a personal cheque should be fine. Just ask the agent well prior to the auction ie days not minutes. If you need a bank cheque, have it prepared to 10% of the maximum that you are prepared to pay so you can’t exceed this amount.

Yep! We don’t have a large reliance on our 2ndary industries as they have been sold off in the 70’s & 80’s so we are more reliant upon primary industries like mining & agriculture for our export revenues and our large services sector to keep our economy going. The carbon tax will help close whatever manufacturing we have got left as there is no industry reforms to require more efficient products or outcomes.
The US has been hit hard especially the car industry & heavy manufacturing 2 ventures we don’t really have anymore.

So if our main economic driver is not reliant upon external factors, then jobs are not at as much risk as those economies relying upon exports & our own property sector will continue to remain reasonably stable.

Mascot is not the issue, more so tempe, sydenham etc

Agents are not required to provide a cost guide to purchasers, only to their client ie the vendor. In NSW they are required to back that figure with comparable sales. A sign of a poor agent is one that doesn’t or can’t provide an accurate price guides

ah young grasshopper, these are many of the questions that every investor asks. Seek out the answers in the archives & you will find riches beyond belief.

The issue is that you cannot agree to contract out of a statutory obligation ie if you want to recoup water usage in NSW, you must install water efficiency devices & be separately metered as any magistrate at fairtrading nsw would rule it would be inequitable to charge a tenant some cost which may not relate to their occupation of the premises.

due to the difficulty of proving it occurred prior to settling, it is your problem unfortunately.

I’d watch that last suggestion, if there is no meter then in NSW at least, it is not possible to pass on the cost under the tenancy agreement. You might consider putting in your own submeter & the required water efficiency requirements.

never base investment decisions on the tax outcomes government policy can change.

A co-ordinating agent is not too common for residential sales transactions (unless of course you are selling multiple units etc).

IR acts as a co-ordinating agent – effectively acting as a manager of the agent you appoint. So you need to ask yourself, are you capable of managing the expert or do you feel as if you will be overwhelmed by the agent that you appoint (hence, have you appointed the wrong agent)?

Agents may pay a referral fee to an person who provides a lead to the purchaser but in this case, IR takes a % of the commission – do you want to pay an agent who is immediately willing to part with 20% of their commission, will they buckle at the first offer? Generally, you will pay an additional % to the co-ordinating agent – why would you consider an agent (acting on your  behalf) but not charging you any additional fee, ie you are willing to accept the selling agent who is readily accepting of a cut fee.

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