Latest news with #buyersagent
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Buying into strata? The hidden rules that could ban your pets
This is it, after years of renting you can finally buy a home. You no longer have to worry about getting another person's permission to own a pet. Or do you? When it comes to living in a strata complex, the rules around blanket bans on pets vary across the states and territories. But even if you live in NSW, Queensland, the ACT or Victoria, where Body Corporates aren't allowed to put an outright ban on keeping a pet, it pays to read the fine print very carefully before committing to a purchase. THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL Melbourne buyers agent Mario Borg says it's crucial for pet owners to check strata by-laws very carefully before committing to a purchase. Owners generally have to seek written approval to keep a pet and the committee must assess each request fairly. Any refusals must be based on legitimate grounds, such as the safety or health concerns of other residents – not based on personal preference. 'If you've got a pet – or are planning to get one – strata rules can (and will) override your rights as an owner,' Borg says. 'Some buildings still ban pets entirely, or they make approval so difficult it's effectively a 'no.' I've seen buyers blindsided by this after signing a contract.' While your pet may be welcomed into your new home, there could be strict rules around how they use it. 'It's not just about if pets are allowed, it's about how they're allowed,' he says. 'Can you walk them in common areas? Are certain breeds banned? These rules matter.' RULES TO LOOK OUT FOR Sydney buyers agent Michelle May says some strata complexes have by-laws preventing pets from entering common areas. 'So, if you have cats, they have to be indoor cats,' she says. 'And a dog will have to be carried through the lobby – particularly if you are going into a lift.' This can become an issue for those with larger breeds. Even more so if they have more than one dog. 'Practicality-wise, if you've got a dog and a baby, how are you going to manage the logistics of getting out through the common property?' she says. Other by-laws she commonly sees are restrictions on the number of pets and the size of dogs. 'I have a client with two Alsatians,' she says. 'As a buyer you really need to go through the by-laws to see if this is going to cause an issue before you make an offer or go to auction.' Borg says the most common rule he sees is that pets are OK if approved by the Owners Corp. 'But that approval isn't guaranteed,' he says. 'The trick is getting that approval in writing before you commit. Don't leave it to chance.' STRICTEST STRATA RULES Of course, it's not just pet owners who need to concern themselves with the strata rules of the complex they are considering buying into. Every buyer should have a thorough understanding of what they can and can't do according to the Owners Corp. Here are some of the most restrictive rules buyers agents Michelle May and Mario Borg have come across while reading strata reports. * No furniture deliveries unless booked 48 hours in advance * No moving in or out on weekends * No drying laundry on balconies * Residents must repaint their front door in the same shade of brown * Stipulations on what window coverings are allowed * No short-stay lettings allowed * No hard flooring allowed * Restrictions on kitchen and bathroom renovations * Noise and parking rules
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
In a bidding war for your first home? This expert shares insider tips that could help you win
It's arguably never been harder to get on the property ladder in Ireland. Even if you manage to save a deposit and get mortgage -approved, you're up against cash buyers, institutional investors and the State itself; all vying for properties at a time of chronic undersupply. And if you manage to overcome the aforementioned barriers, you still have the traditionally daunting task of dealing with auctioneers, banks, surveyors and solicitors. Notwithstanding all of the above, it's worth arming yourself with knowledge of the process in readiness for any opportunities that may present themselves. READ MORE Enter buyers' agent Miriam Finn. Where estate agents represent the vendor in a property deal, Finn takes buyers under her wing and helps them through the process. 'We assist them all the way from starting their search for the property, negotiating on the property, taking them through that complicated sale agreed process, right up until closing.' Her job is common in other countries but relatively novel in Ireland. She struck out on her own after thirty years in the property business, twenty of which were with Sherry FitzGerald . Many people had approached Finn looking for help and advice at a time when she was constrained by acting in the interests of the seller. For first time buyers especially, the property process can be a confusing one. Bank or broker? Fixed or variable mortgage interest rate? What about mortgage protection, home insurance... ? How to persuade a bank to lend to you, finding a property, dealing with bidding wars, solicitors fees and on it goes. In this episode of Better With Money , Finn lays out the entire process in chronological order sharing everything she knows about lending approval, bidding, negotiating and closing. You can listen to this illuminating and engrossing conversation on the player above, or search for Better With Money wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Resources mentioned in this episode: Help to Buy scheme First Home scheme More information on various state help and grants CCPC mortgage money tool Price comparison web sites like Bonkers and Switcher analyse the best value mortgage loans on the market Check if a prospective property is on a flood plain
The Guardian
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘It's a shock': if you think Adelaide housing is affordable, think again
When people think of Adelaide, they may ponder its good food and wine or its many churches. Historically, it was viewed as a well-priced place to live and work. But years of surging property prices have made it less affordable than some of the world's most famous cities, including London and New York, when income levels are factored into living costs. Even those with a front row seat to the change have trouble comprehending it. 'It is a shock for someone like myself, who was born and bred here and always thought of Adelaide as being one of the most affordable places to live with the quality of lifestyle that we have,' says David King, a property agent who assists buyers entering the market. 'The traditional first-time buyer is now being priced out of houses and that has led to a quite large increase in unit prices across Adelaide. Now even a unit is becoming out of reach.' King, a buyer's agent at property group Cohen Handler, says prospective buyers in Adelaide are frustrated. 'There are people who come to us often through a level of frustration that they've been out there looking and missing out on so many different properties. They are just sick and tired of being out there every weekend.' Adelaide is the sixth least affordable metropolitan market listed in the recent Demographia International Housing Affordability report, which measures housing costs to income in 95 markets across eight nations. The South Australian capital, which is less affordable than global cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto, is now Australia's second-least affordable city, after the perennially expensive Sydney. While Hong Kong is at the top of the list, it is suffering from a depressed housing market, in a trend that will probably soon give Sydney the unenviable title of world's most unaffordable city. Demographia blames a global affordability squeeze on governments using urban containment strategies, which it defines as a focus on densifying housing within city boundaries as opposed to expansion. Australia has also been gripped by concerns that state and federal government policies are fuelling demand through their policies, without adequately addressing supply. While housing affordability across the country deteriorated during the Covid pandemic, as wages fell behind rocketing home values, most of Australia's major cities have been expensive for decades. Some of the biggest price gains occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with near double-digit annual percentage gains, backed by the 'increasingly significant role' of investors pumping up demand, as noted by Treasury at the time. This coincided with the Howard government's 1999 decision to reduce capital gains tax for investors. Home prices as a multiple of Australians' incomes have more than doubled since 1980, according to the OECD's measure. The same figure has only risen by half as much in the UK and barely moved in the US. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Prof Hal Pawson, an expert in housing policy at UNSW, said that affordability has deteriorated faster in Australia than in most comparable countries as bigger tax exemptions allow investors and owner-occupiers to pour more money into the sector. 'Australia's a country that, probably to a greater extent than even other anglophone countries, has an obsession with property as a place to put your money,' Pawson says. Geography also plays a part. Australia's layout and remote centre mean people congregate towards big coastal cities, contrasting with the more common practice across Europe and the US of inland cities. Adelaide, now less affordable than the more heavily populated Melbourne, is a good example of a city being squeezed by its terrain, given that it is locked between the ocean and the hills. Recent coverage of Australia's housing crisis has focused on soaring demand and sluggish supply of new homes, with growing city populations held back by rising construction costs and lengthy project approval processes. But in Germany, which also faces those issues, incomes have grown faster than home prices over recent decades, making property more affordable. Housing enjoys fewer tax breaks in Germany, while rent caps and stronger protections for tenants mean much of the population is happy to rent long-term. Christian Danne, a Berlin-based economist, says price-income comparisons hardly apply because half the population isn't looking to buy a home. 'Ever since the 1950s, it's a renters' market,' he says. 'The most prized possession in the UK and Ireland is your house, but for a very long time in Germany, the most important status symbol was your car.' More than half the German population rented a home in 2024, whereas only about a third of Australians are tenants. Amid a shortage of housing stock, rents for new tenants have been rising fast in Germany, putting pressure on young people and migrants entering the market. But those already settled into a rental are usually spared the steep increases. 'Price increases are very predictable once you're living in a place, so there's literally no incentive to buy and own a place other than personal preference,' says Danne, a consultant at DIW Econ. Australia has seen bigger hikes in both existing and new rent costs in the last five years, with average rent prices up nearly 20% and the advertised price of new rentals up nearly 50%. Affordability advocates in Australia are focusing their attention on rental rights, which are a state issue. The thinking is that improving tenancy rights may lower the value of rental properties and depress rental prices, easing affordability at the expense of landlords, as it does in some overseas markets. Bruce Djite, the South Australian executive director at the Property Council of Australia, says Adelaide's past affordability advantage has been 'completely eroded' and policymakers aren't reacting by increasing supply fast enough. 'We are not acting like we're in a crisis [but] a lot more needs to be done,' Djite says. 'If we continue on like this, we will get a reputation for not just being unaffordable, but being completely inaccessible.'
News.com.au
28-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Secret tactics of dodgy agents exposed
Secret tactics used by unscrupulous agents to drive up home prices have been exposed by Aussie homebuyers who are now warning others how to spot it. As housing affordability falls to record lows across the country, home buyers and former agents have begun sharing tips for how to tackle agents who resort to deceptive tactics to force more money out of buyers – a major issue given surging prices now have many already bidding at their borrowing peak at auctions. The Australian property community exploded with advice and shared experiences after a Redditor asked 'post auction, am I being played' over a real estate agent continually coming back for more, claiming there was a second party gunning for a house. 'Went to an auction, there was just me and a buyers' agent bidding. Buyers agent's last bid was $1.4m, mine $1.45m. Property passed in. Went to negotiations, vendor wanted $1.56m. Bid against myself and offered $1.48m. No deal, walked away. Buyers' agent had left.' 'Phone call 3 hours later, buyers' agent had offered $1.50m. Asked if we would submit a better offer. Submitted $1.51m. Agent sent through contract for signature. Signed offer. Received a call the next day, buyers' agent has submitted a higher offer. Said they won't reveal offer, and want my best and final offer. I think I am being played.' Culture Kings founders' bold $30m push The feedback was fast and furious, with many urging the buyer to walk away or even drop their offer back to the original auction top market price. One user said 'the seller wanted the highest price the market would pay. That's why it went to auction and that was demonstrated – market price: $1.45m. After that the b*llshit started because they don't agree with the market price.' Several former real estate agents chimed in, one confirming the tactic, saying 'when I worked in real estate we would do this quite often and it was all legitimate, reason being to stop the back and forward especially post auction and to get a deal done (mostly at vendors request)'. Another said 'having been on the selling side, this is exactly what a 'good' selling agent does to squeeze every dollar out of you.' The ex-agent's suggestion was 'go back with a LOWER offer, as the owner is often desperate to sell. You have power with your offer'. Zac Efron's Aussie long lunch haunt is on the market Among the experiences shared was one saying 'house was up for $399k, my offer was in at 375k before the open home, they apparently got another offer and the agent kept giving me the FOMO treatment to get me to offer more, and said they had another offer. I said I will only go up to 380k, that's it. Still tried pressing me for more and I got annoyed and said 'if I lose it, I lose it'. Call came in next day and my offer was accepted by the owners'. Another said 'agent called for 2 days straight talking about another buyer and hubby said a number 40k over what we had offered and agent says yep $1000 more than that amount and it's yours. We said no, house sat for another 6 weeks and ended up going for 25k under our offer'. 'Same thing happened to us,' said another, 'property range around 1-1.25 mil, we offered 1.25 because we wanted a quick sale and ready to move in. Agent played around and said owner wanted more than 1.25 mil … We walked away … That property ended up selling for 1.105 mil. Sometimes agent and seller just have to learn to say yes to a good deal and not trying to push for an extra 5k or 10k'. Artist builds Aus first aircrete dome home Another said 'I told the agent that my final bid was x amount (the amount I'd already offered), and they could accept it by the end of the day, or I would pull out. By the end of the day I was signing contracts. So it turns out that there likely was no other party'. A last minute tactic was also exposed by another Redditor: 'we were all good to proceed with signing the contract, confirmed this with the agent … Then 10 minutes later the agent called, sounding all sad, saying that there had been another offer that had come in late that was substantially higher than ours and that he was legally obligated to present that offer to the seller etc etc. Pushed for us to offer more in response.' 'We told him to do what he had to do and left it at that. Another 15 minutes later the agent called again, sounding rather sheepish saying that the other buyer was not serious and that the house was ours … It really soured us on the agent who otherwise had seemed like a genuine (for an agent) straightshooter. He just carried on like that whole event never happened.' After the flood of advice, the original poster told the community 'this morning I sent off an email and have withdrawn our offer. So if they don't have the other offer, they have nothing. We are happy to walk. It's not our perfect place and if it does go, we are happy to let it go above our offer'. This was followed by an update: 'Got an email just then. Apparently the other buyer has pulled out. Hahahahahahahaha.' Among the tips from those suggesting buyers walk away was one Redditor saying 'make sure you rescind your offer in writing' while another said 'if passes in at an auction, give an offer, but say it is withdrawn in 3-4 hours if I don't see a signed contract. I have done it and been successful thrice. Agent typically wants to sell and move on'. Another said 'as a rule of thumb, don't make an offer before an auction, that's when they play you against an imaginary buyers' agent'. 'Typically if there are no other real buyers, they will advertise a firm price on the Monday (after the auction). If they put up a range, walk away. Ideally you want to close it before 6pm Sunday or walk away otherwise they Dutch auction your offer'.
News.com.au
26-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Aussies shocked at price of Sydney home but agent has a simple message: ‘They don't know'
'Sydney prices are a joke.' That's the sentiment from Australians after a video went viral showing a period home in Sydney's eastern suburbs with an asking price of almost $7 million. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom Federation-style home on almost 700sq m in one of the city's most sought-after tree-lined streets needs a bit of work. Even the agent admits that. But many could not understand how it might fetch such a hefty price. '$7m for this? Australia is cooked,' one person wrote on a video shared by a Sydney buyers agent. '$7 million and the master bedroom doesn't even have an ensuite?,' another wrote. 'No understanding why anyone would price this house at $7 million,' wrote another. But the home at 29 Milroy Avenue in Kensington is worth more than that, according to Roger Wardy, the Director at Ray White Touma Taylor. He should know. He just broke the suburb record with a sale of a similar property — 6 Mooramie Avenue — one week ago that went for $7.5m. 'They don't know,' Mr Wardy told when asked about those questioning the price guide. 'They're uneducated about wealth or how to make money. First, they don't have that amount of money. When you know that area and the growth, you wouldn't think twice about that price.' In fact, Mr Wardy believes the home is worth more. With a few small tweaks, he believes it could be the first home in the suburb to attract offers in the $8m range. 'I see the value here. That's why I invest here. This spot here is on the tree-lined, flat section of the most sought-after street in the suburb. 'It has a huge amount of space, lush gardens, a massive pool, very high ceilings the whole way through. 'Properties like this are rare. It's not the most renovated, but not the most unrenovated. You don't need to spend that much to make another million — just a few cosmetic changes and it could get $8m.' Not bad for a home that sold in 1997 for just $695,000. Kensington is just south of Moore Park and west of Randwick, 4km south-east of the Sydney CBD and less than 10 minutes from Coogee Beach. It is booming. In the last four years, the median house price in Kensington has grown from $2.5m in 2020 to more than $4.2m in 2024. And Milroy Avenue is 'regarded as the best street in the suburb,' Mr Wardy says. 'It's five minutes from the city, 10 minutes from the best beaches, close to transport to the west and north. It's really conveniently located. 'The people who live here have top tier jobs; surgeons, solicitors, barristers, directors of banks, they live here. 'What I've noticed is people think they want to live near the water. But in two years, they get over it, they get sick of having drunks walk past their house. So they come back from water side to park side. They raise their families here instead.' Mr Wardy said Kensington is growing in such a way that it has passed the rate of growth for Vaucluse — one of Sydney's most affluent suburbs. 'If you had invested in Kensington 10 years ago and Vaucluse 10 years ago, the percentage growth on the dollar is more in Kensington. 'It's like a diamond in the rough.' The sale of 6 Mooramie Avenue, which broke a suburb record at the start of May, overtook another of Mr Wardy's sales. In September last year, he sold 7 Lenthall Street in Kensington, a corner block, for a whopping $7,250,000. The new suburb record at the time was sold after a single inspection. It bodes well for the upcoming sale at Milroy Avenue. Even if those on social media can't wrap their head around it just yet.
