and close proximity to schools, transport, cinemas, shopping strip & the CBD (15 mins drive).

BKH, I think the "very new area" in what you called West Sunshine is actually The Avenue estate, which technically speaking, is in Ardeer.

IMHO Altona is probably more appealing because of the water aspect, but the house prices are higher than Sunshine because of this.

Good luck!

 

[Tandella]

Also, don't overlook Melton in your searches. I consider Melton an uncut diamond, it has a lot more going for it than meets the eye.

I would actually suggest areas just before Melton like Sydenham, Taylors Lakes and Keilor Downs. They would be no more than 20kms NW of the city with direct access to town via the Calder Fwy, 5 kms to the airport, next to the Sydenham station for both Metro and interstate rail services, and good local schools and ammenities with the Watergardens mall and cinemas.
Excellent prospects I would say

 

[meggala]

I'm hunting for a propety in similar areas atm its interesting and you really have to get a feel I would keep away from the dha area's unless your buying well enough to make it worth while. but then again all you have to do is look at the prices achieved in area like maidstone that were once almost no go area's
imo melton has issues with its distance from the cbd the people who live in melton love it though

 

[Monopoly]

The western suburbs of Melbourne have long been undervalued, but times are changing, and over the next decade I think anticipate be an increase in demand, if for no other reason, than simply because these areas are still relatively affordable. Although I have no issues with Sunshine, Maidstone and the like, my preference would be for Altona, as someone said, because it is near the water and as such will appreciate more than its neighbouring suburbs. However bear in mind, that Altona albeit near water, has pockets within it that are still quite heavily industrial; I don't recommend theses sectors.

As for Melton, although it is 37Km from CBD, this is not a huge issue as the average (one-way) travelling time to work these days is approx. 1-1.25hr as opposed to 15-30mins in previous decades. The area is experiencing rising popularity with those with young families, and FHOs.

Growth rates for (houses) between 2003-2004:

Sunshine +13.3%
Sunshine North +11.6%
Sunshine West +11.5%
Maidstone +16.8%
Melton +21.5%
Altona +14%
Altona East +28.8%
Altona Meadows +10.9%
Altona North +12.1%
Sydneham +7.9%
Taylors Lakes +4.9%
Keilor Downs +12.5%

Regardless of whether you choose any of these areas to invest, always do a thorough search of the suburb of interest, checking with councils any future infrastructures plans, websites for sale and rental prices, and so on....in short do you DD.

Cheers,

Jo