Hi wendy, In 2006 we bought a place sight unseen in Moura, Qld. At the time we bought and for the first 2 years we were getting enough rent to cover the mortgage and tenants were aplenty. We hit a rough patch in 2008 and had no tenant for quite some time. We've actually been up there a few times now, painting and tiding the place up as it costs a lot for anyone to do any work on a house in a mining town. We bought the nicest house we could afford and have found ours rents before other more basic homes so that has been an advantage. There are several big projects in the pipeline out there, if you haev a look at the Queensland government infrastructure website. http://www.dlgp.qld.gov.au/component/option,com_mtree/task,search/Itemid,105/searchword,moura/
The other good thing is that the town is sited quite high and did not flood at all during the floods, in fact alot of Theodore resisents got evacuated to there. We are happy with our place and are now just sitting on it for a few years waiting for prices to increase again.  Its a nice little town and houses are not overpriced yet. We live in North Qld and know a lot of people working in Mines up that way and it will only increase in the future. Good luck. Do your research before doing anything.
Kelley

We bought in Moua in 2006 and until end last year had always had tenants. The house has been empty since then! There is talk that Anglo North opening back up and on the Goverment projects website, there are several big projects not far from kicking off…Belvedere mine, Moura Aldoga rail link and a big Coal seam gas project. Its quiet at the moment but more like the calm before the storm we hope! Lots of big projects in all of those towns in next few years. I guess whatever mortage you take on, as long as you could service it if the need arose then thats ok. Good luck with whatever you take on!

Hey Newbi, from the website Belvedere going thru EIS so only a matter of time, 2011 according to Vales website. While quiet at moment it will pick up, Rail line is supposed to be commencing construction towards end of year so all these are good things. My understanding of why Ray White closed is that the business was family owned and the marriage broke up. Linda from Ray Whites is now at Hourn and Bishop.  I had a look at Dawson view…the exisitng township much prettier, existing trees and nice paths and gardens. Guess Dawson View will appeal to those who want brand new but the older homes nice and cool with verandahs and wooden floors etc so I think they will always be popular. That might be just me being a woman who likes character homes!! Not many homes in Dawson View yet, developer may wait till things pick up out there then go hard out getting them built to cope with the increasing demand. I would hope by end of this year its a different story out there…I have my fingers crossed!!
cheers!
Kelley

Yep Alani, I reckon you are spot on! We keep an on on dip.qld.gov.au under projects and Moura should go excellently over the next 2 years with Belvedere and also the Moura rail link. We have had a house there for 3 years, always tenated for over $400 a week so rent has covered the mortgage until just recently with things a bit quiet last 4 or 5 months and we had to reduce rent this time. However, I just heard that Anglo took on 50 more contractors with no housing supplied so that all good news. We have had people beg us for our house. A good idea is to buy the nicest you can as there are some real old dodgy places out there. It helps down the track when you want to sell if it doesn't need much work to get top dollar. I reckon 2010 & 2011 will se rents and house prices go boom out there. I noticed yesterday 2 new houses for sale out there asking much higher than the others so the ones sitting on the market for a while will sell quickly I think. I also looked at Alpha as no places for rent there much but until the mines kick off out there, there isn't much else happening. With Moura, they already have Anglo and the Dyno Nobel plant and also cotton mines so theres always demand. The only negative with the place is we have struggled with Property Managers and gettign any work done is very hard as they charge a heap. We are now using Amanda at Moura Real Estate and she seems to be good and gets things done.  I also pass my email add on to tenants & ask them to contact me with any issues. This makes for happy tenants. Good luck, reckon you are onto a winner….let me know if you want any more info as I know the town well and keep an eye on Shift Miner mag and Steel Guru as well.

We have just bought a house in Moura. Houses are around $250 k and returning $420-$450p/w rent, returns of around 8%. The area was listed as Queensland’s biggest growth area- houses have increased in price in 12 months by 49.5%. The mines pay alot of the rents for their staff. Dawson Mine out there is opening another 2 mines with increase in production forecast and hiring another 200 employees so it seems like a good time to buy. Has anyone else done this? See the recent Sunday mail newspaper for a free report on boom areas in Queensland. Cheers, kel