Waverley South Taranaki District

[Nobleone]

Hey,

I have found a property in Waverley and the numbers look good... But B4 I make a move are there any investors who can give me their POV on Waverley as a place for a first IP?

Cheers, Barry.

[salem]

Hi Nobleone

Just saw your post, even though this maybe a bit late. I too recently had a look at a property in Waverly, did a bit of research and came up with a few points worth considering

- population of Waverly is 904 people (census 2002)

- A property manager informed me that they have difficulty in getting tradesmen up there

- unemployment is very high (estimated at around 50%)


Cheers
Ben

[Nobleone]

Waverley

HI Salem,

Thanks for those details.

I discovered that alough Waverley is small, there was still a big demand for rentals of this type and as the property needed nothing doing to it, owner occupied, and the numbers where good I went for it. We settle June 25.

Have you made any buys yet? If so what areas and what returns? It's always good to hear what others are doing.

Cheers, Nobleone

[salem]

Great to hear about your first IP purchase Nobleone, im still on the hunt for my first deal. I started seriously educating myself on property earlier this year and now ready to purchase. Really looking forward to getting into the real estate game.

Cheers
Ben

[David_W]

An important thing to remember is while their may be no vacancies and no shortage of tradesmen now - when the market turns (and it will), with interest rates rising and jobs harder to come by with economic tightening, then you need to consider what effect LONG vacancies will have on you.

Many clients of mine have experienced over the years long vacancies and lower than usual capital growth in small towns. I personally would not touch small towns.

Cheers
DAVID

[GreatPig]

I personally would not touch small towns

Just wondering what you would consider a "small town"? What sort of population?

GP

[gish]

Waverley

I know its too late now, but I'd have advised you to give this IP a lot of thought. I grew up in Waverley, and yep, while there is definitely a market for rental properties, there is also a high proportion of tenants that do a runner.

Waverley is a rural support town, and although you wont get much capital growth, your investment should be safe enough.

There is a lot of seasonal work in the area, so for some periods ( Sept - Dec if I remember correctly ) there are a lot of temporary workers in town, so that could help your rental returns.

I'd advise you to keep a little more in the kitty than you would for a similar property in a larger town, just in case.

There is a local Electrician (Eddie Knapp Electrical), but I don't know offhand of any chippies. I believe Ritchie Minnell still runs his plumbing business from Waverley, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, good luck with it. What's the address? I'm heading back that way permanently soon, and will be happy to drive by every once in a while and let you know how it looks.

Cheers

Gish

[Nobleone]

Waverley IP

Hi Gish,

A post is never too late so long as it offers some sort of advice... I've put those tradesmens names in my file... The property was owner occupied so it was immaculate both inside and out.

I went ahead with the deal based on the agent saying it could easily rent for $120pw... Which would have given me 10.5% gross...

Anyway after two weeks advertising I managed to get $140pw.. Which gives me 12.3%.

The PM said the tenants references are great so I'm a happy camper.

Cheers, Barry

[MiniMogul]

Hi there,

I have owned a property in Waverley for 18 months and it's been fantastic. It's never been vacant for longer than a week, it is correct that there is high demand for rentals - there was when I bought, too, and there still is now. Even my current tenant told me - when I advised her that the house was on the market - that she hoped she wouldn't have to move because it was so hard to find a place there. My tenant is fantastic and works at the local school.

If/when Kupe kicks in (mega gas thingie, opens in 2007 and loads of workers between now and then swarm to the South Taranaki area) then it should go off, ditto Hawera and Patea. My property manager has handled everything (any tradespeople needed) since I bought the property, and I hate to admit it, but I have never even been to the property. I bought it off picture and a builder's report. It was the first property I ever bought.

I am actually selling my Waverley house at the moment (it already has a contract on it) but it's a cute villa on an amazing corner section. I'll let you know a little more if the sale goes ahead.

I actually got approached to see if I would list it by an agent there who says they literally have a waiting list of people who want properties in the area, and he's sold 35 there in the last couple of months (a lot) - he even tracked me down in Aussie through my parents in NZ.

So even though I didn't really want to sell it, I thought I would give it a whirl (having never sold a house before!).

Waverley Beach is going off too -.

Even though it's only 900 odd people it's only 30k out of Wanganui, so that's where most of the tradespeople come from ditto property managers.
Also the proximity to Wanganui eliminates a lot of the risk (in my mind) of being such a small town. hey, in Sydney, that would be a suburb!

I reckon it would be a great place to buy. I really and truly think you will get capital gains there in the future if you stick to the 'affordable' end of the market.

If I didn't need to get 20k of cash for another project I am doing I wouldn't be selling this one. Coull Battell are managing it, out of Wanganui, Alice, and they have been good. No probs there.

I got a local through an ad in the Wanganui paper to do a couple of handyman jobs for me who lived locally, his name is Graeme. He did several jobs around the property for me and only charged me $180 including sending me a new set of photos to Aussie. I thought that was incredibly cheap considering the laundry list of things he did.

I could have just as easily got my rental manager to organise everything but I was just experimentally being pro-active seeing as the place was on the market. I'm sure I did fast-track things by a week.
cheers-
Mini

[wada]

Hi

Out of curiousity Mini and Noble what is the average rent in Waverley? Are investors buying up large or people who want to live there? Also what are land rates there? Thanks.

Wada

[AustinWong]

HI MiniMogul,

Are you able to advise the name and contact details of the property manager you use in Wanganui?

Is he/she and good?

Thanks