All Topics / Help Needed! / Frankston anyone?

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  • Profile photo of propertypowerpropertypower
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    Hi all,
    I was wondering if people would classify Frankston as a “hotspot” because of the Eastlink (Mitcham to Frankston) connection and talks of $35 million Marina.
    Has anyone looked at the suburb closely and would you consider buying there? If yes, which areas and what kind of properties?
    Frankston North seems to be very reasonably priced – you can ick up a 3 bedroom house for around $200k mark.
    Your suggestions, comments will be welcome.

    Sanjiv

    “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

    Profile photo of salacioussalacious
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    Hello sanjvi,

    This is precisely why i have bought in frankston this year.I beleive this suburb which is close to the ocean has a tremendous amount of potential which has been overlooked for many years.
    And i think north or south of frankston wont be a lare price difference in the future. I was fortunate enough to find a positive cash flow proerty but my next purchase would be an old house on a subdividable block

    Dom [biggrin]

    Profile photo of propertypowerpropertypower
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    Thanks salacious,
    Good luck with your future acquisitions in the area.
    Have you had any troubles with the tenants and/or neighbours?

    “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

    Profile photo of kpikpi
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    Hi Sanjiv,
    I live a short distance from Frankston (Chelsea Heights) and have seen the suburb and surrounds grow over the past 5-10 yrs. Frankston North has always had a bad name in the area, mainly due to many old housing commission homes adn rough by nature! However, in saying that, some of the homes in the area are bullet proof. The are solid and generally attract a good rent. As Dom mentioned, there are positive cash flow opportunities and many many neutral investment properties. Homes in Frankston North were selling for around $60,000 less than 5 years ago and now sell for around $180K upwards with the odd bargain around. This growth should continue and as development takes hold in the area in line with the huge upgrades proposed for the area, purchasing here is also on my agenda. In terms of what to buy, I will be looking for an old house with an opportunity to subdivide. Hope this helps.

    Profile photo of manofactionmanofaction
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    KPI is on the money.

    Frankston North (The Pines) is hard core housing comm area and during the 1970 had a reputation as a fairly rough and fairly tough area.

    Today this is changing and the area is slowly ( read very slowly) being gentrified.

    You’ll find the average house is a rock solid concreter that was built by the Housing Commission in a style only they knew how to perfect – modest size, basic layout/design and able to withstand a direct nuclear hit – only the house, the Valiant and a few cockroaches would remain.

    I bought one there about 2.5 years ago for $115k and today it’s worth about $180k. But I dont think you’ll continue to get that sort of growth today… happy to be wrong.

    Frankston itself is a real mixed bag, ranging from the lower end of the market through to luxury million dollar properties with superb views.

    So the key to it is to learn your market, know your areas, know your prices.

    A $35m marina would give the area a boost, but I dont think it’s the type of development that would appeal to the people of The Pines.. but you might get some sort of flow on.

    John Blackburn
    http://www.propertybooks.com.au

    Profile photo of HookhamCHookhamC
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    Hi Sanjiv,

    Frankston is an interesting place that I personally believe will provide growth in times to come. However, the area has gone through some growth over recent years and I don’t believe you need to be in any hurry.
    Frankston is starting to see more and more $1M+ developments and this is a good thing.
    I personally will look to stack some more VIC properties including Frankston in the comming years.

    Good luck and have fun!

    [specool]

    Profile photo of salacioussalacious
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    Hi Sanjiv,

    I have a property manager which takes care of any problems but so far no problems at all. They charge me a 5.5 % management fee which i think is pretty good. have a look at this link about upcoming projects it is quiet interesting. http://www.frankston.vic.gov.au/About_Frankston_City/Major_Projects/index.aspx

    Dom [biggrin]

    Profile photo of propertypowerpropertypower
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    thanks to all who replied.
    Does anyone know what the minimum land size is to subdivide in Frankston, Frankston North or Frankston South?

    “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

    Profile photo of MichaelYardneyMichaelYardney
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    Originally posted by sanjivgupta:

    thanks to all who replied.
    Does anyone know what the minimum land size is to subdivide in Frankston, Frankston North or Frankston South?

    “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

    As others have explained, parts of Frankston make good sense as investment areas and there are some good long term development opportunities there.

    We have bought 3 properties in Frankston for clients in December and have offers on 3 others out at present. Most of these have been bought by our clients with the medium to long term view of subdivision and development.

    If you are considering buying with the view of doing a subdivion or development do your homework carefully. Frankston has changed its development criteria a year or so ago and now has some areas where it encourages development, others where it “tolerates” developments and some areas where it makes subdivision very difficult through its planning code.

    These different areas aren’t clearly deliniated and so we get a town planner to check out each site’s development potential as part of our due dilligence.

    In general a site greater than 700 sq mt should be able to be subdivided.

    Michael Yardney
    METROPOLE PROPERTIES
    Publisher of Australia’s leading property e-magazine.
    Join over 20,000 readers.
    FREE subscription http://www.PropertyUpdate.com.au

    Profile photo of salacioussalacious
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    Profile photo of hbhb
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    Micheal……what did you just say…………..

    “parts of Frankston make good sense as investment areas and there are some good long term development opportunities there.

    We have bought 3 properties in Frankston for clients in December and have offers on 3 others out at present. Most of these have been bought by our clients with the medium to long term view of subdivision and development.”

    completely different to your opinion in feb 2006

    “I would not invest there, I think I could find better areas.

    Its just not a great strategy for long term wealth, even if the property is well priced. Prices are low there for a reason – fewer people want to live or invest there, and this is unlikley to change for a long time.”

    has it changed that much in 12 months??

    or is this just flip flop???

    Profile photo of millionsmillions
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    I have experienced this response myself from Perth experts in property. You have to trust your own instincts and work out your own investment formula. Good luck!!!!!![biggrin]

    Profile photo of jeremyjyskjeremyjysk
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    Hi Dom,

    Did you find an outright positive cashflow property, or was there something you had to do to that property?

    It would be great if you could share a bit of your experience in Frankston, as I recently went there to have a look myself.

    [exhappy]

    Profile photo of brcbrc
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    Frankston probably has markets within markets. My sister lives in Frankston and has a large home on a large parcel of land, surrounded by large homes in a peaceful verdant street with views of the bay. It is all very pleasant. HOwever I tell other people from Victoria that my sister lives in Frankston and they look at me with pity, as though she is on welfare or something. Clearly we she lives and the types of properties being discussed in this thread are completely different markets linked by name and postcode only.

    People need to be aware of this when they start reading statistics and making generalised statements about suburbs and towns – sometimes the same postcode can span palace to outhouse, and the statistics just group them on postcode because it’s the easiest. If you concentrate on good value investments regardless of the postcode you’ll do much better than declaring a particular suburb ‘hot’.

    _____________________________
    ‘if you do more of what you do, you’ll get more of what you’ve got’ -S.McKnight

    Profile photo of L.A AussieL.A Aussie
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    Hi BRC,

    it sounds like your sister lives in SOUTH Frankston? If so, it is very very nice there, and great value compared to next door MT. Eliza where all the wankers want to buy. The longer the friends and others keep on thinking pity about ‘Frangers’ the better for us as there will be less competition for the good properties.

    You are right about markets within markets, and the stigma of the Frankston of old is still holding people back – even on this forum alone there has been considerable discussion over the last month which pleases me as we have already bought there and it tells me the interest is growing, but there are still a lot of neg comments about it.

    My sister-in-law bought a 3×1 house in “The Pines” in North Frankston about 3 years ago for $91k. The area is ‘crime central’ and all older housing commission homes and druggies. The house is now worth about $185k and it is on a big, subdivideable block. The area will come up as the future development plans and proximity to Melb become known.

    We bought a property in Central Frankston 2 years ago – right near beaches, Uni, Hospital, Tafe College, train station and freeway, shopping malls. It is very well located and in a nice quiet court surrounded by other nice properties.

    These types of areas are all over Frankston if you look, and now that the rental market is tightening, it is a good sign for the near future for investors in my opinion.

    I have posted before about Frangers, and I have lived near the area for several years. It is a great place, has good schools and every other amenity you can ask for, and the new freeway extension from the Mitcham freeway will make it even more accessible to the melb CBD. Get on it guys! (and push my property’s value up even more! ha, ha.)

    Cheers,
    Marc.
    [email protected]

    “we get sent lemons; it’s up to us to make lemonade”

    Profile photo of salacioussalacious
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    Hi jeremyjysk,

    Compared to the rest of Australia i believe that this area is, good value for money CURRENTLY. The property i recently purchased may be positive or negatively geared depending how you look at it. You can work it out for youself here are the numbers Purchase price plus costs, $380,000 rental return per month $3520. IO 25 year term $3600 rates $700 insurance per year. I put in 25 % deposit.
    I dont particuly buy in the hot suburbs because if their hot their not. Its to late to buy. Most important thing is to do your numbers a check all costs before proceeding. This and other forums are very good for getting an indication on where you can make some nice capital gain.
    I have been buying and selling property for twenty years and to tell you the truth i still have not worked it out. But i have refined my experience along the way . I am nowhere near rich and i still work on a casual basis with a boss and all.
    If you do a search on Frankston her and the somersoft Forum you will find more information on Frankston then i can give you.

    Good Luck All

    Dom

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankston,_Victoria
    http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1046826530324.html
    [biggrin]

    Profile photo of salacioussalacious
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    High rents lure investors

    By Peter Taylor

    February 12, 2007 12:00am
    Article from: Herald-Sun

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    INVESTORS spurred by rising returns and low vacancy rates are returning to residential property and bolstering competition at auctions, agents say.

    After a lean recent patch in the investment market, 2007 was shaping as a promising year with early signs pointing to a healthy market, eastern suburbs agent Phillip Webb said.

    “We are just noticing that the investment market seems to be getting stronger,” he said.

    Century 21 Wilson Pride Carnegie and Murrumbeena director Geoff White said the Victorian market was turning. Speculation the investment market in Western Australia had “overheated” was prompting many investors to re-focus on Melbourne, Mr White said, with the small vacancy rate a key drawcard.

    “Good people are missing out (on rental accommodation) because that many people are wanting a place,” he said.

    His comments follow the release last week of statistics showing a vacancy rate of 1.7 per cent last quarter while median rents climbed 6.4 per cent in the year to September.

    Buyer advocate David Morrell said it was too soon to say if the investment market was lifting significantly, with his business noticing no influx of extra investment demand. But the appetite for quality properties was healthy, with numbers at houses open for inspection at the weekend surprisingly strong, Mr Morrell said.

    “It’s like mushrooms growing up overnight,” he said.

    But it was “more driven by owner occupiers”, Mr Morrell said.

    Mr Webb said the year had started well across the market, with his business recording its strongest January on record. Though private selling had dominated activity over summer, auction numbers were growing and would continue to lift in coming weeks, he said.

    The Real Estate Institute of Victoria reported a strong clearance rate of 83 per cent. Buyers forked out $96 million on properties earmarked for auction, buying 125 under the hammer and another 109 before or after auction.

    Thought private sales continued to outpace auctions, auction numbers are snowballing as autumn nears, with the 283 at the weekend more than double the 119 a week earlier.

    A shortage of stock remained one of the biggest issues facing agents, Mr Webb said. His agency had sold about 40 properties so far this year, but with only 42 houses now listed, there was too little supply for demand, he said.

    Profile photo of NPNP
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    Hi,

    I am buying a property in Frankston too, looking at all the development in the area. The property I’m buying is 800m to the station and 12 min walk to the beach. It is a weatherborad house on the small plot though. I’m paying $222K for it. Anyone thinks it’s a bad buy? Also since I don’t live in Victoria I’ll be renting the place out. Agent says I can get at least $200/week for the property as its in a good condition.

    Profile photo of crusaidercrusaider
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    I bought a property in Central Frankston for $220K in Sep 2004. It has not appreciated much yet but I am waiting for the next cycle to do the job. I think Central offers a good value considering location. My lesson from this old property is – get the property inspected by Archicentre or Builder before you sign the contract. The inspection found asbestos in roof. Knowing that I could negotiate the price down. It is OK for now but will cost me more when I try to develop the property (removal costs). I was told asbestos has been used extensively in Frankston at that time. [medieval]

    Profile photo of propertypowerpropertypower
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    Hi crusaider,
    How old is the property and what kind of rent are you getting for it?

    “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

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