This is very interesting.   I went to a property today and was shocked to find that it had a massive powertower right in front of the house.     When I looked at the photos, there was no sign of it.   Who is the agent kidding?

I wouldn't have wasted the petrol to go see the property if I had known how huge this power tower was.     I didn't bother going in the property and have made notes that photos from this agent could be quite deceptive in all his other properties.

That's shocking.    There's a big crackdown going on in Brisbane right now about that – lots of people being fined.

This is an article from last year, but there was a recent one following up in the last month or so. 
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/brisbane-city-council-crackdown-on-over-crowded-housing/story-e6freon6-1225775177929

Wish my family had heard about a bloodline trust years ago.  My parents owned a beautiful dairy farm.   They split it in half and two sons worked each half.     They had some kind of joint trust arrangement with each of the sons.    Guess what.   Both boys divorced.   Guess who got the dairy farm(s).   The women.  

 It's caused a lot of heartache.  My parents thought they got the legal stuff together to figure out how to keep it in the family but ended up with country hick lawyers to screw it up.   Rural people really mess up their agricultural holdings terribly. 

Get the best legal advice you can and don't sign anything until you understand every last bit of fine print.

No, I never go to auctions any more.    I just can't stand the hype and the antics of the real estate agents.    It's the strutting around like peacocks thing. 

You can get it on the big internet sites with http://www.landlordschoice.com.au/

Post more photos – bathroom?  Bedrooms?   More outside shots – street  view with the neighbours' house in too.  Do what RE agents can't be bothered doing.   As a self seller you have to go beyond what they do because you can – it's not costing you any more.    Write more.   The more details the better, and the people who turn up will already have a good details about the place.

I agree with above poster who says that people are wary of going into homes being sold by the owner.    It's way better to have someone else there who doesn't have a passionate interest in the house – like a friend.       I can't  stand listening to how wonderful a house is from the owner – REagents are bad enough.   I already know within 30 seconds what a house is like.    I just want to go in, take a look and make up my own mind without the constant verbal diarrhea from the sellers.

Open home times – it's interesting in Australia how short the open times are.    Do what they do in the USA – open it up from 1 pm to 5 pm.  Keen buyers spend their weekends scrambling around trying to get into each open house at the right time – if they can slot  you in  easily somewhere between the ridiculously short opens at the other houses then they will.  It's the one advantage self sellers have and yet they never seem to take advantage of it.  

Hope this helps – good luck. 

The rental market in some pockets of Brisbane and surrounding areas is in a very odd state.    We have a property next door to ours which has been on the rental market since Xmas time.   We can't see anything wrong with it and the rent (steadily dropping)  seems reasonable.

From a renter's point of view (we have owned IP's as well):    Those townhouses rent easily in a tight market, but the rooms are just too small when you have a choice.   No amount of clever photography is going to change that.    The living area is cramped and if you stick a kingsize bed in the master bedroom you have to suck in your breath just to walk in the room.       We take one look and don't bother going upstairs if the living room is small.    

We are currently looking for a new rental property in Brissie and find that many of the same properties we have viewed a month ago are still available.  One property  in the Wynnum/Manly area that we are interested in started at $400, then has gone down by $10 to $360.  We think that's about where it should have started from.      We don't feel the urgency in the market like there was a year ago – good for us, but a bit nervewracking for the owners.    

It's interesting reading all the media reports of a "hotting" up rental market.     Seems asleep to us.

It's always been a turn-off for many people that they charge a percentage of the selling price.   Where is the incentive to get a lower price for you?       The higher price you pay the higher their commission.    Weird. 

Talk to Richard.
 
Since you've come on a property forum you must be interested in property, but most financial advisors will see you as a sitting duck.     Most will convince you put your money to work in managed funds.   Of course, they will want to manage the funds and collect the commissions.  

No PM I met in the USA would sign such an agreement. 

Hi Michael,

I don't think your analogy is in any way comparable.

If you get cut price mortgage broking you are getting cut price expertise.    Over the long run, if you get a loan or multiple loans which are structured in just the right way for your situation, then a buyer can save hundreds of thousands of $ over his/her  investing life.

There is no way I would risk getting loans from anyone but an expert /full service mortgage broker , and that person is not going to be in the commission rebate game.