News & Updates

The Property Cycle

7 + 1 + 7 + 3.5 = Phil Anderson’s 18.5 year property clock These numbers used to mean 18.5 to me. Now thanks to a bloke named Phillip J Anderson, it is the number of years in a full property cycle. After GFC I went on the hunt for information. I am a bit…

High Rents Equal High Growth?

High rent return can mean an undervalued property! I was chatting to someone recently about their next investment property purchase. They had success in local areas they knew very well and proceeded to ask me about one certain suburb they were looking to buy in once again. The comment made to me was, “The rents…

Yield vs. Growth

When an investment property comes across my desk, my first question is always, “What about the yield”? It does not matter that the area is pegged for massive growth, if you cannot afford your repayments to keep the investment. However, it is just as irrelevant to suggest that a huge yield will ensure investment success.…

When Chasing Rental Yield Backfires

If you know commercial property, you will know that the price is pegged to the rental return of the property. If your rent goes up, your property value goes up, and the opposite is true also. That is why most commercial property is left untenanted rather than renting it at a lower price. If the…

The Real Cost of Holding Investment Property

When it comes to investment property most investors focus on either the purchase price or the rental return and forget other costs like the mortgage (loan), rates, management and insurance. There are more factors to consider when doing your due diligence and cash flow analysis on an intended property and one that is most often…

APRA Targets Property Investors

This week as seen some major players in the banking sector tighten lending criteria for investors on the back of APRA expectations. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), is a government body who oversees banks, credit unions and other finance, super and insurance related industries. In their wisdom they have made the recommendation to limit…

APRA Changes Rules for Investors

Past weeks have seen a media storm in our industry about APRA recommendations for lenders to change policies for investors. APRA rule changes impact investors The premise behind it is from regulators looking to restrict the amount of lending to investors and promote / allow lending for owner occupiers. What really happened was that APRA…

Has Toowoomba Property Peaked?

Is now the right time to buy in Toowoomba? QLD’s flower capital has been the highlight of recent media reports and also has some massive infrastructure spend happening, but does this mean that it is over cooked and time to look elsewhere or get out? We were working the Toowoomba market again in 2012 when…

2015 Property Market Snapshot

The New Year has started with a bang for the Australian property market. Some of this noise is good and some not so good. Mining towns are off the boil and capital cities are heating up. Melbourne and Sydney have been on the run for some time and Brisbane is playing catch up. So what…

What about Due Diligence

When making offers and structuring a purchase contract it is important to look at all the clauses involved. Most buyers focus on the finance and inspection clauses as these are the ones they usually have in their mind to dictate their terms to the sellers agent. While both these clauses are generally written into most…