This Hampton Park Corner Block Ticks Every Box. Here Is Why I Am Cautious.

Hampton Park is our home turf. We have bought more properties in this suburb than any other single postcode. So when a corner block at Hazeldean Court popped up with dual driveway access and obvious granny flat potential, I assumed it was an automatic buy.

Then I did the due diligence. And this is why due diligence exists: to challenge your assumptions before they cost you money.

I am going to walk you through this property in full. The things that make it attractive. The things that gave me pause. And the framework I use to decide whether a property that looks good on paper actually deserves your capital.

Why Hampton Park attracts us

I need to establish the suburb context first, because Hampton Park is genuinely one of the strongest investment postcodes in Melbourne right now.

We have executed more than 50 transactions in Hampton Park across our portfolio. The typical acquisition profile: purchase at $590,000, renovate for $15,000 to $25,000, rent at $850 per week. That is a gross yield of 7.5 per cent on total investment, which is extraordinary for a suburb within 45 minutes of the Melbourne CBD 1.

The fundamentals are rock solid. Vacancy rates below 1.5 per cent. Days on market under 25. Ten-year growth above 70 per cent. Owner-occupier rates around 65 per cent. Population density driven by family demographics. And critically, zero new land supply. Hampton Park is fully built out. Every block is occupied. You cannot build new estates here because there is nowhere to build them.

This supply constraint is the engine that drives both price growth and rental demand. When supply is fixed and population is growing, rents and prices go up. It is not a theory. It is what we have watched happen across 350-plus transactions 2.

So when a corner block in Hampton Park appears with granny flat potential, the starting assumption is overwhelmingly positive.

The property: Hazeldean Court corner block

The property sits on a corner at the end of a court (cul-de-sac). Corner position provides dual street frontage and dual driveway access, which is the ideal configuration for a granny flat build because the secondary dwelling can have its own independent vehicle and pedestrian access from the side street.

Block size: 600-plus square metres. Adequate for a granny flat with comfortable setbacks.

Existing house: standard three-bedroom brick veneer, single bathroom, single garage. Nothing remarkable. The house is in reasonable condition with no obvious structural issues visible during the initial inspection.

Asking price: in the high $500,000s. Consistent with the suburb median for this configuration.

On the surface, this is a textbook acquisition. Buy at $590,000, build a $110,000 granny flat, rent the main house at $550 per week and the granny flat at $350 per week, total $900 per week, and achieve a combined yield above 6 per cent on total investment of $700,000 3.

The granny flat would sit in the rear corner of the property, accessed via the side street. The existing driveway serves the main house from the front street. Two separate addresses, two separate driveways, two rent cheques.

The due diligence red flags (and why I hesitated)

Here is where the process earns its keep.

Red flag one: the drainage easement. The Section 32 plan of subdivision showed an easement running diagonally across the rear portion of the property. Not in the standard position along the rear boundary. Diagonally. Through exactly the area where the granny flat would need to sit.

You cannot build over an easement. You cannot even build within 1 metre of an easement in most council jurisdictions. A diagonal easement through the rear of the property potentially kills the granny flat build entirely, or at minimum forces it into an awkward position that compromises the floor plan and the outdoor space 4.

Red flag two: court location and traffic. Corner blocks at the end of courts have a specific dynamic. All vehicle traffic turning at the end of the court passes directly in front of the property. Headlights sweep across the front rooms at night. Noise from turning vehicles, reversing trailers, and children playing in the court bowl travels directly into the living spaces.

This is not a dealbreaker for tenants. But it is a consideration for resale. Owner-occupier buyers, who pay the highest prices, tend to discount court-end properties compared to mid-court positions. That can affect your capital growth trajectory over a ten-year hold 5.

Red flag three: council attitude. Casey City Council, which governs Hampton Park, has been increasingly rigorous about granny flat applications in the past twelve months. While the Victorian planning provisions technically allow secondary dwellings under 60 square metres without a planning permit, some councils are pushing back through the building permit process. Requests for additional drainage assessments, car parking studies, and overlooking assessments are adding $3,000 to $5,000 to the approval cost and 4 to 8 weeks to the timeline.

None of these red flags are fatal on their own. But collectively, they introduce enough uncertainty that the risk-reward equation shifts.

The decision framework: when a good suburb meets a complicated property

Here is the framework I apply to every property where the suburb is strong but the individual property has complications.

Question one: can the complication be resolved before exchange? If the easement position can be confirmed via a dial-before-you-dig check and a surveyor's site visit, and if the granny flat can be repositioned to avoid the easement, then the risk is manageable.

Question two: what is the cost of the complication if it materialises? If the granny flat cannot be built due to the easement, the property still works as a standard rental at $550 per week. That is a 4.8 per cent yield on a $590,000 purchase. Not spectacular, but not disastrous. The granny flat upside disappears, but the base case remains viable.

Question three: are there better options available? This is the question that most investors fail to ask. In Hampton Park alone, we typically see three to five viable acquisition opportunities per month. If this corner block has complications, there may be an interior block two streets away with a clean easement, a straightforward granny flat path, and the same price point 6.

My verdict on Hazeldean Court: proceed to investigation, not to offer. Commission the surveyor. Confirm the easement position. Get a preliminary assessment from our granny flat builder on whether the floor plan works with the easement constraint. If the answers are favourable, make the offer. If not, walk away and wait for the next one.

Patience is the most underrated skill in property investment. The best investors I know have passed on more properties than they have bought. The ability to say not this one, even when the suburb screams buy, is what separates professionals from amateurs.

The data on Hampton Park is exceptional. This specific property needs more homework before it earns a spot in the portfolio.