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I agree with Frankston suggestion.
I have bought multiple properties there and if you call frankston real estate agents, you will find out that its been the busiest time for them in years. (some will tell you its been the busiest ever)
If you a do a search on realestate.com.au, properties sold in frankston (Under contract/ under offer) from the first 200 search results would be atleast 5 times more than for any other outer suburb.
Seaford prices have risen very sharply in the last 6 months.
Some of the properties I earmarked in seaford have gone up 20-25% within the last 12 months. Completion of east link (scheduled to be opened late this year) is only going to add the pressure on capital values as would the frankston marina.It is the last bayside suburb where you can find reasonable properties for under $250k. Frankston North already has had 15-20% increase in values in the last 8-10 months.
good luck
Quite the contrary..! Currently Frankston has the highest amount of properties being under contract/under offer than any suburb outside 12-15 kms radius from an identical property search criteria.
I posted the following thread in another forum: will paste it here and let you guys replicate the exercise and decide on its merits:
A very simple exercise with very interesting results:
I thought if, as all agents in Frankston say its been the busiest time for them in years, then it must reflect in the figures on real estate websiteI chose 3 suburbs – Frankston, Dandenong and Werribee
This was a random selection of suburbs with roughly equal distance to CBD and known to be very strong satellite centres within Melbourne Metro with their own strong local infrastructure.
I believe that the price points would be roughly similar across these suburbs (Werribee might be a bit cheaper). All these 3 suburbs have what people think are really bad pockets and relatively good pockets. Reputation wise, personally I would consider all of them to be equal, however other people might have different opinions based on their own perceptions/ research.
Now to the exercise and results:
I chose realestate.com.au for being the largest and most comprehensive search engine and decided to query all 3 suburbs with identical search criteria
I searched Frankston, Dandenong and Werribee and checked “search surrounding areas” option for all 3
All 3 searches resulted in 200+ searches.
Out of Dandenong’s 200 first search results, 6 properties were “Under contract/ Under offer”
Werribee had 13 under contract
Frankston had 65 properties under contract for the first 200 searches..!
I then checked the dates/ called some agents to confirm the last sale from those searches and found that in all 3 suburbs, oldest sale was approximately 4 weeks. This would discount the theory that real estate agents in Frankston would like to keep the listing up long after the property was sold. Infact one of the property that I bought on 13 Ellis St Frankston about 3 weeks ago has already been taken off the real estate website.
That for me was a very astonishing result. If demand is a key determinant of rising property value, then surely Frankston has possibly the highest activity / demand level out of any other outer suburb in melbourne currently.
The gap is too wide to be side lined as a minor aberration. On the face of this very simple exercise suggests a phenomenal demand factor in Frankston area.
At the risk of being labelled as spruiking the area after I have bought a few properties there, I welcome everyone to counter my conclusion/suggestions with their own arguments and happy to stand corrected, if what I am suggesting does not sound correct.
Regards
Harris
jonifanta wrote:John, You really need to be very careful with Frankston. I had a few investment properties and Frankston is an area that is very challenging. I could not find a suitable property manager. I went through about 5 different real estate agents. But all of them have the same attitudes. They are unprofessional and work very slow. It is very frustrating if you dont live close by. It has been almost 2 years ago when I bought my investment property and I decided to sell it 2 months ago. They took 1 week to get the paperwork ready and after 2 months later it has not been sold. They dont ring me for the progress, so I have to ring them. I changed the agents twice, now i am with MPRE I think it is the largest organisation in frankston area. But the work ethic is shocking. I just cant wait to get my money out from this area. There are so many houses for sale in frankston. Now, I know part of the reason. JonifantaCould not disagree with Michael more..!
I have bought 5 properties in Frankston area and placing an offer on 6th in Seaford.Frankston Nth has some bad pockets however the price points are rising sharply across the suburb.
I bought 7 & 9 Aleppo Crescent for $144k and $145k in Apr 06.
Both sitting on approx 700sqm land with 3 bed dwelling and being rented by the same tenants for over 4 years paying $150pw each. Current market rent approx $190 pw each .
Nothing in Frankston Nth with 3 bed house currently available for under $185k.
For a half decent property, you are looking at atleast $200k. That represents a 20 – 25% increase for my 2 properties within 12 months..!
Not sure about Michael, however in my books its called a sensational increase.
When comparing frankston with suburbs like werribee, sunshine, deer park.. dont forget its a bayside suburb and with the east link, you are looking at a commuting time of about 40 or less minutes to CBD.
Something else I stumbled upon last week is this property in Seaford,
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin…&tm=1176377144
This t/house and another identical t/house listed for sale in Apr 06 for $310k each. I offered $300k each for both however my offer was declined. Same t/house listed at $389k now and the agent tells me that it should sell within the next couple of days at very close to asking price – This represents again an increase of close to 25% on asking price within 12 months..!
Watching the market and talking to agents almost on a daily basis, I am convinced beyond any doubt that there has been a very significant increase in activity in Frankston,Fran Nth, fran Sth, Seaford and Carrum as well as decent increases in the property values in the last 12 months (espeically last 4 months). There is nothing to suggest that its a minor blip – To me, the increase in activity and property values seem to be on the way up and should acclerate around the east link completion time (late this year).
Almost every second property listed is under offer and selling time of majority of properties seems to be under a week (almost all of the more than 100 properties that I have investigated).
Will keep on posting as more info comes to light and I get quarterly statistics on price points.
Cheers
HarrisMichaelYardney wrote:There is another current thread about Frankston so check out replies there too. Frankston Nth? It depends what you are looking for in your investment. Frankston North is a pretty rough area and unlikley to change. That means poor capital growth, but slightly higher rental returns. I would not invest there, I think I could find better areas – there is nothing new about getting a higher cash flow by buying in secondary areas. Its just not a great strategy for long term wealth, even if the property is well priced. Prices are low there for a reason – fewer people want to live or invest there, and this is unlikley to change for a long time. Since you are overseas, if you do choose to buy here – or anywhere for that matter, make sure you have someone here check things out throughly for you. You may even consider engaging a buyers' advocate. Michael Yardney METROPOLE PROPERTIES Author of Australia's leading property e-magazine. Join over 11,000 readers each month. FREE subscription http://www.PropertyUpdate.com.auCan I ask a stupid question…? Would it be possible for anyone living and earning in Australia to own IP in NZ…? What do the banks say about that..? Would one need a NZ bank and if so how willing bank would be to offer loan to someone working in Australia… What would be an ideal modus-operandi of a successful approach
Would greatly appreciate some advice..!!!Thanks,
Alison,
I would like to attend Steve Nevra’s seminar…how do I go about it..??
Cheers,Hi westan,
Could you please suggest any websites, agents in NZ who I cant talk to re investing in NZ. How difficult/easy it is to find tenants and what sort of capital growth you are expecting with yours..?
Will appreciate your feedback,Thanks,
Jars,
I also have 2 prospectus’ from Cameron Bird on my desk…one for the same investment for aged care hostels in Toowoomba and other for a holiday apartement scheme in Cairns.
On the surface, they both look good with the exceptional returns of about 6% pa. The retirement village is not considered as serviced apartments ( even though they are and its a bit of grey area) since you get a starta title.
I was told that there is a waiting list for similar old age hostel schemes in Towoomba but Cameron Bird would not provide rental guarantees, Also showed those prospectus to my bank manager (CWB) and he did not see any problems with bank financing up to 95% of the asking price.
So..which brings me to the conclusion that if after all the expenses I am getting $90 pw of positive cash flow, I cant go wrong….however I am positive that the capital growth would be quite ordinary or even non-existent for the first few years atleast. I also spoke to soemone at the church who are developing the project, but could’nt get satisfactory answers on the rental guarantee and opportunities for capital growth..!! hmm sounds like I am more confused than you are…!!!but anyway let me know if you find anything else about the projects.Regards,
Rickie
I have an apartment in Melbourne CBD that I listed for rent at $340 pw, however realising that there are too many properties competing for tenants, I reduced the rent to $285 pw and it was snapped within a fortnight.
In my opinion, if you work out the numbers on leaving a property vacant for months or reducing the rent by up to 30%…the odds are that reduced rent with quick occupancy will almost always work out better than prolonged vacant proerty with higher rent.Thanks Peter….
I guess most of the new investors like myself, who have started buying investment properties not so long ago find it quite hard to select areas that would deliver consistent growth…without investing over $300,000.
I have bought 2 apartments in inner melbourne over the last 12 months and looking for a third property, however to get good capital growth I am aware that it has to be a house or a unit with strata title.. any suggestions where the next property boom might be…?
