I have little to add, except to suggest maybe consider renting out the home you own and rent in the area you want to try out. That way if things don't go your way, you still have your one asset). BUT keep in mind that moving house these days is expensive in itself.
And I wouldn't rely on any housing bubble burst because while there may BE a bubble, prices aren't going to drop more then ten percent because the fundamentals (scarcity of land, massive population growth beyond what we are building to accommodate it) that support house prices are always going to be there. I agree though that buying in Caroline Springs might get you a nice house, but it's not going to get you much capital growth. This has happened once before recently and the drop was not that substantial; 8-10% at most. I don't believe that waiting for a bubble burst is a valid real estate strategy. I DO agree that it's a big pyramid scheme though!
We bought this year and it was horrible and disheartening and we ended up going $100K over what I had decided was our budget and buying in a worse suburb than I wanted, just because we couldn't find what we wanted closer in. No big, we love our house now and we don't live in a bad area, by any means. Please keep in mind that the advertised price ranges will be under the actual reserve by $100K or 20%, whichever is higher, usually. Though there are exceptions B and C grade properties, ones that are not well-presented for sale might see less of a disparity. But all the auctions I attended this year (including our own) bear that out. So if you are looking at a 600K budget, you need to start looking at houses advertised at 500K (at least, those up for auction). Have you considered a small regional city such as Warrnambool? It's lovely there, if you have a good wind-jacket in winter! :)
Just a note about schools: I know little about the subject, but keep in mind that other parents will be clamouring to get their kids into the same public schools that you have picked out, and this will in turn drive up the cost of housing.
And I wouldn't rely on any housing bubble burst because while there may BE a bubble, prices aren't going to drop more then ten percent because the fundamentals (scarcity of land, massive population growth beyond what we are building to accommodate it) that support house prices are always going to be there. I agree though that buying in Caroline Springs might get you a nice house, but it's not going to get you much capital growth. This has happened once before recently and the drop was not that substantial; 8-10% at most. I don't believe that waiting for a bubble burst is a valid real estate strategy. I DO agree that it's a big pyramid scheme though!
We bought this year and it was horrible and disheartening and we ended up going $100K over what I had decided was our budget and buying in a worse suburb than I wanted, just because we couldn't find what we wanted closer in. No big, we love our house now and we don't live in a bad area, by any means. Please keep in mind that the advertised price ranges will be under the actual reserve by $100K or 20%, whichever is higher, usually. Though there are exceptions B and C grade properties, ones that are not well-presented for sale might see less of a disparity. But all the auctions I attended this year (including our own) bear that out. So if you are looking at a 600K budget, you need to start looking at houses advertised at 500K (at least, those up for auction). Have you considered a small regional city such as Warrnambool? It's lovely there, if you have a good wind-jacket in winter! :)
Just a note about schools: I know little about the subject, but keep in mind that other parents will be clamouring to get their kids into the same public schools that you have picked out, and this will in turn drive up the cost of housing.
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