Buying a house in Bris, need some tips / ideas.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Hello peoples,

Im currently looking at buying a house, I already own a unit which im paying off but it is an investment, now the time has come to start looking at houses to live in.

Now the biggest issue i have at the moment is my budget.. Ive basically only got $400,000 to spend, and from what ive looked at so far this will get me a 4 bedroom shitbox on 450 sqm thats around 10 years old and pretty run down. Does anyone know where there are some reasonably priced NEW homes in brisbane for around $400kay? Im not too fussed on size providing it has 4 bedrooms and a double lock up, i would prefer something new however as I dont have time for maintenance...

Im looking on the southside of Brisbane but travel to work isnt a big deal for me..

Any help would be appreciated, im nearly ready to give up! House prices are still going up, its very hard...

[Yellow_Festiva]

Just hit all the real estate websites with a search criteria that matches your needs, and see what happens.

Start with realestate.com.au, and domain.com.au

There are others, but these 2 are the most popular.

[Scott]

When I was looking I noticed Bridgeman Downs (sp?) which was suprisingly cheap and close to the city.

[Creampuff]

For starters buddy, there are great buys for 400,000 but, they are Northside(which is by far the best area. Out my way,North of Brisbane(Pine Shire) there is plenty to choose from......good luck.

[Deadman]

Ormeau area if you want southside, new, and under $400k. Not "to" far from the city, but if get any closer the $ will start to go up (depending on the areas you want to live in though)

[prydey]

parents bought up there 2 yrs ago for around 350. they live in parkinson which is down south. only young area where they are. with the freeways you have up there you can live a fair way from the city distance wise but in travel terms its still quite close.

[samftr]

narangba had a few good houses up there, the uncle and aunty bought a place up there for 320g, its 4 bedrooms ex display house. there are places out there you just have to look for them

[Sam_Boss260]

friends bought a 4 bedroom brick home at Aspley for $400k.

[Deadman]

Originally Posted by prydey

with the freeways you have up there you can live a fair way from the city distance wise but in travel terms its still quite close.

except for peak hour (and esspecially because we're the fastest growing area in Australia - our roads are really starting to struggle to cope with it!!! go home mexicans!! : kidding!! )

anyway, suggestions when looking on realestate.com.au;

Narangba
North Lakes
Ormeau
Springfield Lakes

and if you don't mind a 'little' older, some other suburbs might be;

Aspley
Petrie
Kedron
Tanah Merah
Springwood
Eight Mile Plains
Jindalee

(and make sure you tick the 'include surrounding areas" or whatever the option is)

*disclaimer - I'd suck as a real estate agent :P*

[Racecraft]

For $400k and less than 10 years old you'd have to look at some of the Lego Land estates, where all the houses are the same bar the colour of the roof.

Heritage Park
Regents Park
around Brown Plains etc

[robjh80]

Unfortunately the sheer congestion of Brisbane traffic these days is becoming a major contributing factor as to where one lives, and of course it's only going to get worse.

You dont say where your work is but if your heading in the direction of the City it's not at all good news from which ever direction your coming from.

Forget going out West, the major arterials in to the City from there are the Ipswich Motorway or the Centenary Highway which are both always a nightmare mornings or afternoons, also as more people have moved out that way in the past few years chasing cheaper property prices due to Brisbane suburbs becoming out of their reach, that in turn has escalated Ipswich and surrounding areas prices to overinflated levels.

To the South there are probably still some cheaper "newer" properties available in Logan suburbs or as "Deadman" said areas more toward the Gold Coast such as Ormeau.
Unfortunately the South East Freeway into the City is usually just a crawl most mornings and if there's an accident can pretty much just turn into a carpark.

Can't really comment on Northside areas, not my side of town, but I understand from people I work with that Lutwyche Rd, Gympie Rd etc is not a very pleasant place to be in peak hour.

I myself am out in the Redlands to the East and although the traffic is not good by any means, it is arguably the best direction to be coming from if trying to make the journey into the City during Peak Hours, with Old Cleveland Rd, the Gateway Bridge or Wynnum Rd there are at least a couple of viable alternative routes whereas with some of the other locations there is little or no alternative.

You can still pick up relatively new houses out this way for around the 400k mark, might be worth considering, take a look at areas like Mount Cotton or Redland Bay which are about 37km from GPO.

[robbo_yobbo]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

...... Ive basically only got $400,000 to spend......

ONLY! lol, move to adelaide and you can buy 4 houses for that : .

My house is still being built but was only $105k for a 5 bedroomer house+land, rent should return 1+1/2 times the mortgage repayment, maybee more..... :

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by robbo_yobbo

ONLY! lol, move to adelaide and you can buy 4 houses for that : .

My house is still being built but was only $105k for a 5 bedroomer house+land, rent should return 1+1/2 times the mortgage repayment, maybee more..... :

Yes but is there anything to do in Adelaide once you've built this house?

My partner and I will be looking for a house soon, $400k is our limit as well and we've had a good look around, you could find something around that about 15 km out of town but it doesn't seem to drop much below $350k even 30 km out of town. Hell out where my olds live (pine shire) there's houses going for $800,000 in Castle Hill! As if you would pay $800,000 to live that far out of town and have to deal with that traffic every day! I could buy a crappy house in Ascot for $500-600,000!

Anyway, the northern suburbs in the 15-20 km radius seem to be full of old brick veneer houses which are ugly as buggery but with a bit of work would like quite presentable.

I want to build a double brick home with my own bare hands but I don't have the money to do it (I mean how am I going to earn money and build a house at the same time)? I don't trust builders and you never see a poor builder do you? :

[robbo_yobbo]

Originally Posted by Hunter

Yes but is there anything to do in Adelaide once you've built this house?

Yep... go on holiday to queensland.
LOL

on a serious note though, if the house returns more than it costs to pay off, and you got 400k to play with, buy 4 of them, rent them out, and now you can afford to buy a house worth 200k more than your original budget

[The Monty]

Mt. Warren Park
Tenah Merah
Jacobs Well
Ormeau

[Simmo]

traffic in Brisbane in peak hours sucks ANYWHERE you are. im sure every other city has the same problem. theres no sneaky ways that everyone else ahsnt discovered yet. for 400k you should be able to pick something up around aspley/carseldine/chermside/kedron/enoggera. the whole band of northside thats served by gympie rd is all pretty nice and fairly cheap.

as for the suggestion that the gateway is the best route in and out of the city, no way in hell. there seems to be an acco at least once a week that seriously just stops the gateway for an hour or 2. kingsford smith drive will back up into the valley cos everyone who needs to use the gateway is stuck. gympie rd may be slow at times, but it never stops.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by Simmo

as for the suggestion that the gateway is the best route in and out of the city, no way in hell. there seems to be an acco at least once a week that seriously just stops the gateway for an hour or 2. kingsford smith drive will back up into the valley cos everyone who needs to use the gateway is stuck. gympie rd may be slow at times, but it never stops.

Yeah this is true nowadays - I used to drive from the pine shire to Eagle Farm every day for 3 1/2 years on the gateway and when there were no accidents, things at least moved but they were extremely slow because people are still unable to merge. The merge at the Deagon Deviation, Toombul Rd and Airport Drive merges are what screw the Gateway Northside inbound in the morning. When there is a crash it is even worse and its not uncommon to come to a complete stop and wait for half an hour for the cops to open a lane up. I haven't driven in peak hour on the gateway for just over a year now and I've heard its gotten even worse now.

And don't get me started on the gateway on the southside, its a barry crocker in and outbound at most times of the day and the surface of it resembles that of the moon's. F-ing trucks and poor construction make for a nice ride down there - I used to drive around as part of my last job and if I had to go down the gold coast I would avoid the Gateway if possible to the point that I'd rather go through the city, be a bit late and have to work harder/faster at the job site than drive on that shiteawful road.

[XA Coupsta]

Tingalpa/Wynumm/Bayside area FTW. Plenty of new houses going up around there for the 400ish (maybe low 4's - but brand spankin).

[old_mate]

Originally Posted by Racecraft

For $400k and less than 10 years old you'd have to look at some of the Lego Land estates, where all the houses are the same bar the colour of the roof.

Heritage Park
Regents Park
around Brown Plains etc

haha. only the newer parts of these areas are lego land, 80% is established on 600<sqm blocks. I bought in regents park in may, $320k for 4brm place on 600sqm, built in 1992. Would have liked a bigger yard but im loving it. And noone on my street has the same house either, its great

[Racecraft]

Originally Posted by old_mate

haha. only the newer parts of these areas are lego land, 80% is established on 600<sqm blocks. I bought in regents park in may, $320k for 4brm place on 600sqm, built in 1992. Would have liked a bigger yard but im loving it. And noone on my street has the same house either, its great

Excatly my point, anything less than 10 years old would surely have to fall into the new estates around that way.

[old_mate]

i would say more 5 years. My parents bought here in 89 and i have seen it all as i grew up.

[fordAU]

Lots of good advice but as you are looking Southside have a look at the Redland Shire areas, imo any where near the Bay has huge growth potential, recently bought an investment property in an older suburb called Thornside, this area is now starting to take off, not sure if you are able to buy new homes for 400k but have a look.

Also Thornlands is another area worth considering, a bit further out but still great capital growth.

As mentioned Wynumm/Manly but its getting a bit pricey, perhaps Manly West may be more affordable.

Good luck with the search.

[Quasi]

I've just recently made the move north, from Canberra. I'm working on the Gold Coast, but currently staying with my Father in River Hills. Shortly I'm organising a place in Surfers (and Coomera when the rest of the family move up here), as we decided that the GC is where it's at for us.

Have you considered the Gold Coast? Where are you working?

Travelling to/from work is killing me on fuel as it is 800 KMs a week, just for work....I really think this should be a factor in where you live.

Alternatively, there are a few on this forum in the northern suburbs, such as Caboolture. I know rents in this area are reasonable, so purchasing should be affordable also.

[kremmen]

cannon hill/carina,

but it wont be new - but capital gain will outstrip any other areas.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Im now thinking of building a house out greenbank way, i work out the outter southside so Transport isnt a big issue, plus i only have to get to work by 9...

Land is 192, then i get basic house for about 210 and do the finishing off later, like gardens etc, it seems the only logical way for me to go...

[robjh80]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Im now thinking of building a house out greenbank way, i work out the outter southside so Transport isnt a big issue, plus i only have to get to work by 9...

Land is 192, then i get basic house for about 210 and do the finishing off later, like gardens etc, it seems the only logical way for me to go...

Is it acreage your looking at?

I used to live in Auckland, was there for 10 years, in the time I was there house and land prices went through the roof, you used to be able to buy acreage fairly cheap in what was back then suburbs that were considered "a long way out" but still only approx 1 hour from the City.........like Greenbank, Jimboomba etc are here.

Over the years those "too far out" suburbs were no longer considered "too far out" and the prices absolutely soared!!
Some of those areas now I couldn't afford the "mowing strip" out front!!

I wish my missus would move because that would be exactly what I would do, buy some acreage either out that way or another area I think is going to go ahead is Karana Downs to the West, bad drive into the City though at the moment from there until the upgrade the roads.

[Scott]

Hey LS, do you need moving cartons?

[terra australis]

Want to buy our 4 bedroom house in Parkinson $400K backs onto parklands 750sq block, although we have tennants in it till feb next year....Unfortunatley we have to sell this due to the cost of housing in Canberra...

[Turbot]

I was going to say there a new estate next to Forest Lake and theres Spring Field Lakes but again very small blocks, we are renting atm south side but looking to move to the north side and saw some much larger blocks with houses maybe 5-10yr old around the KALLANGUR area, seams have a mixture of older homes and newer homes has lakes, forests, etc, looks like a nice area for kids to grow up in?? also gives acess to the city via Gymie Rd, Gateway or Sandagate Rd. Though I would like to hear from anyone living there, daycare kids stuff, motorcross tracks sailing etc. Cheers guys.