Perhaps sorting out the settlement mess first of all and then taking a break before choosing on the next direction could be an option, making a decision from a calm state of mind is important. Just a thought. Your situation is unfortunately quite common these days Simon, I'm regularly talking with people who are looking to build again after a separation. Also mixing the lifestyle (northern beaches) with the investment (possibly not northern beaches!) decisions is another area to watch out for, have a different hat for each consideration!

Our office is in Geebung, this area has a lot of industry and light industrial, also a train line slicing through. Mostly older style housing, some busy arterial roads, all will depend on the specifics of the deal and location but generally a strategic location for Brisbane.

As has been pointed out this is a small size for a 2 bedder, not impossibly small but a challenge! A property has to make sense for a person to want to live in, so a well designed 1 bed will be superior than a 2 bed just for the sake of it in most cases for future growth.

A few areas to watch for compromise regarding smaller flats.

> Laundry, often not internal and squeezed into a communal area in blocks 

> Lock up garages (with or without laundry)

> Car space

> Size of the bathroom, needs to be functional

> If 2 beds on 50m2 is the bathroom actually an ensuite or available to both rooms?

I like blocks of 1 bed flats on 1 title

Do some number crunching to compare the net return of the house/apartment, with the apartment check out the floor metre size, strata fees, number in the block, condition of the block, scarcity factor to start with.

Often I find that the expensive strata fees are mostly from high admin costs, and not sinking fund contributions, nobody takes an interest in who is managing and they pay whatever is put in front of them, so taking an interest is the first step in managing your fees. Would expect the costs should be reasonable for a block of three with no pool.

Someone who can justify $149/month on a research site in this particular case.

It's one of the sites I use for searching, agree about being expensive and suitable for active investors only, otherwise there will be better choices. Price Finder as Matt points out is excellent and hard to beat for value for your dollar. 

If you have the view that this is a dip in a longer term uptrend or just can find something that makes sense on a cashflow only scenario then some of the coastal areas including Cairns offer particularly good hunting grounds at the moment. The multis such as blocks of flats that can be renovated and bought well look interesting.

I love offering on property when you have 100% in cash You can really squeeze and perhaps more important act quickly. Nice to have 1M+ cash as the jaw dropping deals tend to be in that price range with resi I have found, however I know buyers who shop at the lower end of the scale <300k and sometimes much less, with patience and network building you can pick up a stunner with this approach, only need 1 every year or so to  make it worthwhile as well.