News & Updates

Swiss Army Knife of Property

Christmas morning 1990. A younger me was unwrapping gifts in my mind, while shaking and prodding them under the tree. One of the addressed boxes was too small to be lego (hopefully) and too big to be money. It was quite heavy and solid. Were my parents playing a joke, was it a rock or…

Embrace the Bubble

You sit down. The overhead brace slides across and presses on your chest. Locked in place and nowhere to go, the countdown begins. The carriage you are sitting in smells a bit musty and is making funny noises but its ok, this is all normal you are told. Looking around, every other seat is taken;…

How long does it take to save for a house deposit

How many work hours does it take you to save for a house deposit? Have you ever worked it out? It is both interesting and depressing at the same time. Understandably, there is an almost infinite number of variables for this calculation, most of them around wages and household expenses. Let us give it a…

2021 Outlook, According to the Property Cycle Clock

Not the end of the cycle, not the beginning of a new one, just the middle… It is fair to say most people would agree, that since 2019 we have been in a down or sideways market. What we have just experienced, is in fact, a Mid Cycle Slowdown (MCS), not an End of Cycle…

They want to pay 12 months rent upfront

“We wish to advise; we have taken an application for your property. The proposed tenants are willing to pay 12 months up front, with a 13.3% rental price increase from last tenant.” The rental market has gone bonkers! Earlier this week one of our properties had a rental application delivered to our rental manager. The…

Second Place is First Loser – Auction day in a Covid Market

It was down to him and me. Bid for bid and number for number anytime one of us moved, so did the other. On this beautiful Saturday morning on the Sunshine Coast, my opponent was chasing the same prize as I was; to pay the most money for a property that needed to be knocked…

Top tips I have learnt as a Buyers Agent

Since 2004 I have been buying property for other people as a job. This job is called a buyer’s agent. Over this time, I have seen some key things that many buyers do to put themselves at a disadvantage when buying a property. A good buyer’s agent will alleviate these problems, but as a buyer…

The RBA has been Crystal Balling!

The reserve bank just told you what is going to happen for at least the next 3 years. On the 15th of October this year, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor, Philip Lowe, delivered a speech. The is not particularly unusual for him to do, but the content of this speech was unlike anything I had…

Do rising rents mean rising house prices?

Last week I talked about how investors will accept a lower yield. You can read last week’s article here and should do so before reading this one. Today I wanted to discuss how house prices will increase because rentals yields are increasing. What I am saying is that we are seeing rent prices go up,…

Why investors will accept a lower return

I was asked this week “when will investors come back into the market”? The facts Investors buy property for one reason; they want to make money. Either capital growth or cashflow, no one does it for love or charity. It is then fair to assume that investors will not be in a market where it…