Any thoughts on Gladstone or has it gone as high as it can go?
I see that there isn’t any cash flow +ve there but perhaps some neutral.
hi richter,
there’s always scope to turn properties cf+! Are you looking to invest for capital growth or returns?
With regard to the state of the real estate market in gladstone, whilst it has seen a large rise over the past 3 years in particular, it’s strong economic drives (conducted on the world’s largest Alumina Plant, the completion of Queensland’s major Power Station, and the construction of an Aluminium Smelter and Clinker Plant in the area) have not sent prices backwards as they have in other ‘regional’ areas.Whilst I don’t believe IMO there is going be any great growth in the next few years I think Gladstone is a city with a strong future.
You might like to check out:
http://www.gladstone.qld.gov.au
http://www.sunzine.net/gladstone/welcome.html
http://www.gladstoneregion.org.aue x
Originally posted by emcdonald:
hi richter, …You might like to check out:
http://www.gladstone.qld.gov.au
http://www.sunzine.net/gladstone/welcome.html
http://www.gladstoneregion.org.auHi Richter
Go to http://www.somersoft.com.au
Then do a Search by playing with different combinations of keywords such as:
~ Gladstone
~ due diligence
~ statistics
~ demographics
plus any others you can think of.Gladstone’s in a bit of a lull at the moment, because one of the larger companies TEMPORARILY pulled out their massive workforce and moved them to Darwin (they’ll be back in a few months).
But many on this forum feel Gladstone’s a sleeping giant. Its Harbour rivals Sydney Harbour, and that’s saying something!! Go for quality stock. Many pundits say Boyne Island’s the place, but I prefer the beach at Tannum Sands.[biggrin][cap] Expensive, but as long as you get good stock, you should be on a winner.
If you get serious, ring LJ Hooker and ask to speak to Eileen Woodward. She’s my PM, and as someone with a reasonably large portfolio, she’s a GREAT PMgr. Tell her Greg F recommended you call her, and he said: “Give this person the same straight talkin’ advice you gave Greg and Niki about their brick IP.” She’ll know what you mean. PM and ring me if you want a bit more specifics.
Cheers
GregGladestone is a regional town, as such I think your thoughts should be limited to positive geared real estate, which might even make a sneaky capital gain. Investing purely for capital gain is very different to positive cash flow real estate. Read a book titled, “Streets ahead” to see how different
Investing purely for capital gain in a town like Gladestone is nothing short of dangerous. Greg F obviously knows the market well, and I’m sure its a beautiful spot, but to make money on a premium priced piece of real estate, you need a class of wealthy and high earning people.
Gladstone may have a rising number of wealthy baby boomers running to the coast, but is that enough in an environment rising interest rates, rising inflation and potential overinvestment. Unfortunately, the party is over.
Originally posted by Gorden:Investing purely for capital gain in a town like Gladestone is nothing short of dangerous. Greg F obviously knows the market well, and I’m sure its a beautiful spot, but to make money on a premium priced piece of real estate, you need a class of wealthy and high earning people.
Gladstone may have a rising number of wealthy baby boomers running to the coast, but is that enough in an environment rising interest rates, rising inflation and potential overinvestment. Unfortunately, the party is over.
Hi Gordon
“The party’s over” ONLY applies to people who:
1. Buy a piece of real estate
2. Sit tight and
3. PASSIVELY wait for market conditions to change.Such people (and I was one of them myself until a few years ago) allow themselves to become unwitting victime of market forces, because of their fundamentally ‘passive’ view of what investing in RE is all about.
ACTIVE RE investors (ie., me), as Steve says, “do things differently” in quality markets. We make the deals happen.
Gladstone is a GREAT place to make deals happen. Hint 1: “Buy wholesale, add value with your knowledge, and then sell retail”
Hint 2: If, like Michael Yardney, you prefer to never sell anything then don’t sell, just revalue and margin loan for new purchases /stockmarket investing etc).Cheers
GregI agree with all those insights Greg F.
“The party’s over” just meant that easy capital gains, mainly, but not only, made by those ‘passive investors’ are not possible in this market, especially in a regional town.
Specifically, your advice to buy quality property near the water in this market in Gladstone is dangerous. I’m sure you have been an astute investor, but there is a limit to the extent you can value add in this scenario, unless you get the property from a distressed seller, which of course may happen in the future with more interest rate rises.
Once Gladstone develops a class of merchant bankers and wealthly professionals, I’m sure the premium real estate would be great in Gladstone. Otherwise, this would be the worst time to buy quality.
If you get serious, ring LJ Hooker and ask to speak to XXX XXX. She’s my PM, and as someone with a reasonably large portfolioYes, a Real Estate Agent with a number of investment properties in the area… That would be the best place to get unbias advice.
I agree with Greg.[blink]
F.[cowboy2]“Yes, a Real Estate Agent with a number of investment properties in the area… That would be the best place to get unbias advice.”
Foundation, was the above comment said ‘tongue in cheek’. Was that satire? The concept of a real estate giving unbiased advice makes me giggle more than a little bit.
The last house I sold, my agent actually felt sorry for the buyers, because they were paying a record price for the area. hehehe, you just don’t know where their loyalties lie. The agent didn’t have a problem accepting the commision cheque though, just from memory.
Good luck with everybodies’ Gladestone investing. It is a great little town.
Originally posted by Gorden:I agree with all those insights Greg F…. Once Gladstone develops a class of merchant bankers and wealthly professionals, I’m sure the premium real estate would be great in Gladstone. Otherwise, this would be the worst time to buy quality.
Hi Gorden
I love your perspective re the need for regional towns to develop a class of merchant bankers and wealthy professionals before premium RE prices are achieved. There’s a lot of good advice in that comment.
It’s a good rule of thumb to help explain why one current Gladstone vendor will struggle to realise the $1,600,000 asking price for his house on the mountain with ocean views to die for (even though I know he’s spent $1,200,000 developing it). Overcapitalised? Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. My take on it, like you Gordon, is that it’s a hard ask to sell a $1.6 Million house in a town like Gladstone. But making money out of more creative RE investing in Gladstone’s a very different issue. Crikey mate, even though it’s an industrial city it’s still on the ocean, with awesome beaches and harbour plus a burgeoning resources sector which will only keep expanding.
Just for the record, the RE agent I recommended above is a person I’d never met until she became my Property Manager. She has done an EXCELLENT job with a former tenant who broke every window in our IP then proceeded to punch his fists through every gyprock sheet in the house. Purely as a result of Eileen’s efforts, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that I’m now receiving monthly cheques for $100 from the Gladstone Magistrates Court from the mongrel tenant who I’m told will be going to gaol if he stops paying. Apparently he’s had run ins with the magistrate before on other issues, and I’m benefiting because he’s so well known up there.
That’s the 1st reason I trust Eileen from LJH.
The 2nd reason is that she gave my wife and I very unbiased advice re the fact that in her opinion, we’d been sold a ‘croc’ and could have bought better than I did (note, we bought this in our Former Lives as typical passive RE investing mugs).
Cheers
GregIt’s good we can have a hearty real estate discussion without people getting personal.
That does sound like a good real estate agent, and I’d hold on to that one. I honestly did not know if Fountain was serious when she put the words ‘real estate agent’ and ‘unbiased’ in the same sentence. I’ve dealt with about 20 real estates in the last year, and I can’t say that about any of them bless their souls.
My point regarding Gladestone is very specific: market timing. I like Gladestone and its got great prospects but the timing is off to buy the type of real estate you described. I wanted to make the point to Richter that positive geared real estate should be considered in this market in that town.
You may have a different view, great. Time will tell who’s right. As you said, success comes from doing things different
thankyou to all that have contributed.
I was thinking cash flow neutral looking for capital growth. The block of units were listed as all having ocean views and close to cbd. I’m a beginner in property investing so will do some more homework.
As i am both an investor in Gladstone and a construction worker recently moved from the area to Darwin a couple of the comments above could be a bit misleading. Firstly that a power station has just been built there:-Gladstone has only one power station and that was built in the 1970’s. And the second was that a big construction workforce was due back there soon. This is possibly correct however there has been no mention of any more construction work starting in the area in the within the next 6-12 months.I am not saying that this work wont go ahead (i hope it does as this is my line of work and am sick of the heat in Darwin)but the construction industry is a very unpredictable. A good example of this is the alumina refinery we built there last year that was supposed to have been built 20 years ago. However i would agree with the comment above that if you buy good cashflow property in the area you should still do well in the future as the area does have alot going for it.Regards Beanie
Live every day like its your last
Hi All,
I have moved to Gladstone from Sydney at the beginning of 2004. Some would say…the beginning of the end.(someone whould tell me that)
It has been anything but, and, to be honest, the comment above about(or below..I don’t know how this will apear on site) about “passive and active’ investing is 100% correct.
To this, Gladstone has some fundamental undercurrents of success that cannot be overlooked, without the financial committment of larger capital cities. As an active investor (still with properties in Sydney and G Coast) we have been based (and here for a little while yet!) establishing a sound protfolio that has already proved more than beneficial. I still sternly believe that the price of housing in Gladstone is still too cheap, and still needs to realise this (about $50K – $75 per standrd propety in sourrounding CBD) before the market is totally corrected, and I see this happening at somestage in the near future. I say this, as, still at present building costs are too high ($1200 – $1500 sqm) and people are wanting newer and newer houses. To make the proposition at all viable for developers (and I am one!) it needs to achieve this profit at the end sale price, which IS happening. This, however is taking prop dev’s out of GLADSTONE to buy cheap land and build on, BUT it is not what they want (people are still driving 25 mins out of town) anymore and, believe me Gladstone CBD and close proximity RE is fetching a premium. They are selling slow at the moment, but prices are still moving. I would say those that are overcommitted are getting out (and underselling their property so I can’t speak for these people)
To this, most of you will have heard of the CBD development that the state and local government have invested $10M in to refurbish the waterfront and main street (Goondoon Street). Since putting in route D (an arterial route to take road frieghters off waterfront streets) has allowed for this development now to start and developers are moving fast.
I have been working with a consortium to seize a CBD property for a $20M development, and I have heard whispers (that wouldn’t leave this website) that ACCOR hotels have their due dilogence on a main street site for a 110 bedroom hotel – they don’t make these decisions lightly, and starbucks have also picked up prime waterfrontland (where the trucks used to go, but now a clear path and view to harbour and yacht club)
As such, I would say that Gladstone will come of age, it is just a matter of when, and I for one will certainly be buying up a much as I can between this gap of lull and inexperienced investors (getting out) and another declaration (or hopefully back to back) appointments of large scale local contracts. (Comalco Stage 2 and / or aldoga)
Granted, Gladstone does have a ‘roller coaster’feel to the market that goes with the new projects on order (so to speak) but in saying this, the port isn’t going anywhwere (2nd largest deepwater port in Sthr Hemisphere) the infrastructure is notgoing anywhere either, and as projects gather steam $16 Billion from 2005 – 2008 at present), it is amazing what happens when a project of 5000 people can do to a town of 30K people. That is, well over 10% of the polulation, and hey they have to be housed somewhere.
The annual income is huge comparable to brisbane and other major cities, so cash availability is definietly not a problem for these guys here, and as coffee club, new cinema complex, starbucks, etc pick up they will enjoy a higher standard of living.
As a fun search though for those that have some spare cash and feel like a risk (I cannot vouch for the degree of risk) please check out Gracemere and surrounding districts who don’t have any listings to speak of and council is begging state government for land realease. I waon’t say too much and let you do the digging on that one.
I have assisted, and still do assist investors and developers into Gladstone so any help I can give is fine. All the same, take the advice in any vain you like, as I am sure there are 50 other Gladstones out there. Mind you, before I came here I did a study of 90 Oz towns over 10 000 people and landed here, so, show me a better one and I’ll be there.
Cheers
Gavin
Director
Oasis Property Development P/L
Oasis Property Buyers[email protected]
0414576314
[comp]
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