Hi All,
Has anyone invested in Goulburn in the past few years or anyone who would recommend it?
Prices are reasonable and i'm in ACT so it seems like an easy step if i was to get a place that needed a bit of work.
Thoughts/opinions welcomed
Cheers
Tegan
Hi o0tegs0o,
I wanted to ask same question.
Picton and Canberra isn't far from goulburn, and 100 acre property can be picked up in range of $350-$550K.
if they build High speed rain network, Goulburn have potential to be another western sydney, but ONLY IF.
what do you guys think? love to hear from ppl who have invested in Goulburn.
Tegan,
Just bought in Goulburn, … settles 30th Oct. Seems to be a town that is being discovered by first home buyers and investors especially since it's solved it's past water issues and its affordable compared to Canberra.
Goulburn Seems to be on the radar of a few so called property experts predicting that the town has a future. Good properties move very quickly especially under $300k. Canberrans are discovering it as an alternative to the high costs of buying in Canberra.
I've watched Goulburn for a few years now, … just felt it was a good time to get a presence in the town. I look at the prices in Canberra where the bottom of the market for a house is $500k plus and in Queanbeyan at $430k plus …… People can pick up a good property in Goulburn the low $200k and commute to Canberra. From what I've been told around 2000 people do the commute each day and it's only around 45min, … so not to bad.
API magazine had a good 4 page review of the town in last months (well I bought last month. It's the October issue) API magazine in "Around the States"… well worth a read if you can get a copy. Bunnings has built a superstore there which is due to open any day if it hasn't already done so, and Woolies has based a major distribution warehouse there as well. People talk about the mining, but I'm not sure that has a major impact, but it could in the future I suppose. Pop is around 23,000 at present, but obviously Bunnings are expecting it to grow.
I've seen some great opportunities of two bed fibro houses on 1000m2 plus blocks, ….. good for land banking for future unit development and only asking the low $200k's. The town has some wonderful historic and classical building, but many of the houses are run down and need work, but as people buy these places and do them up the appearance will improve. Many of the houses are owned by older people who have let them get run down, but as you've said …. you are looking for a doer upper and Bunnings is in town then it could be perfect for you.
You will find many houses have many cracks in the walls, … this is from when the town went through many years of drought and footings/foundations moved. Don't be put off … get the appropriate inspections and reports done to see if it is cosmetic or structural.
When looking for a house stick within close proximity to the town centre as these seem to be the better areas. We were told not to buy across the river or near the prison and the west area nearest Canberra as these seem to be housing commission type areas. Take a drive out … stay overnight and talk to the locals they will give you the best tips on where to buy. Basically buy within an easy walk into town.
Re: the high speed rail, … great if it happens, but it has been talked about for many, many years with no success. If it does go ahead, then this should really open up the area for population and capital growth.
Oh, … pretty good rent return for investors as well …..easy to get 6% plus from day one.
Good luck with your search
Mystery
Hi Mystery
How has the property investing in Goulburn gone.
Just looking at purchasing in the area.
Do the same comments you made in 2012 still hold going into 2016??
Thanks
Tegan,
specially since it’s solved it’s past water issuesWhat were the water issues Goulburn had an how did they solve them?
What are the current yields on these rentals in Goulburn?
Is there really a big demand for rentals in Goulburn eg if you did find an older house that you wanted to “landbank” for 20 years or so and wouldn’t Canberra be too far a daily commute in that time eventually?
Goulburn has been popular for families seeking a home but are priced out of the Canberra market. However from an investment perspective you need to do your homework on the area.
The commutability to Canberra for employment is a little murky. Most folks do the carpooling thing because the train service is not viable. Only a couple of services per day and not at appropriate times for commuting to a job. There are some coach services, however as we all know, coach equals slow by comparison to rail. I am not a huge fan of bus services as the routes can be moved to a less convenient path, or indeed removed altogether, in the blink of an eye. I like rail services. Big metallic lines in particular locations on the ground. Expensive to “move them” so they tend to stay in place.
However in Goulburn, despite the fact those big metallic lines are on the ground, they are not particularly well utilized. This accessibility issue concerns me. It is a great shame that the rail infrastructure is sitting there and not being leveraged. As has been said already, the rail services have been spoken about many times and nothing has eventuated. I spoke at length with staff at the railway station to try to understand why on earth there were not some sensible services, or if any were on the horizon. The answer to this question was that there was no logical explanation as to why there weren’t some services for the commuting Canberra workforce, and that there was nothing on the table being discussed. The brochures about commuting options that were available were confusing. I could not help but enquire how a person could be standing in a train station that had direct lines to Canberra, and yet not be able to catch the train to work in Canberra. It defies logic.
In theory Goulburn is an hour’s drive from Canberra but of course in peak hour that figure goes up.
On the flip side, Goulburn is a very tidy town with a proud council. It has some substantial services there which are unlikely to go anywhere in a hurry. (eg hospital, tertiary education and a prison). It sees phases were the town is full of tradespeople there to work on nearby windfarms and such, with insufficient rental accommodation on offer. So you see these people literally take up residence in motel rooms. Quite literally you see them head off for the work day with their little lunch eskies just like you would from home. Great for the landlords in town while that work demand is there. And Bob the chef at the Astor Hotel makes great food and is very happy to oblige when tweaks to a dish are requested. A lovely town with friendly helpful people.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
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