Author: George Rousos of Industry Training Consultants Some of the activities and practices of the real estate industry, that might be questioned in ethical terms are about the potential to distort pricing information in a market in which it is already very difficult to obtain relevant and dependable information. The pricing information is distorted because some of the conditions associated with the definition of market value have been manipulated, particularly the concept of the arm’s length transaction...
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Shannon Molloy, deputy editor of Australian Property Investor Magazine, has posted a commendably detailed and informative article on-line on the above topic. Discover what the legal and tax implications are, he writes, when converting your family home into an investment property: Whether you’re taking off overseas for a holiday or new job, moving interstate or buying a new house elsewhere, it’s probably crossed your mind to rent out your current family home rather than sell...
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While all property auctioneers, the vast majority of real estate agents and most newspaper property reporters sing the praises and extol the virtues of auctions for buyers and sellers alike, there are a few of us out here in real estate and conveyancing land who have our doubts. Fellow consumer advocate Neil Jenman has long argued that auctions get lower prices. Real estate trainer Gary Pittard recently demonstrated how it is impossible to guarantee the...
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It’s a phenomenon fast becoming known in the property industry as ”GOMO”: Grief Over Missing Out. Prospective buyers who pin their hopes on a dream home and are outbid at auction by competitors are increasingly slumping into a state approaching clinical depression, experts say. “Some people put an enormous emotional investment in a particular place and fall in love with it before they’ve been able to buy it,” said Amanda Gordon, a clinical psychologist and...
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For all the neatly angled flags, shining A-frame notices and freshly-stocked clipboards, the urban warfare of the Sydney open-house inspection has a slyly winking underbelly. Throwing the doors of our most valuable properties open to Joe Public has a way of bringing about the baddest of bad behaviour, from neighbourly sabotage to staged lunacy. Add to that the litany of minor accident booby-traps, alarm debacles and fiendish take-no-prisoners buying strategy, and the Saturday morning house-viewing...
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A newspaper report brings to light one of the perennial problems in real estate – the real estate agent valuation or “appraisal”. It is common practice for real estate agents to overstate the value of real estate in order to win a listing, and then “condition” the vendor into accepting a lower price. Few consumers ever complain about the practice, and the real estate agent is usually able to brush away a complaint with the...
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All too often property investors are lead by the nose by the friendly real estate agent who recommends them to an inspector who, in the expectation of receiving further referrals from that agent, will look for a soft option or solution to any problem that arises. That inspector will not stand up on your behalf without fear or favour because of the risk of loosing future business from the agent. The last example I came across was...
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For those on the hunt for a property, buying off the plan can be a great move for some security in your investment. It has advantages such as locking in a price to safeguard against rising values, as well as a number of tax advantages. Off-the-plan properties may just be the solution for investors who need to organise their finances or first homebuyers who currently do not have enough capacity to purchase. However, there’s still...
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