Zillmere/Aspley vs Runcorn, Sunnybank

[Rixter]

Thanks Andrew and Rixter.

Rixter - Can you please elaborate on what you mean? Should i be increasing the costs for the townhouse when compared to house as i have to pay BC or decreasing it???

Townhouses are mostly strata titled. As such you will have to pay a body corporate fee as an expense. The body corporate fee includes Buildings Insurance, Public Liability Insurance and also includes maintenance & repairs to your Townhouse building & common areas.

With a house if you are working out your net return you will need to include those same expenses as I've listed above.

My point is some people are not a ware that those expenses are already included in a Body Corporate fee and do NOT need to accounted for again in relation to calculating one's net return as is the case if purchasing a house.

 

[traveller]

My point is some people are not a ware that those expenses are already included in a Body Corporate fee and do NOT need to accounted for again in relation to calculating one's net return as is the case if purchasing a house.

Yes, agreed.

I guess the only extra expense in case of the Townhomes is the management fees of the BC Managers. Rest are all which one will be paying in case of a house as well. Except in cases where there are swimming pools, tennis courts etc in the complex.

 

[Ed Barton]

Townhouses are mostly strata titled. As such you will have to pay a body corporate fee as an expense. The body corporate fee includes Buildings Insurance, Public Liability Insurance and also includes maintenance & repairs to your Townhouse building & common areas.

With a house if you are working out your net return you will need to include those same expenses as I've listed above.

My point is some people are not a ware that those expenses are already included in a Body Corporate fee and do NOT need to accounted for again in relation to calculating one's net return as is the case if purchasing a house.

A well run strata should be able to provided those costs at the same price, if not cheaper than the equivalent number of freeholds.

• building and PL insurance should be cheaper in the bulk deal of strata.
• painting the exterior of ten town houses should be cheaper than 1/10th of a freehold
• repairing ten roofs should be cheaper than repairing one roof, pro rata.
• one of the retired owners who likes gardening should be able to do garden maintanence on the cheap
• etc etc

the key is to get a committee that wants things cheap without compromising on key things and is willing to watch costs like a hawk. small complexes with high OO ratio and the odd retiree is the key imo.

 

[vbplease]

Hi traveller,
You may want to get onto 'seqsales' email alert.. they specialise in townhouses in the areas you are looking at and market them to investors - so most costs are advertised.. it's handy just to scroll through comparing the gross yields.

here is an example http://www.seqsales.com.au/5764372 you should be able to follow the links from there to get onto the email alert.

I bought one through their agency a few years ago in Sunnybank Hills. It's been doing ok.. $5-$10 rental increases every 6months. There was growth of about 5-10% in 2008 then dropped of about 5% since then. Vacancies have never been more than a day in my complex.

 

[Ed Barton]

Hi

I would definitely look at Zillmere. It is only 26 minutes on the train to the CBD, 5 minutes drive to the massive Chermide shopping centre and surrounding office and retail. It is also close to a the light industrial in Geebung. Accordingly, lots of employment around.

You can pick up a new townhouses for high $300s or a new unit for mid $300s - this gives you the benefit of significant depreciation.

The areas you mentioned on the southside such as Runcorn are really in the middle on no where and a long way from the CBD.

my two cents...........

train times to the city are about the same from Zillmere or Sunnybank. ATM bus transport from Sunnybank shites all over Zillmere, once the northern busway is complete, I imagine they will be similar.

5 minutes drive from Sunnybank to the massive Garden City SC.

Does the north have a freeway? Car to the city, both peak and off peak is much faster from Sunnybank. Zillmere does have proximity to the airport as a major advantage, for both regular travellers and air port staff.

 

[traveller]

Hi traveller,
You may want to get onto 'seqsales' email alert.. they specialise in townhouses in the areas you are looking at and market them to investors - so most costs are advertised.. it's handy just to scroll through comparing the gross yields.

here is an example http://www.seqsales.com.au/5764372 you should be able to follow the links from there to get onto the email alert.

I bought one through their agency a few years ago in Sunnybank Hills. It's been doing ok.. $5-$10 rental increases every 6months. There was growth of about 5-10% in 2008 then dropped of about 5% since then. Vacancies have never been more than a day in my complex.

Thanks vbplease.

I have come across seqsales and have had a detailed discussion with them.

However my main issues in buying with them is that:
1- They are typically operating in the large complexes only (50-60 and above)
2- BC costs are high as most have swimming pools etc
3- Most of the townhouses are bought by investors and little or no OO. This in my opinion potentially creates a lot competition...and i generally tend to target complexes with high OO's.
4- Not much negotiation scope in the price. I will like to know how was your experience in terms of price negotiations...

 

[vbplease]

1- They are typically operating in the large complexes only (50-60 and above)
2- BC costs are high as most have swimming pools etc
3- Most of the townhouses are bought by investors and little or no OO. This in my opinion potentially creates a lot competition...and i generally tend to target complexes with high OO's.
4- Not much negotiation scope in the price. I will like to know how was your experience in terms of price negotiations...

Sounds like you're quite cluey on the market there already

Yes they do seem to stick with the larger complexes. I think they have a good report with the onsite managers and like to be the exclusive agent, which I don't think is necessarily a good or bad thing?

I agree the BC fees are generally higher in the larger gated complexes with pools, gym, (sometimes tennis courts), but the rentals are higher too.. so the net yield is comparable and the demand for these rentals may be better, imo.

I'm not convinced a high % of investors vs OO's is necessarily a bad thing either. Vacancy rates are generally 0%, and if there is a bit of competition between investors as you mention, that's good for demand, in turn cap growth.

Negotiations weren't too bad at the time.. I found a prop that was on the market for a few months, had a yield of 6.5%, I offered $10k lower and was accepted. Their is def scope for movement from their listed prices.

 

[TigerBNE]

come to sunnybank area, all Asian will keep the house up, they are rich.

 

[Rixter]

all Asian will keep the house up, they are rich.

Mine at the time didnt...not rich either.. In fact they were eventually deported.

 

[Nth Brisbanite]

Are there any positives for Zillmere/Aspley area? Anyone investing there in townhouses???

I live in the Zillmere/Aspley area so know it fairly well. Zillmere was an old housing commission area which is being rapidly transformed due to it's closeness to trains, airport, shopping, large blocks of land, good schools (eg Aspley East Primary, Nudgee College) and Sunshine Coast. Closeness to the airport in particular is a big attraction - I'd hate to be a regular air traveller from some parts of the southside. I think that Zillmere probably has more upside than Sunnybank and Aspley as these are established areas where there is not the opportunity to "add value". There are heaps of units and townhouses going up in Zillmere but very few in Aspley.

Aspley has a variety of housing styles from the very expensive (over $1million) to the renovator. It has similar facilities to Zillmere but doesn't have the stigma of being ex-housing commission. Aspley has had fairly steady growth over the last 10 years and I'm sure that it will continue to do in the futrue.

 

[TigerBNE]

You can not go wrong with Asian Community Suburb, Chinese, Korean, Malaysian..... Sunnybank is their CBD. They will put up the price around Sunnybank. They are waiting for EX rate, they are moving. Pls come to Eight Mile Plains, Sunnybank, Sunnybank Hills to see all Auctions, Seeing is Believing.

 

[Angel]

Yeah, I think Aspley is one of those old faithfuls. It has mostly older homes on large blocks of land that will come up well with a refurb. The market isn't paying huge profits for renos at the moment but their time will come when the next boom comes to Brisbane. Aspley is quite close to the Carseldine and Bald Hills train stations, and in 2020 the busway from Chermside is due to be finished - not that I am holding my breath.

In 2010 and 2011 we tried to purchase a townhouse in Aspley. Whenever one came onto the market, it sold before the ad made it onto the Net. This is at the same time that you could hardly give away houses in Brisbane post GFC and the flood. There will always be a lot of older people looking for easy-care affordable accommodation. Aspley has some complexes with lowset villas for the oldies and they are highly sought after.

Bunnings (the mark of a commercial growth region) is in Carseldine just two minute's drive from Aspley. The desirable properties in Zillmere are closest to the border with Aspley. We have recently heard that the old Carseldine University campus will be turned into an administration centre for a Qld Govt Department, hence a good place for employment along with the two hospitals at Chermside.

 

[Nth Brisbanite]

We have recently heard that the old Carseldine University campus will be turned into an administration centre for a Qld Govt Department, hence a good place for employment along with the two hospitals at Chermside.

The old Carseldine campus has already been turned into an administration centre. I drove past it recently and there were heaps of cars everywhere. The old driving test centre from Pineapple Street has moved to this place. I think that about 1000 public servants have already moved with many more transferring in the near future. Housing around this area could be in high demand in the near future.

Another attraction for Aspley could be Aspley High which is now an independant high school. With it's new set up and a highly regarded principal, you may find parents wanting to move to the area so that their children can enrol in the school. I noticed that it's academic results for 2012 were outstanding although not as good as elite high schools such as Brisbane State High School.

Aspley East Primary School is bursting at its seams. I hear that enrolments may soon be limited to students in the catchment area making housing in Aspley an added attraction.

 

[Angel]

Thanks for the update NthBrisbanite

Not everyone wants to travel across town to BSHS and the Grammar schools, hey.