Villa Unit Versus Unit In Multi-Storey Block - Pros and Cons

[fionas]

So I'm thinking of buying an investment property. It will either be a villa unit or a unit in a multi-storey block in inner Melbourne.

I'm planning to rent it out for about 3-5 years, then possibly sell and put any capital gains towards buying a house as an investment.

Now, it should be easy enough to rent it out because the Melbourne rental market is so tight right now. But, I'm a tad concerned about selling a villa unit as I guess they've never personally appealed to me.

I guess the benefits over a unit in a block are that a)there's no neighbours above or below making noise and b)no stairs and c) they're usually bigger and d) there's often a bit of a yard.

What have your experiences been?

[Mak]

I would choose a villa unit over an apartment as I think they offer more versatility in terms of rental appeal and will possibly appreciate better but it does depend on where/what you are looking at and how much you want to spend.
There can be a massive difference in the apartments/units offered themselves. So a new apartment in a new complex with lots of apartments or an older apartment in a smaller block in a similiar area. How much the ongoing costs are for body corporate and how much upkeep is on the building itself ??- so pools/gyms etc.
Don't underestimate the appeal of buying a small house/unit in an area that you wouldn't really live in as you may be surprised at the rent you could gain, ITMS. Watch for PT, access to things that appeal for lifestyle such as parks/beach/shops and other attractions.
I am completely biased as I rented innercity apartments for a while in my early 20's and they had constant movement and some difficulties with parking/neighbours/maintenance issues that cost the owner a lot on an ongoing basis and our rent never really went up as their was so much competition. Mind you the block was badly built....I cannot believe how much development is still happening and often wonder how they fill it all!

[Arimeh]

You can always buy our place in tassie - cheap to buy, good rental return and cheap rates and body corporate lol

Seriously though, when I was single or just had no kids, I was more interested in a unit block, especially if I was into clubbing and worked close to the city. It was only when I had kids that I ever worried about having a little area out the back, so I suppose it depends on what type of tenants you would prefer living in your investment property? Maybe even consider a townhouse kind of property to cover more types of renters to make sure it never has a chance of being empty?