$6.3M block of units secured in Maroubra

The asset

The block sits in one of Maroubra’s quieter residential pockets, on a piece of land that would be very hard to put together today. What we bought:

• A substantial 955sqm landholding
• Seven residential apartments: four two-bedroom units and three one-bedroom units
• Four lock-up garages
• Approximately seven minutes’ walk to Maroubra Junction
• Approximately eighteen minutes’ walk to Maroubra Beach

The same owner had held it for more than 30 years. Blocks like this almost never come up.

Why this asset stood out

Most buyers look at a block like this and see seven apartments collecting rent. There are really three separate things going on at once, and they reinforce each other.

Steady income now, land that cannot be replaced, and room to do something different later.

Finding all three in the one property is uncommon.

A strong income-producing asset

The rent comes from seven separate tenancies rather than one. If a unit sits empty for a month, six others keep paying, which is a very different risk profile to a single dwelling.

Our rental analysis also showed several units leased below market rates, creating potential to increase income over time through rent reviews, subject to tenancy requirements.

Not all value comes out of a building site. Some of it comes from running the place properly.

The real asset is the land

The rent got our attention. The strength of the purchase sits underneath the buildings.

It is the land, and there is not much of it left at this size in the Eastern Suburbs.

A 955sqm holding in an established suburb gives an owner options that a smaller investment cannot. Subject to planning approval, it can be held for income, improved a piece at a time, or redeveloped down the track. The land keeps paying long after this year’s rent is banked.

Having choices is worth a great deal in property.

Location matters

A building is only half the story. The other half is where it sits, and how hard that spot would be to find again.

The block looks out across the surrounding rooftops towards the coast, which gives it a sense of space and privacy you rarely get on an investment of this size. It is also easy to live in:

• Approximately seven minutes’ walk to Maroubra Junction
• Approximately eighteen minutes’ walk to Maroubra Beach
• A quiet, established residential setting
• Excellent transport connections and everyday amenities
• Strong long-term demand from both owner-occupiers and quality tenants

Those are the things that keep tenants interested now and hold the value up over the decades.

The strategy: buying when everyone else stops looking

Most people switch off over the holidays. The property market does not, and some of the better opportunities turn up exactly when nobody else is looking.

Fewer buyers, fewer inspections, and far more direct conversations with the people who actually make the decision.

If you are ready to go, those quiet weeks hand you deals that will not exist once the market fills back up. Buyers drift off to other things, but the properties keep trading. It just becomes a calmer process, with more room to talk properly and move quickly, and without the heat that comes with a busy campaign season.

Opportunities do not run to a calendar. They run to circumstance.

Relationships open doors

People often ask whether the best opportunities are on market or off market. Most of the good ones do not sit neatly in either box. They come out of relationships built over years with local agents, owners and other people in the industry, out of hearing that someone is thinking about selling before a campaign starts, and out of being ready to move when it does.

Relationships are no substitute for knowing the numbers. On their own they are worth very little. Put the two together and you start seeing deals most buyers never hear about.

Scarcity creates value

Scarcity is one of the strongest forces in property.

There will always be new apartments and new developments. What cannot be replaced is a large piece of land in an established suburb with several income streams already on it. Once one of those passes to a long-term owner, it tends to stay put for decades.

This block is the proof. One owner, more than thirty years, and then it was gone again.

The outcome

At $6.3 million our client bought a good deal more than seven units. They bought a piece of Eastern Suburbs land that already pays its way:

• Immediate rental income
• Strong underlying land value
• Multiple income streams
• Future strategic flexibility
• A tightly held Eastern Suburbs location

The best assets bring location, scarcity, income and future options together in a single purchase. A good investment earns its keep now and keeps handing you choices for years afterwards.

This acquisition was made for a client of the LN Apex Investors Club, the arm of our business that works with investors rather than owner-occupiers.