Your thoughts on Dandenong, Carrum Downs, Hampton Park

Hello Everybody

I am a newcomer here keen to purchase my second investment property and would like to know what you guys think of Melbourne suburbs like Dandenong, Carrum Downs, Hampton Park and Doveton.

Idea is to buy a run down property, cosmetically renovate(then refinance and take equity out) and rent. Thereafter reinvest the equity taken out.

I would like to keep budget to 400k in total with reno costs included.

If you don't favour these areas any other suggestions within this budget you could recommend

Thanks in advance

PS
Dandenong may not fall within my budget, but still would like your thoughts
 
My opinions

Dandenong - plausible

C.Downs, H/Park - relatively newer properties in the area - not much scope for rejuvenation to make appreciable capital difference

Doveton - plausible

In all cases, the rejuvenation works may not make a big enough difference to offset the costs.

The Y-man
 
Doveton/Eumemmerring is an interesting one medians are 150k below surrounding suburbs, but I've heard it's the forclosure capital of Melbourne and the market is 33% owned by investors.. so the moment interest rates rise a notch prices may crash?

Seems incredibly good value, 300k for a brick home on a 600m block and I've heard the GM train station may be reopened one day. It's pretty close to Dandenong and there's limited land available it's hard to imagine why median values there are so low. Doesn't look rough to me either (ie Noble/Hampton Park), apparently 6% of home owners are from the UK. I'd compare it with Frankston without the beach but within reasonable proximity, better infrastructure and arguably a tad nicer.
 
JamesP, what part of Victoria are you from? If you're from anywhere east of Melbourne you surely would have heard of Doveton and the lovely people that inhabit it's neighborhoods......definitely a rough area.
 
JamesP, what part of Victoria are you from? If you're from anywhere east of Melbourne you surely would have heard of Doveton and the lovely people that inhabit it's neighborhoods......definitely a rough area.

Doveton....a mate once saw a guy walking down the street having a bong, in the afternoon. Hilarious! :p :D
 
Hey mate,

I recently did a Reno in Dandnenong but we had owned the property for 15 years (paid $75k) and sold for ($220k). What we have found is that since the local council has rezoned a lot of areas and are quite open to development that most properties are better used for subdivision unit sites these days. This is because the purchase prices have gone through the roof, so the feasibility isn't there anymore. I'm speaking in general terms of course as there may always be a diamond in the rough. If you are going to look, I would try to find one north of Heatherton road, or east of Stud road.

Hampton park could be a good option as you will find something dirt cheap if you look hard enough. Friends of mine have been quite successful in this area as they buy a run down for around the $300k mark, $25k Reno and hopefully turn it into a 4 bedder and lease it out as separate rooms. This works because it's close proximity to dandenongs industrial area. Try to buy as close to the freeway as possible as pound road is going through a heavy rezoning which will see a huge amount of medium density housing come on the market which will just be compitition for you when you are finding new tenants.

Doveton is probably a few years off, but once dandenong is maxed out roads like Kidd and power would be a good move. My move at the moment would be Hallam over Doveton. Much nicer area, homes are over the 20 year mark, has a train station, freeway access is easy, 2 little shopping areas including the new Coles and 2 mins down the road to fountain gate. Will rent easily as there is bugger all stock available in the area.

Don't know to much about Carrum downs sorry but hope the rest of the info helps a little.
 
I will preface my post with a 'proud born n bred' in Dandenong statement.

I have IPs in Dandenong. For your investment strategy there is a difference between IP and PPOR for Dandenong and for instance Noble Park.

For instance, many are turned off by Dandenong due to the influx of 'immigrants'. For me, I love this, nothing better than an affordable meal at an afghan restaurant in Dandenong.

For an IP, who cares who lives there - its all about the prospects of the suburb, so look at Dandenong, there has been a heap of capital upgrades in the area from upgrade of roads, new face to Dandenong, $2.5 billion upgrade to the Dandenong train line removing most of the level crossings on the way saving a heap of time.

Not only that, many of the people in Dandenong are renters. For an IP you want rental income right? Add eastlink access as well and to me a place with great shopping centres, a bloody great market and within 30 km of CBD with good public transport and to me, its a winner.

So, the questions is with immigration and a little bit of crime, why should i invest? well, choose your tenant carefully. For me I have a number of IPs in Noble Park and Dandenong and I choose my tenant carefully. I learnt my lesson and donot choose an Afghan tenant (they started a fire on the floorboards in the loungeroom). I generally have applicants that are young professionals from Indian/ Sri lankan heritage and achieve a 5% rental income.....to me, it is a no brainer.

What I am saying is that people look at Doveton/Dandenong and think 'Yuk", but you are not living there, so just choose the right tenant. So rental income with a good prospect of Capital Growth has meant in the past 15 years I have done well, and continue to invest in these areas.

So I think Dandenong is a good Investment as is Noble Park (which you did not mention), but Hampton Park and carrum downs are a no.

Re a renovate idea, I am not sure, we buy and develop. Land here is generally 800 sqm or larger, so no point renovating, just demolish and subdivide. With the right team, this is a no brainer in my opinion. Choice of streets is imperative so like anywhere important to perform due diligence on the relevant street.

Finally compare H&L in Cranbourne, Officer and Pakenham vs Dandenong and Noble Park and scratch your head for proximity to the city.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Ivan
 
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