API Blog :: Have your say!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 9:40 — 4.5MB)

Podcast Transcript

Hi listeners and welcome to this month’s podcast.

I’m Nicole Navarro, journalist with API, and this month I am speaking with the president of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA), Jacque Parker.

Today we’ll discuss what you, as a buyer should look for when seeking a buyer’s agent to find investment properties for you.

Nicole Navarro: Hi Jacque, and welcome…

Jacque Parker: Thank you Nicole, and thank you for having me.

NN: Now Jacque at a time when some selling agents are wanting to interchange between acting on behalf of the buyer and vendor, particularly to cash in on what is increasingly a buyers’ market right now, is there special licensing or a body that regulates against this type of behaviour?

JP: Look, certainly I think firstly it’s important to point out that buyers agents and selling agents actually cannot act for and accept a fee from both parties in the same transaction. It’s actually illegal here in New South Wales under section 48 of the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act.

Firstly, I think it’s important when you’re talking about selling agents acting as buyers’ agents, they have a legal obligation under the Act to disclose any relationships with any referrals and they have to actually accept a fee from the buyer to show they’re completely independent. When they’re working for an agency obviously it’s so much more tempting for them to show only listings from their own agency, so that’s why it’s always better to work with an independent buyers agent and not just a vendors’ agent, because there’s a clear conflict of interest there.
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Podcast: Download (Duration: 6:36 — 3.1MB)

Podcast Transcript

Shannon Molloy: Many things changed in the wake of the global financial crisis. That dramatic wake-up call saw banks reign in their lending practices almost overnight. Lenders adopted a more cautious approach to the sort of person they’d lend money to. And it’s been one of the lasting consequences of the GFC.

Does this more conservative climate make it impossible for would-be investors on low incomes to crack into the market? Not necessarily. In this month’s issue of Australian Property Investor magazine, we explore ways to buy on a five-figure salary. Plus we meet five investors who’ve done just that.

For more on this topic, we’re joined by Mitchell Watson who’s a senior financial analyst with Canstar. Mitchell, thanks for your time. Is the current lending landscape still pretty conservative, or are banks beginning to ease their expectations?
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