Hi Mat,  I really hate being wrong so I checked and found out that I was correct for all Queenslanders. Here is a Link

http://www.osr.qld.gov.au/forms_publications/duties/info_sheets/concessions_homes06.pdf

In the sunny state you must move in at any time in the twelve months following the signing of a contract in order to be eligable for the First Home Owners Grant and Concessions on Stamp Duty.

Just another reason to come up here and join us – but bring your own water.

Jon

With due respect to all forum members, I believe that any serious Buyer who has been looking for a period of time and in a particular price range will very quickly be able to place a fairly accurate value on a property that they may be seriously interested in.

The fact of the matter is that when we see a price range of  $320,000 to $350,000, the Buyer will only see $320,000 and the Seller will only see $350,000.   It is the nature of the beast and at some time in our lives we will wear both of these hats.

Show me a person believing that great deals are still to be made in central locations on todays market, and I'll show you a person still looking.   A good deal is often created only after you have bought it.   I often hear people who tell me how lucky so and so was when they purchased such and such a property and I say no they made their own luck and we can only appreciate it in hind sight.

I also see so many people trying to negotiate that extra $5,000 off the purchase price and wonder why they keep missing out on the purchase.   Consider this – A property worth $300,000 with an annual growth rate of 10% would mean that in the first year you only made $25,000 instead of $30,000.   If you did not purchase because of the $5,000 then in fact you lost $25,000.

Just another way of looking at the issue.

Jon

Lukis P,

I often use the sunset clauses ie this offer stands for 24 hours. and subject to finance, building pests and inspections

While I appreciate that you need to protect yourself, you should understand that the more clauses that you put on an offer the least likely that the offer will be taken seriously.   The clauses that you state above should cover all relevant possibilities.

As a further protection in Queensland, the Seller must produce a Body Corporate Disclosure Statement which must detail any issues that a Buyer should reasonably be aware of prior to the Buyer making an offer on the property.   The only problem that I have with this is that from my observations a lot of agents do not understand what a Disclosure Statement should contain.   That is, there is a half statement (which most Bodies Corporate will provide) and a full statement (which Bodies Corporates have been advised not to provide) and the Full statement is the only one worth reading.   I pay a Search Agent to provide one for me for each listing.

Jon 

While legally the Agent is entitled to half of the .25% and this is covered by clause 12 in the Form22a (Appointment to act), it has been my experience that most agents will waive this fee and just get on with the job of finding another buyer.   In all my sales since this part of the legislation was introduced, I have never had anyone opt out using this condition.

The reason this fee on the cooling off period was introduced was to stop Buyers in an overheated market (like we have at the moment) running out and putting offers on several properties at the same time and then going away and deciding which one they want to keep and just cancelling the others – No buyer would ever do that would they? 

Some people just want everything their way – which is ok if you can get it.

Jon

Too easy, Advise the brother to go find another girl friend, this one is a sinker.

On the other hand the Purchasing partner only has to pay Stamp Duty on half of the total value, or their contract price.

Jon

An interesting comment which on the face of things would seem to make sense.   If only business were that simple, let me pose a few statistics which may change the simplistic view.

Commission:
In Queensland the rate set for commission is 5% of the first $18,000 plus 2.5% of the remainder of sale price plus 10% GST.
Let's ignore the GST as we know who receives this fee.

So for a $200,000 Property the standard commission would be $5450 of which most agents will receive (lets say) a half or $2725.

Now for anyone to bother to take on a semi self imployed job on a commission only basis they would want to earn $100,000 at the very least (lets say).   This would mean that they would need to sell 36.6 properties per year (100,000/2725) or approx 3.5 properties per month (36.6/10.5months or 12 months minus 6weeks annual leave and public hollidays).

So property has doubled and the same property is now worth $400,000 and commission has risen to $10450 or $5225 as the agents share.

Now assuming everything has stayed the same and the agents annual commission is now $110,000 (10% increase) the agent will only have to sell 21 properties to be at the same level (110,000/5225).

At the face of it, it would appear that Crashy is correct.   The agent only has to do half of the work. Perhaps they are overpaid.

There is one other major factor that must be taken into consideration when we look at the viability of a business.  That is Supply and Demand.   Lack of Supply and excessive Demand are the two features that have been the major contributing factor to this huge increase in value and while I can not speak for every area in Australia, I can give accurate information for the area in which I run my business (West End, Brisbane).   The statistics are as follows:-

In the year 2000 there were a total of 278 Unit sales in my sales area with 11 Agencies (37 sales people) all competing for the listings.   Thats 25.3 sales per office or 7.5 sales per sales agent. (someones not eating).

In the year 2006 there were a total of 154 Unit sales in the same area – Thats 14 sales per Agency or 4.2 per sales agent.

So even with commissions doubling, the ability to earn a living has actually become harder and far more competitive.   Lowering commissions without reducing some area of service is a recipe for failure.   If the degree of service is not altered then go for it, but remember the saying, 'Pay peanuts – get monkeys'.

Jon

Jan Somers is PIA and I find it very useful now that I know how to drive the latest version.

Jon

Hi Wewaz,
Yes wouldn't it be great if we just told you everything about the property, then you would not have to look at it just send the cheque in the mail.   Sorry for the sarcasm, I just can't help myself.

While I agree that size of property should be included in ads or Brochures and to some degree it is (at least in Qld.), However we would require the Federal Government to legislate how to measure the size.   Pre 1998 unite were measured from outside of wall to outside of wall – post 1999 they changed to inside of wall to inside of wall.   So an 80m2 pre 1999 unit is equal in size to a post 1999 76m2 unit.   Most agents will include balcony and courtyard size in calculations and some even stoop to adding the garage space.   So in order for the measurements to have some degree of benefit they need to be measured the same. I just can't see this happening.

As an aside, there are two things that we humans can not visualise and that is size and colour.  So telling someone that the property is 100m2 won't mean much to very many.

Jon

Richard we don't have to agree on everything, we mearly have to see each others point of view.

I believe that I live in the same real world as you do but see the situation through my Vendors eyes.   They do not want to wait (and disrupt their marketing campaign) for 21 days for any bank to get around to giving a prospective Purchaser an answer as to availability of finance or not. (note:  The bank still has 14 days to get their documentation together).

If banks were to insist on 21 day finance clauses, I would begin to advise my Vendors to only accept offers from Purchasers who can show a pre-approval letter from a bank or lending institution.   This way it only has to go through valuation (7 days tops).

This may seem harsh from a Brokers perspective, but from my experience Purchasers really should be better prepared when they go out to buy a property.

Jon

Hi all,

Richard states,
Normal settlements are moving out to 42 days.

32 contracts waiting settlement, all 30 day and most unconditional.   Find another Broker or Bank that wants your business, if you start to give them 21 days they will take 21 days next step will be 30 days or better still Pre approved applicants will have first bite of the cherry when negotiating to purchase.

Jon