Sunday Blog - Expert property investment insights

In our Seller’s market, and particularly over the winter months where supplies of properties for sale are low, many buyers come to me requesting that I help them secure an auction property before the auction. But it’s not always a good idea to pounce forward with an offer. There needs to be a sequence of good reasons…

When a brief requires the ‘out of pocket’ monthly costs to be close to zero for an investor, the implication is that they will need to consider a property which carries some downside. It could either a risky investment, a tough studio apartment or …. a regional investment. We don’t endorse risky strategies, mining towns, tiny…

Often investors will look to changes in an effort to find that special something, that little edge that can make the difference between a sound suburb and a suburb about to boom. From infrastructure changes to planning updates, new developments to exciting tourist magnets. A change of scene and the presence of new and cashed-up buyers can make…

Yesterday I bid for a very special repeat client, who this time had researched an exciting opportunity – a subdivision and large townhouse build behind a period property. Finding the right property was not easy; in fact we’d been working together for months. With a target price of sub-$700K, a need for train station to be…

Recently we had a fantastic brief to assist with for a very sensible first home buyer. Her target budget was low to mid fives, and her questions were fabulous. Should she be buying brand-new? Should she target the grant for those who buy new? Would it be better to buy in a well-established area close to the…

We recently bid on a cute three bedroom house in Watsonia and walked away without the sold sticker. The property sold for $600,000, but because of a large tree in the backyard and a Department of Housing tenant on a further eighteen month lease, our cap of $590,000 stood firm and that property just wasn’t…

Back in April I had the pleasure of receiving a phone call from a prospective client. He and his fiancee had been searching for months for a suitably sized, long term family home in West Footscray and surrounds. Their search had been drawn-out and painful in part; from being pipped at auction to falling prey…

Our regional city brief this month was in Geelong – a changing, exciting, waterside city just 50 minutes from Melbourne. Our lovely clients are thinking forward to where they are going to live and work – and came to us to help them make their wish a reality. Geelong never gets shrugged off by us.…

On Saturday we attended an auction for two fabulous repeat clients. Their portfolio acquisition plan this time around was to identify a sub-$600K house which could respond to rejuvenation now, and could potentially be sub-dividable in future. No easy feat, but Northern middle-to-outer-ring Watsonia was identified as a possible locality to target.      …

We recently decided to pursue a property in arguably one of Sunshine’s best streets. Not only was the property in a great street, but was a stand-out, period property. This gorgeous, three bedroom, period Californian Bungalow stole hearts, but not ours. We remained pragmatic, because after all, this asset had to do just one thing;…

We recently had the privilege of helping a client from Sydney buy his second property (this year!), and this time our brief was to find an apartment which he could purchase in his self managed super fund (SMSF). SMSF properties are a bit trickier than the average investment purchase, and the first one we’d found…

Only two weeks ago, Amy and I attended an auction in Ascot Vale’s “The Parade” – an enviable address with an easy walk on offer to Union Road’s cafes and the local rail station. Keen buyers challenged us beyond our budget but an advocate from the Eastern Suburbs lurked at the back and slammed a…