Hi Homer,
I did a trip out to Rhodes this morning to check out the Billbergia apartments (as well as whatever else was happening out there). Billbergia, from my initial contact appears very legit (currently selling Homebush off the plan and another one at Rhodes shortly). They have been around for a while, having completed a project at Lane Cove North which does not appear to have a bad report.
The surrounds have basically been remediated – Meritons appear to have finished their works as well – this involved burning the contaminated waste to remediate it and this was giving rise to a chemical odour in the area. Meritons are known for taking the most cost effective way to complete their works so, their quality standards are not the same as those of other developers in the market.
As Angel above points out, Regis Towers is a nightmare (it may even have been done by Meritons but you'll need to check).
There is generally no capital growth over the first few years after purchase of an OTP unit: firstly due to the development margin puts the property above other properties in the resale market, secondly buildings depreciate so it will take a few years for the shine to come off the building and the price to stabilise (balancing out the developers margins) and thirdly unless you have also recieved stamp duty concessions, it will takelonger to break even on the sale.
PM me and I will give you more info.
