We subscribe, as regular buyers it's useful.For the individual buyer it would be hard to go past the value of a shared subscription to Price Finder, spending beyond that would be hard to justify unless you were clear about what you needed that Price Finder doesn't supply?

Independent (ie: definitely not a person recommended by the person selling to you) legal advice is worth it's weight in gold in property transactions where we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. They will be able to look at your personal position and offer suggestions. Good luck.

This is weasel copy writing, most agents aren't good copy writers!A few more.* Weasel photography, those wide angle shots that make a broom closet look like a double bedroom* Weasel furniture (virtual furniture placed in photos)* Weasel silence.. Sellers are as bad or worse than agents in this regard.. Those unapproved extensions that they know…[Read more]

RobbieP wrote:
.. My next question is.. if a buyers agents represents the buyer, how does he lock a seller into a deal with no mandate in place and does the buyer pay for the agents commission?..

Robbie in QLD the legal document is a form 22a, the form to engage a buying or selling agent, this is the required legal form that is both supposed to…[Read more]

RobbieP wrote:
I think what i was refereeing to is agents (working for agencies) who advertise properties on sites such as Doman / RealEstate will always be representing the seller, which means they always going to try get a much a possible for their clients property, so you never really going to get a good deal buying property through these…[Read more]

This can be a frustrating process when you are dealing with a bank on the other end of the transaction with a sales agent in between.We have been involved in two recent ones in the last few weeks and it was an ordinary experience, they weren't motivated by anything other than covering themselves legally, which made it difficult. We offered full…[Read more]

The answer is ‘depends’

Plenty of very nice suburbs with renovated post war houses with fibro materials in Brisbane. I would be tempted by the more valuable land component, likely to get a higher yield on the brick house though combined with the cheaper list price should lead to better holding costs, fibro in itself might not be a deal breaker…[Read more]

The selling agent doesn’t always know the sellers motivation either. A smart vendor who really has a minimum of 330k and due to change in circumstances would actually accept 300k is likely to not tell the agent this!

So.. if that’s your property and that’s your maximum, then one idea would be to present a written offer in a polite way and explain…[Read more]

It would pay to do some research about what is actually involved to be a Buyers Agent, have a talk with some of the NSW members from the REBAA website and get their perspective on the industry.

Do you like paying huge commissions? Would you like to pay 5-10% or perhaps 25-100k in dollar terms extra and above what a skilled buyer would pay for that property sir?

Now this might seem like a silly question but if everybody answered no the marketing companies would vanish overnight. They won’t of course because what they do can be so…[Read more]

Skye, Interesting topic. I think property management should be really simple if done properly and what causes a majority of the problems is the economics of the industry.

Because management tends to be an add on to sales in a lot of agencies and because it doesn’t scale that well (one manager can manage X number of properties but you will need to…[Read more]

Rich Dad Poor Dad was a landmark book. Many have cited it as the motivation to build wealth and become financially independent, I remember the first time I read it as well, could have been lucky timing somewhat as the key ideas in wealth creation are very old and have all been written about in other places but that doesn’t change what RDPD…[Read more]

The REBAA website is a good first stop for independent agents. Do your research as always.http://www.rebaa.com.au/

Any update on what you decided to do Hakanoa?

Lifestylez, nobody can say with anything other than an educated guess when a bottom or top of a market is happening, usually you are being sold something or talking to someone who doesn't know any better if they think they can time a  market with certainty, so there is by definition almost always a better time to be buying if you are trying to…[Read more]

In QLD the cooling off period is 5 business days, with a 0.25% of purchase price penalty attached. Without looking at your contract there is no way of knowing what your most effective avenue will be, best to get independent legal advice asap if you haven't already.

hakanoa wrote:
We have signed a contract for the purchase of a brand new duplex property 3br/2ba in Coomera – Lily Estate.  We have just received the date of the cooling off period so we have a small window to opt out.Can anyone comment on this as to whether it would be a good investment — thanks.

Interesting time to be asking this…[Read more]

matthew.f wrote:

Andrew_A wrote:

matthew.f wrote:
I thought I would share my frustration with some new bank lending criteria. I have sourced a property in Brisbane 2km from CBD. Returning just over $1,100 per weeks and for sale in the low to mid $800k's. Gross returns for a house @ approx 7.2% gross returns. With 10% deposit and such great…[Read more]

matthew.f wrote:
I thought I would share my frustration with some new bank lending criteria. I have sourced a property in Brisbane 2km from CBD. Returning just over $1,100 per weeks and for sale in the low to mid $800k's. Gross returns for a house @ approx 7.2% gross returns. With 10% deposit and such great returns it seemed a no brainer. This…[Read more]

Jamie M wrote:

Shanina wrote:
My husband and I currently buy properties and renovate them on the gold Coast. We are considering moving to Brisbane and doing the same thing but don't know which areas to even begin to look at! Can anyone suggest which areas to begin to look at to buy renovate and sell? appreciate any feedback!

Andrew Allen is…[Read more]