Where in QLD?

[TMNT]

Ive been out of the QLD market for a little while now and was wondering if people could give me their opinions,

im look to buy a few in qld, preferebly in towns that arent dependant solely on mining or one large project. I understand that you get up to 10% yields in these areas but I dont need anything that high, 8% is fine by me.

I also look under $200k, something that I can buy undermarket that needs a fair bit of work is fine,

at present ive been looking around brisbane, rockhampton, Bundaberg, townsville

im tending to stay away from Mackay, Gladstone due to their dependance

Im a little unsure about Bowen, I feel thats so typical of a mining town

ideally, im looking for towns that havent had their mining boom yet (yes hard to predict) or have diversified industries like ones in NSW

can anybody share their thoughts?

 

[norwoodman]

What has led you to believe that Mackay and Gladstone are one-horse towns?

 

[Cherry Pro]

You could consider Logan and it's surrounds. You could find some pretty good deal tnere.

 

[knightm]

I also look under $200k, something that I can buy undermarket that needs a fair bit of work is fine,

at present ive been looking around brisbane, rockhampton, Bundaberg, townsville

from that list if you are talking free standing houses then i would pick a real ugly dog in a flood free area of rocky to renovate. seems to have had less flow on growth than the others.

 

[Suzy912]

Logan would be a good place to look at. Potentially some good doer-uppers at a reasonable price.

 

[devank]

Anything good on the north of Brisbane areas located say 30-40 min away from CBD?

 

[Sunfish]

Bowen is definitely not a "mining town". It's a sleepy hollow.

Cairns is dependent on tourism but may well have bottomed.

Townsville is a centre of gov, a large regional hospital, Australia's largest army base, James Cook Uni, a port, a couple of metal refineries, commercial centre for the sugar industry [not directly involved], popular with FIFO miners. I won't go on. Wulguru and Annandale are nice suburbs close to the Army, uni and hospital that are cheap by Brisbane standards so worthy of a look.

Rockhampton is "cattle country central" and Gracemere is again popular with miners.

I don't know the south.

 

[starter]

Those buying in Cairns, are you worried about the ridiculous insurance hike? Especially in units.

 

[Sunfish]

Those buying in Cairns, are you worried about the ridiculous insurance hike? Especially in units.

Same in T'vlle. But don't even consider units here, they are in glut. Stand alone in the older suburbs [such as those mentioned] are in shortage. The Army still has not housed all it's troops and DHA is spending up. Just heard they paid good dollars for an acceptable home, but because it doesn't have an en-suite it will be razed. When DHA want's units, they buy the whole block.

 

[outbackjack]

I got qoute for Landlords insurance and for the property as well.

Qoute came in over 4k for 2 bedroom unit in Mackay.

 

[Angel]

I got qoute for Landlords insurance and for the property as well.

Qoute came in over 4k for 2 bedroom unit in Mackay.

OMG I need a bex and a lie-down. Or a pinot.

 

[pinkboy]

OMG I need a bex and a lie-down. Or a pinot.

You'll need more than that when you see the rates, water bills and the 'miners tax' on all repairs and maintenance!

pinkboy

 

[Cherry Pro]

I paid around $700 for a 3 bed house in the Logan area. Wonder what the issue is with Mackay ?

 

[Truly Exotic]

I recently got a quote for a house in rockhampton,

Almost fell off my chair when one insurance company quoted 2k, so I chose another one based on a recommendation,

9k!
The next quote

12k!

House was only 150k!

I fell off my chair three times that day

Back is still sore

 

[pinkboy]

I recently got a quote for a house in rockhampton,

Almost fell off my chair when one insurance company quoted 2k, so I chose another one based on a recommendation,

9k!
The next quote

12k!

House was only 150k!

I fell off my chair three times that day

Back is still sore

You're in luck! I saw a chair in Rockhampton Harvey Norman for $15k, and a Physio session will cost a paltry $20k!

pinkboy

 

[Angel]

I paid around $700 for a 3 bed house in the Logan area. Wonder what the issue is with Mackay ?

Cyclones
plus the idea they can charge more because they say it's having a mining boom. Obviously Insurance companies havent read all the newspaper articles about mining companies reducing operations and laying off workers.

When we bought our house in Gladstone in July, the same company who charged us $800 in Brisbane in May wanted to charge us $1400 (smaller house, too) and then offered flood insurance for an extra $8. I choked on my brie and have recently changed all our LL insurances to EBM instead.

Then again how much would you spend to do a total replacement of a typical 10 square Logan house when you only paid $200k for it including land?

 

[rowena]

Rocky has uni, lots of small industry, cattle heart of qld/australia, and ergon (electricty) has some big offices there too.

Anywhere in qld, you will get flooding within 5 yrs for a town normally. So make sure you research for your flood prone areas, like depot hill in rocky is a no no.

Bundy has a off shoot campus of CQU, and from next year students can do their full degrees through Bundy... which will be of benefit for locals. Bundy i think is a good area.. 4 hrs from bris, an hour from gladstone, im surprised it hasnt taken off yet!.

maryborough/hervey bay has a lot of local industry, tourism, and tiaro coal. I dont think the mining has really kicked in in the region as i see tiaro coal are still doing some studies for mining in the area. It may be a area to watch in the future. Prices have also come back down to 2005-2006 levels. The sugar industry i can see pretty much dying out in the next 30 years for the region. All of the farm land from hervey bay is pretty much gone. and a lot of farmers are getting out as the farms are not being passed to the next generation as they have no interest in farming.



North of bris - caboolture i think is another one to watch... they are set to have a big uni/medical campus to be built and set up and prices are less then 300K... for somewhere that is close to bris... the area just needs some more infrastructure/public transport options.

However with the newman gov and the public being very aware of all the redunadcies going on, a lot of ppl are hanging onto their money thinking its all doom and gloom. House prices are steady and have fallen back to 2005-2006 pricing in a lot of areas... question is are they going to hold steady, or go back some more... Or is the new uranium mining going to kick start another boom in a few years time. I think the gov is getting all their crap done now, and everyone has the perception of its all doom and gloom for the next however long, but come 2 yrs down the track the state will start to pick up. I guess we wait and see what policies and taxes (land tax, stamp duty) change in the mean time to make it worth while in the long run.

 

[ritchie77]

North of brissy in areas like Caboolture mentioned above as well as Narangba, Morayfield, Burpengary etc they have clear main road to CBD/airport as well as train express line so well serviced. Just seem to have been flat over the last cpl of years but maybe once Brisbane starts to move I agree we will see some movement in these areas as houses on large blocks of land still quite cheap and rent out well.

Over towards Redcliffe also there is Dec Bay, Scarboro etc - these also have some cheap houses - and will there ever be a train line here? Maybe one day, but I have heard that for many years

Good Luck!

 

[Sunfish]

Bowen is definitely not a "mining town". It's a sleepy hollow.

Clearly I'm out of touch with Bowen. Not sure what is happening there other than the Abbott Pt expansion but I was surprised at property prices when I saw them recently. They have had two disastrous years with the tomatoes.

I was wrong to dismiss it so lightly.

 

[strongy1986]

North of brissy in areas like Caboolture mentioned above as well as Narangba, Morayfield, Burpengary etc they have clear main road to CBD/airport as well as train express line so well serviced. Just seem to have been flat over the last cpl of years but maybe once Brisbane starts to move I agree we will see some movement in these areas as houses on large blocks of land still quite cheap and rent out well.

Over towards Redcliffe also there is Dec Bay, Scarboro etc - these also have some cheap houses - and will there ever be a train line here? Maybe one day, but I have heard that for many years

Good Luck!

Ahh caboolture, spent many a sleepless night there thanks to domestic disputes and drunks. Not too mention the 12 year olds with a sack of cask wine at 11 am on a Saturday morning.
Best thing about it is the $6.50 big breakfast at the local cafe. Be quick though as they are closed by 12pm!