118 Elder Street, Greensborough
What to pay, and what it earns. For Linh and Minh.
1. What to pay
1.1 The sales that matter
Every 4 bed, 2 bath house on 550 to 750sqm sold within about 1.4km of Elder Street since March, plus the same street. Renovated ones are in and labelled. Verified on Domain.
| Address | Sold | Per sqm | Date | Bed/bath/car | Land | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Medbury Avenue, WatsoniaThe closest like for like. Double storey, same agency, not renovated, 62sqm less land. The vendor is pricing off this. | $1,146,000 | $2,046 | 2 May 2026Auction | 4 / 2 / 2 | 560 | Two storey, presented, not renovated~600m to station · Darren Jones |
| 38 Nell Street, GreensboroughSame agent as Elder. Bigger block, better presented. Top of the unrenovated band. | $1,170,000 | $1,562 | 19 May 2026Sold prior | 4 / 2 / 2 | 749 | Presented, multiple living zones, covered deck~1.0km to station · Darren Jones, Caesha Langborne |
| 15 Eclipse Crescent, WatsoniaSame land, single level, presented. The middle. | $1,050,000 | $1,623 | 24 May 2026Private | 4 / 2 / 2 | 647 | Single storey, presented, shutters and solar~1.3km to station · Jellis Craig |
| 19 Warralong Avenue, GreensboroughTwo streets away. Single level, bigger block, updated inside, and still under $1m. | $950,000 | $1,409 | 12 May 2026Private | 4 / 2 / 3 | 674 | Single storey, updated floors~500m to station · Jellis Craig |
| 231 Nell Street West, WatsoniaIdentical 622sqm, original 4/2/2. Six months old. The floor. | $925,000 | $1,487 | 7 Mar 2026Auction | 4 / 2 / 2 | 622 | Original, sold on potential~1.4km to station · Jellis Craig |
| 33 Warralong Avenue, GreensboroughRenovated. Shows what the pocket pays once the work is done. | $1,255,000 | $1,816 | 13 May 2026Private | 4 / 3 / 2 | 691 | Updated, three bathrooms~600m to station · McGrath |
| 27 Amiet Street, GreensboroughRenovated. The ceiling for the pocket on a smaller block. | $1,350,000 | $2,284 | 28 Apr 2026Private | 4 / 2 / 2 | 591 | Single storey, fully renovated~700m to station · Jellis Craig |
| 135 Elder Street, GreensboroughSame street, renovated, but three bed on 557sqm. A renovated three bed makes $1.08m here. | $1,080,000 | $1,939 | 4 Aug 2026Private | 3 / 2 / 2 | 557 | Fully renovatedSame street, ~100m to station · Jellis Craig |
Distances to Watsonia station are our estimates. Per sqm is sale price over land.
1.2 What the comps say
10 Medbury Avenue is what the vendor is pricing off. Double storey, four bed, same agency, 600m away, $1,146,000 at auction in May on 560sqm. Elder Street is the same kind of house with 62sqm more land. That is why the guide tops out at $1.1m and why the other offer is sitting there.
The unrenovated band in this pocket is $925,000 to $1,170,000. 231 Nell Street West at the bottom, identical 622sqm, original, sold on potential in March. 38 Nell Street at the top, bigger block, better presented, Caesha's own listing. Elder Street is somewhere between Eclipse Crescent and Medbury, which puts it at $1,050,000 to $1,150,000 depending on how it presents.
The renovated band is $1,255,000 to $1,350,000. 33 Warralong and 27 Amiet, both within 700m. That is what the pocket pays once the work is done, and it is the number a family buyer sees when they walk through Elder Street and picture a renovation. It is also why an offer at the top of the range came in within a fortnight.
19 Warralong is the one to keep in mind. Two streets away, four bed, bigger block, updated inside, and it still only made $950,000 in May. Single level is the difference. The pocket pays for the second storey.
| Measure | Low | Middle | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrenovated 4 bed, 550 to 750sqm, within 1.4km, Mar to Aug 2026 | $925,000 | $1,050,000 | $1,170,000 |
| Renovated 4 bed, same pocket | $1,255,000 | $1,300,000 | $1,350,000 |
| Land value per sqm, unrenovated sales | $1,410 | $1,600 | $2,046 |
| Applied to 622sqm on the title | $877,000 | $995,000 | $1,273,000 |
| 10 Medbury Avenue plus 62sqm of land | $1,146,000 | $1,175,000 | $1,200,000 |
| Fair value | $1,050,000 | $1,100,000 | $1,150,000 |
1.3 The market
| Greensborough, last 12 months | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Four bedroom house median | $1,145,500 | Domain, 108 sales |
| Four bedroom auction clearance | 75% | Domain |
| Three bedroom house median | $930,000 | Domain, 145 sales |
| All houses median | $1,030,000 | property.com.au, 245 sales |
| Annual growth | +1.1% | property.com.au |
| Council capital improved value, 118 Elder | $1,000,000 | Banyule, 1 Jan 2026 |
| Days on market | 27 | Domain |
Private sale, not auction. One offer already in at the top of the range, unconditional. Vendors sit down Thursday 17 September. Offers close Wednesday 5pm.
1.4 The numbers
There is no point offering under $1.1m. The vendor already has that, unconditional. Anything below it is a number for the file, not for Thursday.
$1,100,000 gets a seat. Same money as the other buyer, so it comes down to terms. Unconditional, the settlement they want, deposit in the account, contract signed before Wednesday 5pm. If the other buyer has a finance clause or a long settlement, this can still win.
$1,110,000 buys it. $10,000 over the other offer, $36,000 under Medbury on 62sqm more land. Enough to be chosen without paying for the privilege. Near enough the Princes cap, for a bigger house with more rooms and a clean title.
$1,120,000 is the line. There is one other offer, not a room full of bidders. Going further than $20,000 over it means paying for competition that is not there.
2. What it earns
8 rooms at $270, 6.5% interest, 12.5% management. The $170,000 conversion is a placeholder until Stuart prices it. It is your own money, not borrowed, so it sits outside the loan.
Everything in this section is a forecast, not a promise. The rent, the occupancy, the running costs and the net figure are estimates built on assumptions, and the things that decide whether they come true are outside d36's control. What the rooms actually rent for. How quickly they fill and how long tenants stay. Which property manager you use and what they charge. How the rooms are furnished and staged. Interest rates. Council, insurance and utility costs. What the conversion ends up costing once Stuart has measured and quoted. Any one of these can move the result by more than the gap between the columns.
Use these numbers to compare one house against another and to understand roughly what you are buying into. Do not use them as a guarantee of income or a basis for a loan. Your accountant and your lender need to run their own.
2.1 Getting in
| Item | At $1,100,000 | At $1,110,000 | At $1,120,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borrowed | |||
| Purchase price | $1,100,000 | $1,110,000 | $1,120,000 |
| Stamp duty at 5.5%, no concession | $60,500 | $61,050 | $61,600 |
| Transfer registration and PEXA | $1,940 | $1,940 | $1,940 |
| Conveyancing. Accord at $1,500 plus GST, plus disbursements | $2,200 | $2,200 | $2,200 |
| Building and pest | $600 | $600 | $600 |
| Loan setup and valuation | $1,200 | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| d36 fee remaining, inc GST | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Title searches, easement plan, council permit search | $300 | $300 | $300 |
| Loan | $1,181,740 | $1,192,290 | $1,202,840 |
| Your own money | |||
| Conversion, placeholder8 rooms. At least one more bathroom. Stuart to price after the bathroom count is confirmed. | $170,000 | $170,000 | $170,000 |
| Total in, converted and ready to rent | $1,351,740 | $1,362,290 | $1,372,840 |
2.2 Running it
| Item | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Income | ||
| 8 rooms at $270, 52 weeks, 95% occupied$112,320 if every room is full all year | $106,704 | $8,892 |
| Costs | ||
| Management at 12.5% of rent | $13,338 | $1,112 |
| Council rates, Banyule, current year | $2,495 | $208 |
| Landlord insurance | $2,500 | $208 |
| Utilities and internet, 8 tenants | $6,500 | $542 |
| Maintenance and wear | $3,500 | $292 |
| Land tax on a site value of $680,000 | $2,730 | $228 |
| Left before the bank | $75,641 | $6,303 |
Land tax is new. The Catanias pay none because they live there. SRO figure on this land is $2,730 a year, lower than Princes because the site value is lower. The exemption is in 2.4.
2.3 After the bank
| 100% equity, interest only, conversion from own funds | At $1,100,000 | At $1,110,000 | At $1,120,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan | $1,181,740 | $1,192,290 | $1,202,840 |
| Interest at 6.5% | $76,813 | $77,499 | $78,185 |
| Left before the bank | $75,641 | $75,641 | $75,641 |
| Net cashflow a year | −$1,172 | −$1,858 | −$2,544 |
| A month | −$98 | −$155 | −$212 |
| Gross yield on total in | 7.9% | 7.8% | 7.8% |
Your $170,000 in the conversion is not borrowed so there is no interest on it, but it is money that could be earning elsewhere. At 6.5% that is about $11,000 a year you are not getting.
2.4 Land tax
Same exemption as Princes Street, and on $270 a room you should get it. Section 75 of the Land Tax Act exempts land used as a registered rooming house. Four tests.
| Test | Elder Street |
|---|---|
| Registered | Registered with Banyule as a rooming house. You are doing this anyway. |
| Rent cap | A room without meals cannot go over 70% of the gross single age pension a week. Roughly $375 to $410 right now depending on how the SRO counts supplements. $270 clears it easily. |
| Long term residents | At least 80% of the rooms over the year filled by people who stayed three months or more. Working tenants on proper agreements meet this. |
| Purpose | Used mainly as low cost housing for people on low incomes. The SRO reads this through the rent cap and who lives there. Softest test, judged case by case. |
Applied for each year through the SRO. First full year you can claim is the one after it is registered and let. Worth $2,730 a year here. Run it past your accountant before you bank on it.
2.5 What moves it
| Scenario | At $1,100,000 | At $1,110,000 | At $1,120,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base. 8 rooms, $270, 6.5%, 95% occupied | −$1,172−$98 a month | −$1,858−$155 a month | −$2,544−$212 a month |
| Land tax exemption granted | $1,558$130 a month | $872$73 a month | $186$16 a month |
| Seven rooms, not eight | −$12,843−$1,070 a month | −$13,529−$1,127 a month | −$14,214−$1,185 a month |
| Rent at $250 | −$8,088−$674 a month | −$8,774−$731 a month | −$9,460−$788 a month |
| Rent at $290 | $5,744$479 a month | $5,058$422 a month | $4,372$364 a month |
| Rate at 6.0% | $4,737$395 a month | $4,104$342 a month | $3,471$289 a month |
| Rate at 7.0% | −$7,081−$590 a month | −$7,819−$652 a month | −$8,558−$713 a month |
| Occupancy at 90% | −$6,086−$507 a month | −$6,772−$564 a month | −$7,458−$621 a month |
Room count and rent decide this. Seven rooms instead of eight is about $12,000 a year. $1.1m to $1.12m is about $1,400 a year.
2.6 Next steps
Bathroom count. The owner builder report says an ensuite became a powder room. Confirm what is actually there. It changes the conversion number.
Settlement length. Caesha has been asked what the vendors want. Match it in the offer.
Building and pest. Tuesday if the offer is going in Wednesday. The owner builder report covers a kitchen and a powder room and nothing else.
Purchasing entity. Decide it before the offer goes in.
Stuart's costing. $170,000 is a placeholder. He prices it once the bathrooms are confirmed.
Management fee. 12.5% modelled. To be confirmed with a rooming house specific manager.
2.7 The answer
At eight rooms this one roughly pays for itself. Eight rooms at $270 brings in about $106,704 a year after vacancy. Running it costs about $31,063. That leaves $75,641, and the bank wants $76,813 on the $1,181,740 borrowed to buy and stamp it at $1.1m. The gap is about $98 a month at $1.1m and $155 at $1.11m. With the land tax exemption it is about −$130 and −$73.
Against Princes Street at the same $1.1m: Elder earns about $9,576 a year more, because it has one more room and a lower land tax bill. What you give up is 75sqm of land, the subdivision angle, and one train stop. What you gain is a clean title, no caveat, no easement through the block, a private sale with a cooling off period, and a house that is already closer to being what you want it to be.
3. The contract
All 72 pages read. This is a clean one. What you need to know before you sign.
3.1 Who owns it, and can they sell it
Yes. Two living owners, David and Karen Catania, joint proprietors, both signing. One mortgage to NAB, paid out from the sale at settlement the normal way. No caveats. Nothing lodged on the title in the last 125 days. No estate, no executor, no probate. None of the Princes Street questions come up.
3.2 Two things worth knowing
The bathrooms. The owner builder report says an ensuite was turned into a powder room. A powder room has no shower. Stuart read the plan as one shared bathroom and two ensuites and wanted one more at eight rooms. If one ensuite is now a toilet, the conversion needs two bathrooms, not one. Confirm before the number goes in.
The sewer. Yarra Valley Water's plan shows the sewer main running along the back fence, inside the 1972 easement strip. Standard for the street. It does not touch the house. Anything built at the back later needs their consent first. Nothing like Princes, where the easement runs the whole depth of the block.
| Clause | What it does | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| SC 3 | Sold as inspected. No claims for defects or for permits not having been issued. | Standard. Building and pest before you sign, not after. |
| SC 4 | Deposit is 10%. | $110,000 at $1.1m. Ask for 5% in the offer. |
| SC 7 | If you settle late you pay the vendor's bridging finance, accommodation and costs on top of interest. | Same shape as Princes. Only bites if you are late. Finance ready early. |
| GC 33 | Default interest at 2% above the penalty rate. | The standard figure. Princes has 5%. This is better. |
| GC 20 to 22 | Finance, building and pest conditions are there but not ticked. | The other offer is unconditional. Adding conditions weakens yours. Inspect first, then offer unconditional. |
3.4 What is clean
| Item | Position |
|---|---|
| Building permits | None issued in seven years. The owner builder work was a partial kitchen refit, the powder room and a robe. Non structural, no permit needed. The report and the statement agree with each other. |
| Zoning | General Residential Zone 2. The zone Stuart cleared. Same two overlays as Princes, vegetation and development contributions. |
| Flooding | Melbourne Water says not subject to flooding. Council says no overland stormwater. |
| Bushfire, road proposals, notices | None. |
| Land tax, windfall gains, CIPT | All nil on the vendor's certificates. |
| Rates and water | Council $2,495 for the year, nothing overdue. Water $206 owing. Adjusted at settlement. |
| Services | Water, sewer, gas and power connected. Phone is not. |
| Land size | 622sqm on the title, 624 by calculation. Matches the listing. |
3.5 What we have asked the vendor's side
1. Settlement length the vendors want. Asked of Caesha 14 September. Match it in the offer.
2. Deposit at 5% rather than 10%. Special Condition 4.
Nothing on this contract needs to be fixed before you sign. It is a price decision.