Cate Bakos on investing in Ballarat and regional areas: How the experts buy

Buying in regional areas can allow investors with a lower budget to start building a property portfolio, according to Buyers agent Cate Bakos from Empower Wealth.

Bakos spoke to Property Observer as part of the How the Experts Buy series.

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Bakos says buying in the right areas of Ballarat can give buyers capital growth of 6% to 7%.

The key is understanding what the residents of regional towns are really after.

Whereas buyers in cities might look towards easy access to public transport as a prime indicator of value, those in regional areas put less of an emphasis on this.

Bakos tells buyers to look for established houses in the inner suburbs of Ballarat which are well insulated and on larger plots of land close to major employers.

Areas like Mount Clear and Mount Helen are close to the University of Ballarat, IBM, and goverment services like the Australian Tax Office and the emergency services.

Depending on the property some investors would do well to gear their property towards sharehouses for contractors.

She says many residents of Ballarat actually commute to Melbourne and are looking for larger more luxurious properties than they can afford in Melbourne.

She says yields in Ballarat are around 5.5% to 6.5%. Properties between $200,000 to $240,000 can have rental yields above 6% and properties between $240,000 to $280,000 yield around 5.8%.

Cate was recently awarded the Buyers Agent of the Year award by Your Property Investment magazine.