This is not a bad idea

At what stage will home owners figure out they are trying to sell at yesterday’s prices. I’ve been watching my area for a couple months and nobody showing up at open homes and very few have dropped their prices although there have been a few who’ve dropped by 100k.

If you have your house up for 1.35 and no offers, nobody enquiring, nobody going to open houses - drop your dang price sellers YOUR PRICE is too damn high. Look at what’s happening in Canada or NZ. You missed the top, accept it.

Hello.

I've found myself in a position where I am leaving a controlling relationship. I am privileged enough I can buy a property. For personal reasons, I really do not want to be renting.

I'm just unsure of what to do. Not looking for advice but just some opinions and views from others.

Some relevant points:

• I don't drive. I am trying to learn but that is hard so I am taking my time and I want to be safe. It likely will be at least a year before I get a car.

• I am good at reviewing disclosure documents based on my professional background. So I can spot a lemon pretty well.

• I would like to be within walking distance of a supermarket.

• A balcony or patio type thing is essential. It would feel claustrophobic to me otherwise.

• I ride my bike to work and to my cycling club. Leaving for Cycling club is three times a week and would require a 45 minute ride from Nundah at 4am-5am or 20 minutes from Teneriffe. Being able to ride my bike everywhere is of paramount importance to me. It's my happy place. I'd live in a shoebox to continue riding my bike the way I do.

• I am a solo girly. Safety is a concern.

• Flooding is a concern for a lot of inner city suburbs.

• I am young ish and have a budget of $680k.

Right now I'm looking at:

1. One bedroom apartment in Teneriffe. Nice medium size complex (no lift). First floor. The catch? no car park. Body corp $220 a fortnight.

2. One bedroom apartment in Nundah. Large complex. Tenth floor. Has a car space. Has a lift (pain in the ass if the lift breaks). Body corp $240 a fortnight.

3. Wait until October for possible market crash.

4. Something else??????

5. Buyer's Agent? They seem expensive?

I don't know what to do - floor space is exact same, position to the sun is exact same. Price is somewhat similar. Need for minor renovations is similar. I am a bit stressed because I don't want to lose a good option or overpay. But at the same time, I don't want to wait for a price drop that will never come. On top of that, I don't want to make the wrong decision when it comes to deciding over factors like a car park or lift.

Looked at a property today and the agent said the owners had bought it about 6 months ago for $1.7m plus stamp duty of $75k, so "$1.8m all up is what they spent and what they'd be looking for as a starting point". Just me, or a bit weird to include stamp duty, it's not actually part of the property value as such?

(They had also ripped the kitchen out and were selling it without a kitchen, so a bit odd all up!!)

I have a 250k mortgage. Owner occupied home worth is 750k.

We have borrowing power of 1.080m. With all these new changes that I do not understand from July 2027 is it still worth buying a property to rent out?

The long term (I don’t know when is best) goal is knock down the investment property and build a dream home on the quality land the investments on… thoughts? 😅

I’ve just had a scroll thru some of the comments and posts here and I am amazed at some of the advice being provided by god knows who or what - it is quite simply shocking..

Do yourselves a favour and refer to a professional advocate or agent that you know and trust for proper advice, it may be the best money / time you’ll ever invest in. There are some absolute weapons on this sub 🤡 🏡

Tenant not going despite lease ending and very aggressive and swearing at me. As I given notice as I want to live in the property.

Looking at buying a tiny duplex in a great location to give us good access to the beach and a lot of things we love and massively sacrificing on the living area on the property to try and get something we can afford in that location.. I rang all the other agents in the area and they've said the asking price is probably at least 50k over what the propertys worth right now.. I tried discussing this with the agent and gave them a lot of comparable sales info with notes from the agents who'd sold those places to help justify every price I showed them.. and they basically just said "if you can't afford it then don't buy it" and were pretty stern in shutting me down trying to sort of question the price they've put on the listing.. any tips without pissing them off.. to slowly try to wiggle the price down to the price it'd need to be for us to buy it?

Hey all,

First home buyers, signed a contract on a ~10 year old house in Point Cook (VIC), subject to a building & pest inspection clause. Report just came back and we're trying to gauge whether this is normal-for-the-area stuff or something to genuinely worry about.

Key findings from the report:

- Floor level variance up to 26mm in some rooms

- Category 2 masonry cracking (per the report's own scale described as noticeable, easily filled, generally under 5mm)

- Gaps in the perimeter paving

- Several downpipes disconnected from stormwater drainage labelled a "Major Defect" in the report, and the consultant's summary specifically ties this to "unevenness noted to parts of the foundation levels"

- Inadequate site drainage around parts of the perimeter generally

We called the inspector directly and he said it reads as pretty normal settling for the area (we're apparently on reactive clay, classified H1-H2 under AS2870), and that even new builds show some of this. He did specifically say that if the downpipes are left disconnected for another 10 years it'll cause serious damage so not nothing, but not alarm bells either, in his words.

We're thinking to book a structural/forensic engineer to get an actual measured opinion for a second opinion (we've got a 14-day window under our contract's building report clause to decide whether to walk away, negotiate, or proceed), but wanted to hear from anyone who's dealt with something similar especially in Point Cook/Wyndham/west Melbourne generally.

Questions:

1. Is this pattern (unevenness + minor cracking + disconnected downpipes) something you've seen before on a similar-aged house in this area, and did it turn out to be nothing?
2. Has anyone had a structural engineer look at something like this what did they actually find, and roughly what did it cost to fix if anything?
3. Anything specific we should make sure to ask the engineer or have them check?

Not trying to replace the engineer's opinion with internet strangers, just want a gut check while we wait for the appointment. Appreciate any experiences.

Hey all, would appreciate some thoughts and advice on what you would do in my situation.

I’m 46M, earning around $200k gross p.a. My partner earns around $85k gross. No kids.

We own an IP house on the Sunshine Coast, QLD, which we bought in 2021 for $1M. It’s currently rented for $950/week and is due to increase to $1,050/week shortly.

When we first bought it, the property was positively geared, but with the increase in interest rates it is now negatively geared. It’s also becoming increasingly frustrating/painful from a maintenance perspective.

The original plan was to eventually move to the Sunshine Coast, but we’re now not sure that’s going to happen.
We currently live in Sydney and own PPOR apartment, which I’d estimate is worth around $1.4M. The mortgage is approximately $840k, with $60k currently sitting in redraw.

The IP would probably be worth around $1.5M today. Current loan on it is 970K. I’m considering selling the IP in the new year. After allowing for selling costs and CGT, I’d use the proceeds to substantially pay down the PPOR mortgage, then redirect future cash flow into ETFs.

The IP will be grandfathered under the proposed negative gearing changes, so it would not be affected by those changes.

The alternative is to hold onto the IP for a few more years and hope for further capital growth, while continuing to receive the rental income and benefit from negative gearing.

What would you do in this situation?
Would you:
- Sell the IP, pay down the non-deductible PPOR mortgage and invest the surplus in ETFs? Or
- Hold the IP for the longer-term capital growth?

Interested in hearing arguments for both sides, particularly from people who have been in a similar position.
Thanks!