Buying a Unit / Apartment in Adelaide

[ghs]

I am thinking about buying a unit / apartment next year.

Do you guys have any advice on where to buy, where to get finance etc ?

I know it can be risky to buy a unit / apartment in a building which has not been
built - If you do this then the development might not be constructed for a few years.

[jk1237]

One important factor that affects the cost is if you want an included carpark or not. Also must check the strata fees and ACC rates as I believe the council rates are quite high compared to living just over the other side of the parklands. All I know is that apartment buildings that contain elevators, pools and gyms have pretty hefty strata fees.

btw that apartment building on Ifould Street is nearly done and looks fairly smart with the woodwork on the balconies

[PeFe]

We LOVE foreign investors here in Australia, I don't think you will have any issues if you buy an off-the-plan apartment (buying from plans before it is built) Yes you will find Australian real estate prices out of this world compared to middle America, but remember Sydney is LA (real estate wise) so maybe Adelaide is Sacramento (?) You can really only compare Australia to California,real estate price wise.

[Dog]

I am all for inner city living but there can be some apartment traps. Some of the CBD apartments have high strata fees especially when servicing lifts pools and Gyms. Some times these cost can be minimised if the building shares gyms and pool sect with a hotel component, or inversely you could unwittingly end up sharing the cost of a concierge. Some buildings have car lifts which may be problematic and expensive long term if repair costs have to be shared by only few owners if the building is small.
Another drawback can be resale, in a building of several hundred apartments all the same, you usually find that there is always someone else more desperate to sell that yourself which can force resale down, sort of a race to the bottom. So if I was looking again for a CBD apartment I would be trying to find a unique building and then within it a unique or special apartment to offset the desperate sale factor. It could be something like best view, extra car park, unique balcony, anything that gives your apartment the edge over others in the building. (An extra car park can also be a handy investment to offset the strata fees)
Also look at the services, I almost purchased in a brand new building, I found a great apartment, just loved the view, but by the time I had sold my home and went back for another look the building was partly occupied, the waste system was in use by then and I discovered the waste (rubbish) shoot for that floor was near my front door and the smell was gross. (Never noticed when viewing it new or if I had purchased off the plan) also be wary of some shared sunny spaces, other tenants can take it onto them selves to hang out washing etc. it's not a bad idea even if purchasing off the plan to look at lots of occupied buildings to work out what works and what doesn't.
After a lot of looking I ended up with a Torrens title town house, which has lots of advantages, but I still envy that Manhattan view available only from apartments. Good luck.


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[ghs]

I had a look at a unit in the Ipad building on Waymouth Street last week.

The unit is priced at $139,000 and is an absolute shoe box. A lot of these apartments
in student buildings in the CBD are for sale which pushes the prices down.

I think if you buy into one of these shoeboxes they can be hard to sell. Who wants to live
in a shoebox and I tend to think they can be difficult to rent out as well. With the Aussie
dollar being high the international student market is not so strong.

I like The Embassy building on North Terrace, obviously the apartments there will be more
expensive then Ipad, but overall I believe it would be better to buy a good sized apartment
then a shoebox at Ipad.