Posts by Cate Bakos

Victoria’s new land tax announcement has been quite unpopular in property investment circles. But a quick look at rents may change perspective.

It’s an interesting thought. I’d tell myself many, many things. Mostly I’d tell my younger self not to do a lot of the things that my parents warned me about. But when it comes to property and building wealth, there are four key things I’d tell my younger self. The first thing I’d tackle relates…

If you ask any investor who purchased an apartment back in 2010 if they were happy with their purchase, you’d likely hear some mixed sentiment. Plenty of advisors supported apartment purchases, and for good historical reasons. This chart may come as a surprise, but for a good few years prior to 2003, the national unit…

If I had a dollar for every buyer who had said to me, “Cate, I don’t want to enter into a bidding war”, I’d have a lot of full piggybanks. It’s an understandable avoidance, particularly for those who have had their hearts set on a property, only to be outbid by someone else’s higher offer.…

Pre-auction offers are a common topic. Many agents are asked by purchasers whether their vendors would consider selling a property prior to auction. Unsurprisingly, the vendor’s (and agent’s) willingness to accept offers prior varies with the market sentiment. When the property market is languishing or falling, offers prior to auction are welcomed, and in fact…

Auction bidding isn’t for the feint-hearted, but there are five critical tasks that must be done before being auction-ready. Ignoring just one of them could do more damage than just reducing the chances of success, and some of them could result in financial losses. Unlike a private sale campaign, auctions in Victoria are bound by…

Many people ask me this question. It’s usually an investor looking to pick a hotspot, or someone hoping to speculate with a cheap asset that suddenly takes off in value. COVID and all that it caused for our various markets hasn’t helped the situation, because bold property success stories at BBQ’s dominate these days. From…

I’ve met hundreds, if not thousands of investors over my twenty years in the property industry. Some are active clients, others are friends of friends at BBQ’s, parties, etc. People talk openly about investor regret when property is the topic of conversation, and over the years I’ve noted the common investor regrets. Here they are……

Over the years I’ve seen so many floor plans, layouts and yard sizes that just don’t work. Some can be fixed, but at a cost. And often, the cost results in an overcapitalisation.

Our Victorian rental laws have changed and in particular, the “no pets” clause is no longer an option for rental providers. Previously, rental providers, (or landlords as we knew them prior to the reforms) could restrict a renter from having a pet in the property. Things have changed though, and our legislation now enables renters…