An Aussie Rules coach with a $6 million property portfolio has revealed his top tips for property investors – and interest rate cuts are expected.
John Pidgeon, director of buyers’ agent Envisage Property, started with a $60,500 home in Horsham, western Victoria, in 1999 and now owns five homes in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
As a seasoned investor with 25 years of experience, he is preparing for interest rate cuts later this year to boost demand for property, as immigration continues to drive population growth.
“Property prices will increase significantly in the coming years,” he told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
“The buyer just wants to feel comfortable knowing that interest rates are not going to go up; once they get that, it could be in the next few months and they will see some confidence return to the market.”
An Aussie Rules coach with a $6 million property portfolio has revealed his top tips for property investors – and interest rate cuts are expected.
John Pidgeon, director of buyers’ agent Envisage Property, which started with a $60,500 house in Horsham (pictured) in western Victoria in 1999, now owns five houses in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
The 46-year-old coach of the Killarney Bombers Aussie Rules team on the New South Wales central coast advises potential property buyers to stick with houses rather than apartments, having learned from personal experience.
“It really comes down to airspace,” he said.
‘All the land has been created, you can only divide it into a limited number of pieces, whereas with apartments and units, your airspace is somewhat unlimited.
“Council regulations change because they need more housing and they need that housing in key areas with transport, meaning council approval from eight storeys could move to 12.”
Here is their advice for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and the coastal satellite cities where the Reserve Bank aims to cut interest rates at the end of 2024, from an existing 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.
Sydney
Pidgeon, who lives in a Toowoon Bay home on the New South Wales Central Bay Bay, said the most affordable western Sydney suburbs, such as Blacktown and St Marys, with median house prices of $970,030 and $881,564 dollars, had strong growth potential.
“Urban expansion will guarantee a pretty good future,” he said.
‘It’s also about affordability, a lot of people want to live in Sydney and can’t afford to be in the inner circles; If we had the choice, we would definitely be on the beach, right? But we can’t afford it, so go to that area.’
Both areas have a median price well below Sydney’s $1.4 million median, CoreLogic data showed.
The 45-year-old coach of the Killarney Bombers Aussie Rules team on the New South Wales central coast advises potential property buyers to stick with houses rather than apartments.
For those who can work from home and want to be close to the beach, Pidgeon recommended suburbs on the Central Coast, such as Shelly Beach, where $1.328 million is the midpoint, and neighboring Bateau Bay, where $1.018 million is the midpoint.
“You have access to Sydney, you can travel to Sydney if you want, but you can work from home – that makes it more desirable,” he said.
“What we’ve seen on the Central Coast, definitely, is that 20 years ago it might have been someone’s holiday home, but now, because of the unaffordability in Sydney, people are moving here and bringing their parents with them “.
brisbane
The median house price in Brisbane is $909,988, meaning buyers have more affordable options closer to the city and water than Sydney.
On the more affordable side, Redcliffe, 35km north of the city, has a median house price of $808,433.
“Moreton Bay also has great advantages, probably more so Redcliffe,” he said.
“The water is obviously there but it’s just affordable and there’s also reasonable access to the city and you’re on a direct route to the Sunshine Coast.”
For those who want to be closer to the city, Wynnum on the water has a median home price of $1.159 million, but neighboring Wynnum West costs $919,339.
“You also have water, you’re not too far from the city,” he said.
Pidgeon said western Sydney’s more affordable suburbs, such as Blacktown and St Marys, with median house prices of $970,030 and $881,564, had strong growth potential.
For those looking for something affordable on the Gold Coast, Pidgeon recommended Labrador on the north side, where $991,486 is the midpoint, making it half the price of some better-known coastal suburbs like Broadbeach.
“You can say that Labrador is a coastal suburb; although it has high unemployment, the median house price is much lower than many surrounding suburbs,” he said.
Pidgeon said visitors to the Sunshine Coast could find good value for money in Noosaville, where the median house price of $1.912 million is much lower than the $2 million-plus price in better-known Noosa.
“He’s a poor cousin from Noosa,” he said.
Melbourne
As Australia’s largest city, according to some cartographic classifications, Melbourne still surprisingly offers suburbs within a reasonable distance of the city center at a more affordable price.
Maribyrnong, just 9km from the city, has an average price of $1.146 million.
This is more than Melbourne’s midpoint of $935,049, but for the price, the money buys a home close to the city compared to an outer suburb in Sydney.
Nearby Flemington has a median price of $1.14 million.
Essendon, 12 kilometers north of the city, has a median house price of $1.725 million.
“Definitely north of the city, from Flemington, Maribyrnong, to Essendon, it has some advantages when you consider the distance to the CBD,” he said.
“You have the river, good access to the airport and the city.”
Maribyrnong, just 9km from the city, has an average price of $1.146 million.
For those looking to live in Geelong, Belmont city center and Grovedale have median house prices of $717,000 and $696,861, which are significantly cheaper than neighboring Highton’s $959,589 midpoint.
“Overall I like the Geelong area – rents are a bit low, that’s the only problem for investors,” he said.
“But you go somewhere like Belmont or Grovedale, which is very underrated when you consider you’re right next to Highton, which is a prime suburb of Geelong.”
Experience
Pidgeon bought a three-bedroom house for $60,500 with her sister in 1999 and saw it double to $109,250 when they sold it three years later.
“That intrigued me to the point that I need to know more about this: Beginner’s luck needs to be turned into research and logic,” he said.
But he had less success with a Brisbane unit, which is still part of his property portfolio.
“Cash flow-wise, it’s fine, but capital growth has been minimal,” he said.