I’m currently looking to purchase my first investment property in the Brisbane / Ipswich area but am unsure whether to buy a unit/ house. I don’t have any equity, no debts and am in the high tax bracket. I’m prepared to spend up to 300k. I’m really unsure of what to do. Help!
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Many ‘experts’ would argue that the house will perform better for you in the long term. However this is a somewhat simplistic view as the key ingredient is the value of the land upon which the property sits so in effect you can have either.
There are some key matters that you will need to consider before choosing whether or not a house or unit is better for you.
With a house as an investment you have the advantage of being in total control and not be answerable to a body corporate group. Outgoings are generally not as significant as for units.
With a unit as an investment you are controlled to an extent by the body corporate and as such ‘improvements’ maybe tied up in red tape for a while. The body corporate fees can be on the high side but these do include building insurance usually include ground maintenance and the like – so they are not as huge as may first appear on the surface. A unit may also be in an on-site mamaged complex which has the added advantage of having someone on site full time looking after your place – these complexes usually have a waiting list of tenants if the facilities are attractive and thus vacancies are minimised.
Hope this helps
Derek
[email protected]
http://www.pis.theinvestorsclub.com.au
0409 882 958hi lisa,
Welcome to the forum.
Following on from Derek’s reply, i believe you really to need to consider each property on its own merits, be it a unit or a house. I’d be cautious about purchasing an old-ish unit given the inevitable higher maintenance costs. And this is where it gets tricky. Body corporate’s can impose special levies over and above your regular strata levy to make repairs or improvements. Its enough to turn a cf+ investment into a negative one.
Good luck
Eric
Before buying ask yourself the question “Why am i buying property?” “What am I hoping to gain from this?” For example if you want to buy and hold for the long term and are relying on CG to bring you profit your stratergy will be different than if you were wanting to biy a cashflow property that makes money from day one, and then different agian if you wanted to do a buy-reno-sell etc, etc. So the big question is why?
Work out how you are going to profit before you buy the deal…
Have fun and good luck!!!collie
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
