Clever buyers are using ‘one’ idea to save millions in some of Australia’s most exclusive suburbs
For many Australian home buyers, buying into their desired suburb comes with a hefty, multi-million-dollar price tag.
However, there may still be some hope, with one-bedroom houses offering the ideal foothold for millions less.
In fact, choosing to purchase a one-bedroom house over an apartment may help buyers with future purchases too, with young professionals and young couples seeing it as a stepping stone to bigger opportunities.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“They want to stay in the area they’ve been brought up in or live as close as possible,” said Hayley Woods, director of buyer’s agency Lock and Key in Sydney.
Ms Woods said having a freehold in most suburbs, without the need to pay strata fees in apartments, was the ideal option for most buyers looking to purchase a property in prestige suburbs.
“There’s room for development in those sorts of properties,” she said.
“The block of land will be what it will be, but you can build up, extend and do things to the home to add value. There are limitations in a strata block.”
Here are just a few of the one-bedroom houses on the market in sought-after suburbs across Sydney and Melbourne.
$3 million under
This one-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Woollahra has a guide of $1.65 million, well below the suburb’s median of $4.96 million.
It has an open-plan kitchen, living and dining room, a study nook, laundry, courtyard and attic storage.
The listing states the property is “just 100 metres stroll from Queen Street’s gourmet delights and just minutes walk from Centennial Parklands and Paddington’s dining and retail offerings”.
$2 million under
In need of some TLC, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom home on 104.5sqm is on the market with a guide of $1.2 million in an inner-west suburb of Sydney where the median is $3.13 million.
Selling agent Rita Lopresti of CobdenHayson Balmain said it had attracted interest from a mix of buyers so far.
“We’ve got young couples who are looking to make it their first home, we have some builders looking at what options they have in terms of renovating it,” Ms Lopresti said.
“It’s really one of the most prestigious suburbs on the peninsular.”
$1.75 million under
Set on a decent block of 312sqm, this Hawthorn property has a guide of $1.049 million, well below the suburb’s $2.75 million median.
The “single-fronted brick Victorian cottage c1890” is ripe for a full renovation or even a knockdown, subject to council approval.
$1.5 million under
This Paddington home in Sydney’s east is on the market with a guide of $1.85 million, while the median suburb price sits well above this, at $3.43 million.
The home includes a single car space as well as loft access, plus some original charm, with leadlight windows and timber floors.
“The demographic that it seems to have attracted is entry-level Paddington buyers, whether that be by way of them as purchases or family trying to the get kids into what is ultimately a blue-chip market,” selling agent Mitchell Dansey of DiJones Eastern Suburbs said.
$800k under
Newly renovated and featuring plenty of character charm, this Victorian terrace is set in the heart of the “North Fitzroy Village precinct”, according to the listing.
It has a guide of $899,000 in a suburb where the median sits at $1.7 million.
$700k under
This two-storey home has a guide of $790,000-$860,000, listed through Jodie McCarthy ofJellisCraig Richmond.
Ms McCarthy said the house had so far attracted several young couples and young singles looking to get into the suburb, which has a median house price of $1.32 million.
“Young couples are really trying to get into Abbotsford. It’s a tiny suburb surrounded by bigger suburbs and sometimes gets overlooked.”
She said many young couples move into Abbotsford before having children and then look to nearby suburbs when they are ready to move to a larger property.
This article first appeared at view.com.au.
