Once the epitome of exclusivity, security and order, gated communities have fallen out of fashion with buyers, while developers have all but stopped building them in Sydney. Secure compounds were popular from the 1990s to early 2000s, when more than a dozen sprung up from Campbelltown to Mosman. But in the past few years developers have preferred to build “master-planned” estates with shops, offices and communal facilities that attract people, rather than turn them away....
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It has to be one for the books when a real estate agent is saying property prices are becoming unsustainable and a Reserve Bank heavy says they’re not. Yet I heard both the same day. And no, I didn’t mix the quotes up, though context can be an elusive thing. The agent was commenting on research suggesting Sydney values could jump by up to 20 per cent next year, while the Reserve’s assistant governor was...
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THE time has come for you to sell the rather dated home of your elderly relative or long-standing family friend. It is a home you may have known for many, many years. A house that is a time capsule full of your life’s memories, a place you played as a kid, and perhaps where even your own parents played. From the apple tree in the backyard out of which your sibling pushed you so many...
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QUEENSLANDERS are more positive about housing affordability than anywhere else in Australia, with Generation Y the most upbeat of all when it comes to property prices, according to new research. The annual realestate.com.au Housing Affordability Sentiment Index (HASI), which tracks the sentiments of Australians towards the cost of housing, reveals that all states and generations have a brighter outlook on property prices in general than 12 months ago. This is despite statistics based on the...
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The quick version of that post is that there’s a company in Mississippi that has patented the use of infrared cameras for home inspections. Basically, they claim that if a home inspector uses an infrared camera as part of their home inspection, the home inspector is infringing on their patent rights. Absurd, right? Let me explain why I care about this topic. My infrared camera is definitely the coolest home inspection tool that I own. I can bust my...
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The sale of a property has GST implications and, potentially, income tax consequences. The GST implications can catch out those who are not fully conversant with how the GST laws apply. A recent AAT decision held that, for the purposes of the GST law, all of the consideration in relation to the sale of a property was received by the taxpayer at the time of settlement on May 16, 2008, despite not all the consideration...
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ARE “investors” piling into the housing market, or “speculators”? One thing appears certain: wealthier Australians are buying houses and apartments from each other with increasing velocity, dissatisfied with the paltry returns on their bank deposits and are topping up their buying power with cheap loans. How do we know this? Growth in total housing credit in the economy is still weak but auction clearance rates are matching post-GFC highs and capital city house prices are...
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“Location, location, location” is one of those catch phrases drummed continually into the head of anyone who even skirts close to buying real estate. From the agent to the financier to the guy driving your cab – everyone will tell you, if the site isn’t in the right position, you’re creating a rod for your own back. If you look around, however, there are plenty of properties located in the most inauspicious spot just waiting...
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When calculating the breakeven point of an investment it pays to consider the full impact of negative gearing over the life of your investment. Those with negatively geared property need to factor in the opportunity cost associated with losing money over a period of time when calculating the breakeven point of their investment. According to Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers, understanding the real impact of negative gearing costs reinforces the argument that it’s generally best used...
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Experts reveal their tips on how to increase your chances of having an offer accepted over your competitors. Homebuyers and investors should consider attaching a 10 per cent deposit cheque to a signed contract if they want to increase their chances of having their offer accepted, according to real estate author and buyers agent Patrick Bright. The EPS Property Search director and author of The Insider’s Guide to Buying Real Estate says one of the basic rules...
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