Buyers Agents Articles & Tips

18/07/2012
Buyers Agents

Buying Your Next Home

When buying your next property, your thought process will consider many pros and cons. A bigger property may accommodate a growing family or provide more space for your needs. A smaller property can be less maintenance and accommodate a shrinking family as the young ones leave home over time. Maybe location and ease of access become more importa...

17/07/2012
Buyers Agents

The Block Post-mortem

I wonder if the same rating success would come from a TV program built on shares as what comes from the success of a show built around renovating a property. Short answer is no – Why? Well in very simple terms, people can relate to it because property is a part of their lives, it’s where we grow up, where we have some of our most fond memor...

17/06/2012
Buyers Agents

Generation Y and How They Think Differently About Property

Many people's understanding of Generation Y's characteristics include those of self-confidence, questionable work ethic, a penchant for instant gratification, impatience and an unwillingness to take on adult responsibilities... in fact the list of negative attributes goes on. But the reality is that we Gen X's and Baby Boomers are only just startin...

17/05/2012
Buyers Agents

Stamp Duty; friend or foe?

There is a lot of news in the media right now about Stamp Duty on the Transfer of Land. For a buyer, the cost of stamp duty is a significant upfront cost when buying property. We often get asked by the media about stamp duty and how Australians (and in particular, Melburnians) feel about it. It was an interesting topic to discuss because many poi...

17/04/2012
Buyers Agents

How Does a Property Investor Ensure that they Buy Well?

Every aspiring property investor is gripped with fear about the impact of their selection when I first meet with them. Their questions range from "where should I buy?" to "what do you think of off-the-plan apartments?" The answer is simple - there are MANY factors that you need to take into consideration to ensure that you buy well; it's not JUST a...

15/04/2012
Buyers Agents

Friendly Reminders – Property Management

SMOKE DETECTORS: With the summer behind us comes the end of another daylight savings period. And the end of daylights savings also means a reminder about smoke alarms. The legal obligation in Victoria is that smoke alarms are currently the responsibility of tenants to maintain, but this is not the case in all states, where the upkeep is the r...

17/03/2012
Buyers Agents

Why are people so scared of auctions?

It’s true. Melbournians are scared of auctions. For some, the very idea of an auction sends adrenaline rushing, but for others it throws a great property listing onto the scrapheap before they have even seen it in real life. We constantly field questions about auctions and introduce ideas for clients to combat some of their auction concerns. ...

17/03/2012
Buyers Agents

Cooling Off Changes in Victoria

Recently the Victorian government made changes to the Cooling off legislation regarding purchasing residential property. Prior to this change if you sought legal advice from a solicitor then you couldn’t cool off on your purchase contract within the designated cooling off period. Following the changes you can now seek legal advice and still ha...

17/02/2012
Buyers Agents

What makes a Buyer’s Market become a Seller’s market?

Without doubt, the defining aspect of 2011 for us was the rapid swing of the Melbourne Seller's market to a Buyer's market. To explain this, cast your mind back to 2009 when, after the full impact of the GFC first hit Australia, our government and RBA instigated some immediate moves to aid buoyancy in our market. We had one-off stimulus cheques ...

15/02/2012
Buyers Agents

A Good Conveyancer Pays Dividends

We all acknowledge that buying property is a big financial commitment. And an important professional involved in the purchase process is a Conveyancer. Too often buyers make the mistake of bringing the Conveyancer in after they have purchased the property - BIG MISTAKE. Good conveyancers can add a great amount of advice and values within th...

17/12/2011
Buyers Agents

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly!

Typically over winter, prospective sellers brace themselves for a spring sale and hold their property back from the market until spring starts up. For a buyer, this can feel as though the property supply in winter is very slow and available houses to inspect are limited. All of a sudden, September and October hit and there are multiple suitable pro...

15/12/2011
Buyers Agents

‘Off The Plan’ and New Property as an Investment Asset?

You know the saying “I wish I had a dollar for every time…..” Well in my case this saying rings true for people buying ‘off the plan’ properties and seeing the price they paid come in at a lower valuation once the property is actually built. So for me I wish I had all the dollars that made up the shortfall in valuations from the purcha...

17/11/2011
Buyers Agents

The Value of Enlisting Property Specialist Help

Like other property specialists, much of our work, aside from researching and finding good property, is negotiating and bidding for my clients. We enjoy the task of establishing an estimate of the value, the future prospects based on historical performance and the gross rental yield, but most of all we like the agent-advocate negotiations. So much ...