Your Investment Property magazine

[mookie]

I've just seen the first issue of this magazine and i'm disgusted at how misleading the photographs are for the areas they descibe, and relevent information on what's actually going on there. Gowenbrae for instance is a small pocket of land with a median house price of $310,000 in Melbournes north. What they don't say is that it's a tiny triangle of housing wedged between a freeway, an interstate railway line and Essendon airport. No mention at all of it being in the direct flight path....what a bargain hunters paradise....and all that free carbon dioxide. The photo for this "suburb" was actually taken from the steps of the Shrine of Rememberance 20 km's away. Lovely skyline, lush green grass and plenty of trees. 10/10 for styling but zero for crediblity.
Then there's Oak Park being in close proximity to Essendon and Strathmore, however what they neglet to say is that they are on the other side of the tullamarine freeway, and there's a major demograhic shift in who is moving in to this general area. It's in closer proximity to the main street of Glenroy which is run down and filthy, which has 3 very large pawn shops, out of control graffiti and a building Vietnamese commumnity. It's also very close to Jacana and Broadmeadows which have high crime rates and serious youth drug problems. The photo, an aerial shot of Flinders Street railway station and Federation Square.
Thank you "Your Investment Property" for your enlightenment on these investment gems.

 

[Les]

G'day Mookie,

Thanks for that - sounds like a "caveat emptor" situation. Doesn't affect me directly, but I'm sure your post has helped others who are looking at purchasing in these areas,

Regards,

 

[Peter Parker]

I've just seen the first issue of this magazine and i'm disgusted at how misleading the photographs are for the areas they descibe, and relevent information on what's actually going on there. Gowenbrae for instance is a small pocket of land with a median house price of $310,000 in Melbournes north.

The critical thing omitted is that it's probably the price of new housing that is pushing the median up, given the amount of new building activity claimed. Hence figures might be skewed and may not apply to established homes.

If we stripped Gowenbrae of this it's unlikely to be much of an investment, given that it disproportionately bears the costs of modern society (pollution, noise, etc) but doesn't have any of its benefits (eg facilities, services, public transport, etc) within it.

You are right that general suburb amenity and the need to travel elsewhere to do almost anything would make it a very poor investment choice.

Then there's Oak Park being in close proximity to Essendon and Strathmore, however what they neglet to say is that they are on the other side of the tullamarine freeway, and there's a major demograhic shift in who is moving in to this general area. It's in closer proximity to the main street of Glenroy which is run down and filthy, which has 3 very large pawn shops, out of control graffiti and a building Vietnamese commumnity. It's also very close to Jacana and Broadmeadows which have high crime rates and serious youth drug problems.

It's the half full/half empty question. Oak Park is a similar distance from higher-status Pascoe Vale as it is from lower-status Glenroy. It remains to be seen whether change in the suburb is bringing it up or taking it down. When I was last there the Oak Park shops showed little sign of gentrification!

Nevertheless, the existing median price of Oak Park ($370k, very close to the metro average) indicates that whatever problems are there can't be deterring buyers very much. Indeed it's dearer than Pascoe Vale, which is closer in.

Peter

 

[steveadl]

Also, the magazine doesn't seem to go into a lot of depth in my opinion.

They are very short 1 page articles. Even the feature article on why property values increase (don't have it here, so sorry if that's not the correct title) just has quick dot points. ie. reason 1 - sea change, and a 1 paragraph explanation. reason 2 - good transport, one page paragraph etc.

Where as Australian Property Investor would put aside a whole 4 page article on each of these dot points.

So unless they start doing more in depth analysis on their article subjects in future issues, don't think I'll be reading it for long.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Tattler]

Les

Thought you would have picked Mookie up on his/her negative connotations about the vietnamese community?

Cheers

tattler

 

[marcodepaul]

Just bought a copy and feel cheated. Tried out the CD and it is clearly a con. CD requires you to enter personal details which can be accessed by spammers, shonks and spruiker, and I paid them $10.

As mentioned before, articles are lightweight and patronising. Property Price Guide at back, at best, is to be described as scant and summative.

Wish I'd saved my money and bought my kids four ice creams instead.

 

[Jase H]

Thanks for this thread guys,

I saw that mag yesterday and recalled this thread and decided to save that hard earned cash!


Jase