Golf course estates

[Jono]

Just read in the Sun Herald this morning how the residential properties surrounding golf courses are doing well. The houses in Macquarie Links is worth almost double the surrounding properties in Cambelltown. Twin Creeks in western Sydney is opening soon, and it also mentions courses outside Sydney such as Pacific Dunes in Port Stephens. Land around Magenta Shores is selling soon also, I believe.

Anyone considered buying one of these properties/blocks of land? Seems like a good investment. 8)

Those who already have purchased such a property, can you tell us a bit about your experiences? Pros and Cons?

[Fishman Dan]

Houses at Cypress Lakes, the Vintage, Sacntuary Cove.. the list goes on. Hopefully it won't come to the current situation as it is on the Golf Coast, real estate "Kiosks" at Service Stations! (There's one on Hope Island Rd)

Don't read too much into it - how much growth do you think there is in Campbelltown / Wallacia normally? When villa's start popping up of course they are going to outstrip the area. Central Coast is another story - 60 mins from Sydney and on the beach. Places like Tuggerah have been booming for 15 years because of Sydney money. There are no beaches in Wallacia / C'town ;)

If you have the moola to invest, then i don't *think* you can 'lose'.

[BrisVegas]

New developments in SEQ have ALL done well. We've got positive immigration, so there is always demand.

They say, golf community prices rise faster than the average. There are only a few around up here, so don't know how accuate that is...

[Jono]

This article said that many non-golfing buyers are choosing these properties ... View of a well kept golf course, extra features like swimming pools and tennis courts, security, etc. The values have gone up disproportionately compared to properties in the nearby areas. I don't know how accurate this article is though ...

[Grunt]

Macquarie links has not seem that good a return. It was way more expensive than the surrounding areas to start with

[amanda]

Twin Creeks is already open - however, it's not your normal estate - land starts at 4,000 sqm (yes - acreage) at around $900,000.

The other Sydney based options are Sydney Country Club (near Riverside Oaks - still trying to get the project off the ground) and Stonecutters Ridge (Schofields, Quakers Hill area).

Stonecutters Ridge opens for public land sales most likely in September 2006 - we have already purchased there - a nice block backing onto the 7th tee area.

Why we did it:
* still relatively close to the city for work (only another 5 min by train)
* views that won't be built out with other houses
* community facilities - swimming pool, gym, tennis courts, lots of public green space
* strong community focus - Troon is managing the estate and puts on regular events for kids & adults in the community
* security - while not a gated estate, there will still be security travelling around in golf carts at night
* the golf course - and excellent practice facilities - we'll never pay for range balls again!
* specific design rules for houses - no ugly monstrosities allowed (supposedly)
* membership is included with the land

This will cost us about the same as buying a piece of land with an older house, knock it down and rebuild - but there weren't many places with golf course views.

The only downsides are:
* it is about a 30-40min drive away from our families
* we don't really know the area (shops, schools etc)
* it's taking a while for Medallist to prepare the land for building etc - we can't even start preparing our plans until September/October this year - and construction won't start until at least April 2007.

[BrisVegas]

Good luck with it Amanda! Sounds like you picked a nice spot!

One word of caution I would say is to pay attention to the Homeowners/Body Corporate. Early on in the developments, the developer will try to run the show as much as possible without any input from the landowners. They are happy to take your fees, but don't like you to interfere in their decisions. Often they will devote a massive portion of the money towards beautifying the sales office and entry gardens, and ignore the streetscapes in the areas already sold. It's YOUR homeowners club and you can vote out the management company if you gather enough interest in your neighbours. Troon will have stitched up a deal with someone like Ernst Body Corporate etc. and they'll fight tooth and nail to hang onto their (massive) administrative fees.

[amanda]

Thanks BV - I'm praying that the body corporate runs smoothly - I am secretary for the one at our unit - it's an absolutely horror job and I don't want to fight the same battles again!

[BrisVegas]

how's the house plans/construction going amanda?

[amanda]

Nothing's happening - we have a design we like from a project builder - just waiting for the developer to get the site ready so we can start soil tests, contour surveys etc.

They had some weather delays, now some arguments with one of the parties involved in the development.

All up - we're totally annoyed! So much so, that we're going away to Vietnam in November to spend some $$$ :)

A piece of good news - they are not going to make the club upscale & private - I think they realised that for a new course - you can't really do that and make money (as what is currently going on at Macquarie Links). The plan is to make it the best mid-range course in the area - so fees are likely to be around the $1k mark to entire more local area golfers to join. I'm not sure how many Greg Norman-designed courses there are out there for such a cheap membership!

They won't be getting Troon or Clubcorp to manage either. There'll be a full scale driving range for public access and a pro shop run by a big golf chain to manage it (similar to what they have at Sydney Olympic Park I'd imagine).

Community facilities (pools, tennis courts, gym etc) will be an annual fee - somewhere in the $400 range per family. No community title - so no quarterly fees.

All we do now is wait & save money. The nice part about the delays is that next month our unit will be fully paid off!