Should I Buy Interstate? - April 2024

By Rich Harvey, CEO & Founder, propertybuyer.com.au

Are you having a quarter-year crisis and thinking that a drastic change of scenery, such as a move interstate, could be just what the doctor ordered? Or perhaps looking at price movements and forecasts for housing markets further afield than where you live now?

The notion of moving or investing interstate isn’t as crazy as you might think.

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that in the 12 months to September 2023, there were wild movements internally as people hopped from state to state in droves.

Take New South Wales. In that year period, almost 117,000 people upped and moved somewhere else in Australia, while 83,000 new residents arrived from interstate. Or look at Queensland, which saw 110,000 new arrivals from elsewhere in the country, while 77,000 left the sunshine in search of something else.

You get the picture. Moving around inside the country is common, whether for work, family or lifestyle reasons.

And investing somewhere other than your backyard is also popular – and increasingly so, as some property markets perform better than others.

Should you join them?

A major trend during the early part of the Covid pandemic was people ditching where they’d long resided in favour of going somewhere else.

There were big moves out of Melbourne, the lockdown capital of the world, and a steady flow from Sydney too. Regional centres became extremely popular, like the Surf Coast, Ballarat and Bendigo in Victoria and the Central Coast and South Coast in New South Wales.

Adelaide also saw a rush of new residents. The South Australian capital finally shook off its daggy and dreary reputation, and people realised there’s plenty to love about the Festival City. Its comparatively affordable housing stock was a big one.

Southeast Queensland saw an influx, with hordes of people heading north for a slice of the good life in Brisbane or on the Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast. Again, the chance to get a lot more bang for your Sydney or Melbourne buck didn’t hurt the appeal.

Those trends have definitely slowed from their frenzied Covid highs, but interstate migration rates remain strong. I suspect that most of us know someone who’s made a big move in recent years, and so we can see that it’s possible.

Maybe you’re keen to escape the rat race of our major cities in exchange for somewhere that offers a bit of vibrancy without the congestion, angst and extraordinary house prices. Perhaps you’re keen for a rural tree change, adopting a laid-back country lifestyle for you and your family. Or it might be that a relaxed beach style is what you’ve been dreaming of.

We’ve worked with a lot of clients in recent times who are keen to get out town in search of something… better.

Some know exactly where they want to go. They’ve got a city, town or region in mind and a clearly defined set of criteria, as well as a budget to work with. They might be familiar with their new patch, having visited on holiday or thanks to a friend or colleague who’s moved before them. For some, they’ve never set foot in the place but know enough to be confident they’ll like it.

Then we’ve had a few who need something new but have no idea where to go. One came to me last year with a simple request: “Rich, I want to live by the beach somewhere quiet, but still be able to get to Sydney with relative ease if I need to.” Others are even more open-minded, without even a preference for the state!

They can simple picture themselves somewhere – surrounded by trees, in a quaint village, or by the ocean – and they’re open to ideas.

In other cases, the location and the timeline are extremely rigid because someone has landed a new job or a transfer with their employer. They need to be in Brisbane in 12 weeks, in a house in a safe neighbourhood, connected to public transport, with enough space for their two kids and a bit of a backyard for the dog.

We’ve also worked with clients who are keen to buy a holiday home, which they either visit occasionally now or rent out until they’re ready to retire there at some point in the distant future.

And, of course, we work with plenty of investors who see interesting things happening interstate and want a piece of the action. They might know very little – or absolutely nothing, in some cases – about the pocket they want to splash some cash in, but they want to take advantage of current or future movements now.

That’s great, but not without risk

Imagine the last time you bought a home or an investment property. What do you remember about the entire process, from start to finish?

If you went it alone and didn’t engage the services of an expert buyer’s agent, I’m willing to bet you had to invest a significant amount of time. Working out what you want, deciding on a list of criteria, scoping out areas, beginning the arduous search, going to open homes, dealing with real estate agents, competing with a high level of buyers for a still-shallow pool of potential properties, making offers, going to auction… it’s no easy task.

Now, imagine doing that somewhere that’s hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. Imagine trying to get a sense of what a particular suburb is like, as well as individual neighbourhoods and streets within them. Picture the potential pitfalls you could stumble into by not really knowing what makes a place tick. Where are the good areas? What are the suburbs to avoid? Are there opportunities on the horizon worth considering?

Imagine the stress of driving or flying in and out to cram in as many inspections as you can, or worse, relying on agents to send you video walk-throughs and hoping for the best.

Think of all the homework you’ve done in the past to ensure you’re making the most informed buying decision possible and figure out if you can devote that same level of due diligence to potential deals that are a world away from where you are.

And then just try to get your head around how you’d possibly figure out what an individual home is really worth. Ouch!

There is another way

Rather than break yourself trying to do a proper job of due diligence in an interstate market, a buyer’s agent can take on the work for you.

We have buyer’s agents across large parts of Australia who work day in, day out on the ground in their respective patches. They know them inside and out, from a macro city level right down to a granular street-by-street insight.

They know what dwellings on what streets in which suburb are worth pursuing, and the ones to avoid. They know the actual value of a home. And they know what current levels of supply and demand are like, dictating the right strategy to use when buying.

Our buyer’s agents work with locals, but a big part of their jobs involve helping those from interstate to either buy a new home or to invest.

They work with clients from out of town to understand what they need and want, and then go out into the market to get it. And they source properties that those going it alone would miss out on ordinarily, by tapping into finely tuned networks to unearth off-market opportunities.

When the client is happy with one of the homes we’ve scoured the town for, our buyer’s agents take care of everything else, from price analysis to arranging inspections through to negotiating the purchase and ensuring the settlement is smooth sailing.

So, it is easier than ever to buy interstate… so long as your interests are being represented by an experienced and well-connected local buyer’s agent. They can ensure you gain a unique advantage not only against other interstate buyers, but also in competition with less experienced local purchasers too. Buyers’ agent are the ace up your sleeve for interstate real estate.

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