Awesome to hear, Anita!  Confidence in your situation is crucial.  Great to hear you got control of your situation and got the result you wanted!

If you get your numbers wrong on a property that you've forked out a million bucks for in a regional area, it has the potential to bite you on the backside big time.  Sounds like it's been on the market a while… there is probably a reason.  Do your homework and be super sure of everything, and be super sure of the impact to you if a couple of tenants suddenly stopped paying rent, or vacated and you couldn't re-tenant it straight away, or if interest rates went up a bit, or if the water company hiked the rates up… etc etc

By the way, also speak to the local water company to understand how they bill.  In Geelong they see fit to bill you for a service charge PER SEPARATELY TENANTED DWELLING.  The council does the same and hits you with a set of rates per dwelling.  That adds up and helps corrode your rental yield.  You will also want to get some quotes on insuring the thing (and for heavens sake if you offer to buy the place, ensure one of your "subject to" conditions are "subject to buyer being able to secure insurance that is satisfactory to the buyer".  You will be surprised to find that it is not as easy as one phonecall to find a company that will insure something like this.

Further to Jamie's suggestion, I'd define what close of business is.  ie I'd say offer valid till 5pm on such and such a date.

I'd include a clause saying "subject to buyer being able to secure insurance (for the property) that is satisfactory to the buyer"

I'd also be more specific with the finance clause (eg "subject to buyer being able to secure at least 80% finance under terms satisfactory to the buyer")

The last two are very excellent get out of jail free cards

That will give you a rough idea, but remember that you will only be able to see the prices that vendors are "hoping" to get for their properties… not what they "actually" get.  You could take a look at auction results and so on in the local paper, and also on sites such as realestate.com.au.  Going to a bunch of open for inspections will help you get a grasp on "what costs what" too.

The kitchen planner tool on the Bunnings website can give you an idea of how much cabinetry would cost.  Of course, a custom-made kitchen will be a bit more, but not by a great deal.  I've just done a reno and decideded to go with custom-made cabinetry because I had to fit some of my cabinetry precisely between two walls.  I couldn't imagine DIY-ing my way to glory and getting it right "to the millimetre", so I outsourced.  But the price differential was only a couple of hundred dollars.

Visit flooring centres to understand the cost per square metre of the various different flooring options and so on.

Learn something about the cost of paint – it's more expensive than you'd think.  In general 1 litre of paint covers 12 square metres (so for 2 coats you'd need 2 litres per 12 square metres). 

Also learn something of window coverings that are appropriate for the type of property you are targetting  (eg pvc venetians is fine for low to mid-end stuff, but wouldn't cut it in an expensive suburb, so you'd have to go with plantation shutters.

Eventually you'll understand the pricing of the big ticket items and be able to wander into a place and say RIGHT.  This place would cost $xx to renovate and at renovation I know I'll be able to sell it for $zz.  Factor in stamp duties, legal fees, capital gains tax etc (if selling), and that will show you the maximum you could pay for a property before it becomes a break even or a loss.

Thanks for the clarification Terry!

Further to what Terry mentioned, "QS" means Quantity Surveyor.  This is the individual that will complete the depreciation report.  In some cases you can do it over the phone or online.  Google "Depreciation Schedule" and ring a few companies, explain the type of property, the age of the building itself, the age of the stuff in it (eg carpets, oven etc etc) its age, ask them to tell you if it is worthwhile doing the schedule or not.

are you on a Principal and Interest loan or interest only?

Hi Adam

Only you can decide whether you should buy right now or not.

Here are a few things I personally think:

If you are in it for a long-hold, it doesn't make much difference anyway.
There is not going to be a catastrophe whereby suddenly everyone is going to live on the street and leave the houses empty.
When everyone is afraid to buy, there can be some great bargains to be had, because the sellers are not blessed with lots of buyers competing with each other.  You could negotiate yourself a great deal.

Umm…. you probably want to ask yourself why they are suddenly deciding to settle early?  it sounds like "#### … eject eject!" to me.  Remember your solicitor looks at lots of property deals every day and is therefore very equipped to see danger when they see it.  Give them a call.  It might cost you a few hundred dollars to rescue yourself from a mistake that costs you a hundred grand.  It's dangerous to try and play in property if you can't spare a few hundred dollars to deal with unexpected situations like this.  As they say in the trade, suck it up sunshine… spend the cash and talk to your solicitor.