Forum Replies Created
Thanks Thomas,
What also concerns me is the fact that 15 to 20 of these units are for sale at any one time with quite a few staying on the market for some time and then disappear. Sometimes I suspect they maybe taken off the market? I agree with the river view apartments are much better but the extra money does not seem to be compensated by $20 extra in rent a week. Shafston Mansions 2 being built next door I think will be a lot more appealing to students as the developer would have learnt a lot from the first building. I also noticed while I was in the apartments a strong sewage smell on level 4 with signs on each of the room doors stating that they had a problem with plumbing and that carpets would be cleaned that night. Does this happen often?
About the charges below……..
Rent OUT:
RENT: $340 Inclusive GST/weekTake out of this amount:
$34.00 GST
$25.50 for rental commission/week (Between 7.5% and 9%)
$242.50 loan repayment/week (based at $150,000 over 20 years principal and interest)
$65 Cleaning fee/week
$55.38/week body corporate and sinking fund (Includes power bill)
$30.30/week Rates
$36.40 Linen Hire/week (2 beds)
Minus $10.00/week Internet service (maybe payable by students)
Minus a few dollars a week for some sort of cutlery rental??
Would still have to PAY at least $159.08 on top of rental income every week.These fees and charges were obtained from the lady on the front desk reception of the unit. Maybe these are just fees for new buyers?? 2 of the management team were also present when I got these figures. She stated that GST WAS included in the $340/week rent. She also made it quite clear about the cleaning fee of $65/week + a $2.60 per night per bed rental fee on the sheets. Amazingly, NOTHING from the management team could be given to me in writing about the fees and many of the answers to my questions were very sketchy! The only thing given to me in writing was the tariff rates which you state range from $295 to $420 per week. The $420 rate is for a 6 night stay based on the nightly rate. If you use the per night rate of $100 for the first night and $65/night after that, would a student pay $360 for the 5 nights or pay the weekly rate of $360 for 7 nights. I dont understand how you would get $420 from a student for a six night stay when a student can pay $360 for 5 nights or 7 . Seems a bit strange to me. Maybe you get students staying for just 3 days? Also, twin share rooms go down to $180/week. If only one student stays in that room your return would be much less. So really, the tariff rates are more like $180 – $360. When I walked into that building I had calculated a total of $100 left over per week after expenses, when I walked out with all the figures given to me I calculated I was having to pay over $150 a week on top of rental income and that's IF it was rented 100% of the time. I was also AMAZED with my final question to the property manager on the day of "What are the units like to live in?" He says "Bloody terrible, the noise, the smell of Chinese food" (and a few other things I will not mention) Why would he say this to a potential buyer?? Fees!!! If I live in the unit myself, your correct, I don't have to pay all the linen, cleaning and commission fees. But then the property manager misses out. I could not imagine the property manager being overly helpful or friendly to anyone living in the studios as an owner/occupier as you would actually be cutting his profit.
With all my figures I visited 3 people involved in finance and accountancy and they all advised me to stay well clear of these. I advise anyone considering these units to read the fine print as many hidden fees and clauses are involved with these studios.
No bank wanted to give me finance for these units without a 35% deposit and still then they wanted it to be at least 30m2 before they would finance the other 65%Thanks for your info Thomas, wish you all the best with them and seems like you got in just at the right time to benefit from the small capital growth that these units have experienced. Anyone else apart from Thomas had anything to do with these studios??
I have just been looking at these studio apartments. I have somewhat mixed thoughts……
Seems to be a lot of hidden costs involved with renting these studios to the students under the current management. They advertise high returns but when you dig deeper, the amount that is returned is very rarely "HIGH".
I went last week to have a look at the units at Shafston Mansion.
History of them:
The 170 units were sold in 2001 for around $170,000 to $200,000. Everyone says they were sold way overprice to gullible overseas investors. Between 2003 – 2006, some were selling for $90,000!!! They dropped a lot but have come back up a little. They were originally sold as student accommodation. Some stage in the first few years a serious sexual allegation was made against someone involved with the school involving a student. It was all over the news worldwide and a current affair. I'm not sure if this contributed to the lower price drop as student numbers were said to have dropped a lot. 2009 the units are selling for approx $138,000 to $193,000 with river views. up from previous years but still down from the original selling price. Over the last 8 years, capital growth is not a positive factor in respect to the original selling price. They advertise a 80% occupancy rate and approx 3500 students per year. They have also stated that they will be building a new student accommodation building next door in the next 18 months. It will be more expensive to stay there which will in turn make the cheaper ones more appealing for the students on a budget but from what I have seen, most students attending this school are from quite wealthy families. Car parking is Available from 5pm to 6am for owner/ occupiers but no guarantee is given. Street parking also available but seems to be a large volume of cars in that area during the day.
The Fees:
They advertise the units rent for a maximum of $340/week (With rates as low as $290 for long term) with the more expensive units getting $20 extra per week. The cheapest units are said to be selling for around the $125,000 to $130,000 mark. Still with a little bit of a river view, but this will be gone soon due to the building of a new facility on the eastern side. If u wish to rent the Shafston University unit out, the costs that are known to me are: ( Every time I make an enquiry there seems to be another fee!)
Rent OUT:
RENT: $340 Inclusive GST/weekTake out of this amount:
$34.00 GST
$25.50 for rental commission/week (Between 7.5% and 9%)
$242.50 loan repayment/week (based at $150,000 over 20 years principal and interest)
$65 Cleaning fee/week
$55.38/week body corporate and sinking fund (Includes power bill)
$30.30/week Rates
$36.40 Linen Hire/week (2 beds)
Minus $10.00/week Internet service (maybe payable by students)
Minus a few dollars a week for some sort of cutlery rental??
Would still have to PAY at least $159.08 on top of rental income every week.
(I've worked out the management earn $21573.00/week just on cleaning/commission and linen hire IF they have all 170 units out for rent )Only way to avoid all these fees is to rent them out to someone yourself.
If I live in it, my expenses will be:
$242.50 Loan repayment/week (based at $150,000 over 20 years)
$55.38/week body corporate and sinking fund
$30.30/week Rates
$10.00/week Internet
Would cost $338.18/week to live there.
Anyone else got any info on these? Good or Bad reports…… seems to be a mixed bag!
