HUNDREDS of investment properties across Queensland could be meth time bombs with experts warning clean up costs could run into the thousands. Australia’s meth use has tripled in the past five years, and according to one industry testing group that means the number of clandestine drug labs would also be on the rise. Bryan Goodall, the national sales manager for Octief, environmental and occupational hygienists, which test properties for chemical residue from methamphetamines, said it...
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A woman whose house and identity was stolen by overseas scammers has been forced to sue the government to retrieve her money. International fraudsters, who are still at large, pocketed $430,000 when they sold the four-bedroom Canberra house in 2014 in a sophisticated scam spanning several months and countries, including South Africa, Australia and Indonesia. Fresh details of the crime were aired in the ACT Supreme Court last week, as court documents reveal the thieves...
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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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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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Interesting new research about the emotional drivers behind property purchases cements the undeniable reality that investors are just like everyone else – sometimes susceptible to thoughts that go against their better judgment. “I reckon another $10,000 will get this bad boy across the line,” the agent smiled, smoothing down his slick suit and nudging his Montblanc pen closer towards me. “Just write the new offer amount there and initial it, and I reckon it’ll be...
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If the past 10-15 years in real estate has taught us anything, it’s that no amount of regulation and legislation can protect consumers from bad advice or crooks hell-bent on ripping them off. The 1990s was the era of the get-rich-quick seminar, when tens of thousands of Australians were duped by two-tier marketeers, seminar gurus and others into paying inflated prices for badly-located real estate or grossly over-priced “mentoring” services. Eventually, the level of consumer...
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MORE and more television shows are advertising how to renovate or extend your home. I cringe when I see these types of programs that encourage home owners to undertake projects that are often too complex, dangerous and difficult for owner-builders to tackle. On the flip side, there are some home owners who have completed training and research that equips them with enough skills to complete standard projects. The programs that show how to totally gut...
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THE problem with self-managed super funds is not that they’re buying residential property, it’s that they’re surrounded by sharks as they do it. Tax breaks tend to reduce one’s critical faculties. We saw that with agricultural investment schemes, which paid commissions of 10 per cent to financial planners and mostly collapsed, and now property developers are paying similar commissions to get SMSF cash. Noel Whittaker, the author and financial adviser, has been campaigning against property...
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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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