Buyers agents articles & tips

TV vs. Reality – what’s the difference?

I often pinch myself when I think about the blessed professional life that I live! As co-host of Location Location Location Australia, I get the opportunity to travel around this amazing country meeting lots of great people from all walks of life as they invite me into their lives and seek help with (potentially) the biggest decision they will e...

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Is the Real Estate Agent a Friend or Foe?

I’m often amused by the antagonistic approach that some buyers adopt when dealing with a real estate agent in the midst of a negotiation.  Sure, the agent is employed by the seller to get them the best price and terms and draw as much money as they possibly can from the buyer but equally, they’re a crucial cog in the chain for you getting the ...

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Five creative ways to increase rental returns

Quite often investors ask us about clever ways to enhance property value. Most investors pay a lot of attention to the value of the property but why don’t they pay as much attention to the returns? Well, we do, and some clever investors out there do so as well. While we like to see our equity position growing, the bottom line for any ‘buy and h...

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Challenging the top five roadblocks to property investing

Many people WISH they could be property investors, but for whatever reason, don’t commit to the journey. In our industry we see the objections and roadblocks which people put up when it comes to property investing. Sadly, many of these roadblocks are either artificial or ill-founded. In this article I will workshop the top five objections so that...

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Why we don’t like off the plan properties?

We all hear about the benefits of off the plan developments, but aside from stamp duty savings, groovy new dwellings and small holding deposits, what are some of the perils? Many investors have flocked to off plan developments in the past because they were either encouraged by the marketers who were promoting them, or lured by the stamp duty savin...

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Questions you should ask yourself when adding value to a property

Many investors start out with ideas about creating value - or better still; manufacturing equity....The questions we have for them though are diverse. What level of renovation or improvement does the investor have in mind? How hands-on does the investor plan to be? How long will the works take? Will the works cost the investor vacancy periods?...

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Top 3 Tips for Buying Property at Auction

I must admit, I‘m incredibly fortunate to enjoy the professional life that I do.  I get significant job satisfaction in my role as Director of Empower Wealth helping our clients achieve their financial goals through residential property investment - as was recently featured in the cover story of the March Money Magazine  “Earn $2,500 per week...

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The Investment A-Team

As the driver of your investment strategy, selecting the right members for your team is crucial to scoring investment gold. In April 2013 issue of the Smart Property Investment Magazine, Ben Kingsley writes about the need to take control and hand pick a team that will be contributing and working towards improving your financial status. Similar to ...

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Checklist for a Great Property Manager

One of the many things we do that our competitor Buyer's Agents don't all do is offer an independent recommendation when it comes to the final stage in your property purchasing journey. We don't just leave our clients with a great property and wish them well, we actually take an active role in making sure their newest asset is managed by a professi...

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What is the ONE thing in a negotiation that can get you across the line?

As Buyers Agents, when we are at a party or a BBQ, inevitably the discussion with a new person turns to work. “So, what do you do?” can give way to a whole night of exciting questions and tales about houses, real estate agents, property investing, horror and success stories. It’s almost as interesting a discussion as one you’d have with a c...

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Making Your Offer Irresistible

Real estate negotiation requires creative thinking in any private sale, pre-auction or post-auction negotiation. Buyers make the mistake of assuming that the vendor solely cares about price. Every vendor cares about price, but most vendors care about a combination of price and terms. In a selling situation where the vendor is relaxed about timing, ...

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Is the week before Christmas a good time to buy property?

If you happen to find a property you like in December, you can be savvy and secure it in the weeks leading up to Christmas because as the buyer you generally hold all the negotiating cards at this time.  Once December rolls around, the buying competition becomes thinner as most are thinking more about Christmas day approaching and the related work...

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Buyer’s Tip: Mistakes to avoid if you’re serious about that dream home

We have had a few buyers lately who have been searching for their own home. Our Buyers Agents do help home buyers often, but the blend of home buyers to investors that we work with is not an even blend  - we tend to work with a significantly higher percentage of investors. We were prompted to write this Buyers Tip though because home buyers c...

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