I’m wanting to establish a portfolio of mostly positively geared properties over the long term. At present, I’m looking at country/rural areas such as Kalgoorlie in WA, Longreach in Qld or Casino in NSW.
I’m just wondering if anyone has any particular views on this area. As far as I can see there are still bargains e.g 2 bed cottages for under $85000 with good rental returns. Are rental vacancies generally high in those areas?
Anything else that I should be aware of?
Thanks
RLJust remember that in the last downturn, prices in rural areas plummeted. 50% off was common in rural Victoria from Warragul to Mallacoota… The problem is that recession hits these areas much harder than larger population centres. A mid-sized employer (say an abbatoir / roof-truss manuf / sawmill closing down can see a dozen families leave. Then state gov’ts tend to cut the size of public services during bad times. And the largest employers in regional towns? Department of Human Services, Regional Health Services, Department of Sustainability, Primary Industries, Parks, Centrelink, etc etc. All lose staff, with cascading effects on food services, retail etc. And of course city-folk stop visiting and the tourist dollar dries up.
Just to put the rural thing in perspective. And how do I know? Because I’m a country-boy. Thus the hat. Yeeha!
F.[cowboy2]
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