You have saved hard and made many sacrifices over many years. At last you have been given approval from your financier to take the plunge into purchasing your first investment property; now for the exciting part, finding that perfect property. You have been reading the real estate sections of the daily newspapers and have…
What impact does exchange rate movements have on property prices? Exchange rate movements mainly affect demand for Australian real estate from foreign investors and expatriates. Australia is seen as a preferred destination for overseas property investors. The opportunity to own a freehold title as against a leasehold title, a relatively fair and transparent business environment…
Apartments have become the preferred investment choice for many astute investors over the last few years. This is because the price of a house in a quality street and location has skyrocketed and therefore has put it out of reach of the average investor. Apartment blocks that produce the optimum capital growth were mainly…
Licensed plumbing and electrical practitioners self-certify their work by issuing consumers with compliance certificates. Issuing a compliance certificate means the practitioner certifies that their work complies with all relevant regulatory requirements. Only licensed plumbing and electrical practitioners may issue compliance certificates. A licensed plumbing practitioner must issue a compliance certificate for all plumbing work that…
The term commercial property has three broad sub-categories; industrial, retail and office property. Successfully investing in commercial property requires a totally different set of selection criteria compared to residential property. Compared to residential property commercial property offers investors a higher yield. Currently yields on commercial property are between 6% and 10% of initial capital outlay…
I have always been amazed at the number of times building and renovating projects end in dispute between the builder and the property owner. In recent times I have met several owners who have suffered this fate. Most people are not aware of the complicated process involved in building works. For this reason I am…
The concept of the “hot suburb” is false and flawed. This gives buyers the impression that purchasing in these suburbs automatically results in exceptional capital growth. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Investors should not get confused between a growth suburb and a suburb that will produce the optimum capital growth. A…
Before purchasing a property it is important to make sure that previous owners have obtained appropriate permits for any additions or improvements. I recently inspected a property in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs that had what appeared to be a recently constructed extension to the rear of the property. The addition was not well designed as…
The practice of selling agents deliberately and substantially underquoting the likely selling price of an auction property will never be eradicated. This strategy has been implemented for the purpose of attracting buyers to inspect a property and potentially become involved in the bidding process. In essence it is based on deception similar to bait advertising.…
Carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty gas appliances has killed nine Victorians in the past decade. The main causes of these deaths have been faulty or badly maintained gas heaters. It has become known as the silent killer, as carbon monoxide gas can’t be seen and does not have a smell. Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) is…