3/38 Tennyson Street, Elwood.
We Rated 556 out of 1000 (click here for full rating)
No bathroom downstairs (not even a toilet), a street that does carry some traffic, no undercover car parking and the laundry is upstairs. There was a good crowd at the auction, auctioneer issued a vendor bid of $650,000, went inside at half time, back out, but no more bids. Out of a crowd of 70 or 80 people, not a bid. The property was passed in at the vendor bid of $650,000, from an agent quote range of $690,000 to $750,000. The Age results from the weekend show the reserve was $750,000.

Why talk about this one? The property rated 556/1000 and this is on the low side. Certain property characteristics do impact your enjoyment, or emotional attachment, to different homes. No bathroom downstairs, busyish street, stairs to manage, car parking not great, external areas not great, natural light not great.

The result on the day was probably not unexpected. In its own right it is a nice apartment; roomy, great location. But it does have features that let it down. When the vendor’s expectation is between 50% and 60% above the median price in Elwood for two bedroom apartments, it has to be very good. From an investor’s viewpoint, consider how prospective tenants may react to the issues raised above. It also impacts their enjoyment of the property.

In a slight contradiction to the above, 2A Taverner Street in Moorabbin, we Rated 686 out of 1000 (click here for full rating), sold for $540,000, well above its quote of $470,000, with six bidders taking part. Location not ideal; one door from Nepean Highway, opposite the old Ikea site, and plenty of traffic noise. A good unit though; three bedrooms, two bathrooms, lock up garage, good living spaces, close to trains and other amenities. It rated well, despite its not so great position.

Moorabbin property prices have performed well the last few years. The Domain Property Review in The Age Sunday 6th April, shows the median price for a house in Moorabbin grew by 27.1% last year and it remains an affordable entry point for first home buyers and investors. Unit prices however have been less than average, showing only 5.5% growth last year.

Eli Greenblat in Saturday’s Melbourne Age states that “properties located more than 30km’s from Melbourne CBD, which takes in suburbs such as Seaford, Cranbourne, Lilydale, Sunbury and Melton, are not enjoying the same appreciation as their inner city counterparts”.  So whilst a nice big block of land in Seaford may be your thing and growth has been good to you the last couple of years, the long term outlook may not that great.

Getting it right – your property investment – is not simple or straightforward. There is a fine balance between the three P’s of property. Price, Property, Position.
Tennyson Street – high asking price, average property, good position.
Taverner Street – high sale price, good property, average position.

Both properties have only ticked one of the three P’s. Whilst we all accept that not everybody buys a particular property for financial reasons, we could not have recommended either of these properties to our clients at those prices.