I woke up today disappointed but definitely no regrets  Unfortunately the property was not cheap and if anything, it was being marketed as over the market value for that area and the vendor was offered a figure closer to the asking price. He decided to accept my lower offer which was still within market value. The real estate agent had no idea…[Read more]

I don't know it it's that easy to find another apartment in my budget in Sydney as it's so expensive and so competitive but as they say, when one door closes, another door opens And I agree that $5k is not worth taking on this headache especially when this architect is telling them it is not a problem. Thank goodness for forums like this!

Update: I spoke to the engineer who did the initial report in 2009. He did the report as part of an insurance claim. He remembered the building quite well and told me to be careful which I took to mean stay the heck away from that building! He said that there are definite water penetration problems and the cost of fixing it would be in the realm…[Read more]

Thank you for all your responses. Is there such a thing as a perfect building in Sydney? Every single building I've inspected has had all sorts of problems.   I've pretty much made up my mind to not buy the property but I will try and ring the architect and the engineer who wrote these reports on Monday and see if they will speak to me about the e…[Read more]

Thanks for all your responses. I'll change states although I think I prefer NSW's 5 day cooling off period rather than VIC's 3 day period? I think that's correct The report says that the membrane is defective and that flashings require attention. The solicitor says the problem seems to be localised and not systematic but says there are breaches of…[Read more]

Thanks for your response Luke. The building has 83 units and it is in NSW. The lady who did the strata report mentioned that figure as a maximum but said it might be $10k. If I had a crystal ball, it might be handy Just rang the building inspector, he said he did not see evidence of warped doors and or any signs of moisture in the apartment. It…[Read more]

Thank you very much for your responses. I've just been reading another document I sent. Some points taken from there:- says there is little point in wasting funds trying to get money from the builder because they are unlikely to be successful and suggests instead to create a maintenance plan. Says both builder and developer are in adminstration.-…[Read more]

Congratulations on the editorial. I look forward to reading it!

Shape wrote:
If this is a brand new listing and the agent havn;t had any "serious" buyers…then it be hard to pull the price down… On the another hand, if this property been listed for 40+ days i find it's soooooo much easier to bargain and the agent tend to be more "understanding " If you want to see how long a property been listed for go…[Read more]

Shape wrote:
I went to an open house where it was advertised as "$900,000+" I had a sneak peek on the piece of paper the agent was writing on…he had offers ranging from 620-830k ….ahhah It was sold for $863k 2 weeks later. I say offer what would make you "happy" no point buying something and feeling ripped off! dont rush! there are PLENTY of…[Read more]

Scott No Mates wrote:
pm me & i'll strategise it for you. snm

I have sent you a PM. Let me know if you have received it. I'm not sure if they are working!

Thank you all for your responses and yes, I am buying a property in NSW! I've had problems dealing with this real estate agency. This agency sell 80% of the apartments in this area and I have found out since that they are owned by the developer and hence they are quite arrogant as they almost have a monopoly in this area. To cut a long story s…[Read more]

Fully: The property I put in an offer for is advertised at $389k. I've spoken to the agent and he has told me they are only accepting offers that are $385k plus. The  agent told me that once they dropped the price to $389k, they would sell in a week. Hmmm … it's still being advertised a month later. I don't whether the sellers are delusional o…[Read more]

Solomon10 wrote:
I am with bankwest and have never had a problem with them, easy to deal with. Although they did let it go down to the wire on settlement day but came through… If i am correct they still have a special going with no up front fees for new loans, check out their website to be sure.

Thanks for your post Solomon. Yes, the broker…[Read more]

If you have put an offer on a property and it has been rejected but the property is still on the market, how long would you wait before approaching the agent again? The two properties are still on the market. One has been on the market for 6 months and the other property has been listed for almost 2 months now. Both of the owners (of each…[Read more]

god_of_money wrote:
Sorry to hijack the post…

Just joking GOM … it has been very interesting reading  Carry on ..

Thanks for that Kane! Bankwest is still my frontrunner but as their pre approval process doesn't count for much, I've decided to hold off applying for now. As I've got a 30% deposit (genuine savings), no debt, I've been in my present job for almost 2 years and a clean credit history, the mortgage broker doesn't forsee that I'd have a problem g…[Read more]

I am no expert by any means but I think the issue for me is not that housing is unaffordable but in certain areas of Sydney where I live, it's overvalued. Some people are falling into the trap of buying properties particularly off the plan that are worth less than what they bought it for when the apartments are completed. You have to be careful of…[Read more]

Woah! This post exploded overnight. God_of_money, you hijacked my post but that's ok haha. Thanks for your advice Michael. My mortgage broker said I was 'vanilla' – I took this as a compliment. She meant that she can't see any problems as I don't have any existing debt, a good wage and over 20% deposit so hopefully there shouldn't be any problems.…[Read more]

Thanks, I'll check it out god_of_money!