id make the plan your goal … but not the timeframe.  because u never know what will come your way. 

hi guys!

well – u now have someone who lives in Moranbah on the forums    so u can ask me anything u want.  Ive been living here for 3 years courtesy of my husbands work and i have a decent knowledge of RE in the area.

rentals are still totally crazy here and even the 40 year old houses with original kitchen and bathrooms are renting for $800+ a week.  the house we moved out of last year was one of the first houses in Moranbah and it is renting for just under $1000 a week.  That is original kitchen and bathroom.  take my word for it … its a filthy dump.  no fence, not even a dining room, no room in the kitchen for a fridge.

we are now in a 30 year old house but its had major renovations and its in a better street.  the inside is very very nice.  and its renting for $1200 a week – it could get up to $1400 a week though.

I dont know anything about Dysart.  But with Moranbah the major real estate and prop management company is Moranbah Real Estate – they have the best and most listings.  Elders arent too good cos they arent even open all day.  every time i went there it was closed during business hours.  And I know that BMA were dealing with moranbah real estate because as late as last year because when I was househunting they told me that BMA snaps up nearly every house they rent out.

the word around town is that its too risky at the moment.  one of my good friends owns a real estate business in town and she confided that in her opinion u wouldnt purchase at the moment in Moranbah.  i was thinking of purchasing and she told me not to.

here is the RE.com.au pages for Moranbah. – http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?id=moranbah&a=qfp&cu=fn-rea&t=res&q=Go

the trend she has noticed since working here years ago is that the prices will be fairly uninteresting until there are about 3 or 4 pages left of houses.  thats when the prices start going up because of the small number of houses.  at the moment there are 9 pages of property.  so she told me not to purchase now.  and when u have a real estate agent telling u not to buy the houses then u know they are giving u their real opinion!  plus we've been close friends for a couple of years now.

she said that when it gets down close to that – maybe 5 pages or so – purchase then if im still interested.  but keep a close eye on it.

in regards to the mines, there are three new mines opening up in the area around Moranbah.  We are anticipating that the Moranbah slump will finish soon because of this.  Heres the local media on it:

http://www.dailymercury.com.au/story/2009/03/27/jobs-mines-Aquila-Eagle-Downs-Washpool-Vale/

I think once u find the right house for the right price its SO worth buying here.  in regards to rentals u will always be able to charge the ridiculous rental prices.   there is heaps of construction around town and new houses are springing up everywhere.

Moranbah has another 15 – 20 years in her yet!

im no guru – im very very green.  but u did ask "what would you do?"!!!  so u brought this noob opinion onto yourself 

but if i were u i would be going with option 3.  because u owe nothing on that house, that is pure profit u are bringing in.  u arent having to pay interest on that house.  and itll just keep going up and up in value.  so just say u sell the house in 3 years instead, u would have an additional $62k (minus tax, PM fees etc) from rent charged, plus also the extra capital growth on the property.  I dont know about Melbourne real estate, but I assume that would have to be over $100k between the rent and CG for the three years?

id be using this money to help pay off the new mortgage in the country.

but i wouldnt be surprised if someone comes back and says that my opinion isnt the best option – as i said, im a noob who is just learning

sounds bizzare to me.  but im green like u 

all i can say is, our property manager doesnt request us to be at any of the inspections.  as u said – thats what we pay them to do.  i dont want to be hassled by stuff like that. 

wow they have some cheapo houses!  One as low as $199k for a 4 bedroom.