I would have to agree with Doozer about White Rock, it was my first preference when crunching numbers but after driving around looking at properties there you could tell noone cared about their properties and were rundown and the general feel of the area was sketchy we then moved our search over the highway to Mount sheridan/ Edmonton but found they were better but we felt overpriced compared to northern beaches, /QUOTE]
White Rock, Woree, Earlville, Westcourt, Parramatta Park, Manunda, Moorrobool, North Cairns, bits of Whitfield all the original Cairns, are all a bit run down and shabby generally speaking and plenty of low socioeconomic areas. Yet a massive chunk of the population live there. All have exceptions so more street level than suburb when it comes to the older parts. The map shows far worse than White Rock with few areas any better. Edmonton for eg you say is nicer but has far higher crime and lower income, more public housing and is a darker shade of red on the map. So true it is not lovely shiny new suburb and has run down parts but that is true of a good chunk of the city, so in that context not that bad. Not great but not as bad as you and Doozer make out. Just trying for balance. Palm Cove is a drop dead gorgeous place by comparison yet suffered highest number of mortgage defaults in the state last year. So not all about looks when investing.
I would see White Rock better for rental returns than perhaps capital gains in the short term. Long term more and more newer housing is planned for the suburb which will have the negative of possible over supply but the positive of more and more newer housing drowning out the old. But it does tick some boxes, close to city and industrial estate in a town with very high fuel prices. Great school. Close to shopping and on a bus route. For renting see no problem with it.