API Blog :: Have your say!

Sometimes love doesn’t last. What once seemed like such a sure thing in the grips of passion occasionally frosts over without warning, leaving you alone with a heavy heart. Other times, you just don’t feel that way anymore and make a dash for it. And from time to time, no one’s to blame.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

Like in life, nothing is black and white when it comes to property. The best conditions aren’t always conducive to success and sometimes, against all the odds, you’re left heartbroken.
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They say assumptions are the mother of all stuff ups and as a landlord you shouldn’t take for granted that your expectations need to be clearly communicated. Take the tenant who figured her Great Dane would be suitable for an inner city flat that had strict size and weight restrictions on pets.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

If you’re not familiar with Great Danes, picture a canine version of a larger, dumber and slower pony. What they lack in grace they make up for in slobber production and a largess unsurpassed by any other hound.

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Back in the ‘glory days’ of property, suburbs across the country were constantly serenaded in a song of hammers hammering and buzz saws buzzing. Then as the GFC hit, an eerie silence fell over middle Australia. Are there hints that the renovation melody is set to play again?

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

Businesses in the arena of home improvement, do-it-yourself (DIY) or hardware have had a bumper run of late, according to figures released late last year. There was a surge in trade, revenue and profits across the sector in the September quarter. At the time, I remember being fairly surprised by the result. Read more →

Imagine being several months pregnant and winched by helicopter from the roof of your rapidly flooding home, just in the nick of time. As if that wasn’t enough, picture the months of painful pleading with your insurer to pay out a legitimate claim, to no avail.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

That’s one remarkable and terrifying story I heard following the Queensland floods in 2011. When I met that particular woman almost a year later, her home had been rebuilt and her family’s farm was almost back in production.

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I caught up recently with a friend who works for a mid-sized lender and he explained how car loan approvals were through the roof, signaling a renewed willingness by consumers to splash cash on a pricey set of wheels.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

While there were some modest improvements to most consumer sentiment studies in the second half of 2012, the results were still pretty lackluster. It was abundantly clear that Australians remain timid about spending cash. We’re simply afraid of debt.

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As we bid farewell to 2012 and welcome a brand new year, it’s an ideal opportunity to set some property investment goals for the next 12 months. I’ve got a few resolutions in that regard.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

This is the time of year when everyone embraces a new diet, kicks a few bad habits and starts the calendar year fresh and full of optimism. I’m usually not one of those people. Read more →

One of the things I love most about my job is the opportunity to talk to so many different people as we put each issue of API together. Investors of all backgrounds and levels, leading experts in various fields and a few of the guys you see on TV each night.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

Do you remember this time 12 months ago? What a vastly different environment we were in back then. Property markets were still very sluggish, to put it kindly. The Reserve Bank’s rates reduction cycle had just kicked off. Forecasts for 2012 weren’t terribly merry. Read more →

Each year, the Federal Government likes to take the temperatures of our major cities and prepare a prognosis of what lies ahead. The latest makes for sobering reading. Put simply, there’s a lot to do… including a total shift of focus.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

Most Australians want to live in or near the CBD of a major city, as that’s where our jobs tend to be based. Problem is, there’s a chronic undersupply of housing and what’s available is expensive. Read more →

It has been a long time coming, but Australians are starting to shake off their pessimism when it comes to property and embrace a more cheery outlook. It’s about bloody time.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

Doom and gloom is contagious, I swear. It’s like an airborne virus that sweeps across the population, turning perfectly healthy people into withering messes in one foul sweep.

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I’ve just returned from a quick trip to China. The Great Wall was impressive, the overall friendliness of locals surprising and the cheap price of beer welcome, but the most remarkable thing was the pace of development.

BY SHANNON MOLLOY

As myself and 43 other tourists were shuffled between Beijing and Shanghai over the course of eight days, most of us were overwhelmed by the sight of hundreds of cranes dotting the skyline of each city we visited.

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