‘STAND AND WAIT’ NOT GOOD MARKET STRATEGY

When media reports start talking about static or falling home prices, many homebuyers think that it’s a good idea to watch the market and wait for it to reach the bottom. They feel that if they postpone their purchase long enough, they are likely to see prices fall further and snap up a ‘real bargain’.

While bargains do exist, of course, for people who are in the right place at the right time, there are often more people who miss out by using this strategy than gain.  Most homebuyers buy their family home and live in it for, on average, seven to ten years.  And when we’re looking at averages, the property market continues, in the big picture, to rise. Based on historical property cycles, property may undergo periods of static growth and periods of galloping growth, but on average, well-located, well-selected residential property doubles in value every ten years or so. Certainly, if we could always pick the lowest time to buy and the highest time to sell we would do very well indeed, but the only buyers who need worry about the immediate state of the market are the real estate speculators who wish to buy then sell again straight away, or those who are too highly geared or who have entered into unrealistic amounts of debt. For everyone else, the chances of strong long-term capital gain are virtually assured, provided they buy well-selected property in well-selected locations.

It’s famously difficult to pick the ‘bottom’ of the market. Often buyers who wait find themselves having little to choose from as listings get scarce – and a sudden flurry of competition for the few desirable properties actually on the market for sale often causes them to sell for higher prices than expected, even in a market described as a difficult one for sellers.  Buyers end up paying more than they bargained for if they  keep on watching and waiting;  because the ‘flurries’ they waited out were signalling an upturn in the market or the end of the halcyon days for buyers.

Purchasers who wait too long for a ‘bargain’ or the ‘lowest point of the market’ often only realise that the lowest point has already been reached once they can look back on it with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.

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Summer is quickly approaching - Pool Safety Tips

As the months warm up the need to cool off becomes ever greater, and the swimming pool is an attractive remedy to beat the heat.


However, with drowning danger apparent, it is important that everyone takes pool safety seriously. Following are some tips to ensure that your pool is safe during summer, which could save someone’s life:


• Ensure there is a CPR sign clearly displayed near your pool.

• Make sure that everyone at your home knows the CPR process. You can attend courses through the local Ambulance service.

• Ensure that you have rescue equipment by the pool in case of an emergency.

• Don’t leave climbable objects near the pool fence.

• Don’t leave equipment or toys in the pool as it can encourage small children to want to get in the pool.

• Always have an adult present when small children are swimming in the pool.

• Take your phone outside when supervising small children so you don’t have to leave… even for a minute.

• Never leave the pool gate propped open. This not only poses a danger to small children, but weakens the hinge on the pool gates, often causing it not to close properly.

• If you have a pool cover, always ensure that it is secured to the pool so small children cannot climb under.

If you are concerned about the safety of your pool it is recommended that you contact your local pool safety expert for professional advice

Securing the best tenant

Our philosophy is to find the best possible tenant in the quickest possible time to ensure that we are maximising your rental income.

However, if tenant demand is low, it is far better to have the property vacant an extra week than to approve ANY tenant just for the sake of having the property rented.

A tightening of the economic climate brings many social and financial factors that can impact on the management of rental properties. Tenants can find it harder to secure affordable housing, which can result in dishonesty on tenancy applications when applying for a rental property.

You can be confident that we are strict in our tenant selection process.  We are focused on securing tenants that will care for your property and pay the rent on time.

When we undertake the tenant application process we are thorough in our research process of the tenant. 

Following are a few of the areas and strategies that we take into consideration:

•     We verify their employment reference confirming the stability of their position and income by sighting wage slips.
•     We use the 30/70 rule as a guide to determine the tenant’s affordability of rental payments so they don’t overcommit. (30% of the household’s income is allocated to rent)
•     We avoid ringing listed mobiles and will conduct a telephone-number search of the employer’s business or previous landlord.
•     We verify previous rental references.  Real Estate references are often the most reliable.  If they have rented privately we will conduct a property search to confirm the owner of the property.
•        If they have travelled from interstate we will verify this with the address on their driver’s licence.
•    We will conduct a tenant default database search to see if they have defaulted as a tenant previously.
•    We will also look at other key factors such as how long they have resided at their previous property (long-term tenants are a better investment), whether they have pets and how many people wish to reside in the property.

While most tenants are honest in the application process, from experience there are still those who try to manipulate the process with false information. 

It is our duty of care to all landlords that we are thorough in our tenant selection process to ensure that your investment is protected. ■

Women powering the property market

Despite Australia enduring an up and down property market at present, it seems women are bucking the trend and leading the way in the search for prime real estate.

Research from realestate.com.au has revealed women are the power players when it comes to the property purchasing process.

Figures show women are currently accounting for two-thirds of visitors to the website and 87% are searching the site for property a minimum of three times per week (1).

From teenage to the twilight years, the research unearthed five distinct consumer segments that demonstrate the prominent role women play as ‘buyers’ or ‘drivers’ in the Australian property market.

The survey of 1260 female ‘active’ property seekers using realestate.com.au found five female segments were esentially the leaders in online property searches and determining a list of properties for consideration.

The segments, made up of First Home Buyers (25%), Upsizers (22%), Downsizers (7%), Lifestyle Seekers (27%) and Investors (17%), not surprisingly found a quarter of female online browsers were looking for their first home.

The survey also found:

Affordability was a major issue for First Home Buyers, with 67% looking to purchase a home under the $400,000 price range.

Around one in five active female property hunters were looking to upsize to a bigger or better home (Upsizers). Most were living in metro areas, from middle to higher income households and searching above the $500,000 price range.

Downsizers were the smallest of the five segments, representing just 7% of active female property hunters. Almost half (46%) were visiting the site daily to search for their ideal property.

More than one in four active female property hunters were primarily seeking a new lifestyle (Lifestyle Seekers) in a new area (rather than a bigger/smaller home, or first/investment property). The majority of lifestyle seekers were searching for properties in the $500,000 to $750,000 price range.

Female investors represented 17% of the active buyers searching on realestate.com.au. Around half were looking at properties under $400,000, with almost half of respondents (49%) indicating using the site to find out the ‘sold’ prices of properties.

The survey also revealed these consumer segments demonstrated significantly different search behaviours, using a range of tools such as property websites, mobile search and telephone enquiry to progress their interest in a property.

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