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Rif-Raf
03-07-2007, 11:34 AM
Would you invest in an apartment in these locations? There's some appeal to having an investment that you may want to use yourself from time to time.
Anyone care to share thoughts as to whether this is a good idea

Halebop
03-07-2007, 12:02 PM
Personally I'd invest where I thought the best returns could be made and holiday where I wanted to holiday. So guess it depends on your view of South East Queensland real estate (and the eventual outcome!) and the relative value you could pick one up for.

moe
04-07-2007, 02:16 PM
If you are looking at a unit in a big building, take note of the management fees associated. Some places with pool's, lifts or onsite manager can sting you bigtime.

Growth wise you probably could not find a better area in Australasia based on last weeks OZ statistics (Census?)that were released by the ABS.

Eddie
05-07-2007, 10:09 AM
An acquaintance recently invested in one of these "site-unseen" properties that was touted as being on the Gold Coast.
It turned out that it is in decidedly down-market south Brisbane.
I examined a presentation from a salesman in ChCh and considered,amongst other negatives, that the property was over-valued (by the agent's recommended valuer of course!)
My mate is exploring his legal options - and not using the agent's recommended lawyer this time.
Too little control by off-shore-us, and in an industry infected by crooks put me and other local speculators off.

shasta
08-07-2007, 03:38 PM
Has anyone heard the recent radio adverts re investing in Queenslands fast growing residential areas?

They state "no deposit" (might have been $1000 down max), & would only require $50pw top up to cover costs.

They are anticipating property increases of 30 - 40% in the next 12 months...

As the property market supposedly slows, i guess we will see more of this direct kind of marketing to get people into the market & keep it going.

I have no personal interest in the property market, but as it's the Kiwi way to wealth i thought i'd mention it & see if anyone was involved in it or thinking about it?

moe
08-07-2007, 07:42 PM
Its gotten to the stage in Brisbane that if you're looking to rent a unit you can expect to be competing with 15-20 people to get it.

I have heard of some landlords basically auctioning off their leases to whoever will pay the most rent. This of course is illegal but is becoming common as more people get desperate.

boatie
09-07-2007, 06:03 AM
I have been over there (Qld) a bit on business lately. Comments are : Surfers looks pretty tired/touristy/teenage. A bit Queen St. Housing developments booming in numbers along the Surfers to Brisbane motorway - places like Coomera are quite amazing. This is suburban living/ commute to Brisbane or Surfers. But there is plenty of land. State is growing strongly so most areas OK in long term. If buying for investment I'd say within commute to Brisbane. If for holiday, pick your most liked area. Main Beach (north of Surfers) is pleasant. For longer term I would look at Coolangatta/Tweed - it has the Airport.

lakedaemonian
23-07-2007, 04:07 PM
quote:Originally posted by shasta

Has anyone heard the recent radio adverts re investing in Queenslands fast growing residential areas?

They state "no deposit" (might have been $1000 down max), & would only require $50pw top up to cover costs.

They are anticipating property increases of 30 - 40% in the next 12 months...

As the property market supposedly slows, i guess we will see more of this direct kind of marketing to get people into the market & keep it going.

I have no personal interest in the property market, but as it's the Kiwi way to wealth i thought i'd mention it & see if anyone was involved in it or thinking about it?


If property increases of 30-40% were anything approaching likely, wouldn't the sprukers be hoarding the units themselves, rather than trying to pawn them off on their poor Kiwi cousins?

My thoughts on new construction holiday location units is the same as new car sales:

Never, ever buy new..let the first moron take the massive residual value hit.....then, only then consider buying.

Personally, I like the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and I think they are great places to holiday or live if so inclined.

fihr
08-08-2007, 11:07 PM
I've got a property on the Sunshine Coast (Coolum Beach), and I haven't heard any predictions of 30-40% growth. Growth rates like that can't be predicted on an annual basis. If you want property price predictions for Australian real estate, check out Residex (you can Google it), but you have to buy the report. Worth it if you are seriously thinking of buying. Don't buy anything new. The Gold Coast is famous for its white shoe brigade. They come and go there with every property cycle. I used a buyers agent to buy mine. We decided when we bought that the cost of doing this was less than the cost of flying around doing our own research. He was excellent. Got the place for 10% less than it was worth in a great location, then it rented for 15% more than he had thought it would. Very useful as the market then went downhill and we could have sold without a loss if we'd needed to, including stamp duty. Now we could definitely sell at a reasonable profit. The market does seem to be going up now, but the increases seem to be in the order of 5 to 8% per annum. The agent also warned us off some areas in Brisbane that we thought looked good, and now in hindsight he was right. The other areas in Brisbane that would have been good at the time were out of our price bracket.

lakedaemonian
11-08-2007, 09:13 AM
could you please list the good and bad of Brisbane you mentioned please Fihr

thanks.

Yes please!

I'd be keen to hear the perspective of a Kiwi owning property in Queensland.

I'm not looking to buy now or even soon....but long-term my family and I are keen to purchase a property there to escape winter.

POSSUM THE CAT
11-08-2007, 10:56 AM
lakedamion & SectorSurfer, Contact me off forum and tell me what your idea of what you want I might be able to help

shane_m
11-08-2007, 11:14 AM
1000 people move to Brisbane every month permanently. People who cant afford sydney etc.

Personally I like the weather in Brisbane, but get to gold coast its a 1 hour drive and sometimes there are big traffic jams to get there.

POSSUM THE CAT
13-08-2007, 03:07 PM
SectorSurfer plenty of cheap housing around Tingalpa especially on large blocks. Have you thought of why this is. Would you find that sort of value so close to CBD in any other big cities?

POSSUM THE CAT
15-08-2007, 09:39 AM
SectorSurfa This is not place to discuss the vagaries of Brisbane Property as everybody has a different view of their likes and dislikes where they work, Are they going to use public transport or do they want to drive etc. You mention boating by choosing some other suburbs you can get within 3ks of water access and not much further from city. Also are your 10ks direct line or road kilometers & in Brisbane 10ks from some locations can take you longer to drive than 20k from other locations. Trains are wonderfull from some locations if you work in city. If you want more contact me off forum if you have Skype you can call me for free

fihr
06-09-2007, 10:04 PM
Sorry Sectorsurfa and Lakedaemonian for not replying earlier - haven't read this thread for a bit. Re the good and bad of Brisbane - the agent in 2002 recommended places including Morningside for cafe culture, regeneration and proximity to the CBD. He warned us off areas like Forest Lake for being full of first home buyers stretched to their mortgage limits,so being likely to suffer badly in a downturn with forced sales. We realised that without being locals we would not be able to do the research needed to make an educated enough decision re Brisbane by ourselves. It was a good decision in our case. The agents recommendations went as far as particular areas in particular suburbs within our budget. Whether the Morningside recommendation still stands I would not know. It would depend upon how the market has moved since then. Other areas he recommended were established houses in proven suburbs outside Brisbane including Noosa... and the up and coming Coolum Beach (only in its "golden triangle" though, and for the right price), among others.

I would normally not buy anything new, but we have bought units off the plan in Sydney twice and sold at a decent profit within 2 to 3 years, when we have known the area, including property prices and the market, and been sure of scarcity of some of the features of the property we bought. We were also sure of the quality of the two developers involved. Mostly I would avoid new property as the quality and planning is dubious. I used to work as an architect, so have the ability to read plans. In my experience, a lot of people have trouble with that, so buying off the plan would be a dangerous business for some.

peat
07-09-2007, 01:03 AM
whats the temperature like re the house market in Sunshine Coast at the moment. Any sign of a cool down? My folks just sold their place and are looking - just wondering about whether interest rate rises and general world issues are affecting it at all.

moe
10-09-2007, 07:16 PM
Thats not a bad spot SS, not too far from the city, im renting down in toowong. There are a few Qld folk on here, I recon we could have the first international ST meet up.

peat
17-09-2007, 05:36 AM
my folks ended up buying in Minyama... how weird. I'd never heard of it before but does indeed look to be a very central part of the Sunshine Coast.