Karratha

[]Hi Synergy,

We have some older friends that retired about eighteen months ago and moved here from Karratha. He was a train controller and has gone back a couple of times for short contract stints paying good $$$$. They lived there for a very long time and had IP (not in Karratha).

The other day we quizzed them about Karratha. I mentioned I saw an investor profile in the API magazine about a couple that leased a $330 000 house to BHP for in excess of $3000/month on loan payments of about say $1200. I can’t recall if the house was in Karratha, or another mining town in the north of WA.

Anyway they said there had been a lot of real estate sold recently to interstate investors and there are still a lot of houses for sale, far more than you would find in a similar size jurisdiction in a capital city. Their experience was that prior to the recent interest fuelled by interstate investors houses could sit on the market unsold for years.

Their advice was that you need to consider the scenario when/if you have to sell as the market can be pretty limited. Then again if the place is cashflow positive I think okay. The other warning they gave was to make sure you understand the potential risk of say the mine closing down etc etc. and to do your homework to establish just how much life is left in the area. Hope this is of some help.

kitdoctor