Logan or Ipswich for subdivision

Hi all, I've been looking at Logan and Ipswich for our next purchase. I want something that can be subdivided (not immediately). In the meantime yield is still important so I've narrowed down my search to Marsden, Kingston, Woodridge and Eagleby due to their low median prices and relatively high rent returns.

Local property managers seem to be of the opinion Eagleby would be the best choice as far as tenant quality goes.

Logan Council said I need a minimum of 1100m2 and 4m driveway access width. I have yet to contact Ipswich council.

I'm flying up there next week to have a look in person but I'm undecided which of the two I should focus on, would love some input. Which council is easier to deal with for subdivisions? Any issues I need to be aware of eg acid sulphate soils, mine subsidence... something else?

Cheers!
 
OTV - You may find Ipswich Council has similar requirements to Logan. We have an 800m2 corner block in Ipswich Shire and the council would only allow us to do a dual occupancy development.

Council required 1200m2 for sub-division approval, even though a new housing estate opened up about 100m from our property which had the "cottage" style blocks of 300m2 - 400m2 and they allowed the boundary to boundary 4,2,2 houses to be built on them.

An exercise in futility is to try to discuss common sense regarding block sizes and small residential developments to council.... :rolleyes:

By the way .... Ipswich council contribution costs on completion are extremely expensive (we had to pay $17,000 and this was a discount rate. Sub-division would have cost much more. There was enough profit in the development to still make it worthwhile.) plus Ipswich council rates are very expensive.

Compare all the costs and requirements between the Ipswich and Brisbane councils. This may help you decide the best area for you to start looking.

All the best

Mystery
 
+1 Mystery!

OP, calculate all the cost in your calculation for yield (inc tenants drama, Repairs with older properties, rates and all) especially, in logan area.

From memory, it will cost you around $23k to create another lot. you may find lot of properties that are already in two lots.(and wont have to pay$23K extra for it)

Keep eye on this thread;

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93704

RPI is our in house Lawyer, Town planner and experienced property investor. wouldn't heart to talk to him for property that you may be interested in.


Good Luck!
 
Eagleby comes under the Gold Coast planning scheme, a hang over from council amalgamations so has quite different requirements from the rest of logan.

Pm me some addresses and I will respond through here
 
By the way .... Ipswich council contribution costs on completion are extremely expensive (we had to pay $17,000 and this was a discount rate. Sub-division would have cost much more. There was enough profit in the development to still make it worthwhile.) plus Ipswich council rates are very expensive.

Compare all the costs and requirements between the Ipswich and Brisbane councils. This may help you decide the best area for you to start looking.

All the best

Mystery

+1 for that

logan is even worse,

I was looking at subdividing an acre block into 5 lots and including everything turnkey was like $220-$250k just for subdividing!!!!

the contribution costs are about $27k per new lot plus council fees, the council is being stupid on this matter, and hence you may not get any change out of $35k per lot,m then you have engineers, surveyors, infratstraucte on top of that!
 
+1 for that

logan is even worse,

I was looking at subdividing an acre block into 5 lots and including everything turnkey was like $220-$250k just for subdividing!!!!

the contribution costs are about $27k per new lot plus council fees, the council is being stupid on this matter, and hence you may not get any change out of $35k per lot,m then you have engineers, surveyors, infratstraucte on top of that!
$27k is per lot is pretty standard in QLD now. Adopted Infrastructure Charges Resolutions are usually between $25-$28k per 3 bed lot or higher (or vacant land that can accomodate 3bed or higher) and $19-$21k per 2 bed lot or lower.

It depends on the Council but most have moved to this fixed price model rather than using actual need for a site type models.
 
Thanks. I heard about the outrageous contribution costs in QLD generally, was hoping they weren't that bad in those areas but no such luck it seems.

RPI thanks for the offer, I shall pm you when I see a property of interest.

I just spoke to a Logan agent and apparently splitter blocks are hot property at the moment, hard to come by and go as soon as they're listed. My back up option is to buy a renovator instead and even those are selling quickly.

Maybe not as hot in Ipswich, will have to make some enquiries.
 
I purchased a 3000sqm block for subdivision in Ipswich earlier this year.

RPI is helping me with the split.

Expected costs are as per above.
 
What zoning is it? How many blocks can you split this into?

Standard resi.

There are several options for the site.

I could retain the original house and probably get three off the back. They would only be 500 - 600m2 though, which is relatively small for the area.

Will probably split two bigger blocks 700+. I will build and hold.

Council would prefer I built a road down the side so access can be gained to other blocks, but I don't really want to spend that much money at this point.
 
I saw a couple of houses on large blocks/duplex for sale around Sunnybank Hills and Runcorn when researching a year ago in $400,000 - $500,000 range. Not sure how often they come up. Waterford has large blocks for sale, lots of land around so probably not much $ growth for a while yet.
 
$27k is per lot is pretty standard in QLD now. Adopted Infrastructure Charges Resolutions are usually between $25-$28k per 3 bed lot or higher (or vacant land that can accomodate 3bed or higher) and $19-$21k per 2 bed lot or lower.

It depends on the Council but most have moved to this fixed price model rather than using actual need for a site type models.
We were very fortunate that when we submitted the DA application (2008), The council had a discount in place to attract development, so we qualified for the reduced amount.

Just before we had the new build started (2012), I found out about the QLD Boost Scheme (no longer available) which qualified us for $10,000 on completion, so it only actually cost us $7,000.

Mystery
 
+1 for that

logan is even worse,

I was looking at subdividing an acre block into 5 lots and including everything turnkey was like $220-$250k just for subdividing!!!!

the contribution costs are about $27k per new lot plus council fees, the council is being stupid on this matter, and hence you may not get any change out of $35k per lot,m then you have engineers, surveyors, infratstraucte on top of that!

The Qld government used to subsidise councils for infrastructure on new developments/re-developments, but in the past few years councils have had to pass full costs on to developers.

I'm not really wanting to debate the merits of the quantum of the charges, but that's the reason they've gone sky high.
 
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