Show notes – Which are important and how important are they as an investor vs when buying your own home (Ep.176)

What is an amenity?

“a desirable or useful feature or facility of a building or place”

A facility can be a building or if we’re talking property, a room or equipment.

An amenity is a structure or a place that is designed to provide comfort, convenience or enjoyment.

Post office is a facility, a café is an amenity.

How far is walking distance?

There is no hard and fast rule, generally it is 5 min walk or 400m. That doesn’t include if you have to cross a main road or if there is some obstruction in the way. That is ideal

Most people prefer not to walk more than 800m to 1.2km or 10 mins walk. Up to 1.2km is the distance that you want.

You can be too close to some amenities

1. Main road – 1 or 2 houses away
2. Main road intersection – cars waiting at lights, air pollution as well as noise pollution
3. Boom gates
4. Train station – probably need to be further away

It is subjective – for some people it’s an amenity, for some people it’s a facility and for others it’s a nuisance. As an investor. You want to look for an amenity that 8 out of 10 people will be happy with. Try and remove your own personal preferences, who is going to be willing to pay the most for these locations and assets and try to marry that up

Walk score

1. Walk Score measures the walkability of any address.
2. For each address, Walk Score analyzes hundreds of walking routes to nearby amenities.
3. Points are awarded based on the distance to amenities in each category.
   1. Dining and drinking
   2. Groceries
   3. Shopping
   4. Errands
   5. Parks
   6. Schools
   7. Culture & Entertainment
4. Amenities within a 5 minute walk (.25 miles) are given maximum points.
5. A decay function is used to give points to more distant amenities, with no points given after a 30 minute walk.

Which amenities are most important to us, personally and professionally?

Peter – Open space to have a run or a walk

Dave –

1. Access to schools and kindergarten
2. Freeway close by
3. Camberwell junction that has everything that you need.
4. Parks
5. Not very close to a river or ocean, but it is slightly beyond a km

Cate – Shopping strip and the train

Which amenities do we feel are most important in the cities around Australia?

Adelaide

1. City
2. Beach
3. Shopping centres
4. Public transport is not so important in Adelaide

Melbourne/Sydney

1. Village shops and cafes
2. Schools
3. Public transport
4. Opportunity for a walk – leafy trail, along the creek
5. Dog park access