Looking to buy in Palmerston

I’ve worked in Palmerston for three years and I’ve recently moved to Crace (just next door).

The area is quite nice with few crime problems. Public transport is reasonable and driving to Belco and Civic is quick and easy outside peak times. As someone said, if you cycle, the ride to Gunaghlin, civic and Belco is fairly easy. I. Know of one family with a kid as young as 8 and they cycle to Belconnen together every weekend.

Recreational areas are good with lots of parks. It’s also an easy walk to Gungahlin Pond for a picnic. The school is fantastic, the local shops are friendly and there are a plethora of trees throughout the suburb to make it feel nice.

The downside is peak hour traffic. The only options to get anywhere are Gundaroo and Gugahlin drives, both of which are horrible in the morning peak. Most houses don’t hav a decent backyard which I think is necessary for growing up. But that could just be me. Houses seem to be built on to of each other so privacy may be a bit of an issue but that depends on your actual house

Hope this helps

If it’s the house I’ve seen the Real Estate guys are aware that it isn’t presented well and it’s still tenanted, so they need to sort it out, give it a good clean, remove the smell of wet dog, sort the garden out and a few other problems if they want a sale.
To date nobody seems to have done anything, assume it’s an absent landlord who really can’t be bothered so they’re just sitting on it?
I didn’t realise Nudurr Drive could be extended (though it seems obvious looking at the map and Crace), that would definitely put me off as well because those houses are not really elevated above the adjacent land.
There will be better bang for the buck, it’s just the Xmas slowdown that makes it stand out at the moment because a lot of house sales cleared before Xmas leaving that one looking obtrusive by being unsold.

bd84 said :

Like a lot of suburbs, it depends where within the suburb you’re looking at as there will be good areas and bad areas.. Best way to tell us look at the neighbours in the street. Cars in the front yard on bricks, furniture on the lawn, skid marks in the road, any kids walking down the street with no shoes, a rats tail or mullet are immediate indicators. If you’re worried, visit the street at night – Friday and Saturdays to see if there’s wild parties or drunken neighbours. Or talk to the neighbours to ask if they don’t look like they’re going to steal your wallet, if they’re older folk, they will probably be able to tell you everything.

Thanks for that. We’ve driven out there 4 times, middle of the day, dusk, weekends, mornings, and we don’t seem to find anything still. Either we are over thinking it, or there is legitimately something else? Perhaps because it backs onto an open paddock, or because there are a few things that need fixing in the house )listed in building report).

Hi, I used to live in Palmerston and we only moved (15 odd years ago now) as the houses were so tightly held that it was near impossible to buy one – we were ready to move up from a townhouse so had to look elsewhere.

If my research is correct the street you are looking at is, technically, a good location. The main drag into that section of the suburb used to be considered one of the dress circles (the other dress circle is located over near Gundaroo Rd).

My understanding is that future planning has a continuation of Nudurr Drive so that it joins Gungahlin Drive. Given this and the proximity to Gungahlin Drive there is going be a large amount of road noise. This may or may not be a consideration for you depending on where you currently live and the level of noise that you are accustomed to.

Palmerston is in a nice location compared to many other Gunners suburbs as you do not need to go through the Gundaroo Rd, Gungahlin Drive intersection and all of the fun that entails at the start and end of the 9 – 5 working day. Also note the earlier comment – people may use Nudurr Drive to avoid this intersection once the extension is complete.

Palmerston is located close to Govt and private schools.

I agree with earlier comments – go and suss out the place at odd times – this may have to wait until after the Christmas break now to get a true reading.

If you are not from the area consider how you will get to/from work and do the trip a couple of times at the correct time of the day and see if it is a trip you want to make each day. If you catch public transport consider how far away the bus stop is….it is a bit of a hike!

I hope that the above information is of assistance. Good luck.

dkNigs said :

… you might even be able to convince your friends to come and visit from … the inner north.

Unlikely.

Um – why?

Palmerston looks like the all entries from a “worlds ugliest house” competition were dumped there.

A suburb with a primary school, local shops, public oval, low crime, relatively peaceful, direct access to two major arterial roads and one suburb away from the town centre and an awesome Bootcamp three mornings a week. What’s not to like? It’s not too deep in Gunners either, so you might even be able to convince your friends to come and visit from Belconnen or the inner north.

Like a lot of suburbs, it depends where within the suburb you’re looking at as there will be good areas and bad areas.. Best way to tell us look at the neighbours in the street. Cars in the front yard on bricks, furniture on the lawn, skid marks in the road, any kids walking down the street with no shoes, a rats tail or mullet are immediate indicators. If you’re worried, visit the street at night – Friday and Saturdays to see if there’s wild parties or drunken neighbours. Or talk to the neighbours to ask if they don’t look like they’re going to steal your wallet, if they’re older folk, they will probably be able to tell you everything.