© Property Professor articles — www.thepropertyprofessor.net.au.
Reproduced with permission.
WHEN buying a property as a long-term home, the most important factor is location in all contexts of the word.
Buyers generally think of location as the suburb in which a property is located. This is a crucial consideration, but it is only one aspect of the issue.
Location also relates to proximity to features such as work, lifestyle or social activities.
Work location
If work is 20 minutes north of the CBD and commuting long distances twice a day is your worst nightmare, do not buy a home 20 minutes south of the city.
Proximity to the CBD
The CBD is a hub for any city, with its offices, shops, restaurants, bars and public transport infrastructure.
Buying near the CBD will add value to the property when the time comes to sell and it will make commuting easier for people who need public transport.
Closeness to family and friends
If spending time regularly with family and friends is important, don’t purchase a home that is far away from everyone that you know.
The long distance you and they will need to travel will become a deterrent for visiting each other.
This can be particularly important for families with young children where parents or grandparents are helping out with babysitting.
Availability of schools
Being close to a desirable school is important if you have children or intend to have children.
Buying a property within the zone of a highly popular school can also add value to the property.
Recreational factors
Buy near beaches, swimming pools, green open spaces or bike tracks if these are important aspects of your lifestyle.
Proximity to shops
This will add convenience to any homeowners’ life, but it is especially important for those who do not own a car.
An added benefit is being near a hub of shops that include a supermarket, bank, speciality stores and a post office.
Public transport
In cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, it can be critical to be near public transport, in particular a train station.
This can be important for lifestyle reasons, commuting to work and for the property’s capital growth in years to come.
All these factors will rarely align at once, but keep them in mind when buying.
They will make more of a difference to your lifestyle and happiness in the long term than buying a house simply because it looks good or because you could buy it for a couple of thousand dollars below the asking price.
– Peter ‘The Property Professor’ Koulizos