Always buy a dump and sell a castle. The aim is to make money (from investment property), not fall in love with pretty things. To that point, I have always bought in less than desirable areas which are strategically located (to transport or economic redevelopments) and then waited a couple of years for the change to blow through before selling. For example, Summer Hill was a dump (and drug-infested rabbit hole) back in the 1980's, and you could buy a 3 bedroom house there for under $200k. The same houses are now selling for around $2.5 million.
Canterbury is in the Metro corridor marked for redevelopment by the NSW government. Marrickville, Hurstone Park and Dulwich Hill are already pricing in change, but Canterbury is a bit of a laggard. Campsie and Belmore (across the creek) also offer good value, but the demographics are slightly different. IMO Canterbury is the biggest candidate for change.
