The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties

EP. 1405 TALE OF THE SALE, OF THE EASIEST FIRST HOME TO BUY IN DY

• Mark Novak, Billy Drury • Season 30 • Episode 1405

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A stunning one-bedroom unit at Wheeler Parade just sold for $700,000, demonstrating that beachside living on the Northern Beaches remains accessible for first-time buyers and savvy investors. Located at the coveted beach end of Dee Why, this property represents the perfect stepping stone into a market many believe is out of reach.

The property's impressive investment history tells the story: purchased for $515,000 in 2018, sold for $620,000 in 2023, and now achieving $700,000 in 2025. Each owner enjoyed substantial capital growth, with the most recent sellers pocketing $80,000 after just two years of ownership. What's particularly noteworthy is how they maximised returns while holding the property, generating approximately $170 per night through Airbnb with nearly 100% occupancy – significantly outperforming traditional rental returns of around $600 weekly.

Unlike many entry-level properties, this unit required zero renovation work. It featured beautiful timber flooring throughout, stone benchtops in the kitchen, a dishwasher, balcony (rare at this price point), and a fully renovated bathroom. For first-home buyers, the numbers are compelling: purchase with just a $35,000 deposit (5%), no stamp duty for first-timers, and after-tax holding costs of approximately $109 weekly.

We ran a comprehensive financial analysis using ChatGPT, factoring in all expenses: strata ($900/quarter), water, council rates, mortgage costs at 6% interest, rental income, and tax benefits. The final numbers reveal why this property represents such an opportunity – affordable entry into beachside living that also functions as a high-performing investment.

Don't let anyone tell you that property ownership on the Northern Beaches is impossible. This sale proves that with the right approach, strategic thinking, and willingness to begin your journey with a stepping stone property, you can secure your place in one of Sydney's most desirable locations. Ready to find your own Wheeler Parade opportunity? Give us a call today.

Speaker 1:

oh, this was an exciting sale. Beautiful, beautiful one bedroom unit 700,000 and with the first time, buy stuff out there. You could buy that with a thirty five thousand dollar deposit or a twenty thousand dollar deposit. Stay tuned, I'm the ringleader, so I'm gonna. Good morning, billy Drury.

Speaker 2:

Hello Property Doctor. How are you? A really good topic this morning. Good, how are you Really good, really good topic this morning Good, how are you?

Speaker 1:

Really good, really good. Long weekend, unfortunately, we lost the Pope of the world, the Catholic world.

Speaker 2:

We did, Mr Pope Francis. Yeah, what a sad day.

Speaker 1:

Sad day. Respect, respect, huge respect. Now tell us about Wheeler, because I thought this property I absolutely loved. I thought it was a real for everybody sort of property Sold for $700,000, and it was a one better and, geez, it felt good. Tell me more about it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love a money-making story, you know, where everyone's a winner and the buyer buys something that they love and never goes wrong. Like we're talking about a property here where, for the last you know three sales, everyone's made money. 2018 it was purchased for 515 000. It then sold in 2023 for 620 000. That was when we had the opportunity to sell the property and the owners actually only held on to it for two years 2023 to 2025, they were presented with a move, I think overseas, where they said we're going to sell up, we've done really well and let's move on. So they sold for $700,000. But in the interim the two years there. What I love about this property is it had the capacity to generate an Airbnb income, which, for the owners, worked out really nicely because it was about they were getting $170 a night here, compared to a regular tenant moving in just under 600 a week. So they only needed to really rent about three nights a week to make up the difference and they never missed a night.

Speaker 2:

So apparently in two years the thing was occupied the whole time yeah, the occupancy was really great and, look, it doesn't surprise me, uh, why? Because have a look at, um, where's my photo here. I was going to say have a look at where it sits. I'm just going to plot the photo as we're going on, but, like there are some properties that are, I think, better than others for this model, and this is one of them. It's, it's right, right, um, at the end of dy uh beach. You're walking distance to everything and it's just a happy place and, as you said, appeals to everyone. Because it was ground floor, no stairs on the way in. You could pretty much put anyone in there and and they'd be really comfortable now this property that's sold for 700,000.

Speaker 1:

I was excited about because and I referred it to so many clients, friends, family, first-time buyers, because just the numbers, when you look at the fact that a first-time buyer can make a move with a 5% deposit and when you look at the fact that that's probably $35,000, the fact that it doesn't attract stamp duty if you're a first-time buyer, they're getting instead $35, thousand bucks, and that's it correct.

Speaker 2:

Even better is this one didn't actually require any further investment. So quite often we find our entry-level price points have been properties that haven't had work done along the way. So you know, as a first-time buyer you're factoring in your big chunk of savings, which is your deposit, and then you're worried about the rentability or the livability of the property. You, you know people are moving in saying I just can't live there straight away. I'd need to do a flooring or kitchen or bathroom renovation. In this case it was all done, which which was just amazing. So if you have a look at the um, if you have a look at the lead photo here, um, you'll see really, really nice living room. So again, guys, if you're just tuning in, this one on wheeler parade, beach end of dy, sold for 700 000 really beautiful um timber flooring all the way through renovated ceiling it's not that old vermiculite ceiling. The kitchen was nicely done as well stone bench shops, dishwashers in had a balcony again quite rare for its price point. Bathroom was all done yeah, wow bedroom, good-sized bedroom.

Speaker 2:

You know, sometimes the bedrooms are only, like you know, two and a half by three, but this was a big room. This is a really good size room. Um, and have a look at this for its location. This is what I'm most passionate about, because people say you can't buy near the beach as a first home buyer. Have a look at that. It's right down the beach end of dy. You've got the lagoon there. If you turn left and walk up the Pacific parade, you, you reach the shops and the beeline bus transport in about 10 minutes, and that's why this property performs so well online. There's your floor plan. So money, money, make them. What a moneymaker.

Speaker 1:

And the first now I have a Billy I've found. Do you know how much the strata was it was on this property and how much the strata water council?

Speaker 2:

yeah, the strata was only about nine hundred a quarter. It's a small block of only 12 units because it's very, very minimal in its upkeep. A lot of that strata just goes straight into their savings. So about 900 a quarter was the total. A lot of that goes into savings. They do some block maintenance and you know gardening for you, but other than that it's pretty minimal.

Speaker 1:

Classic 1970s build a 1960s thing for an investor or for a first-time buyer, because the first time buyer can live in the property for the first 12 months, then rent it out. I've got a new. I've got a new friend. I was a little bit lonely on the weekend because the family went to Singapore, so me and check GPT. And then I was also lonely because I was driving on Sunday to a friend's place for lunch and I couldn't really call any other friends because I knew they'd all be having sort of family lunches. So I decided to open up some dialogue with just a friend called ChatGPT. Now she was pretty cool.

Speaker 1:

So I've got to say, guys, hey, chatgpt, I'm considering buying a unit in TY. It's for sale for $700,000. The strata levy is $900,000 a quarter, the water is about $200,000 a quarter and the council rates are $400,000 a quarter. What I'd like to know is, if I had a six percent interest rate and I had the property rented out for 600 per week, what would it cost me per week to own this property? And please assume being a first home buyer being the sorry. Please assume with the income that I'm earning, that I'm on, say, 82,000 per year. Look at my New South Wales tax rates for negative gearing and please give me how much this will cost me per week. After my rent came in and my mortgage went out and all of my costs went out, and then my tax deduction, negative gearing came in.

Speaker 3:

Cool went out and all of my costs went out. And then my tax deduction negative gearing came in. Sure, let's break it down. First we'll calculate the total annual costs. Strata nine hundred dollars a quarter is thirty six hundred dollars per year. Water two hundred dollars a quarter is eight hundred dollars per year. Council rates four hundred dollars a quarter is sixteen hundred dollars per year. Council rates $400 a quarter is $1,600 per year. So your total annual costs, excluding the mortgage, are $6,000. Now let's calculate your mortgage costs.

Speaker 2:

Tom Dobson.

Speaker 3:

With a loan of $560,000 at a 6% interest rate, your annual interest is $33,600. Add this to your other costs and the total is $39,600 per year Weekly. This is about $761 in costs. Now your rental income at $600 per week totals $31,200 annually. Subtracting this from your costs leaves a shortfall of $8,400 per year, or around $162 per week.

Speaker 2:

For tax deductions, the $8,400 loss can be deducted from your taxable income. On an $82,000 income, your marginal tax rate is likely 32.5%. So your tax saving is about $2,730 per year, or roughly $53 per week. So after tax benefits you'd be out of pocket. Get about $109 per week. Wow, there you go. Your point is, if you don't want to call a real estate agent, call your friend Chachi PT and they will do the initial consultation with you. You've just got to know the right questions to ask.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like the real estate agent's ad, will have the Strata Water Council. You know your interest rate is going to be around 5.86. You've got all the information you need. That. That is my uncle, my mortgage broker, my accountant, my real estate agent.

Speaker 2:

I would have to talk separately, but I think what we're going to say is I'm quite often on the agent's description. Your council water strata rates are there. You know the interest rate you're going to be paying, you know where you earn, you know where you live. You can do all of these sort of rough numbers without actually picking up the phone and that's a wrap that's it. Have a great day, thank you have a great day.

Speaker 1:

That is a really good buy. And when people say to me they can't afford to buy, people on the northern beaches say they can't afford to buy on the northern beaches Again, I look at addresses like that, this one in Wheeler, parade 15 and 5, wheeler for 700 grand, and I go guys, it may be possible. Let's run the numbers. That's how you run the numbers.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, love, it may be possible. Let's run the numbers. That's how you run the numbers. Yeah, love it, love it. And it's all about a step, a stepping stone approach. No one can buy and move into the location you know you've maybe lived in forever as the family home. Think about where mom and dad started that property journey and I guarantee you it was a stepping stone approach. That's exactly how it was done. Have a look at the numbers there. If you're buying and holding At five hundred thousand and it moves to seven hundred thousand, you then start to play with two hundred thousand in equity huge, huge help as you get into your next time. So I hope that helps someone.

Speaker 1:

And If you need any help, give us a call. We've got another one for you. Love ya, see ya, have a great day. See ya, bye.