Property Hub - Investment Insights & Inspiration - Realty Talk: Bushy’s Boots on the Ground Tour

Episode Date: November 11, 2022

In the digital world of property where we now have 24/7 access to endless quantities of property data, it's easy to become a keyboard king and an armchair expert on what you think an area and a property is really like  - but you’d be wrong! Nothing beats spending time on the ground before you outlay hundreds of thousands on a home or investment property purchase. That is what Bushy Martin from Know How Property Finance has been doing over the last couple of weeks, so we thought we’d find out where he visited and what he found.   We will list and talk about the 34 he has unearthed in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland.  RealtyTalk is part of the Property Hub podcast channel, your home for property investment insights, inspiration and stories from Australia’s top property experts, investors, leaders and analysts. Subscribe now to get every RealtyTalk episode delivered to you each week for free, and also get full access to Get Invested, the leading podcast for Australians who want to unlock their full ‘self, health and wealth’ potential and get inspired by the stories of investors, founders and entrepreneurs. Subscribe to RealtyTalk on the Property Hub channel: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Email Property Hub is a collaboration between Bushy Martin from KnowHow Property, Kevin Turner from Realty, Andrew Montesi from Apiro Marketing and Apiro Media, and Australia’s largest independent podcast network DM Media.  Business and partnership enquiries: [e-mail] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Realty Talk, the show that brings together the country's most authoritative and respected property experts. Follow us on all the socials and subscribe for updates and exclusive offers. Realty Talk is powered by Realty.com.au, connecting buyers, sellers and agents differently. Hello once again and welcome to the show. Well, in the digital world of property where we now have 24-7 access to endless qualities of property data, it's so easy to become a keyboard king and an armchair expert on what you think an area and a property is really worth. But, you know, you'd be very wrong. Because nothing beats spending time on the ground, walking the neighbourhoods and talking to the locals

to get a real feel for an area and a community before you outlay hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home or an investment property. And that's exactly what our co-host Bushy Martin from Know How Property Finance has been doing over the last couple of weeks. So I thought we'd dive right into it, find out where he's visited and what he's found. We're going to list and talk about the 34 that he's unearthed in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. So strap yourself in, get your notepad ready, because Bushy and I will return in just a moment. Property deductions can save you thousands of dollars each year. To make sure you maximise

deductions, you need to work with the most experienced quantity surveyor in the country. BMT Tax Depreciation is the leading specialist in the industry. They've completed over 700,000 tax deduction schedules for residential investment and commercial properties Australia-wide. BMT guarantee to find double your fee in the first full financial year deductions. Call BMT on 1300 728 726 today for an obligation free quote. Well, hello and welcome. And as I said in the introduction, if you think you can invest in property without getting your boots on the ground, you've made one hell of a mistake. And the man who can take us through that journey. He's been on a journey himself. Did you go with Sonia, mate?

I did, mate. Yeah, we've been doing quite a bit of travel in recent times right around the country, mate. So I'm pretty keen to share some of that. Yeah, when you were telling me that you did it, I thought it would be a great idea for us to see. And thank you for doing it, by the way. I know there's a lot of work goes into this and you're going to be giving us a lot of information, but we really appreciate you doing it. Mate, tell me the importance of these road trips to you. Yeah, well, you've touched on one of them, mate, because as you and I both know, in the current world, we've got such great access to digital data and all of the different websites and whatnot that fool you into thinking that you know what an area and a property looks like. And it's a great start. It certainly gives you some of the key info, but there is nothing like getting your boots on the ground to really get a sense of what the local community is like, what the perceptions of different areas are.

It might look great on paper, but if the locals think that that area is a no-go zone for whatever reason, then you've got to take that on board and you don't know that unless you're walking the streets. But also the topography and the climate and everything else, you really don't get a sense of until you're on the ground. But probably the two major reasons we're going on this sort of road trip exercise, Kevin, firstly, the business and an investor level is really to verify the old exodus to life. lifestyle migration that we've heard so much about since COVID and to really, really check in to see whether it's a lasting exercise or whether it's a bit of a flash in the pan. But on a personal level, Sonia and I are both at that sort of, I guess, privileged point in our life journey, mate, where we're now looking for a forever home destination to cover us for at least the next 10 years.

and because of our family situation, we've pretty much got the freedom to be able to live anywhere. So it's given us a great opportunity and a great project, both as almost a personal hobby, but also feeding intelligence into what we do business-wise to get a real feel for where the opportunities are and the right sort of locations are around the country, Kevin. Well, mate, I'm going to ask you to go through some of those locations.

Well, we'll go through all of them. I tallied them up, by the way, too. There's almost 40 that we're going to cover in this show. So, you know, well done. And I've got to say, you and Sonia went to some really nice spots that, you know, when I looked at them, I thought, yeah, this looks like this is really tasty. So, mate, just tell me region-wise what we're going to cover in this show. Yeah, so fairly simply, there's a bunch of areas that we've been looking at. So, as you know, Kevin, over the last three years, we actually put temporary routes down into the Mornington Peninsula around Balnaring, and that's a beautiful part of the world.

We're currently domiciled here in the Bellarine Peninsula in Point Lonsdale, which is another awesome spot. But the travels that we've been taking, that we started as soon as the COVID shutters rose and we could jump back on a plane, we've covered the northwest coast of Tasmania. We've had a good look at the southwest Yarra Ranges and the Dandenongs, close to Melbourne. We've spent some time out in the Great Dividing Range foothills in Spar Country out there in the Hepburn region. And the good old Adelaide Hills have certainly been a destination that we've always enjoyed.

And then just in the last couple of weeks, we've spent some time up in northern New South Wales, given the significant changes to stamp duty that's really going to open up that area. So we've been in the car from Yamba right through to Byron Bay. And an area that we've really enjoyed, Kevin, is the southeast Queensland Gulf Coast hinterland up and around the Tambourine Mountains, mate.

Just a beautiful part of the world. That's what we've done already. The areas that we haven't yet done, and I haven't fully spoken to you about this, we're going to have a good look at Gippsland in eastern Victoria. That's nice. We've spent a lot of time down there. Yeah, and there's some opportunities.

Given the fear factor around the bushfires and whatnot, the price points are pretty good down there but also we're going to have a good look at some areas in New South Wales around the Kangaroo Valley through to Jervis Bay and then north from the Hunter Valley through to Port Macquarie and we're even going to jump on a plane and go over and spend some time in Western Australia having a look at that southwestern sector between sort of Rockingham to Bunbury and down to Margo River. Yeah a nice bit of country over there too and if you get the chance you know head up north up the western coast there um there's some fabulous beaches mate i mean i know it's probably not going to be what

you want to do but um it's it's uh yeah it's great country we we uh we've got a big show ahead of us we're going to go through these areas we won't go into a lot of detail on each one but as we go through a region what i'm going to do is just pull up a quick image which i've got here um to show you roughly the area that we're talking about we'll only hold it up for a short time and then And at the end of each one of these regions, we're going to do a pull-through for you. So if you've missed any of the locations that we talk about, they'll certainly be up on the screen. And, of course, the benefit of this is you can go back and watch it any time. All right, come on.

Let's lift the bonnet. Let's get underway. Northern west coast of Tasmania. I'll quickly bring up a map to show you which part of this is. It's in the top as you're looking at the map on the left-hand side there. So, yeah, a nice part of the world and really beautiful country along there. But you started in Launceston. Yeah, we did.

And what we love generally about the Northworth west coast of Tasmania, Kevin, is that it's got lower price points relative to the mainland. Very strong growing economy in that neck of the woods. Very strong population growth because it's been quite an exodus from the mainland over the last couple of years. And of course, it's right in the heart of marginal seats federally, which always gets the boiled lollies when it comes to infrastructure and projects and improvements. And there's a fairly significant $10 billion infrastructure spend that the Tasmanian government is putting into a lot of projects along that coastline. So a lot happening there. We started in Launceston, as you picked up, and it's really just a big country town, Launceston. It's got a population of about 72,000. And it's really a bit like a big country town.

And interestingly, from an investor perspective, there's great character homes on decent-sized blocks, some good growth drivers happening in that location. The medium house price there at the moment is still about $770,000. And so that's kicked up quite a bit. It's up 35% over the last 12 months, would you believe, Kevin? And the sort of medium rent's about $450 a week. and it's giving about a 3.4% yield.

So a good lifestyle location. From a personal perspective, we're hunting a little bit outside the fringes of some of those major areas. And one of the locations that we like is the area sort of north of Launceston in the West Tamar. So Grindelwald, you've got Deviant and some other locations there that are also great lifestyle locations, beautiful outlooks, natural surrounds.

Because, interestingly enough, the median house price north of Launceston jumps up to about $950,000, would you believe, in Grindelwald, which means that the rent yields down about 3.9%. So, pretty interesting area there. We then headed west. So, the first area that we loved was Bellarain in the Meander Valley. And that's a really beautiful rural town with great historic character homes. Very, very classy community there, too. It is. A very tight community.

It's got a beautiful river precinct running right through it, very walkable, weepy, green sort of town. It's only got a small population, but the medium house value there is about 570 grand, again, up 35% in the last 12 months, Kevin. And you can achieve a rental return there of about $425 a week as a medium with a 4.4% yield. So that was nice.

I'll just touch on a couple of these quickly. La Trobe's another beautiful little living area. A lot of heritage homes in that area too, aren't there? There is. A lot of that old convict history is alive and well in that precinct. So it's got a really, really good feel. But if we jump to the adjacent hub, Davenport, beautiful regional hub there, Kevin.

It's got the major port. It's got a real critical mass of population in that area. there's about 240 million being spent on the Davenport East redevelopment and there's a new Woolies retail complex that's going you know the next couple of years in in Stoney Rise Village so good good population of about 22,000 in the area medium price is only 460 grand so you can see how it's dropping as we as we go further further west again that's up 21 percent that's the stopping off point for Spirit of Tasmania as well isn't it it is it is mate so there's a lot of tourism related activity happening in there and just a beautiful living location that's you know again

country townish but but it's got the all of the major facilities and a sort of port flavor to it as well so yeah lovely spot yeah okay yeah i know we've got a few to get through mate so just keep going yeah so i won't won't spend too much time on alberston and penguin but uh great living locations right on the coast uh the uh as as you probably know penguin is the home of the the fairy penguin uh the the movie was made about some time ago that's it wasn't made in that location that was made in warnanbill i think ah was it there you go well you know they're wonderful characters those little um penguins yeah they certainly are so beautiful spots though and that that sort of feeds us into bernie which uh we love bernie too by the way

it's you know it's got a 20 000 population so a good critical mass the medium house price there is only 440 000 kevin and and that's after a 15 rise in the last 12 months the medium rents about 350 bucks a week which gives you a yield of about 4.2 percent and there's some beautiful areas there We love Montello and Park Grove in particular. Nearly bought a home in Montello, by the way. Yeah, we backed away from it in the finish, but we actually made an offer on a property. Why did you back away, mate?

I thought they were asking too much for it, given the context of what was happening. And we're not emotionally engaged, so, you know, been around long enough to know that there's plenty of properties out there, but it doesn't fit the bill. You just keep looking. Yeah, mate, talking about Bernie, you know, it was originally called Emu Bay, was renamed in 1840.

So it's been around for quite a while. A lot of history there. You went on to Wynyard and Stanley. Yeah, so we're getting way west there. But, you know, Wynyard is another nice spot. It's actually got the regional airport in Wynyard. So, you know, everyone going to Burnie flies into Wynyard. So that's a great feeder.

And we actually flew from Melbourne to Wynyard to spend some time down there at a separate trip. And Stanley, of course, great little tourism town. It's the home of a nut. It's got this great big rock that stands out that everyone talks about. It's got a little ski lift that goes up the side of the nut. But a great little tourism town, perhaps a little bit too isolated, though, in terms of both living and investment opportunities, eh, Kevin?

Okay. Wynyard, you mentioned Wynyard just by way of interest. Did you know that that has a great convict history? In fact, the town itself was established by three ex-convicts. So a lot of good came with those convicts, I've got to tell you. Mate, I'm a first leader, Kevin, and our family came out under the deck with manacles on their wrists and ankles, mate. So I'm a very proud convict.

Yeah, look at you, bushy, hey? Go for it. All right, mate, let's get on to – we're going to take a break shortly. But before we do, we've got a couple of more areas we want to go through. So let's jump across to Victoria, southwestern Yarra, the ranges there. Mate, the Dandenongs and the hill country up there is just beautiful. I mean, it's really got the best of both worlds. Kemal's got the rural living, but still very close to the other community of the city.

Beautiful evergreen forests, everything's surrounded by green. You've got the old Puffingbilly steam train that toots along the route from Belgrave right through to Cockatoo. and there's a massive spend going into that area at the moment. So about $250 million being spent on a big telecommunication satellite towers rollout as well as a massive broadband rollout. So that in conjunction with $150 million spend on road sealing is really going to open up that area. So they've got strong values there now,

but they're only going to get better as time goes forward. There's a bit of gold in that area too, but it's all been fairly well mined, I think. You went to Emerald, I noticed? We did. We did. Emerald's a beautiful spot, mate. The really good rural community, really well serviced. It's got a Woolies. You know, the medium house price there now, mate, is a million bucks in Emerald. Again, up nearly 20% over the last 12 months. Only gives you a yield of 3.1%, so probably not a good investor spot, but a beautiful location right next to Avonsley, which again, we made an offer on a property there as well in Avonsley, but we backed out because the building and pest report came up with some footing issues that we weren't comfortable with. There's a lot of subdivision happening in Avonlea, isn't there?

There is. The old golf course has been converted into a subdivision, Kevin. So there's a fair bit of additional supply that will go into that area in times moving forward. But again, just a beautiful living spot. We also had a good look at Belgrave and, you know, it's only got a fairly tight population, but the medium house price drops back to $840,000 in that location.

Fairly hilly sort of territory, but a reasonable rental yield. And then in the same area, Monvold is definitely worth a good look. It's the old fruit factory country from way back, but some really good properties in that area. Medium house price about $855,000, again, up 15% over the last 12 months, and they'll give you a rental yield in that area about 3.2%. But lovely parts. And then without going into too much detail,

we spent some time in Sherbrooke, which has got that magic forest in the area, and then Linda and Sassafras. They're just, you know, everyone from Melbourne used to holiday in Sassafras and Linda back in the 1800s. So it's got that old Victorian charm and beautiful gardens and just a lovely part of the world, Kevin. Yeah, we've got to protect areas like that too.

It's listed as endangered in that area. I wasn't aware of that, but it's just a beautiful spot. It's just beautiful. And then sassafras. Yeah, yeah. Again, that's got that 19th century charm about it with the old gardens and the white picket fences and lots of green.

It's become a little bit... While you were there? Yeah, well, mate, you've got to beat down the crowds. It gets really heavily populated over the weekends and pretty hard to park in Sassafras. The Linda next door, we actually enjoy Linda a bit more. It's a little bit quieter, but they're pretty close together. And just, as I say, there's just some beautiful parts of the world.

They're nice temperate climate. It's evergreen 12 months of the year. Just beautiful spots to spend some time. Monbulk. Remember the jam factory? That was closed down, I think, what only about 15 odd years ago not long ago mate and you can still see plenty of the fruit flavor right through that particular location i must say the roots are pretty strong but uh it's it's a

a lovely spot mate the again the the medium house price in mumble is around about 8.55 mark uh fairly low yield from a rental perspective but but it's starting to get a little bit drier there compared to the other areas we've spoken about but uh some some good opportunity in that neck of the woods because it's also taking advantage of the road upgrades and the in the infrastructure technology upgrades through the the mobile phone service and the the internet stuff which is going to make it very very livable moving forward we'll go to another region in just a moment the great dividing range at the foothills there but before we do mate i just want i'm interested to know from you what criteria you're using when you're assessing these areas and well these areas

but also the properties yeah well mate i i could do a show on this on on its own there's about 50 odd criteria that we use from macro right down to micro uh some of the things that have recently come into mix is probably what i'd like to focus on and they are the sort of climate change shift drivers so you know we we're literally now looking for cooler temperatures out of potential flood zones uh because that that flooding issue is becoming a persistent thing uh you know in a lot of areas around the country which we also try and find locations that are about 30 minutes from a major transport hub so you know it makes the commuting side of things pretty easy and we you know in the context of what's happened in recent times kevin with you know the covid catalyst

bringing forward anywhere between three to eight years worth of capital growth a lot of areas in the short to medium term are actually going to flatline so what we are looking for are a grade location with A-grade properties, and that's only about 5% of properties that you're actually finding, where 80% of the growth is going to come from the location, not the property itself. And using what we call a macro, mid-pro, micro approach, we're looking for areas that are going to have strong, ongoing growth drivers. And I like to refer to them as the three I's, Kevin.

The growth I's are infrastructure, industry, and incomes. So you need new committed infrastructure that's going to continue to increase values. You need a diversity of industry and employment in that location because that tends to attract people to it. And then you want strong and growing income because people have got to be able to continue to pay more for properties for the property values in that location to rise. So they are really key. We focus obviously on regional hubs that have a critical mass of population so that you're not sort of a one horse town. and we're looking for areas that have a sort of maximum rental ratio of between 25 to 30 percent so that it's the owner occupiers that are driving the values in that those particular locations and

then at the sort of mid-crow and the micro level we're looking for the coffee culture they've got to be dog friendly lifestyle amenities and at the particular property front we're going even if we're an owner occupier we're thinking like an investor because you've got to sell a property at some point in time. We're looking for a profile that's got a minimum three to four bed, two bath, two living, two car properties, must have owner-occupier appeal, and there's got to be some scarcity or uniqueness about the property that's going to make it stand out from everything else. So that's probably a quick and dirty snapshot, mate. Yeah, no, that's a very good snapshot, mate. Just a very quick question, though, if I could.

How many properties actually fit all the criteria? Do you ever find one? You reckon I'm looking for unicorns, mate? You know, there's a lot in there. At what point do you knock them out? They're not going to have everything. No, no, you're absolutely right. The key driver for growth, if we're talking from an investor perspective, and as I say, owner-occupiers should think like investors

and investors need to think like owner-occupiers because you've got to have both to really drive the opportunity. But from that perspective, there's probably only about 5% of properties that meet the mark, Kevin. And, you know, we've always been fussy whether we're investing or owner-occupying. So rather than accept something that's a B-grade exercise, we'll keep hunting and find the right opportunity

that's going to meet the mark. Yeah, well done. Okay, mate, let's move on to our last area before we take a break, and that's the great dividing range, the foothills. Mate, let me ask you, did you and Sonia have a spa while you were there? Of course we did, mate. It's renowned for that.

There's heaps of them up there. That whole Hepburn region really is a tremendous far country and it's really taken off in recent times. Again, the sort of trend to lifestyle started well before COVID but it's been accelerated by it in a big way. And it's got a really vibrant growing community with a booming regional and local tourism sector that's really kicking off.

The sort of overall area population is about 17,000, So it's getting to the point where it's got sort of critical mass that you're looking for. And there's some great locations amongst that. I mean, Galesford is a great spot. Mind you, their medium house price now is nudging up towards a million bucks, Kevin. Up another 10% over the last 12 months. Fairly low yields from a rental perspective as a result. Hepburn Springs has even got a higher medium house price now.

that's jumped up to 927 000 uh with a 16 increase in in recent times uh but some of the areas that are that ripple out from there are also well worth a look so we actually spent a long weekend at trentham which uh it's a beautiful part of the world it's got some wineries and rolling hills and oh nice nice wine as well beautiful wine uh really strong close community it's only a small community but would you believe that the medium house price there is now 1.02 mil is that right so it's just which really surprised us to be perfectly honest there's some beautiful character homes and there are on larger blocks in that area but certainly from an investment perspective it's pretty hard to make things work as far as that goes and then some of the other areas that ripple

out from there again are the likes of Lyonville. On our way out to Dalesford, we were pretty impressed with Woodend. And, you know, that's another beautiful, fairly evergreen part of the network. Pretty close, not far off the main road between Melbourne and Adelaide. So, you know, the commute was pretty good. But again, the median house price is nearly $950,000 in Woodend, would you believe? Hasn't risen much. That's been consistently pretty good over a period of time uh but the rental yields from an investment perspective are around about the 3.3 percent mark so it's pretty hard to make it work from that perspective well let's let's just run those uh locations across the bottom of the screen while we do you're talking

about wood end of course hanging rock did you go and see hanging rock by the way yeah yeah mate it's uh i've got fond memories of watching the movie many years ago and and read the book when i was at high school actually so uh yeah it's a great great place to spend some time they actually Also, the movie, Hanging Rock, was closer to a little place near where I was born in Western Victoria, near Baroque, in the Ozan Cadnock Mountains there, mate. So another beautiful part of the world. Indeed it is. We're going to take a short break. Bushy Martin is my guest, and we're revisiting the journey that he and Sonia took as they were looking for properties in different parts of Australia.

After the break, we come back. We'll take you to Adelaide. And also Northern New South Wales will take you into the southern tip of Queensland as well. I'm Kevin Turner with Bushy Martin, and this is Realty Talk. We'll be back in just a moment. Successful property investment is a game of finance. Do you have the right team and the right game plan? Realty Talk is brought to you by KnowHow Property.

More than mortgage brokers, Bushy Martin and his team of investment architects set you up with a sustainable strategy structured to lower your costs tax risk and stress while increasing your capacity for growth know-how has helped over 1900 homeowners and investors secure more than 800 million dollars in property wealth so get set to live more work less and live your legacy. Want to know how to invest in your freedom? Visit knowhowproperty.com.au. Welcome back. And my guest is, it's strange to say that because normally he's the host, but he's the guest this time we've turned the tables on Bushy Martin and a wonderful trip that Bushy and Sonia took in different parts of Australia as they were looking on behalf of

a number of their clients and also for themselves, what makes a great investment property. And so far we've looked at northwest coast of Tasmania beautiful locations there southwestern Yarra the ranges great dividing range the foothills we're about to go to Adelaide Hills another beautiful part of the world you don't have to go too far out of Adelaide to find these locations either Bushy no look I love the Adelaide Hills Kevin as you know we we've spent a lot of time in south australia over the last few decades and what i love about the adelaide hills with the new tunnel and the expressway they've put through uh you know from the likes of uh crifers uh right through to mount barky you're only 12 minutes from the edge of the city

so where it's really opened up that area but but another beautiful evergreen uh location with rolling hills and it's just just a fabulous uh place some awesome wineries up in that neck of of the woods. We were actually living in Clarendon prior to COVID, which is just south of the areas that we're going to talk about today. But again, just a hidden secret, only a stone's throw from the city. They've got great lifestyles and growing locations, so some good spots there. In particular, the areas that we really did and do like, Allgate, which is sort of in between Crafers and Sterling in that neck of the woods. Surprisingly, the medium house prices kicked up 43% over the last 12 months.

They're now up to 1.275 mil, Kevin. So a bit of a surprise in terms of the rapid rise that's happening there. Sterling, beautiful place, Sterling. Just a really awkward one. One of the prettiest places in South Australia, that one. Yeah, it is beautiful, mate. And again, medium house value is now 1.2 mil. Yield's only about 3%.

And Crafers has also got some promise as well. So, you know, that's right at the start of the hills. The medium price there is now up at 1.135 mil, risen by 35% over the last 12 months, Kevin. So the yields are a bit low there. But as lifestyle locations, that whole neck of the woods is just a very easy, beautiful place to spend some time. Is that a suburb of Adelaide?

Crafers, yes. Well, it's actually in the hills. So you're actually going to go down the expressway a little bit to get to Crafers. Crafers is a start. So you go Crafers, Stirling, Allgate, Mount Barker. They are just all of those locations are great places to live now, particularly with this exceptional lifestyle that we're all hearing about.

Oh, that's good. Just while we do pull through on those locations for you, write them down. Bushy, a quick question before we go to northern New South Wales. Is there any difference between what you look for as an owner-occupier and as a property investor? Well, in a simple exercise, no, not these days, Kevin, because as I think I've mentioned already, investors need to start thinking like owner-occupiers and owner-occupiers need to start thinking like investors because if they don't, ultimately, they're not going to do well in property.

So the big issue I see with a lot of players in this space is they just look at the investment requirements, but at some point in time, they will end up selling that property and the people who are going to buy it by emotion are owner-occupiers. So you really need to be covering both of those to make sure you're really optimising your opportunity, mate. It's amazing how many investors I've met who actually buy like an owner-occupier. Well, I used to say that, you know, buy from the heart, which is probably the last thing you should do, no matter what you're doing, whether you're buying for your home to live in or whether it's an investment property, the biggest mistake you can make is buy from the heart. 100%.

It's all about the numbers. But I guess what I mean by those comments, Kevin, the property's got to have owner-occupier appeal. so because ultimately you're going to get more from selling a property down the track whether it be 15 or 20 years time for an owner-occupier than than you are another investor so it's going to have immediate street appeal uh one of the big differences between the investor and the owner-occupier front and i'm talking personally now is that uh you know we're actually looking for something that's got a unique style you know i used to be an architect so i'm always looking

for something that's a little bit out of the ordinary from that perspective uh from a from our own lifestyle perspective it's got to have broad verandas and and a inside outside areas for our our infamous samoyed dogs uh i'm a real views person mate so you've got to give me a natural long-term view somewhere so we're hunting in that sphere and always looking for that sort of green cushioning landscaping that that means that you you feel like you've got your own space and you're not jam-packed in a sardine can next to someone else yeah yeah no some really good points there Okay, let's go to northern New South Wales. Yamba is where we start.

This area here, I describe it pretty much as where the forest meets the sea or where the bushland meets the sea. Beautiful beaches in this entire area, really, as you drive up towards Byron Bay and beyond. Absolutely, Matt. The reason we decided to have a look there is that, you know, given the recent changes to stamp duty that's occurred in New South Wales where the massive stamp duty hurdles

now have been eliminated pretty much down to a land tax equivalent that you pay on an annual basis. That's suddenly opening up areas that have properties at 1.5 million or less. So we were really wanting to get a feel for what impact it's having in that northern New South Wales area.

So we've spent some time in the car driving from Yamba right through to Byron. And Yamba, as you say, beautiful beaches, Fairly small but growing population. Interestingly enough, the median house price there is now $935,000, jumping up 20% over the last year, Kevin. The biggest issue I think we have around that yamber area is actually the potential flood risk.

Not in terms of actually inundating houses themselves, but that area is likely to get cut off unless there's some major new infrastructure that's going to impact on the area. So we've sort of crossed that off the list. once we once we saw that mclean that's next door very sugar grain sugar cane sort of country a little bit run down a bit more elevated but fairly tired so it wasn't wasn't overly enamored with with that area balna as we start to head head north another great area a really good strong regional population about 46 000 the medium uh home day is about 990 grand and again that's

that's risen uh just under 20 percent over the last 12 months but there's a bit of an aging demographic there that i think is going to ultimately limit growth from an investment perspective do you think so or is it like will it be rejuvenated because i think ballon has always had that you know that older lifestyle appeal but it is the gateway for tourism like the you know as you're coming up the coast that's really where it starts yeah absolutely right yes i what we're We spent a bit of time there and it certainly got that ongoing potential. At the moment, it's still very much an ageing demographic. You know, we had breakfast there and we were the youngest people sitting there by about 20 years, Kevin.

And I'm not young. Probably the first ones there too, were you? That's right. Exactly right. So that was interesting. But one area that was a bit of a surprise to us, had a great vibe, was Lennox Head. Oh, yeah. Just a beautiful spot.

The beach is fantastic, then. Oh, and it's got a real, really vibrant buzz about it, Kevin. We're pretty surprised by it, but it's been reflected in the property values because the medium house price there now is 1.6 mil, Kevin, and that's jumped just under 30% over the last 12 months. So the yields there are rubbish. You can get average rentals about 820,

but that's a 2.8% yield. So you're going to struggle to make it work from an investment perspective, but a great lifestyle location. You can feel it. You know how you go into an area and you can feel that it's on the move? Lennox Head is definitely there. We also spent a good few days in Byron Bay, which, you know, that shire has a spread of about 36,000 population,

so a really good, strong, critical mass. It's still got that sort of hippie, spiritual, surfy holiday vibe that goes with it, but there is a real energy about the place. But, again, it really reflected in the house prices, mate, because the medium there is 3.1 mil, would you believe, in Byron Bay now. I can believe that. Is that where Strump has his pub?

Yes, yes, it is. Yeah, exactly right. That's exactly right. Does he still own the pub there? I'm not sure, to be honest with you, mate. Yeah, I'm not sure on that front, but it's certainly got a buzz. It's a very expensive place to invest some dirt in now. But a little hidden secret a little bit further into the Northern Rivers region is Pottsville.

Yeah. And I really think that's set for some pretty good growth in the short to medium term. It's already happening there, I think, mate. Yeah, right. Well, yeah, you're probably closer to it than I am. Yeah, there's a lot of development coming out from the ocean. I mean, it was all done around the mouth of the river there, which is really where Pottsville grew from.

But they've now opened up a lot of land in behind that, and that's where all the development's happening. Got it. That area's in for a huge amount of growth, I think. Yeah, I totally agree. Did you find anywhere you liked? Yeah, but there's some, as you say, there's the sort of coastal areas and the rural areas,

so there's some good pockets in and amongst that. The medium house value's already at 1.5 mil, and that's jumped up at 36% over the last 12 months, Kevin, so that really is some movement in that neck of the woods. But it definitely does have some potential in that regard. Yeah, well, let's do a pull through on those locations. You mentioned while that's happening, we're just pulling up those locations for you.

You mentioned Lenox Head. Last time I was there, Bushy, the thing that struck me was that, yeah, it's a lovely spot, beautiful beaches, but not quite crowded, not as crowded as some of the other areas. Is it still like that or is it improving? Well, we've spent some time there on a weekend, so that's normally when you've got a lot of people buzzing around. The restaurants were full and there was a reasonable amount of activity.

It wasn't over the top though, Kevin. So I sort of like the pace and the feel of that area. I think it's a great place to put some roots down. Very relaxing. Yeah, you've got to have a bit of coin in your back pocket when you go on holiday there, that's for sure. let's finish our journey and um we're going to go to a beautiful part of southeast queensland uh as you overlook the gold coast strip you can do that from tambourine mountains a beautiful

drive up there lovely and cool lots of nice little areas as well bushy and totally mate i've absolutely fell in love with the tambourine tambourine mountain mate i haven't been there before actually I've always heard about it and if you haven't picked up a theme already and if you look at those locations from a personal perspective we really are looking for something it's a little bit more temperate evergreen Tambourine Mountain is that and more that sort of hinterland area it's five degrees cooler than the Gold Coast so from someone like me who's got a dodgy thyroid who breaks out in the sweat at the drop of a hat and certainly had some appeal from that

perspective there's only three roads into Tamborine Mountain up the hill so that tends to contain it fairly well and it means that they've got a very tight community so the community feel there was was very impressive what the reason why we sort of decided to look in around southeast Queensland in that sort of vicinity was that you know given that the Queensland government's now reversed their interstate investor land tax changes, we're pretty confident there's going to be a resurgence because South Leeds Queensland has been poised with potential for a long time, Kevin.

I've been saying for years that South Leeds Queensland is the place to be. Just when I thought it was about to take off, the Queensland government sort of made that nonsense statement around investor land tax, which is now gone. But I can say with some real confidence that the area right through there is ready to kick off, mate. It's just a beautiful spot.

We, you know, if we look closer to the Gold Coast, we spent a bit of time in Maudsland and there's a beautiful gated community there called Riverstone Crossing. Some beautiful properties in that location. The medium house price is only about $890 through there. It has jumped 22% in the last 12 months. The yields are pretty reasonable, 4.7% yield.

You can get a $700 a week median rent in the area. So that's good investor territory. And it's sort of starting to slope up. And there's some, you know, just some great outlooks and some great facilities around that Coomera River area. But Tambry Mountain, mate, just a drop-dead gorgeous spot. Beautiful views, stunning rainforest, great community. And the median price there is still only $925.

So, you know, we're talking big, big landlots generally. So you had some great opportunity there, I think. And given the fact that it is landlocked, that'll put some upward pressure because of the limited supply and people who are looking for that sort of a change are good. Some of the internet connection and mobile reception is a bit patchy, so you need to be fairly selective about where you decide to put the routes down there.

And the only way you can do that is to walk around with your phone to find out and do speed tests. but it's becoming an increasingly important parameter in terms of where we want to live and work. What strikes me as you drive around Tambourine Mountains is that, you know, obviously it's mountainous, that's why it was called Tambourine Mountains but, you know, there's lots of the roads

just follow the ridges around and, you know, there's lots of opportunities to get high and then the land drops away rather quickly so as you look back down towards the coast, that side of the mountains, You can get some beautiful locations up there as well. Mate, we stayed at a place called the Veranda House Country Estate for the time we were up there.

And it's an old Queensland that's been renovated. It's right on the crest of the hill. It's got rolling green lawns and it drops off down into the, mate, it's just drop-dead gorgeous. Beautiful spot. Lots of avocados and lots of mangoes up there. Yes, and they're my favourite fruits, mate. So I'm in heaven in that part of the world.

Okay, we're going to take a very quick break, come back and I'll just wrap the show up with Bushy. We'll just go back over a few notes for you. Stay with us. I'm Kevin Turner. This is Realty Talk and I'm with Bushy Martin. Back in a minute. Property depreciation is the natural wear and tear

of a building and its assets. Property investors can claim depreciation as a tax deduction each financial year. Depreciation is a non-cash deduction. This means you don't need to spend any money in order to claim it. On average, BMT tax depreciation fined residential investors

almost $9,000 in first full financial year deductions. Call BMT on 1300 728 726 today for an obligation free quote. Welcome back. It's been a delightful show and I've spent the entire show with Bushy Martin

as he and his good wife Sonia tripped around having a look at properties in different parts of Australia. Bushy, just before I let you go, What are your major takeaways from the trip, this experience that you can share with us? Yeah, well, the interesting thing, I think the Exodus to Lifestyle is actually a long-term shift, Kevin. There's been a lot of commentators saying it's just a temporary exercise and that now COVID's gone,

it's going to be everyone will be back to the CBD. Wasn't seeing that on the ground at all. There's a lot of people that moved to those locations and are loving life in those locations because they can work there and enjoy all the amenities with it. The other couple of takeaways, I think, is that it really reinforced to us the massive difference between desktop research and actually having the boots on the ground. There was areas that we thought were going to be great that weren't,

and there were others that we didn't think were going to be much, and we were quietly surprised. So that was pretty important, and it just reinforces the need that you can only get a sense of the community, the local perceptions, the topography and the climate, if you're actually in a car or walking the streets. And then the final thing that I think I just want to reinforce, Kevin, is that there's a much bigger need and a flight to quality now. Given COVID's raised the tide for all property over the last couple of years, there's a much bigger need now to focus on A-grade locations

and A-grade properties. And they must be investment grade, but have that owner-occupier appeal we talked about so that'll be the key takeaways mate fantastic my friend thank you so much bushy i'll let you get back in the chair next week and uh but mate i really appreciate you giving us your time to share this wonderful knowledge with us good on you mate yeah i appreciate your time mate it's been a lot of fun and uh we've got a few more destinations to go so happy to come back and have a similar conversation uh sometime next year mate i'm i'm out of the practice of actually doing the close and thanking everyone so who do we normally thank mate we of course bmt tax depreciation they're a great supporter of ours they are also just like to do a reach out to

realty.com.au of course kevin appiro marketing and dm media for their ongoing support and also just want to remind people that you need to jump on the realty.com.au homepage and make sure you subscribe to the show, but also while you're there, make sure you check out one of Australia's most extensive range of properties for sale. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think there's about 7,000 agents nationally that are listing properties there now, Kevin. And I know myself from my own hunting, I've been finding properties there that haven't been listed anywhere else. So well worth spending some time there. Good on you, mate. That's realty.com.au. So hey, Bushy, thank you so much. And I must

catch up with you sometime and talk about property hub too because that's um you know where where our show this show and bushy show um you'll find them uh if you subscribe to property hub best place to do that bushy yeah that's uh really anywhere that you're listening to podcasts so it's spotify google uh you name it on all of those services just just search for property hub and if you subscribe, then you're going to get every show of Realty Talk as well as the Get Invested episodes each and every week. Well done, mate. That's why we pay you the big dollars. So you do it so well. If only people knew, hey? You've been a great teacher, mate. Don't you worry about that. Good on you, Bushy. Good talking to you, mate. Thanks for the experience and we'll talk again

soon. Thanks, Kimmer. Miss something in this week's show or want to catch up on past shows? Do it anytime at realty.com.au where we connect buyers, sellers and agents differently.