YIKES! Keep an eye on CAIRNS!!

jusm said:
Looking good. I'm heading up there this week to settle on our property and do a bit of maintenance before renting it out. It's been an interesting experience buying in FNQ. Suffice to say I now know a hell of a lot more about termites and termite prevention than I did before ;)

Jen you seem to know a fair bit about the area. Do you know what the planning issues are with putting a second dwelling on an existing block and renting separately? Assume keeping it all on one title. Are the council ok with that or are there issues because the land is zoned single occupancy?
Cheers.
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Hi Jusm

Congrats on your settlement!

The zoning for Residential 1 and Residential 2 would require an application for material change of use - dual occupancy to be lodged with council in the first instance. If the land is zoned Res 2, it goes via the council only. If zoned Res 1, it is subject to community input/approval etc. Res 1 requires a minimum of 800 square metres, and needs to be within 400m of a shopping centre or a residential 3 zone.
Also, a condition of putting an additional dwelling on the land is that you would be subject to additional infrastructure charges of approximately $12-15K.
You wouldn't legally be able to put a granny flat on there and charge a separate rent, as it is considered to be part of the original dwelling.

Cheers

Jen
 
JenJen said:
Hi Jusm

Congrats on your settlement!

The zoning for Residential 1 and Residential 2 would require an application for material change of use - dual occupancy to be lodged with council in the first instance. If the land is zoned Res 2, it goes via the council only. If zoned Res 1, it is subject to community input/approval etc. Res 1 requires a minimum of 800 square metres, and needs to be within 400m of a shopping centre or a residential 3 zone.
Also, a condition of putting an additional dwelling on the land is that you would be subject to additional infrastructure charges of approximately $12-15K.
You wouldn't legally be able to put a granny flat on there and charge a separate rent, as it is considered to be part of the original dwelling.

Cheers

Jen
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Cheers. Thanks for the info.
 
All of the Northern Beaches, right up to Trinity Park. No flight path over Trinity Beach, Kewarra, Clifton, Palm Cove, And Ellis!
 
I am familiar with both Cairns and Logan.
I hear Logan is booming at the moment, and Cairns is also a strong market, so you might just need to check them both out for what is available and their cashflow, and go from there. Insurance is definitely a better bet in Logan, but I believe there is more choice and more on the horizon in Cairns.

Good luck.

Jen
 
JenJen said:
Terry Ryder's take on Cairns is pretty funny:
http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/...sort-complex-is-not-one-of-them/2013110466165

Cheers

Jen
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The Aquis comment is a bit negative/insular/plain silly. As if the resort is being developed for the 150,000 people that live there! Its been developed for the 9 additional plane loads of Chinese each day who want something a bit different to Macau.. maybe somewhere the missus and kids can find something to do as well perhaps! Macau has stigma and its probably not easy for the average family man to get himself and the family there.

The real bonus for the 150K locals though is the sporting stadium, performing arts centre, water park, upgraded roads, flow on improvements to Yorkeys etc. Personally I hope it puts a bit of pressure on local businesses to up their game and maybe a decent restaurant meal and coffee can be found!

When you can get a decent latte in Yorkeys, I'll know my investment has paid off :D
 
JASA said:
I have heard Margaret Lomas consistently advising against investing in Cairns. I hope she is wrong and that I have been right to hang onto property there.
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I don't believe she would suggest selling a property in Cairns.

As she also mentions each time its talked about that she has a property there that is cashflow+ that she is also holding and not selling.

From when I've heard her talk about investing in Cairns it hasn't been a case of it's a no go zone, more so that there are better options.
 
Hi JenJen! - what do you believe are the best buys around Carins at the moment?

i.e. property types and price points?
 
JenJen said:
Have a look at the attached graphs. Sure, there is a lot of variance across Cairns, depending on where you look, but I would suggest that, on the whole, the market is definitely turning.

Cheers

Jen
Click to expand...

As a home owner in Cairns I don't need to over analyse with graphs I can see the market all around me. It hasn't done much in about 5 years, boom peaked around 2006. Sure the vacancy rates are low which means there will be reasonable yield available but growth wise it is still not looking good. The AUD is still too high to bring tourists back in droves which means the tourism industry and everything related e.g. restaurants are struggling. Unemployment in the June 2013 qtr is around 7.59% which is still way above the overall Qld rate.
I can't see that improving too much unless some of the miners get laid off and come back to Cairns which isn't likely for some time. In summary, if it's yield the investor is after then sure there's some opportunities although you have to carefully pick your tenant up here, but growth wise, there's still too many obstacles to over come.
If I can buy a brand new unit in Mt Druitt for $290k renting for around $350p/w with full depreciation or I can buy an avg house in Cairns for $290k which may rent for the same but not get full depreciation given it will prob be 10 yrs+ old and therefore have repair issues then it's a no brainer at the moment.
 
I've been following the unit market fairly closely, just exchanged on my second unit today.

I've focused on 2brm units, anything that is listed reasonable seems to be selling fairly quickly imho.
 
I suppose it allows him to pass probity sooner, to give more certainty to the Aquis project.

I also wonder if relocating the Reef Casino licence is a back-up option, given there's no absolute guarantee they'll receive one of the new casino licences.
 
also means they own the competition if they do get another licence. Bet here, pay them, bet down the road, also pay them. Monopolies tend to make good business models.
 
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