Hi again sc541.
Is the Agent lying? It's only lip service and could be a lie – remember this: a Real Estate Agent is selling for the Vendor to get the maximum price for their Vendor because he/she looks good but, more importantly to the Agent, he/she gets paid more. My experience is, if you haven't heard it or had in writing from the Vendor(s), consider the Agent to be telling 'porky pies'.
If you say 'this is my one and only offer' it closes no doors. You are now playing the subtle role of negotiation. However, it can make you lose credibility if you come back too fast with a higher offer. You need to make your offer and give it to the Agent with the "if your Vendor doesn't accept this offer I really don't care as there are no shortage of other properties I can purchase for around the same money and features. In other words, give the Real Estate Agent the impression if he/she burns you as a Buyer, he/she won't get you back.

Hi again Intrigue.
I am unaware of the NCCP Act having any bearing on Vendor Finance or Option Agreements as they are usually a personal contractual arrangement between Vendor or Grantor and the Purchaser or Grantee. I have provided you a comlaw link if you wish to have a look at the Act yourself.

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2009A00134
I hope this has been of some help to you?

If you read enough books on selling you will find one of the biggest motivators to get people to take notice or buy is what is called the 'take away technique or close'. Put an offer in at a level YOU think is fair (and to hell with etiquette) and place a codicil on the written offer to the Vendor that the offer will only stand for 'x' number of days and then it's off the table. This kind of tactic as a purchaser through a private treaty sale can often be very powerful. Our company acting as Buyer's Agents use it all the time with great success for our clientele.
I hope this has been of help to you?

Hi Intrigue.
I actually draft Option Agreements (or Rent to Buy) for clients so, if you send me an email I'll send you alot more info than I could post here for you right now. But here's a taste:
You can apply an Lease/Option to Buy contract into place for just about any residentail property.
Over simplifying the process, the Vendor or a Buying Agent finds a Purchaser who agrees to buy the property at an agreed price in todays money at a date further down the track, i.e. H&L worth $500K. The Vendor agrees to sell to the purchaser the property in 5 years time for say $550K. The Vendor draws up 2 main docs – a contract to purchase and a lease agreement. So, for the next five years, the tenant agrees to pay an agreed amount for rent plus outgoings, and usually has a percentage of the rent taken off the final purchase the longer they rent the property. The purchaser also usually pays a deposit (consideration under contract law) of upwards of $10K – the more the better for the Vendor because it makes it more difficult for the Purchaser to just walk away. The deposit is always non-refundable.
Option Agreements, if done legally correct and are drafted honorably between both the Vendor and Purchaser, can be very good. They allow the Vendor to have their mortgage commitments met by the rent and they will still walk away with a tidy lump sum at the end of the contract term – good for Vendors in financial strife. It allows a Purchaser to commence buying a home without the need of a traditional bank loan – this is also why most Option Agreements i've ever done are for 5 years – because if the Purchaser has a bad credit history, after 5 years they usually have a 'clean slate'. The Purchser's rent money is not dead money because a percentage of the rent is coming off the final purchase price at the end of the Option term. The only real big downside to the Purchaser is if they simply cannot get the home loan at the end to finalise the Option Agreement. If this happens, or the Purchaser defaults on the Option Contract, they lose the lot – ALL the money they paid in deposit and rent and the property itself! The downside for the Vendor in all this is, if the capital growth in the property is high then they are literally doing themselves out of potentially tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Confused?

And, if you look at the historical drops or slumps over the last 100  or more years, there is always a 'double dip'. We've had our GFC, recovered somewhat, and now we go into the traditional 2nd dip down. Regardless, if your investment strategy is to buy & hold, then a drop like Melbourne has had is temporary and NOT necessarily the beginnings of an Australian housing crash. Just part of the ebb and flow of the investment sector – whether it be property, shares or pine plantations.

Hi again Steve.
You don't mention your income earning capability so it's impossible to calculate if you are able to service a loan of any kind. However, based on what information you have supplied, I would suggest if you are after a positive cash flow property that is going to cost you around $180K AND still provide you with some decent Capital Growth, you may have to consider investing either into a rural area OR consider a cheaper Capital City such as Adelaide or Hobart (the 2 cheapest). With the limited info you have supplied, again, it will prove difficult for anyone to advise you accurately without knowing more about YOUR goals and your specific financial circumstances outside of those already supplied.
Should you have no luck getting the answers you require from others in the forum, please feel free to drop me a line and I'd be happy to talk to you more.
Kind regards,

G'day Eric.
Send me an email and i'll send you a PDF of a Section 32 template you can use! NO CHARGE TOO!

Yeah (my head is down and I am now red faced), I am guilty as charged. I lit the match that started a crown bushfire the likes of which this forum may never see again. Sorry guys!
Hey, what your guys thoughts on the sweat glands of the hybrid South American Yak?

Boys, semantics! Now you're getting into is it a singular, feminine, second person, indicative being used to qualify a verb acting as either an adverb or possibly an adjective…….let's call it a draw hey? You both put forward great arguments for your respective positions but in the end: you too-may-tow, i say toe-mar-toe.

I could NOT have put that together better myself fword