To my thinking Hipe and averages around now are still coming from the boom No, in fact the averages are based on properties sold over the last three months.   Not much fresher than that. If they don't like your price tough find someone else that Yep!  Thats one way.   Let me know how many properties you buy over the next 12 months.   I know, I…[Read more]

Dear Tee,    The first lesson on how to deal with Agents is to ignore most of what you read on Investment forums as you will only ever hear the bad stories and in fact most of them are only bad because the investor did not get their own way.   The fact is Agents are actually real people just like you and I believe that if you treat them with the…[Read more]

I chuckled after posting this question though,  I must have been the only person in the country offering anything on anything last week of all weeks .Not at all, I sold two last week and enquiry from genuine buyers has increased quite a bit.   Good properties priced well are still selling to genuine purchasers.As to your 20% below list offer – yo…[Read more]

Wealthyjvd.If you take the time to read the following report including spreadsheets, you might find a little enlightenment.http://jonchown.topproducerwebsite.com/real-news.asp?p=52You will however need to increase your combined income a bit.

Hi Tony,   Unfortunately, I can't be of much assistance with contract law in NSW or Vic as both States have dfiierent contract law.   I was under the impression that the Lawyers drew up the contracts in NSW not the Agents and I have no idea about Vic.   Given that people move around Australia so much now days it would make sense if contract law w…[Read more]

Sandy,Obviously my statement  'maximise the return on the investors dollar outlay' doesn't make sense if you are not aware that there are computer programs available that can assist you to ascertain almost the exact return on your investment input.   No crystall ball required, just some common sense and the ability to be conservative.Somersofts PI…[Read more]

Tony, As an Agent, I am always happy to take any reasonable offer in writing, however if I feel that the Buyer is simply out of touch or way off target, I preferr to make the offer verbally.  Playing games with low offers does not assist in getting the eventual sale price down, it only gives the Buyer less credibility and gives the Agent the…[Read more]

Event Horizon, I have no agenda and have never said that units are better than houses in all cases, however as this is an information forum, I do believe that the statements given should be factual so that people reading are given the opportunity to make an accurate and informed decision on creating wealth through property investing. Many first…[Read more]

ErikH saysIt is supply-demand that drives prices and the question unit or house is too simplistic and so is the much heard comment that buildings only depreciate and only land appreciates.Thank goodness that some can come to grips with this statement.   The person who coined the phrase 'Land appreciates and Buildings depreciate' must have had a p…[Read more]

Steve,   While I am not completly familiar with property values in the Whitsundays, this deal looks very attractive to me considering we would be hard pressed to even build a two bedroom townhouse including land in Brisbane for that amount let alone make any profit.Linar said'I would think that seasoned investors would be very wary of anything th…[Read more]

With properties in a Community Title, generally what you do inside is up to you provided the changes are not structural.   From what you have said in your last post, it would appear that you will be filling in a void (how you propose to build the floor will be the telling point here as this will require an engineer to ascertain what effect it w…[Read more]

Provided that you have informed the Body Corporate that you will be doing renovations and have the necessary insurances in place and that the work will be built to engineers specs there is no need for Council approval.The difference in Terrys friends case was that they were in fact increasing the GFA (gross floor area) of the Building which I…[Read more]

Hey, that's a rye one Rye.In fact it’s the most used site by property buyers in Australia to look for property. I wonder what RealEstate.com would have to say about that statement?Good luck to you, selling property for $3000 commission makes me wonder what you do for the Client for your money.

They are one and the same thing.   Community Title Schemes cover all Strata Title registrations and as such they will have common property areas which will require future maintenance hence the requirement for a 'Sinking Fund'.   In Queensland these funds have a prescribed method for calculation and are the best thing that has happened to Com…[Read more]

Why on earth would anyone want a list of foreclosure Properties.   If you think that you are going to get any special deal here then guess again.   Try following any Public Trustee auction and you will see that in many cases they get more than the property is worth just because so many people go to these auctions in the belief that they are goi…[Read more]

There are three sides to all stories,   Your side – There side – and the truth.   I am sorry to say that it would be rare that anyone is placed on Tica for no reason.   You may well see it as the Agents fault and obviously the Agent sees it as your fault.   Is there any money still owing and if so paying this amount will get your name of TICA.  …[Read more]

In my opinion a Developer giving a rental guarantee for the first year is a positive  move.  Depending on the number of units in the development, it is often the case that at time of settlement there will be a short term glut of rental properties which will force the real rental value down in the short term.   After 12 months, there will only be s…[Read more]

Are they Brick or timber?   Some of the earlier single level have Brick exterior but timber party walls and floors.   These can be a problem to get fire rated.Jon

Sorry, I can't comment on Parramatta.   I'm in QLD.   Have a think about the following example.You purchase a 2 bedroom dual key  unit for $300,000 which grosses 7% rent return or $404 per week.   For the purpose of this exercise the annual growth for a two bedroom unit in this area is 8%.   This would mean that the new value after 5 years wo…[Read more]

In 1995 we could get a DA in 90 days the same DA now takes almost 2 years.   We used to be able to offer a premium for the site, but unfortunately now that the GFA % has been reduced to 50% on LMR blocks the House is usually worth more as a house than a developer is prepared to pay.   It has also taken away the greed factor of the Home owner (ge…[Read more]