Hi All
Another newbie here, this is my first post![smiling] I’ve been reading posts all weekend and am thoroughly addicted, so much great advice. I think I have RSI and my but has spread an inch or so now though[biggrin]
Have a question/s for any/all… How do you tell if an area is a good choice to buy an IP in if there are Alot of properties listed per population? Is this a good sign or are people leaving in droves?
Some more info so you know what I’m on about… I’m looking to buy an IP in a regional/country town somewhere (probably interstate) and it is harder to get accurate info on alot of smaller towns and the info I do research, I’m not quite sure how to interpret some of it… so if there are alot of listings for a town what would this indicate?
I know this is probably a bit basic, but I have so much info spinning round in my head right now I feel like I need some clarification. So any help would be greatly appreciated.Cheers[smiling]
Suggest you do some due diligence on the town. Look at employment, industries, are they expanding or decreasing. There are a couple of threads in the last month or so suggesting things to look at.
Who are the owners selling the houses? eg some towns, say mining towns, might have one of the mines owning a lot of housing and deciding to get out of being a landlord. In NSW Housing Dept has been selling a number of older houses in some towns. Or is it investors who bought and couldn’t find tenants. In NSW houses can’t be listed before a contract is prepared. As the contract has a copy of the title it is relatively cheap to get a copy of the transfer to the Vendor online from the Land Titles Office and find out how long they have owned it and how much they paid for it.
crj
Paula,
saying that a town has a lot of listings per population has to be relevant to something else (i.e. compared to other populations). So really you probably need some other basic indicators such as:
– what are the fundamentals of the particular property (ie price and rent)
– what is trends of the town (i.e. population trends (declining or inclining)
– what local industry exists in the town
– what is the vacancy rate for rentals
– are there any developments proposed for the town
A simple thing you can do is ask all the local real estate agents for a copy of their rental listings, and ask them is it easy or hard to rent a place (if they say we have no rentals or say you can have whatever place you want either way it is a fair indication)
– I would be checking other fundamentals around the particular property including transport, shops and schools
– is the amount of houses for sale comparable with other similarly towns and so what basis are you saying there are a lot of properties listed?
Timbo
Paula,
saying that a town has a lot of listings per population has to be relevant to something else (i.e. compared to other populations). So really you probably need some other basic indicators such as:
– what are the fundamentals of the particular property (ie price and rent)
– what is trends of the town (i.e. population trends (declining or inclining)
– what local industry exists in the town
– what is the vacancy rate for rentals
– are there any developments proposed for the town
A simple thing you can do is ask all the local real estate agents for a copy of their rental listings, and ask them is it easy or hard to rent a place (if they say we have no rentals or say you can have whatever place you want either way it is a fair indication)
– I would be checking other fundamentals around the particular property including transport, shops and schools
– is the amount of houses for sale comparable with other similarly towns and so what basis are you saying there are a lot of properties listed?
Timbo
Thanks crj & Timbo
Your suggestions have made me try to look a little harder. Doing research on the town I’m interested in is hard because of no stats I can find that are more current than 2000, and as I’m sure you know lots can happen to a small country town in a few years. Unfortunately I cant get there just now as it’s on the other side of the country.
An agent has told me that things look bright, and from what I can see this may be so, but I have a close friend who lives within cooee that says the opposite…Oh well I will just have to put a higher powered thinking cap on! Oh and the town has a pop of approx 8000 and there seems to be at least 100+ listings for houses all the time, is this the norm?
I think I’m going to have to just jump in somewhere and learn the ropes…shouldn’t be scared of risk by now… I breed horses.
Thanks again
An agent has told me that things look bright, and from what I can see this may be so, but I have a close friend who lives within cooee that says the opposite…Oh well I will just have to put a higher powered thinking cap on! Oh and the town has a pop of approx 8000 and there seems to be at least 100+ listings for houses all the time, is this the norm?
Yest, I agree with you. it’s hard to find a right town to invest. 100+ listings is too much.
[worried][worried][worried]
THERE IS ALWAYS A BETTER WAY!
Are you looking at town starting with a “C” [biggrin][biggrin]
REDWING
“Money is a currency, like electricity and it requires momentum to make it Effective”
Paula,
it might help to separate the purchase from whether you are wanting a cash flow from rent or a longer term capital gain (or a mixture of both).
If you just want a rental and there is a small vacancy list for rentals (which you should be able to determine from real estate agents) then that is different to buying a house hoping for capital gain when a potenital oversupply exists.
I went to NZ once to look at 2 units for $115 for the pair because I wasnt sure about the whole thing and it answered all my questions. If you are serious perhaps invest another $1k and go and have a look?
Timbo
Paula,
A lot of people are still trying to sell at the tail end of the boom, so if you see “for sale” signs, it might just mean there is a lot of activity for the area- probably no big deal.
Check out Australian Property Investor magazine. It tells you the median price for houses/units for the location and how many properties have been sold there etc.
Also, if you want details of the city/town, go to google.com.au and type in, initially, the town. Then read every link you can find about the town. Those links should lead you to council plans (which will tell you what infrastructure is planned etc). The links should also lead you to health reports, unemployment statistics, and perhaps rental/housing data.
Sometimes I look up “blahtown population decline” in google.com.au to see if there is any. You can also look up “blahtown real estate boom” and hopefully there’ll be a heap of links saying there’s been a boom there! However, sometimes it’s better to *buy* into a flatter market and *sell* at a boom.
A population of 8000k isn’t too bad. Just because people are selling doesn’t mean they’re allmoving out! It might mean they are upsizing or consolidating their finances.
Good luck!
kay henry
Kay said it. Council websites are a wealth of knowledge but a frightful bore to read. It was only by sheer determination to bog through it did I find out some pearls of knowledge which helped us decided which suburb to invest in.
Co-incidently, I ended up talking to the Mayor and told her I had read what the council had projected for the next 5-10 years and that I thought it was great and blah blah blah…. She was super impressed I had taken the time to read it all.
Just goes to show that if you take the time to read you will find your answers.
Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Thanks everyone!
Going to put head down & bum up now, and hope my STD bill isn’t out of control!
Will give an update shortly to see what u think…Cheers
Why do you need to make STD phone calls to do property research? All info you need should be on the net.
kay henry
Kay
I’m in Melb & researching WA. Need to talk with more agents/people to get more detailed info.
Paula
Have PM you
REDWING
“Money is a currency, like electricity and it requires momentum to make it Effective”
Originally posted by kay henry:Why do you need to make STD phone calls to do property research? All info you need should be on the net.
kay henry
Kay
Sometimes I think it is good to talk to locals to just get a feel for the place. Unfortunately the net can’t give you those feelings!
‘Eat rich food, barbeque a yuppie’ [greedy]
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