A rising market is not the time to upgrade!!

Look at this scenario…

This time last year, you believed your house was worth $700,000. Now, prices in your suburb are reported to have increased by 10%, which makes your home now worth $770,000. You have just had a promotion and are keen to climb the property ladder. The trouble is that your next house, having been worth $1,000,000 a year ago, is now also worth 10% more - $1,100,000*. So, if you upgrade now, you’ll be $30,000 worse off than you would have been last year, plus the extra stamp duty. You will be better off when the market finally slows down…

* assuming you are looking in the same area or one with comparable sales growth.

If you would like more information on buying property in Sydney go to www.gooddeeds.com.au

Image courtesy of Luigi Diamanti http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=879

A rising market – time to downsize!!

Look at this scenario…

This time last year, you believed your house was worth $2,000,000. Now, prices in your suburb are reported to have gained 10%, which makes your home now worth $2,200,000. You have just decided to retire and take on some consultancy work. The good news is that your next house, which would have fetched $1,000,000 a year ago, is only worth $100K* more than it was back then – now $1,100,000. So, if you downsize now, you’ll be $100,000 better off than you would have been last year and certainly better off than if you wait for interest rate rises to take effect and price growth to slow again. Time to jump!!

* all things being equal, which may not be the case if you are looking in a completely different area.

For more information on buying property in Sydney go to www.gooddeeds.com.au

Image courtesy of Michal Marcol http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=371

Can you still buy something close to Sydney's CBD for under $500,000?

Last month RPData released a report listing median house and unit prices in Sydney. Surprisingly, there are two suburbs within a 10km radius of the CBD where you can still buy a house for less than $500K – Sydenham & Tempe. You just have to put up with a bit of aircraft noise…

You have a lot more options if you are wanting to buy an apartment. Due to an abundance of 1 bedders and studios, the City of Sydney Council area has the highest number of suburbs (20 in total) where unit prices are under the $500K mark. A further four suburbs can be found within the North Sydney local government area (LGA) and two each in Leichhardt and Woollahra LGAs.

The opportunities are diminishing, however as property values continue to rise, so how much longer we will have the chance to buy anything under $500,000 close to the CBD is anyone’s guess… Only yesterday, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald predicted further rises – and the median house price for Sydney is now $607,000, with the median unit price still under the half million mark at $457,000.

Click on this link to read that article: http://www.smh.com.au/business/house-prices-to-rise-further-but-theyre-worth-it-says-rba-20091125-jrta.html?autostart=1

For more information on buying property in Sydney: http://www.gooddeeds.com.au/

Gazumping is legal.

In a competitive market many buyers find themselves either trying to gazump or being gazumped. And with many people, the moral code is that gazumping is fine if you are the one doing the gazumping but unethical if you are the losing party!

If a property you are keen on has already had an offer accepted but contracts have not yet exchanged, then you are free to submit an offer. But it has to be a serious offer designed to entice the vendors to reneg on their previous agreement – don’t just add a couple of thousand dollars to the price.

One of three things are then likely to happen:
1. The vendor decides to honour the original agreement (even at a lower price)
2. The vendor gives the other buyer first right of refusal at the higher price you have offered
3. They accept your offer

If they accept your offer you’d better exchange contracts quickly to avoid being gazumped…

For more information on buying property in Sydney go to www.gooddeeds.com.au

Apartment values growing faster than houses

In September this year RPData released national property growth figures that showed unit growth had caught up to that of houses around the beginning of 2008. They maintained a level growth rate for several months and since the middle of last year apartments have consistently exceeded the rate of growth of houses.

“The equivalent level of capital growth associated with units is a relatively new phenomenon. Over the last ten years houses have outperformed units by about two percent per annum” stated the RPData report.

Traditionally we have seen the capital growth rate of houses in inner city areas clearly exceeding the rate of growth of apartments. There are many reasons for this, possibly the main one being that houses have a land component and are a limited resource, whereas many new apartments have been built, particularly in rezoned industrial areas such as Pyrmont, Alexandria and along the Parramatta River including Concord, Abbotsford, Rhodes and Meadowbank. So why the sudden surge in values?

The RPData report cites some possible reasons. One idea put forward is housing affordability – the national average price for units is around $100,000 less than it is for houses. Other reasons they suggest include an increase in downsizing baby boomers, professionals in their 20s and 30s wanting to live closer to work and the rise in overseas students creating a whole new market. Certainly the first home buyer benefits, which were increased late last year, has seen unprecedented levels of buyer activity in the apartment sector of the market.

Sydney is one of those modern cities where the dream of owning your own home is alive and well. Young families look to move out of apartments into a house with some land soon after (or in anticipation of) having their first child. So the traditional apartment dwellers have been polarized between the young and childless and the empty nester – with some perennial professionals and gays thrown in for good measure. This is in stark contrast to older European cities such as Paris, London or Rome, where families live in apartments and make great use of local parks and community areas.

For more information on property buying, see our website: www.gooddeeds.com.au.

Do the opposite of what everybody else is doing – part 2

A common refrain at this time of year from weary buyers is “it’s getting close to Xmas, there’s no good property around, I think I’ll stop looking now and wait till next year.” Yet we encourage you to resist this urge to stop looking for a property at precisely the time so many other buyers are giving up.

There are 4 weeks of new auction campaigns yet to commence. In addition to less competition from other buyers, there will be some pretty motivated vendors who decide to list before Xmas – so don’t give up as some good buying opportunities may arise!

For more information on buying property in Sydney go to www.gooddeeds.com.au.

Fellas, don’t let the women to do all the house hunting!

This is a common scenario we come across: two people are buying a property together and one does all the legwork while the other takes on the role of devil’s advocate. This is often, though not always, the woman in a heterosexual relationship - we have also come across other partnerships suffering from this same imbalance.

Does this sound familiar? After some lengthy research and time spent inspecting numerous properties, she has educated herself about the market – enough to identify a property that she thinks they should buy. Then he takes take a look, says he doesn’t like it, dismisses it quickly, showing no appreciation for all the hard work that has got her to that point. Then she has to go through the whole process again as he becomes educated about the market and what they can buy for their money. By that time, prices have gone up and they can no longer afford what they originally wanted!

If you aren’t going to engage a professional to do the work for you, you really need to spend equal time in the property hunt and have a clear idea of what you want and what compromises you are prepared to make.

For more information on getting help to buy property: www.gooddeeds.com.au