My favourite suburb in Australia is Marino, about 18 kilometres from the Adelaide CBD. Let me tell you why.
By PETER KOULIZOS
Some of you who have read my book will be thinking, “Hang on, if Marino is such a good suburb then why didn’t you include it in your book?”
Excellent question! My book, The Property Professor’s Top Australian Suburbs, includes suburbs that are primed for better than average capital growth in the future and are priced at around or below the respective capital city’s median house price.
The median house price in Marino is well above Adelaide’s median house price, making it too expensive to be included in the book. However, when I started teaching in property investment almost 15 years ago, Marino was number one on my list of suburbs to do well. Either by good luck and/or good research, I was proven right!
So why is Marino such a good suburb? Below are just some of the reasons why I like Marino but you will never fully appreciate why it is such a good area until you go there and have a coffee at the little café by the caravan park. The coffee is good but the views are fantastic.
• I like Marino because it’s a seaside suburb. However, it’s unlike any other seaside suburb in Adelaide. Marino is in a part of Adelaide where the foothills meet the foreshore. The views of the water get better and better the further you go away from the beach as Marino is on a hillside. Not only do you get elevated views of the water, beach, Adelaide suburbs and CBD and possibly some countryside, but the hill faces north; great for the winter sun.
• I like Marino because it’s quiet. Marino isn’t a suburb that you drive through to get somewhere else. There are hardly any shops in Marino. No schools. Very quiet!
• I like Marino because it feels as if you’re having a beach holiday yet you’re only a 20-minute train trip, 30-minute drive or 45-minute bike ride from the CBD.
By now you must be thinking that if Peter likes Marino so much, he must live there. Not yet! I currently live four kilometres from the CBD.
Why do I live so close to the city? At the moment, it makes sense to live near the city. The university and TAFE that I teach at are in the CBD. My two eldest daughters go to a uni, which is in the city. Daughter number three goes to a high school, in the city. Next year, child number four will also be going to a high school, in the city. With five out of the six members of the family needing to go to the city on a daily basis, it’s very convenient to be near the city.
However, once most children start leaving home and/or leaving uni, then we move! Off to Marino to enjoy the views, fishing for King George whiting and having a coffee at that little café.
Peter Koulizos is a property educator at UniSA and TAFE and the author of The Property Professor’s Top Australian Suburbs – a guide to Australia’s top suburbs for property investors and homebuyers, available from www.businessmall.com.au
API Readers – tell us what your favourite investment suburb is… and why.
