Generally mdf & plasterboard do absorb water and will be damaged. Products like fibro, timber panelling or aqua-panel will absorb water but will dry out without damage.

Electrics will need a sparky to check.

Generally the costs (from Rawlinsons) exclude things like preliminaries, underground parking, landscaping etc so the rates for units is generally lower than house costs. as the unit would be a one-off youd be looking at using the architecturally designed house solution not a project home (unless one would work on the site).

There will be alot written this year about the advantages of buying property within your smsf (sure you can now borrow for equities or property).

Super allows you to quarantine profits and pay only 15% tax, sometimes less on the entire profits (fund income) and as an added bonus the income becomes tax free once you 'retire'.

See a decent accountant/tax planner for all the info before jumping either way.

If you have a rental property, you are obliged to notify the Office of State Revenue in your state/territory, penalties may apply if you do not notify the OSR. A threshold does apply as pointed out by xdrew – it is available on their website and it is likely that you will fall below the threshold.

Land Tax is assessed as at midnight 31/12 each year – if the property was a rental at this date, then you may be liable for land tax for the entire year (going forward).

Your own home is generally exempt from land tax but theland value of the IP will not.

remember to use the correct table. Don’t look @ unit costs you’ll need house costs – totally different scenarios.

generally the ba will have more access to sales information than a buyer. They are better able to negotiate terms for the sale if there are special requirements etc.

They are not 'posing' as valuers, the staff have met the requirements for admission to hold a valuation licence. It is a breach of their real estate licence to hold out that they are something that they are not. If you are that concerned, lodge a complaint with the NSW Office of Fair Trading on 13 32 20 and keep me posted with your success.

Valuer's work on the instructions provided by their client –  be it the bank (mortgage valuations), insurance company (insurance valuation), Land Titles Office (land tax valuation), developer (emv) etc.

Many valuers deal solely with mortgage valuations, others portfolio valuations. In the two highlighted R&H are a professional office servicing CRE clients generally, VJR will do your family break-up/estates/some insurance works/occasional development site but the number of valuation clients and vals undertaken is relatively small – pretty much a traditional real estate company with a few valuers who sell as well.

Jon,

rather than restate the other post, here's a few more items (it sounds like you've been burnt by buying into a 'hot' market and when it cooled expected to cash in).

The median/average price etc bears little resemblance to the market – you must understand statistical analysis to understand how that median price has been established. Basically, if there were 100 sales in an area, the median price is the 50th sale when all prices are arranged in ascending order. So if 70 sales were of older/smaller/lower priced properties etc then the median would be low, if 70 sales were due to a new supply of home units hitting the market, the median might be artificially high. The mere fact that you have bought a property which is 15% above the median bears little relevance to what it is worth.

Valuers do no set the market, they are impartial. How can someone who is not participating in the market (ie active buyer or active seller) influence the market.

The valuer is working for the bank, not for the purchaser – the valuer must satisfy its client of the value of the property, they are not necessarily using a crystal ball to project any pricing in the future only at the date of sale by using historical data. The bank uses its own expertise to determine whether the information provided then fits its risk profile to lend money on the property.

They exclude out of line sales eg divorces.

Market factors drive prices eg: demand, mining boom, housing shortage, rezoning, government policy.

Is a 60% price variance relevant – yes, no and maybe. Is it sustainable? Probably not. Does it occur? Yes. Why? See above.

Ever heard of due diligence? If you don't know what price you should be paying for comparable properties then what would one expect?

Have you ever purchased shares in a company which was undervalued? Did you get carried away when the price rose to meet market expectations (eg float of the Comm Bank, Tabcorp or T1 etc)? Likewise have you bought overpriced shares because you were told they were a 'good buy' according to some mate or a journo or because everyone else was doing it? Did you get ticked off when they then fell 95% eg Centro.

You cannot absolve yourself of all blame, there are plenty of properties on the market, bull runs & booms don't last forever – someone will always get caught. Property is a long-term investment, even longer in regional centres. Prices will rise, often quite quickly on news of a resources boom coupled with investment then they will go backwards or stagnate, quite often for 10 or more years. This doesn't just apply to regional towns but also places like the Gold Coast, Perth etc – history does repeat itself.

From 'The Australian': 

Prestige Queensland property market 'to be hit hardest'