March 30, 2011
Before you buy a property, make sure you can sell it.
BY EYNAS BRODIE
Location, transport, schools, shops, hospitals, roads – the list of things th at m
ake a property worth buying is long. But there’s often one thing missing from the checklist of many buyers, and that is ‘saleability’.
March 28, 2011
It’s long been thought that buying the worst house in the best street is a wise plan for investment. After all it’s location that’s the most important aspect of any real estate acquisition right?
BY CATHERINE CASHMORE
Well not necessarily so – many ‘would be’ property developers enter into an acquisition only to find themselves with a plethora of problems they hadn’t expected to encounter. Whether it’s purchasing a renovation project that puts you on the fast track to bankruptcy, or simply mismatching the suburb’s buyer profile, it’s important to get the equation right if you really want to win the game. Here are a few tips to get you started:
March 25, 2011
Australians have had a long held love affair with holiday homes, with many of us aspiring to enjoy the luxury of a second property by the sea to indulge in on long weekends or during our annual vacation.
BY MICHAEL YARDNEY
However buying your own little piece of paradise as an investment isn’t going to make you millions and in fact, could cost you a lot more than you’d bargained for.
March 24, 2011
Australian small businesses make an important contribution to our economy. Small business owners are often more financially secure and have a much greater potential to scale their income than people who work as employees.
BY ROLF SCHAEFER
However, self-employed people often face hurdles when applying for a loan because, unlike employees, they don’t receive a regular salary and therefore don’t fit lenders’ standard credit assessment criteria.
March 23, 2011
It seems to be popular opinion that many investors – especially the young ones – have only been able to get into the market and really build a portfolio because they’ve received help from someone, usually their family.
BY VANESSA DE GROOT
I must confess, in many instances I believe this has been the case. It might not necessarily have been that they’ve been given a sum of cash for a deposit; it might just be that they’ve lived at home for a long time, well into their 20s, largely all expenses paid, which has enabled them to save money to buy property.
March 21, 2011
Australian house prices are overvalued!
This shrill call has become so common I have almost taken to scheduling it in my diary.
BY GREVILLE PABST
Every year in March, one overseas based ‘authority’ or another makes a fearful announcement about Australian property being overpriced – and newspapers respond by splashing gloomy headlines across their front page foretelling doom.
March 18, 2011
It will come as no surprise to property punters that recent research from Oliver Hume has revealed the Melbourne apartment and townhouse market has outperformed shares as an investment over the past thirty years. I certainly wasn’t surprised by the data!
BY MICHAEL YARDNEY
While the average annual capital growth of Adelaide and Sydney apartments trailed the sharemarket’s per annum gain of 7.7 per cent – at 7.1 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively – Melbourne unit prices rose by an average of 8.9 per cent between September 1980 and September 2010.
March 17, 2011
A lot of talk is going around about extraordinarily high Australian property prices. Houses are said to be overpriced by 40 per cent and there are claims there’s an Australian housing bubble that’s about to burst.
BY PETER KOULIZOS
It’s no wonder the average person in the street isn’t sure what’s happening in the housing market, as there are untold numbers of so-called ‘experts’ who have their version of the story.
March 16, 2011
Some property will clearly always be sought after and people will be willing to pay a hefty price to get their hands on it.
BY VANESSA DE GROOT
Recent research by RP Data has found that the number of suburbs in Australia with a $1 million or more price tag increased by 35 per cent over 2010. This is despite the fact that capital city home values only increased by 4.7 per cent last year.
March 15, 2011
One of the main reasons a property’s location is so important can be captured neatly in the old adage ‘you can change a house, but you can’t change its location’.
BY CATHERINE CASHMORE
However, searching for the perfect location involves more than simply looking for the worst house in the best street. It’s owner occupiers that underpin property values, so choosing the right property, in the right suburb, is important from both a lifestyle perspective, as well as an investment perspective.
