In the Media - 2015
How to Review Your Property Portfolio
Having negotiated the purchase of your property and now settled, you are probably starting to relax and think that it’s now a case of ‘set and forget’.
In reality, all property needs to be managed and maintained, but let me explain why ‘set and forget’ is a really bad idea! Like any asset or investment, you need to keep check on how your property is performing over time. Many investors have no real awareness as to how and at what rate their property has performed. Read more
Understanding the Rules of Property Negotiation
Now that you have used your property check-list and done your extensive research, the next step is to negotiate to buy the property.
Real estate is a game, so either learn the rules or engage an expert who understands them, such as a buyers agent. Additionally, the rules of the game differ from state to state due to varying legislation, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that each states ‘rules’ are the same. Read more
Property Research Checklist
Having now engaged your experts, the next step is to do your property research.
While some opportunities may look good on the surface, without doing your property research you could be saddled with a property that doesn't perform as it should, costing you money in the long-term. Regardless of what the salesperson says. Read more
Engage Experts When Investing in Property
Australians love property! Just as most people wouldn't seek advice from friends about heart surgery if they weren't a surgeon, it is important to realise that the same level of awareness should apply when investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property.
It’s therefore important, that you understand that risk mitigation is factored into establishing a property portfolio and that engaging experts is part of the process. Read more
How much rent to charge for your investment property
In her latest article, Miriam talks about how “Proximity to amenities such as public transport, schools, shops and lifestyle amenities such as cafe's and restaurants will also impact how much rent you can ask for. The closer to amenities, the better, she says. Read more
What is Your Property Investment Strategy?
It’s important to understand that having a documented strategy is vital when establishing a property portfolio, so that you can measure your progress against it.
Buying a property without a strategy is like trying to build a house without a set of plans. To create property prosperity, you need a documented plan that guides the way and spells out the requirements, costs and time-frames you will need to invest in property successfully. Read more
Understanding Property Investment Risk
Risk is the extent to which you are willing to expose yourself to loss in return for a particular level of gain. The higher the risk, the higher the gain … in theory.
In movies and the media, people are applauded for taking big risks. They scale mountains, topple governments, reveal conspiracies, get the guy (or girl) and live happily ever after. Read more
Why Free Advice Isn't Free … or Good Advice!
Flip open any property magazine and they all scream with attention-grabbing headlines such as: "How to make millions fast" or "Single mother becomes property millionaire in 18 months".
Property investing has become so trivialised and it seems so easy, that apparently almost anyone with no experience, no deposit and no income can become a property millionaire – overnight! It’s important to understand how the property market in Australia works and that ‘free advice isn't free or good advice’. Read more
How to Buy Investment Property which Outperforms the Market
It’s very easy for consumers to get excited about purchasing property as part of their investment and wealth creation mix.
While the property sector would have you think that property investing is easy or simple and anyone can do it, the evidence suggests that not everyone does it well, let alone successfully. Read more
Locked Out
Miriam talks with Kieran Clair from API Magazine about the vast number of vacant units as both a hurdle and an opportunity. She goes on to say that our vacancy rate numbers in the big city centres will be skewed, because these units aren't being counted and that she sees urban renewal areas in Melbourne, for example, at risk of having tumble-weed blowing down the main street, too. Read more
Under-quoting Crackdown
As Miriam explains in her interview with API Magazine, under-quoting is an ongoing issue and a major one too.
Miriam goes on to say that under-quoting wastes time, money and the emotional energy of buyers who expect to pay a certain price and are blown out of the water at auction. As a result of under-quoting many buyers are simply unwilling to trust estate agents quoted prices prior to auction. While some agents don't agree with the change, the public abhor the lack of transparency and misleading practices that some agents use. Read more
Under-quoting in Real Estate
Tom Elliot interviews our director Miriam Sandkuhler on 3AW about under-quoting by real estate agents and how this misleading practice can be incredibly frustrating and time wasting for buyers wanting to buy into the market. The most important thing as Miriam says "is that we need greater transparency within the industry. The interview starts at 1 hr 35 minutes on 24 August 2015
Buying into the cafe set
In Melbourne! It's our most European of antipodean capitals with a heady mix of cool culture, cafe's and a lifestyle encased in both academic Bohemia and hard-nosed capitalism.
It might surprise readers to learn there are CBD-commutable suburbs within Australia's "Little London" where you can buy a unit for below $350,000 and still earn decent coin in rental return. Our analysis shows the options for profitable pundits to ponder when acquiring their own bit of this tram-laden town.
Many are calling Melbourne a hot unit market, but there are facets to this diamond, says Miriam Read more
The ultimate guide to using a buyer's agent
An investor's best friend or luxury for wealthy people? John Hilton discovers who buyers' agents really and and sifts through the pros and cons of using them.
The old saying "You have to spend money to make money" is especially true when considering this question: should I spend money on an investment property? As many successful investors will testify, the long-term financial rewards of property investment easily justify the purchase price.
However, a related questions that's more debatable is this: should I spend money on a buyer's agent? But before we jump the gun, it's important to flesh out the first question further. Read more
An Investor's guide to townhouses
Town-houses have undergone a revival of late as house hunters look for low-maintenance living, but with more space than a typical apartment.
Many town-houses offer private living in high-demand suburbs and their small outdoor areas deliver a low maintenance property. That has proved attractive to the two fastest growing parts of the owner-occupier market, double income couples with no kids and mature age couples downsizing their home.
Property Mavens Director Miriam Sandkuhler says investors have also picked up on the town-house revival and there are key things they should look for. Read more here.
First Home Investors
Tonight on the 7.30 report Miriam Sandkuhler discusses the rising trend of 'First Home Investors' with Pat McGrath.
Click below to watch the full interview.
Property investors: why you should go regional
Capital city house prices are off the chart, so why not broaden your horizons?
It’s that Goldilocks real estate zone that many property investors swear by. Encompassing the first 2-10 kilometres of the city, these inner-city suburbs are seen as the best places to invest due to their enormous capital growth prospects.
You only have to look at some of the prices being paid for inner-city homes in Melbourne, Sydney and parts of Brisbane to realise there is a fortune being made in the inner-city ring.
Luxe homes in later life
Can you believe it? Australia’s oldest baby boomers turn 70 this year.
But while most post-war babies are still decades from needing aged care accommodation (and too young-at-heart for retirement villages), many are downsizing from family homes to smaller, luxurious apartments.
So what should they be looking for?
North Vs South Wars: Melbourne
It’s a age-old turf war that is replicated across Australia’s capital cities – are you a northsider or a southsider? In the first in a series of North vs South we take a look at the territorial wars in our cities, starting with Melbourne.
Real Estate Talk - Happy Tenants
One thing that most investors want is to have happy tenants who are going to stay in there for a long period of time. In today’s show Miriam Sandkuhler, from Property Mavens, explains how having a view of the end tenant you want in an investment property has helped her.
Click above to listen to the full radio interview with Kevin Turner - Real Estate Talk
Auction Crackdown
Miriam discusses the issue of underquoting and the need for an auction crackdown with Laurel Irving on Channel 7 News.
Click above to watch the full report.
Housing Affordability is a social obligation Australia is failing
As a society we have an obligation to ensure that everyone has access to the most fundamental of needs – the security of an affordable roof over their head.
With the dream of homeownership coming to an end for many young Australians due to rapidly rising house prices, the reality is worse for those struggling to find property to rent which doesn't consume more than 30 per cent of their net weekly incomes.
Add to the mix the growing number of women and children fleeing domestic violence, single parent families and those 22,789 Victorians who have been rendered homeless through a variety of circumstances.
Open for Inspection
From Western Australia to Victoria, and everywhere else between, there are property experts traipsing the streets absorbing facts and figures, trends and tastes, generally learning what makes a property market tick.
These guys are a mine of knowledge and advice when it comes to making a decision on purchasing a property, so who better to ask about the West Australian and Victorian properties we’ve picked for this month’s Open for Inspection? We show them the particulars, probe them for answers, and then pose the biggie – would they talk to the agent some more, or would they walk?
Underquoting opinions muddying the waters
Buyers think underquoting happens regularly, yet even industry experts can't agree on how common the practice is.
When buyer's agent Miriam Sandkuhler and real estate franchise Hockingstuart director Rob Elsom were asked about the issue on Monday they could not agree on the frequency of underquoting.
Click here to see the VIDEO interview with our MD Miriam Sandkuhler
Boom or bust: the property market in 20 years’ time
The housing market is booming, but will it last forever? We look ahead to see where the property market could be in 20 years.
What is Arden - Macaulay?
According to senior property market observers, it's a name to commit to memory. Anyone planning to feather their long term Melbourne-investment-property nest this year - or decade - may struggle to find a better patch for hunting golden eggs.
Melbourne's centre is suffering a land crisis. Its population has doubled in the past 12 years according to the City of Melbourne, which cites Australian Bureau of Statistics and Geographia Population Forecast 2014 data that shows resident numbers rose from 66,149 in 2003 to an expected 124,143 in 2015.
Melbourne property market swings further in sellers’ favour
PROPERTY hunting is getting tougher in Melbourne with more buyers competing for fewer homes on the market.
The shrinking number of choices is a win for sellers, who hold the upper hand in most parts of the city, according to the latest Commonwealth Bank-CoreLogic RP Data index.
CoreLogic RP Data spokesman Robert Larocca said fewer properties were up for sale than at the same time last year, while interest rate cuts had fuelled buyer demand.
Underquoting rife, time to appoint real estate ombudsman
Complaints pertaining to a variety of property matters worth hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars can no longer be left to state governments and police to oversee. We shouldn't leave looking after our interests in property matters to Consumer Affairs Victoria. The banking, financial services, insurance and the telecommunications sectors all have ombudsmen for good reason, so if it's appropriate for those sectors, it is also appropriate to protect consumers investing in the real estate sector in the same manner.
Scrooge landlords not helping themselves
Our managing director Miriam Sandkuhler was interviewed in The Sydney Morning Herald Money section today. It's a great read !
Higher earning: Investing in uni towns
Investing in Australia’s largest cities is getting expensive, so if you don’t have the requisite budget, another option is to look at regional centres with a university or college. Most states have a least one provincial centre which plays host to a seat of academic endeavour. Our managing director was interview for this article.
In the Hot Seat
Our managing director Miriam Sandkuhler was interviewed in The Hot Seat this month in Australian Property Investor magazine. It's a great read !
6 tips for buying at the best price
As property values set new records, snapping up a bargain is more challenging than ever.
Read our clients Dale and Ros's case study and more by Miriam Sandkuhler here
All aboard the city change
Downsizers seem to be resisting the lure of the coast to embrace urban life. Is the sea change becoming the city change - and what does that mean for investors ?
Two ways to become a property investor
The path to property investment can seem endless and almost impossible. But there are two wildly different routes investors can take to get there sooner.