PerthPropertyInsight.com

Hi, we are buying 1 hectare of land in Perth (outer suburbs) Western Australia which currently has a 90+ year old farm house on it and some stables. We plan to rent the place out for the next 5-10 years but with the urban sprawl taking over perth the property is zoned ‘urban development’ and we will probably be able to subdivide into 20 lots. My question is, should we be subdividing and just selling the land or should we look at overseeing the development ourselves? What will the differences in the profits be like? I had also considered an over 55’s lifestyle village, this would be much higher density housing but we would need to take a lot more into consideration and probably be involved with the management for a long time to come. Does anybody have any advice for us? This is our first property investment and we are quite young and inexperienced so advice is appreciated : )

Developing is a very difficult way to make a dollar. There is a lot of work involved, many problems can occur and risks are high. I would only consider it if I had a friend with experience in developing who could be the project manager. Smaller developments (up to four dwellings) are relatively easy to finance and have less issues with council so I tend to recommend that as the limit for my clients who have not completed a development before.

If I were you I would hold onto it until the market in Perth is white hot and then sell it. If you like you could get the subdivision done now and then sell off the lots of land, however again you will need a very good group of advisers to make sure this is done in the right way to maximise your returns.

Over 55’s villages have done fairly well where I am in NSW and I have seen some good ones in SE QLD as well. However I don’t know how that works in WA. The regulations around them tend to be quite complicated and it would only work if there is a strong demand for that type of housing in your area. In particular look at how close your land is to shops, transport and hospitals which are all very important to the over 55’s.

I am interested in moving from the UK, England to Perth, Australia. I do not have very good qualifications and am a Single mother with three children. I currently live in a council property. If I were to move to Perth would i receieve any state benefits and in terms of property’s is there such a thing as a somewhat council over there? I have friends and family in perth but none of whom will be able to provide financial support.

If you don’t have good qualifications, you won’t be moving to Australia and that’s that. Australia is very selective about the immigrants it accepts and the most basic requirement for them is to have formal qualifications and experience in an occupation in which Australia needs workers. No/low qualifications or wrong occupation = no immigration visa. End of story.

In any case, new immigrants are not eligible for any government income support for 2 years after they arrive in the country and they go to the back of huge waiting lists for government housing with no chance of being able to get the Australian equivalent of a council house in under several years.

Forget it – you won’t be coming.

can i rent more than one property in perth?

On the whole, when you rent you’re expected to live in the property; most won’t allow sub-letting.

So you could probably (if you could afford to) rent a few properties, but why would you?