I have a friend whose parents are looking at buying into the Vision building in Brisbane inner-city. They would buy off the plan for $920K to settle in 2010. She asked if I knew anything about buying off the plan but I don’t know enough about it to give advice.
Her parents are IP savvy but haven’t bought off the plan before. My friend asked if they could lose money. I told her the obvious, if prices fall and the $920K unit is really only worth $800K in 2010 they have lost money and if the unit is worth $1.1M in 2010 they have made money. Other than that I told her about the case recently where the developer pulled the sunset clause and gave back deposits to off the plan buyers.
Does anyone know anything about the Vision building? What should they watch for? Is Brisbane top heavy in the inner city unit market?
I will pass any replies on to my friend.
Thanks, Wylie.
vision tower, flanked by Mary and Margaret streets, approved to 72 storys, 259m to roof, 283m to spire.
this is 50+ metres higher (to roof) than current talls in the cbd – Riparian and Aurora – its rather big!
Its probably one of the best looking towers planned in Australia – i know thats a big call given the likes of Eureka, Aurora and Q1 – but if it ends up being at least 75% true to the renders it will be a very eye catching building.
I guess the question i have is what do you get for $920k? how many beds – car parks, amenities in the building etc – there are plenty of cbd apartments trading in this price range.
cheers
brahms
Purveyor of Fine Finances
aka Mortgage Broker BrisbaneThanks Brahms. The apartment is on floor 20 with three bedrooms, two carparks, 8 square metres of storage space, two bathrooms, gym and spa.
Does that spec seem okay for $920K. Apparently they put down 10% now as deposit.
My friend’s father is happy but her mum is a bit worried.
Thanks, Wylie
wow, lvl 20 – the site is adjacent to the botanic gardens – and as such difficult to see how it could be built out – which is a good thing..i’d imagine the easterly aspect units will be the choice ones, the westerly sun is a bit savage here.
i think it will be a stand out building, whether its a good buy will have to wait to the completion date (4-5yrs away)
Also, growing market for apartment living – a trend i see only increasing – lots of us have no interest in big blocks and weekends whiled away behind a Victor mower!
cheers
brahms
Purveyor of Fine Finances
aka Mortgage Broker BrisbaneHi there,
Some food for thought – I live across from the Vision site in River Park Central, so I have a pretty good idea about Vision Tower.
It’s going to be pretty special – it will draw more people to the Mary/Margaret street as the ground floor will have kind of like a mall/shopping precinct. Typically on a weekend this part of Brisbane is fairly quiet.
I doubt you could build out between Alice and Margaret streets without casting a shadow over the Botanic Gardens… so even level 20 should be ok.
Level 20 is the lowest level you can buy residential in. Is it on the Mary Street side or the Margaret Street side? If possible, go for the Margaret street – you may get a view of the river, it’s east facing and you’ll get to see the Botanical Gardens. From Level 20, the Mary Street side is basically facing west and you get a bit of a city aspect.
My guess is that if it’s on level 20, with three bedrooms, then it’ll be on the Margaret Street side and is Design Number Two.
If you want a login to http://visionbrisbane.com.au, let me know. I have insider access. [thumbsupanim]
Issues I have with Vision are the number of apartments per floor – 10 or 12. That is a lot of neighbours! Also carparking will be insane – with the Q1 apartments on the Gold Coast there are daily carpark dramas with visitors and guests parking in resident’s spots.
For that apartment, body corporate fees are a tad under $8000 per annum. That’s insane. I could buy a 2.5 million dollar apartment in the Riparian Plaza building with a similar amount of strata.
Also, 2010 is a really long time to park 92k in cash. Check if it’ll be in an interest bearing account during that time. Just in case.
The alternative is a 5-year deposit bond, which is pretty rare I hear.Hope this helps. A lot of what you get is people’s opinions.
I think the tower is fantastic, but I won’t be parking my money there.
— MJ.
It is easy to get to the top after you get through the crowd at the bottom.
— Zig ZiglarThanks brahms and mja. I have forwarded the thread to my friend. Much appreciated.
Cheers, Wylie.
Originally posted by Wylie:Thanks Brahms. The apartment is on floor 20 with three bedrooms, two carparks, 8 square metres of storage space, two bathrooms, gym and spa.
Does that spec seem okay for $920K. Apparently they put down 10% now as deposit.
My friend’s father is happy but her mum is a bit worried.
Thanks, Wylie
Now I’m hoping that You meant they Need to put 10% down now not that they have.
If they have placed their 10% down then they are in for the long haul regardless as they have an unconditional contract.
Personally for my money I would be either buying in Evolution, oh wait I did that’s right, or somewhere like Cairns One which will give you a 3 bedroom villa with unsurpassed amenities including a shop in the complex for tenants only, 7 pools, private spas, you get the drift I’m sure, then again Halcyon Views in Doncaster is another on which should give great value for money.
In regards to the settlement date I would be obtaining a Bank Guarantee for the deposit as this frees up your $92k in Capital which is a substantial amount to have out in a trust fund NOT earning any interest or otherwise assisting your investing career.
Have fun…..
Stuart Milne
Non-Conforming Specialist
READY Mortgages
http://www.readymortgages.com.au
[email protected]
Mob: 0404 056 055We nearly bought a one bedroom in Vision. We put in a $2000 expression of interest and got to the contract stage. We had applied to our bank for a Bank Guarantee but in the end we decided just too risky as an investment just right now.
Im in Shanghai, China on a business trip. I picked up a copy of the local newspaper and it has a large ad for Vision Brisbane.
This suggests to me that Vision has a large advertising budget if they are advertising in China. Someone has to pay for those ads and we all know who that person is going to be.
hi boomtown, with respect i think you will find that many of Australia’s new ‘talls’ have been extensively marketed off shore.
its probably not a big issue.
cheers
brahms
Purveyor of Fine Finances
aka Mortgage Broker BrisbaneMy specialty is project marketing in Brisbane’s CBD and I have to say that Vision is one of the best projects I have come accross in Brisbane. With a 2010 Completion date and over 1000 people a week moving to the Brisbane area, I don’t believe if can fail.
I belive the building is so complete, and designed so meticulously that it sets new standards of which we have not seen in Brisbane until now. In fact, it would be hard to find this level of splendour, at this price, anywhere in Australia.
I say they should go for it. I wish I’d made the sale for them, because who ever did will be getting abig thank in 2010!
I would buy in there to live in if I had the extra $$$
What do you think of buying off the plan at Macrossan? Level 31 is $3,300,000. Do you think this is over priced?
The alternative is a 5-year deposit bond, which is pretty rare I hear.
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