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Something I've learned in my property investment endeavors over the years is the importance of always pursuing a maximised investment portfolio.
In life we often hear of the mantra ‘It’s not about the destination, it’s the journey’. This sentiment can, in a way, be applied to property investment.
Whilst the destination is financial freedom, the key thing is that the journey itself is like a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ path, with different decisions along the way resulting in different outcomes and ultimately different degrees of ‘financial freedom’.
I make these remarks with the understanding that for most property investors – myself included – property investment is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is a mid-long term strategy.
It is ‘buy and hold’ strategy that I am referring to. Buy-and-hold, however, is sometimes directly interpreted as, or referred to, as ‘set and forget’. I.e. you purchase a property under specific terms, and those terms remain the same for 20 or 30 years, and you then ‘cash out’ at the end of that term.
This approach used to work well for previous generations of property investors. It can produce some ‘okay’ results still today. But as I mentioned earlier, the journey is where a savvy investor truly maximises the income-producing capacity of a property.
So, whilst 'set and forget' strategies work well for some, those who are constantly pursuing ways to get more out of their properties they hold; year-in/year-out; tend to do better in the end.
And rightly so. The harder you work, the more shopping around you do for better deals, better tenants, improved cash flow, and better renovations; to your property portfolio, the better your gains towards the end.  There are so many ways to maximise your investment properties during your holding tenure; so today I’ll focus on just one particular element that has worked well for me, and would benefit many other newer investors.
I am referring to independent, or third-party paid valuation reports. Those reading who already invest are probably thinking 'of course, I got one of those when I bought my property', or 'the lender provided that service themselves; they did that for me; this is nothing new; I’ve already done that, what’s next?’.
However, valuations are not only useful just as you are purchasing a property, but throughout the holding journey. They are useful when refinancing, and also in other ways whilst holding properties.
So today I’ll list five reasons why an independent valuation can help investors; and how this can translate to improved cash-flow, or greater overall gains. Independent valuations will always come at an extra cost to the investor – typically around $50-$300 – however, I'll list ways to highlight how this cost should be seen as an investment that can unlock further wealth in an existing property. 1) An independent valuation figure itself In truth, banks and other lenders will unquestionably always want to know the value of any property, before they feel comfortable giving John or Jane Smith a mortgage product for it.
Unfortunately, however, lender-in-house valuations produced at the time of mortgage issuance, do not always benefit the investor. This is because some lenders, when using their own internal valuers, will low-ball the value of a property, in order to make themselves feel more comfortable and that risk to them is reduced. Lender vals will usually come back lower than true market value, for this reason.
That said; this can actually be a blessing on some occasions, but usually only at the initial property purchase point.
Imagine this scenario; a property is listed for sale at $300K. Jane Smith makes an accepted offer at $290K. When seeking finance though, the lenders' valuation comes in at only $275K. It is possible the true value is higher, however the bank's lower valuation could give Jane alarm bells that the property is not a good investment.
In truth; her negotiated price may be a great buy-rate, but if she could just show the agent that lower valuation to negotiate further down; she'd be well positioned. However, in my experience, internal lender valuers will rarely share with you the actual PDF report. You are usually not entitled to view the full details, because you have not paid for this report yourself.
In other words; they won't give you anything tangible that you can take to a real estate to negotiate harder. Also, lender valuations usually occur after your offer has been accepted, and lender valuers will usually only confirm that the property is either A) worth ‘at least’ what your offer was accepted as, or 2) that it is worth less than your agreed purchase rate. They will never tell you the maximum value. An independent valuation will.
 
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 2) Independent paid valuations reveal the true value – and before you finish agent negotiations
Taking the above example but changing Jane’s actions during the buy process, let's assume that Jane got at independent valuation done, for say $100 out of her pocket, prior to entering negotiations with the vendor.
The independent could come showing a true value of $310K. It is listed at $300K, clearly a good deal already now that we know the real value, but Jane cleverly pursues negotiation anyway and secures the property at $290K. Two good things have happened in this instance:
1) She has made an instant equity gain of $20K before even signing a dotted line. As a home buyer this wouldn't be particularly valuable information. But remember, Jane is a budding investor and this is her first property. Creating an instant $20K in equity now, will aid her in twelve months’ time when she goes to purchase property #2. Sure, independent valuations are only valid for three months, but the $20K will stay in the back of Jane’s mind when it comes time to refinance to draw equity for property #2’s purchase.
2) She has not relied on a bank’s valuation which would have been issued after Jane’s $290K offer was accepted. The likely result would have been one line in an email from the lender simply stating ‘the valuer came back agreeing that the property is worth $290K – we are comfortable to proceed with loan approval’. Jane would never have known the future equity unlock potential, and would have to ‘chance it’ again on the next property purchase.
3) Independent valuations are 5-10 pages of PDF goodness
They really are. You get so much data and information for your buck that can better inform your choices. Some of the most important things are:
- Actual market value on the property, perfectly calculated by the valuer running analysis software and tools such as RP Data, and then cross-referencing this with similar recent sales in that street, suburb etc, whilst cross referencing this with a physical internal and external inspection of the property to check condition and features of fixtures and fittings
- Rent rate achievable. Very valuable both for new investment purchases, and to ‘check in’ on existing properties in your portfolio
- Market risk score. These scores measure the security of your property and it’s likelihood to maintain its value over time. These are usually assessed over 8 or more categories with scores ranked out of five
- Internal photos of the rooms. Very handy if you are several years into holding a property, and your agents have been conducting their routine inspections without supplying photos (meaning you must take them at their ‘word’ when they tell you ‘relax, everything is fine!’)
 
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4) Getting new independent valuations done each time you refinance is the way forward
What I was saying earlier about set-and-forget being the lazy investors’ option (well – I didn’t call it lazy, but I am now); is true. Even if you get a paid independent valuation done at the beginning, you can continue to get additional ones done every couple of years. This could be either at points where you want to refinance your portfolio into better mortgage products/deals; or could simply be to check that your rent rate that your managing agent is charging, really is in line with market rates.
For example, I trusted one of my managing agents implicitly with rent rate for that property’s tenant, yet after getting my first independent valuation in four years for that property recently, I discovered that the tenants currently in this property were paying $45 per week below ‘fair market rate’ for that property. The $50 I paid for that particular valuation has not only paid for itself instantly, but with the gradual introduction of rental increases with this tenant, could potentially improve my holding cash flow by $180 per month (before managing agent costs are deducted, of course).
5) Independent valuation costs may be tax deductible at times
Providing that the commissioning of a valuation was done to refinance loans for investment properties, or as part of a pre-renovation depreciation schedule assessment, some of the cost of these reports can be claimed back as tax deductible expenses. Just like the interest on loans attached to investment properties is tax deductible at your appropriate tax rate; so too are other managing costs associated with finance for the investment, which can at times include valuation costs.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Property Correspondent.</a>  
 
 
 
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Five great reasons to get an independent valuation

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Often when I write about property investment I am quick to put forward the idea that a home purchase and an investment property purchase are two very different types of ‘buy’.
I traditionally believe that one of the best strategies is to purchase residential property for one dedicated purpose – either as investment or a home to occupy – and then never splice the two.
The truth is, I have not exactly practiced what I preached.
See, I made my start in property <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/residential/seven-smart-moves-when-buying-your-first-investment-property-cameron-mcevoy/2013011058681" target="_blank">investment</a> in the same way as many others have done; purchasing a property as a home, and then building equity in that property to put down as a deposit on an investment property purchase.
Since then, however, I have moved out of that first home and turned it into an investment property itself.
The key thing to note, however, is that when purchasing that first home – a very modest unit in Sydney’s west – I had purchased knowing 100% what the future use for this property would be; i.e. an investment property. It was never my ‘dream home’ and in truth, it was never planned that way.
What I am getting at is this idea of the purpose of use for a residential property.
Home buyers are very different to investment buyers; each type buying very different types of properties – even if those exist in the same street!
In an ideal world, most investors would have already purchased a home that remains a home, for the entirety of the ownership of that property, and would merely use the equity that builds up in the home to fund future properties.
However, this only works for those among us who have a personal life that is perfectly planned for the future. Not many of us have that.
Additionally, personal circumstances can and do change. Unexpected elements such as moving to another country for work, or starting a family earlier than planned, or needing to move interstate in the future for other reasons; these can mean that the home you purchased in suburb X, with the intention of living in it for the next twenty years, could become an investment property due to personal life elements changing your ‘grand plan’.
Or, you may simply want to get on the investment property ladder, but at the same time, need somewhere to live for a few years whilst saving, and park your money in.
Whatever the reason, I thought today I would create a list of factors to consider if your strategy is to purchase a property that you will call ‘home’ for a few years, and then become an investment property thereafter.
Location, location, location!
‘Yes’, I hear you say, ‘Isn’t location always a factor when buying either type of property?’. Of course, it is; however the definition of a ‘prime’ location differs for homes and investment properties.
Home buyers will look at locations in great school catchment areas; close to shopping amenities, and close to transport for commuting to work. But, so will investors. The difference comes from the other elements. Prestige, for example, is a differentiator.
Home buyers will carefully track the street itself, comparing property types on that street, recent sales, and the ratio of renters-to-owners on that street.
Investors, however, will be looking at properties from the ‘business end’. In other words, if the key drivers such as transport, education, shopping, and work proximity are all promising, the prestige of the street will not be as important as the yield they can earn in that street.
So, <a href="/news">home buyers</a> should focus less on the affluence of the street of their short-term home, and more on making sure the numbers add up.
What would your potential home earn per week in rent? What are others in the street of a similar type renting for?
The right property type for that suburb/neighbourhood
Traditional home buyers can (and do) buy the property that suits their lifestyle needs, in an area that they want to live in. Makes sense.
The problem with this tactic for investors, though, is that a property that works well as a home for you, may not work as an investment property, for the demographic of that area.
For example, let’s say you are looking for a home and  interested in a particularly ‘pleasant’ street in a suburb. The street is lined with modest older small 2-3 bedroom, single-level houses, with no pools, low maintenance gardens etc.  Yet within that street is a two story modern mansion; 5 bedrooms, 3-car garage, pool, deck, etc.
As a long term home buyer, it can be a great move to take the best house on the street.
If you need all that space for instance, and really like the area, then it works. However, this is clearly not a good strategy if the home is only a short-term one, before becoming an investment property.
Whilst you will most likely find a renter for that house, the rental return you’ll get for that property may only be slightly higher than most others on the street, yet the amount of mortgage you’ll need to pay off will be exponentially greater.
This means that unless your strategy is to turn your home into a highly negatively geared investment property (which few investors these days actually want to do), it would be a poor investment.
Instead, look to buy a problem that is acceptably habitable for a home for a while, but is in-line with the demand renters have for the area.
Additionally, overcapitalising on a 3-bedroom house in an area that is mostly studio apartments and small one-bedroom units could be a mistake.
 
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No bells and whistles (apartments/units)
Similarly to the above, your dream home may have that $50K granite, steel, and glass kitchen, but as an investment, such a kitchen in most areas is a bad idea.
It is this kind of logic that most investors employ. Think about it; if you compare the penetration of investment properties to owner-occupied homes in well-to-do areas such as Toorak VIC, Peppermint Grove WA, and Vaucluse NSW, with other more modest areas in those cities, you’ll note that there are far less people renting in those areas.
Why? These residential properties typically make for very poor investments.
The above is an extreme example, but on a more modest scale, and especially for first home buyers looking to flip their property to ‘investment’ down the track, look for properties with no bells and whistles.
You may even go one step further to buy a run down or ‘TLC’ property, live in it whilst doing renovations over a couple of years, and then move out to rent it for a higher rate.
Even in these instances, do not over-capitalise on renovations. Opt for neutral themed colours, and durability over delicacy.
Go for tough basic white tiled bathrooms instead of Italian marble etc. Where possible, consider tough/durable wear and tear carpeting instead of plush European fabrics.
Paint neutral colours that are light and bright, and use high-durability paint.
No bells and whistles (houses)
In regional areas and outer fringe suburbs of metropolitan cities, many investors opt for houses over units.
First-home buyers do too; and if you’re to flip yours to investment in a few years, the most obvious point to make here is to seek low maintenance houses.
Yards are critical here; if the back and front yard is large, make sure they are easy to mow lawns, little to sparse shrubbery, and few trees.
Try to avoid houses with tall trees lining the border fences; these can cause problems down the track with neighbours (roots uplifting fences, branches and leaves falling on neighbour properties).
If you are set on a house that does have small-mid sizes trees near fencing, research them. Find out their species and see how big they will grow.
If you are living in the house a few years; it may be worth investing in a tree relocation. This is where you move a small-medium tree (that you know will grow large and provide good shade) from the fence corners, into the middle of the yard.
This can be expensive but worth it; as it grows it’ll supply shade from family tenants’ children to play in the yard, adding appeal to the rental market. The roots won’t cause problems for neighbours either.
Personally I am do not favour investment houses that have swimming pools and high-maintenance wooden back decks, though I know some investors who have added value and argue that in the right areas, these can be profitable and low-maintenance in terms of rental return. Proceed with caution there.
The ‘last’ point – finance first!
Finally, and taking things back to a due-diligence point before purchase, talk to your lender or broker about the future use of the property to ensure you have the best loan type and structure for this property.
This is the most important part of it all. You’ll need a lender that can be flexible enough to accommodate both worlds.
For example, a 30-year mortgage with offset facility from day #1; but exists as a principal-and-interest loan for the first five years, then matures to an interest-only loan from years #6 to #30.
This would allow the flexibility of chipping away at the capital for a few years, then switching to interest-only when you move out a few years later, with the offset facility enabling you to ‘park’ money against that property once you’ve moved out of it, which will help bring the property from negative-geared to neutrally-geared (if desired).
Alternatively, and if you are dedicated to growing a larger property portfolio, it’d be best to set up the loan from the outset as interest-only, with offset facility from day #1 onwards.
Another important finance note is to consider how this property will ‘sit’ in your investment portfolio, over time.
Will it remain your most expensive property? Will you only acquire additional cheaper properties; or in fact will every purchase after this one, be a more expensive property?
How you answer these questions could help determine your ‘exit’ strategy, later in life.
Knowing that tax-wise, you can only nominate one property at a time to be your ‘home’. If this is to be your most expensive property purchase, you’ll want to nominate this property as being your ‘home’ at time of sale, avoiding the payment of capital gains tax.
You may also want to investigate how a strategy such as (as I like to call it) the ‘golden six year rule’ could work for you, throughout a 20-30 year holding period, for this property.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Property Correspondent.</a>  
 
 
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Know the purpose of the properties you buy: Cameron McEvoy

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I recently mentioned the <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/overseas/a-12-month-journey-to-us-residential-property-investment-cameron-mcevoy/2013020659193" target="_blank">12-month-long research process I went through</a> in the lead-up to deciding 100% that I would be investing in the US property market. Today I chronicle the period of January 2013 up until this month, where I began my meetings and dealings with numerous US investment specialist companies that are either based entirely in Australia or are based in both Australia and the US.

But let me take a step back, first of all. There are effectively two ways to buy in the US as an Australian citizen:
1. You can attempt to do it all yourself. This involves securing finance yourself, setting up a company structure yourself, finding a property yourself (whether this be directly or via a US buyer’s agent whom, you guessed right, you’d need to find yourself), doing any repairs or renovations (aka "rehab" in US property language) needed, finding a managing agent yourself, and so on; or
2. You could pay a specialist company a fee to help you through all, or some, of these steps in the journey.
Being a first-time investor in the US, I decided early on that I would opt for the second option. However, this process was something of a minefield. I must mention up front that I am acutely aware of the fact that if I name any one (or several) of these service-providing companies in my writing, readers may perceive these mentions to be biased, name-dropping, or cash-for-comments appearances. So I will not mention any companies by name.
Instead, I will list the different "types" of companies that exist here in Australia to offer would-be US property investors services that can help with their property portfolio build/plan. I will provide the cons/weaknesses that I observed as I interviewed, enquired, and canvassed these various companies. Firstly, however, I’ll list that option I mention above – the one that does not involve partnering with a company. In other words, going it alone! As mentioned, I am not interested in this option; instead I am choosing to partner with a specialist company for my first endeavour.
Additionally, it is not in my interest to critique or review any single specific company’s operation and present my views based on my experience. This type of assessment must be made by individual investors based on their interactions with these companies. In fact, I fully recommend this critiquing as part of your US property investment due diligence. So in no order, here is a list of the types of options available to Australian investors when it comes to the US market:
Do it yourself (no company)
How it works: You do everything yourself, so you must set up your company structure, source a property, do the due diligence on it, then buy and manage the property yourself. Perhaps you’ll still use a managing agent, but you’ll need to source a trustworthy agent yourself.
Pros: You do not have to pay any professional fees for information or "process costs". You will, of course, still need to pay all "dues" (county taxes, legal costs, LLC set-up costs, etc.), as you would with any other purchase. You also have the freedom to engage any partners – i.e. buyers 'agents, in any process component that you desire, and are not at the mercy of using the "preferred partners" of a real estate investment company (this may come at a higher cost than sourcing these partners individually). This approach can work if you have friends/family who already invest in your chosen state/market and have contacts on the ground there.
Cons: There are a lot of sharks in the US real estate market. You will rely only on their "word" (though you should be requesting testimonials and speaking with other clients, to make sure they can be trusted), but there is no real way to know if the people you are enlisting will do the job properly. Costs may be cheaper for some services, but due to inexperience, you may be unknowingly paying more. Unless you are very confident in buying sight-unseen and contact-unmet (which in itself is a high-risk venture) you will need to fund a trip to the US to do your due diligence on the ground, costing several thousand dollars.
 
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US investment education companies
How they work: These companies exist for the above-mentioned type of investor (say you want to do the process yourself, make your own contacts, and form your own new connections on the ground), but one who wants to fast-track the process. You effectively pay a fee (typically anywhere from $5,000 up to around $13,000) to do a course, to teach yourself all of the skills needed to move quickly with a US acquisition. Usually these courses include a funded trip with part of a class group to go to the location you’re interested in investing in and make your own connections there yourself. Several investors will usually make their first actual purchase while on this trip. These courses typically go for a couple of weeks all up.
Pros: You get to inherit all of the shared experience, knowledge, and expertise of industry icons, who have had tremendous success personally, but developing their own process for property acquisition, and teaching their "secrets: to you. Usually the course curators who are charging for these courses will hold dozens of US properties in their own portfolios, which is evidence that the skills and tactics they’ve enlisted can work very well. You get to fast-track your knowledge and also get to "action" elements while on the ground to fast-track your own property knowledge. You’ll likely form connections and contacts who will continue to partner with you beyond just the first property purchase.
Cons: The risk behind paying for a short course to educate yourself is that whilst you may learn several skills, you still need to be ready to execute while your learnings are top of mind. In other words, if you don’t invest directly during or after your course, you may not benefit. Additionally, course convenors will take you on tours of locations in states where they personally have had high degrees of success. These destinations may not be on your personal target/strategy list. Also, at the end of the day, you’ll still need to do all the work yourself; it’s just that you’ll be out of pocket several thousand dollars.
Single-market specialists
How they work: Some companies exist to only focus on one market that they know extremely well. Their connections on the ground there are usually long-term, highly trustworthy, and can enable them to acquire properties in that city/state for their clients at competitive rates. They can also then "rehab" properties to sell to Australians while also assisting with some, but not all, of the process (e.g. LLC set-up, connecting you to solicitors, accountants, and managing agents on the ground, in that chosen state or market).
Pros: One of the toughest dynamics to put up with, in almost every city in the US, is this dynamic of "good street, bad street". We do not really have that in Australia. This means that there are pockets of good and very bad suburbs within cities that only experts can know. These types of companies will be able to source the "good street" properties more easily than you would be able to yourself. These companies are great to consider if their focus city happens to be one you are interested in, based on your due diligence around cities and market types.
Cons: Only one market knowledge. This means you are at the mercy of the market drivers of just that city/state. Look at Detroit, Michigan, for example. Catastrophic events can turn a once prosperous city into a slum overnight, so there is risk associated with partnering with a company who only backs one city. Additionally, these operators tend to acquire big volumes of townhouses/detached houses (aka "single-family homes" in US property language) in existing estates and mini-suburbs. This can mean risking exposure to high-renter-occupier neighbourhoods, something that is not the best investment strategy. Instead, homes that are  less cookie-cutter can be a better investment because there is a greater chance that the neighbourhood is more of an owner-occupier one, and this is usually preferred by would-be renters (in other words, your tenants).
Multiple-market purchase-only specialists
How they work: These company types will be able to source quality properties in several cities/states that they identify as being ripe with opportunity. They may also be able to help with several of the "checklist" elements of the property purchase process. This may include assisting you with registering an LLC in a state that is cost and resource-efficient to do so, along with partnering you with a property manager on the ground to manage the property. These types of companies will not usually have access to finance or be able to assist with it.
Pros: You get the assurance that by offering expertise in several markets; you can have choice and variety. This is important because your finances will usually dictate the states/cities available to you. Having a variety of cities to choose from increases your chances that they will have one you can actually afford. Additionally, these types of companies will start from a finance-first perspective, which is a good thing, as you’ll know what markets you can play in, based on the deposit you have and the likely loan amount you’ll be able to achieve.
Cons: Variety is a good thing, but sometimes good things can be spread too thinly. For instance, if the company is based in one city only in the US, how can you be sure that its claimed expertise in multiple cities is legitimate? Also, if finance is not part of their service inclusion, then these companies may have a vested interest in placing you with a property that is perhaps higher than you can really afford, and you may find yourself in a type of loan that is not very competitive, simply to have a property that was probably $20-$30K out of your affordable range.
Multiple-market full service providers
How they work: These company types will typically operate in a half dozen or even more markets, and they have long-term trustworthy connections with solicitors, accountants, buyers agents, managing agents, all on the ground, in those cities. Similarly to the company type above, these operators will also likely start from a finance-first perspective, so you know your affordability and loan-maximum, from the beginning. Most will charge fees for their service, usually payable upfront or early on in the work process.
Pros: Exposure to several types of lenders within the different states and markets where the company focuses on; multiple-market knowledge that may afford you several ‘price point’ options based on your spend level (aka, ‘buy-rate’) for that property. The connections on the ground in each market will likely be accustomed to working with foreign investors, which is a positive for inexperienced investors. Additionally, some of these companies will let you control how much (or how little) hand holding you’d like, throughout the process, meaning that if you are pleased with your first acquisition, future property purchases can occur directly with the contacts on the ground, and you may avoid paying the company’s facilitation fees again.
Cons: While these providers may seem like the ‘cream of the crop’ because they help you with everything, you should be wary of pricing. In addition to their service fee, you may be paying a premium on the cost of the property, that makes it slightly more expensive than the list-price you’d pay for a property if you were to buy it directly (you can investigate how to know if this is happening, in part #3 of this series where I will detail some useful online tools to use during your due diligence process). Also, they will require a lot of paperwork and pre-qualification, so be ready for an onslaught of document requests from the outset, when working with these kinds of companies.
At this stage in my journey, I’ll likely be proceeding with a full-service company, because this suits my situation. 
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Property Spectator.</a>
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The pros and cons of using a company to help you invest in the US: Cameron McEvoy

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There has been the recent discovery of shale oil deposits located in the Arckaringa Basin, in north-east South Australia. The discovery has been verified by geologists and independent researchers, and is expected to be in the value of AUD $20 trillion dollars.<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-24/major-oil-discovery-in-outback-sa/4481982" target="_blank"> See further detail on the verification here.</a>
<img alt="ackaringa2" height="332" width="400" src="/images/stories/2013/02/ackaringa2.jpg">
Even at worst-case scenario, if the oil quality is poor, it is still expected to have a value and worth in the "low" trillions of dollars. In fact, this is such big news that it bumps Australia into second place on a chart where we once appeared at position number 29. Wikipedia is yet to update, but<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_proven_oil_reserves" target="_blank"> historically this is where Australia has ranked in terms of "proven" natural oil reserves.</a>
We are now only second to Saudi Arabia in terms of sheer volume. The biggest question mark around it, though, is related to extraction. The shale rock is difficult to break up and extract oil from, making it a costly process. However, US technologies developed and in use in Canada/North America could ease the cost challenges of such drilling plans. Regardless, most experts are confident that any drilling project would be very profitable from day one onwards.
So just how significant is this discovery for Australian real estate investors? In my mind, the potential is huge for investors, for three reasons:
1. Unlike other resources boom areas around the country (such as the iron ore and uranium deposits), oil is the highest-demand of all of these resources yet. Additionally, the sheer volume of it means that these mining sites, once opened, won’t be drying up any time quickly. This means that much of the "high-risk" nature of investing in property located around mining sites is minimised, because these sites will likely be "in town" for decades to come, not just a handful of years.
2. Some resource-driven towns (but not all) only exist because of the mining discoveries made around them. This means that towns have had to pop up "overnight", with little to no infrastructure, town planning or resources available. With this comes a higher cost for property, due to the need to develop at least some minimal basic infrastructure in order to house those residents living in the mining town conditions. The Arckaringa Basin area has the benefit of having an existing town there, with already built infrastructure. Though the area is huge and there’s no way of yet knowing which towns specifically will become the unofficial "capital" of the Arckaringa region, the fact that some exist right in the centre already is music to a property investor’s ears.
3. This will very likely change the South Australian economy significantly. With the existing incentives that Adelaide city (along with the entire state government of SA) are offering interstate migrants already, in coming years SA could become one of the highest demand states for employment in Australia. The knock-on effect for subdued prices in Adelaide and other regional cities in SA such as Ceduna and Port Augusta is very significant, with capital growth and rental return figures alike both offering huge potential.
 
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After digging deeper to find out the areas that could be in high demand for renters in coming years, I’ve come up with a short list of towns in South Australia that are worth keeping an eye on, along with an anecdote for each of where I see the biggest potential:
<a href="/news">Coober Pedy, SA</a> This is an established town that is pretty much in the heart of the Arckaringa Basin. Already benefiting from unrelated resources-driven operations in the vicinity, Coober Pedy has the benefit of being an established town with a population of 1,700 and is full of properties on the market that offer scope for extension, room-letting and renovation. With some of these properties, there is potential to cosmetically update them to achieve greater yields in the future, along with room additions (particularly for properties that are part above-ground, part underground ‘dugout’ style). Additionally, with median buy rates being $130,000 and median rent being $255 per week, strong rental return from day one is assured.
<a href="/news">Marree, SA</a> Maree is another established town which is around 375 kilometres due east of Coober Pedy. With a 2011 census population of just 70, Marree does not seem like it has the infrastructure needed to houses resources-worker tenants, however these numbers can be deceptive as the town does indeed have hundreds of resources-industry workers residing there.
<a target="_parent" href="/news">Oodnadatta, SA</a> This town is the northern-most town of the shale rock perimeter area of the Arckaringa Basin. It has a few hundred permanent residents, most of them working in the resources sector. The town also has adequate infrastructure considering its remote location; with twice-weekly trucks delivering food, petrol, and other supplies, along with a medical clinic and general store/post office. The township is heavily involved in mining sector, though the availability of property is the problem here.
<a target="_blank" href="/news">Roxby Downs, SA</a> Property investors have already entered this town in a big way due to the existing mining dominance. This means that rental returns can be expected to be in the 7-9% range, so not as glamorous as some of the above towns. Additionally, entry points are quite high, with median house rates around the $440,000 price point. However, further future growth could be possible if the shale oil projects extend as far south as Roxby Downs.
After reading through several forums and other blogs, the general feedback of investor experience in these areas can be summarised as being:
Pro: A high-risk area, but with great capital growth potential, and solid rental return rates.
Pro: Low entry-point buy rates, coupled with all-time-low finance costs, means the properties can be paid off very quickly, and are positively geared from day one.
Con: Tenant quality is consistently poor and cannot be easily improved due to the lack of good-quality managing agents operating in that region. Some towns do not even have any estate agents, meaning your manager could be working remotely from Adelaide. This means that inspections rarely ever occur and tenant screening can be very poor/non-existent.
Con: Repairs and works come at extortionately high costs. Investors are at the mercy of potentially "dodgy" repairmen who charge hundreds and thousands of dollars above acceptable rates to repair these properties.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Property Correspondent.</a> 
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What the discovery of oil at Arckaringa Basin means for property investors: Cameron McEvoy

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After over 12 months of research, due diligence and running around in circles, I am ready to start writing about the actions I’m to undertake soon as I take the plunge into the US residential property investment market. I envisage this journey to take several months, so I will be sure to document my trials, tribulations, successes, and indeed, challenges, as I go along.

The toughest part is to know where to begin!
The most important thing to stress to readers upfront is that (and I cannot stress this enough) I am not an experienced US property investor. I am not even a novice; I am just a would-be beginner. This means that the views I express are purely my own and they may not be correct. In fact, I encourage feedback and comments from those who have invested in the US; all feedback is welcome. All I have is my 12 months of research/due diligence to guide me as I move forward with my first property.
I guess the best start to make is to bring you up to speed on my journey thus far, so here is a list of actions I’ve completed in the last 12 months.
January to February 2012
I visited numerous cities in the US, each in very different market climates and conditions. Although the short trip did not afford me time to thoroughly investigate any specific markets in terms of actual properties, I did feel I had “schooled” myself on understanding the drivers for would-be US property renters (my future tenants) and the dynamic conditions that US habitants are exposed to in their daily lives.
I got to be exposed to a variety of markets, including Dallas, Texas, Los Angeles/San Diego/Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado, and New Orleans, Louisiana, which allowed me to experience numerous neighbourhoods, ranging from the highly desirable places to live to the downright dodgy.
In my personal opinion, based on qualitative and quantitive research I conducted on the ground, the key drivers were: unemployment rates, vacancy rates, quality of education and instances of violent crime.
May to April 2013 
While you can easily Google for yourself things like ‘major drivers for property markets in the US’ and get lists similar to the one I am about to mention, I felt I needed to see these drivers in action.
During these months I then began to investigate the past 10 years of property growth, paying particular attention to pre- and post-2008 bubble burst median dwelling prices. This helped me get an understanding of markets likely to recover more quickly.
May to June 2012
This time was all about due diligence in two areas:
1. Getting an understanding of the process. I learnt about how/why an LLC is set up, the best states to do that in as a foreigner, and also about finance. I investigated what types of lenders (national banks, local banks, or non-bank lenders) would consider lending to non-US citizens.
2. Learning about the offer-to-purchase process, or understanding how long a typical settlement is. Also, I learnt the rights of tenants in the US (typically speaking, most state laws benefit tenants more than they do landlords). Also, I discovered that good property managers in the US are few and far between.
July to August 2012
Having now understood more about the finance capabilities, more challenges were presented to me. Like any investment property acquisition, finance is always the first (and best) place to start. What is the point of canvassing/considering cities and neighbourhoods where median house prices may be, say, USD $140,000,when the maximum borrowing capacity you can achieve in that place may only bring you up to a buy-rate of USD $80,0000?This helped bring me down to earth and to identify the ballpark I’d be playing in for my first purchase.
I also investigated and began to develop a list of likely purchase costs. Although the US does not have stamp duty, there are several costs involved in purchasing property, especially for first-time buyers due to some additional legal and accountancy costs involved with establishing an ownership structure. At this point I started developing some spreadsheets so I could forecast the first-year positive cashflow earnings. All costs though were still approximate at this stage; I had not yet gotten any hard numbers.
September to October 2012
This was an eye-opener for me as I started to attend some property events in my home town of Sydney. These events were related to investment property in Australia and New Zealand, mostly, and while that was interesting to learn more about my local property market, I also discovered several US property investment stalls/stands at these events, which was the biggest eye-opener.
I started to engage with several of these service providers, initially just over email/phone, but I sat in on several seminars as well, just to understand the services they provided and the costs involved.
By this point, I had already established a savings target for the year back in February. I knew I would give myself a target of 12 months to save enough for a deposit on my first US property, as I did not want to draw down on equity from my Australian portfolio. Rather, I wanted the US property portfolio funded by its own initial savings plan.
November to December 2012
I actually came full-circle on the research front, going back to broader media research (such as American news and finance news sites, and trawling lists of ‘best US cities to invest in residential property’, etc.). During this time I made a discovery that markets were very rapidly showing signs of recovery, and that prices were rising.
I shortlisted more of the service providers. By this point, I knew that I could not purchase my first property on my own. I am not averse to travelling and physically seeing places/neighbourhoods, however I knew I would need lots of handholding the first time around.
I also realised that at lower end of the market that I’d be starting out in, I’d need to create a plan beyond the first property purchase. I forecasted that I’d need to be holding around half a dozen of similar property types to be relying on this cashflow as a stable income stream.
I also realised that as the market was quickly recovering, high rental returns would be taking a back seat to high-capital-growth-potential properties.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Property Correspondent.</a> 
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A 12-month journey to US residential property investment: Cameron McEvoy

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Although most of us are back at work already, some lucky readers out there may still be on annual leave. During my short break I was able to catch up on some of my favourite property-themed TV entertainment programs from around the world.
I have ranked my top six favourite programs that I think are the most information-rich programs, starting at number six. By no means is this an exhaustive list; there are more shows out there that I’ve not mentioned, but I feel the ones mentioned below are the most useful and accessible for investors.
Coming from a media background myself, I’m always keeping my eyes and ears open for new media and programs that have a property focus. It is important to note upfront is that the bulk of these shows are produced squarely as entertainment first and education second. That said, I’ve been able to extract value out of all of the programs below and take away some great lessons that have helped me in my investment life.
Number 6 – Hot Property (Australia)
Concept/Synopsis: Actor and famous Australian icon Michael Caton hosts a program focused on the negotiation process between property buyers, sellers and renovators. The episodes feature an auction in every episode, as well as private sales.
Why it is entertaining: This program is a little bit “loose”. The structure tends to change from episode to episode, with some focusing mostly on the stressful auction process (which plays out like a soap opera thanks to some clever editing and the addition of some emotional musical curves), with others focusing on the families of first-time property buyers.
Why I like it: This show is very much ‘entertainment first, facts second’ in its priorities, however it does give great insight into the objectives and motivations of both buyers and sellers, all emotionally invested in the same property. It is also an excellent exposure to the auction process and the unexpected things that can occur. For those who are too time-poor to get first hand auction witnessing experiencing, this show is great.
Areas to be weary of: Being hosted by an actor and not a property expert (the actor was chosen because he is famous for starring in films focused around the emotional importance of property ownership), the show lacks the much-needed stats, numbers and return on investment summaries that other programs usually provide, making it a little bit vague.
Number 5 – The Block (Australia)
Concept/Synopsis: Running for over 10 years in Australia, this is a reality entertainment program focused on four competing couples renovating stripped-down properties, often located in a blue-chip/prestige urban suburb. The contestants then must complete one room renovation per. At the conclusion, all properties are sold at an auction, with the couple with the highest profit declared the winners.
Why it is entertaining: The ‘mad rush till the last minute’ nature of the program really adds heightened emotion, and some excellent editing makes the program very entertaining for this reason. The contestant couples are selected carefully, and most are enjoyable to watch over a season of the program.
Why I like it: From an investment perspective, I actually enjoy the program more for the things it teaches me not to do as opposed for the tools it may teach me to do. The most glaringly obvious mistake most contestants make is when they overcapitalise on their renovations. But then, these renovations are not being made as part of a buy and hold strategy, these high-end renos are designed for ‘wow factor’ to appeal to the top-end owner-occupier would-be purchaser!
Areas to be weary of: In most years of its run, The Block had selected the city/suburb that was in a rising market at the time of planning, meaning that about six months later, when renovations were complete and the apartments were auctioned off for sale, the profit margins made were regarded as “awesome”. The program editing would have you believe that all profits were attributed purely to the efforts of the contestants in renovating them.
Where you can access it: The Block runs almost annually, and is coming up to its 2013 season premiere. It’ll be on during most weekends on the Channel 9 network. Previous seasons have been made available for purchase on DVD from specialty outlets and JB Hi-Fi/department stores. The next series returns to Channel 9 Monday, February 4. 
 
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Number 4 – The Barefoot Investor (Australia)
Concept/Synopsis: This is not a program about property investment specifically. Instead, it is focused around all kinds of investment classes – ranging from property to shares to managed funds to some more obscure investment classes.  Host Scott Pape is a known investment expert and appears in numerous magazines and newspaper columns, along with regular appearances on TV and radio in Australia.
Why it is entertaining: The show’s approach is light and accessible enough, and with a wide variety of asset classes covered, makes for interesting repeat viewing because the content is so different with each episode. Scott’s approach is quite humorous and his youthful nature makes the show entertaining.
Why I like it: As a younger investor myself, I find this program more relatable than some of the others in this list. While it is great to hear from more mature, seasoned, and successful investors on what worked for them, it is great to watch a program that provides a focus to younger investors and ways to help them achieve their goals. When Scott does cover the property asset class in several segments, his advice for younger/aspiring investors is always sound and logical.
Areas to be weary of: The show sometimes travels off-topic, exploring things topics like love, travel, and life hobbies. Scott does skew these back into some kind of investment focus or strategy.
Where you can access it: The Barefoot Investor website offers some viewing of episodes, while others have been uploaded in full to dedicated channels on YouTube. The program airs infrequently also on Channel 10 on free to air television.
Number 3 – Flip Men (USA)
Concept/Synopsis: Business partners Mike Baird and Doug Clark, along with their crew of helpers, simultaneously buy, renovate, and sell – in other words ‘flip’ – multiple properties at any given time, focused predominantly on one market – Salt Lake City, Utah. Results vary from astonishing successes to projects of several months’ duration that result in loss rather than profit.
Why it is entertaining: As they often enter ‘high-risk’ neighbourhoods and buy properties ‘site unseen’ at auction, it is entertaining to watch the boys enter properties that they’ve already bought. There can be anything inside them – sometimes squatters, junkies, and gangs inhabit them, other times they discover drug labs were present, while sometimes they uncover profit-killers such as unforseen plumbing issues, entirely missing kitchens, or bizarre objects left behind by previous tenants.
Why I like it: It is entertaining, sure, but I respect an onscreen property team who allow cameras in to their everyday flipping world, warts and all, and are not afraid to show their audience their failures as well as their successes. I also have an interest in the US property market, so the program is a great educator to highlight just how much risk the US market offers Australian investors.
Areas to be weary of: Like many US reality programs involving auctioning, bidding, or improving something for profit, the 22-minute episodes firmly focus on the glamorous elements and unfortunately rarely present the hard work done, due diligence investigated, and the fact that the two business partners have an entire team/entourage working behind them. This team is what allows the duo to effectively be flipping around 10 properties at any time!
What you can actually learn from it and use in your property investment life: These two are very efficient at what they do, thanks to years of experience and their concentration on just one market (which they know inside out). Australia’s closest celebrity flipper would be Cherie Barber of Renovating for Profit, who runs workshops to teach others how to flip. The biggest two learnings I took away from this show is that 1) It gives you a feel for the multitude of problems you can face by entering a high-risk market with the intention of flipping and on-selling to family buyers; and 2) It gives you a good understanding of how important it is to buy the right 'type' of property in the market you are investing, relevant to the demographic of that area.
Where you can access it: It airs randomly on digital free to air (7Mate channel mostly), and on Foxtel’s A&amp;E channel. Episodes can also be viewed online for free via international streaming sources, or as paid HD downloads via iTunes or Amazon Store.
 
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Number 2– Selling Houses Australia (Australia)
Concept/Synopsis: Ex-real estate sales agent and property expert of over 20 years Andrew Winter makes the move from the UK to the Australian market. In each episode, Andrew, along with his gardener Charlie and interior designer Shaynna, enters a struggling vendor’s property to help get their house sold that has otherwise sat on the market for way too long.
Why it is entertaining: Andrew has a relaxed demeanor but also a charming way of allowing his ‘vendors’ to come to realise the mistakes they’ve been making and how these attribute to a poor sales interest by the market. Vendors in almost every episode will throw out all kinds of humorous excuses for why they have not made the effort to make their property stand out from the crowd. Andrew also interrogates the selling agent responsible for each of these properties in a similarly humorous way.
Why I like it: It seems strange that I should enjoy a program focused purely on selling property, when I’m very much in the acquisition stage of my property investing career. That said, I find the insight into the pre-sales preparation phase very helpful,; both as a buyer of properties and also as a consumer of sales strategies and techniques, for that time later in life when I’ll be looking to offload some portfolio properties. Also, each episode is 45 minutes and concentrates on just one house/sale, allowing a more in-depth insight into each one.
Areas to be weary of: There is a lack of investor perspective to the program. Every house is always an owner-occupied family home never an investor. This means the program focuses on the emotional attachment that owner-occupiers feel to their home, rather than the business and non-emotional approach that an investor would bring. Also, it is purely focused on houses, with no unit sales being covered by the program.
What you can actually learn from it and use in your property investment life: The program is a big help for those looking to sell an investment property. It highlights techniques to make minor cosmetic changes leading up to a sale, along with how to ‘dress’ the premises for inspections, as well as techniques in selecting and appointing a proven and successful sales agent for the sale process. It also exposes us to the emotional connection that owner-occupiers have with their homes, an important element considering we may one day be marketing/selling our investment properties to owner-occupiers and not other investors.
Where you can access it: The show has recorded many seasons, and airs random episodes on Foxtel’s LifeStyle channel nationally. For those without Foxtel, most seasons are available on DVD from specialist outlets along with JB Hi-Fi.
Number 1– Property Ladder With Sarah Beeney (UK)
Concept/Synopsis: UK property expert Sarah Beeney focuses on just one to two properties per hour-long episode and chronicles the journeys of the risk-taker renovators who aim to flip these properties for profit, regardless of the market conditions the UK may be experiencing at the time.
Why it is entertaining: Sarah is very knowledgeable about property investment, renovation and selling knowledge. Watching amateur flippers openly ignore or go against her trusted advice, resulting in dire re-sale or rental rates after completion, can be entertaining and educational. It also uses humour to highlight the challenge that renovation presents, well before even so much as a nail is removed from a property.
Why I like it: Yes, my no. 1 program for Australian investors is from the UK! I like it so much because it really is focused entirely on first-time investors and the chronicling of their cosmetic and structural renovations, all the way through to the return on investment delivered back to them. Each project or guest is actually visited by Sarah several months later, as a recap, providing an extra insight that few other programs carry all the way through. Furthermore, each episode gives so many dedicated bullet-point screens of tips and tricks that I get so much value out of every episode I watch.
Areas to be weary of: This is a UK program so we must be mindful that the drivers and desires of would be tenants and owner-occupiers there can be much different to those of Australian would-be renters and owners, so these needs do not always translate. Also, while the program has been going for 10 years, many of the results recorded and the projects focused on have occurred in a rising market, making the true dollar (or pound, I should say) value of the profits difficult to ascertain.
What you can actually learn from it and use in your property investment life: If you can get your hands on this show, you’ll take away something from just about every episode. Tasks such as understanding your suburb/market, your target inhabitant, and council due progress and restriction are covered. It also demonstrates the more conventional ‘trials and tribulations of renovating property’ wisdom. The follow-up section at the end, along with detailed summaries of blown budgets and lacklustre profits, can also serve as a sobering reality check for those with the ‘romantic’ dream of property renovation.
Where you can access it: For Australians this show is very difficult to access. Apart from the airing of occasional episodes on Foxtel’s LifeStyle channel, it does not air here on free to air television, nor has it been released on DVD in Australian region 4 coding. Even finding a UK supplier online to buy from is tough. The other program is that although there has been over 10 seasons, not all seem to have been put on DVD in the UK in the first place.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Property Spectator.</a>
For more on property reality TV,<a href="http://propertyobserver.com.au/ebooks/free-ebook-lessons-from-the-block-and-other-property-reality-television-shows" target="_blank"> download our free eBook</a>
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Real-life property lessons from The Block, Hot Property and other reality shows:  Cameron McEvoy

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Those expecting a "get rich quick" list of tricks will be disappointed. If you are reading this and you have even a slight interest in using property as a vehicle to grow wealth and prosperity, you’ll know that most property investors employ a mid-long-term strategy instead of a ‘get rich quick’ one. If ultra-fast profits, aka ‘get rich quick’ schemes, is your ambition in the property investment sector, then my advice is to seek other types of investment! Instead, I’ll list tricks that are more about thinking outside the square, or perhaps processes that can be made more efficient to either save time or money, during your property investing career.
1. Be stamp duty conscious and don’t be afraid to take advantage of states where duty is less extreme.
One of the biggest hurdles in getting started in property investing is the stamp duty element. It sucks, but for a long time, it has been a necessary evil. Those buying their own homes may be able to avoid it, but investors must pay this upfront. The best thing you can do is keep yourself updated on state-by-state nuances when it comes to stamp duty.
There has been a lot of talk recently about it being scrapped in some states in order to help kick-start the housing industry in those states. My thoughts are that any scrapping in stamp duty purchase costs will come back as some form of tax or another. Perhaps higher land taxes or other state taxes would replace them. Still, assuming for now that stamp duty won’t be scrapped, you should investigate states where these costs are reduced.
When I refer to stamp duty, I refer to three charges actually, that must be paid for, per state, at purchase. These are the stamp duty itself (the biggest portion), the transfer fee (this can vary from as little as $100 up to thousands), and mortgage registration fees (a very minimal charge). For example, on the same $300,000 investment property price, you could be paying as little as $8,873 in the ACT, or up to $14,041 in VIC. The difference of $5,000 could be a make-or-break factor for first-time or new investors.
2. Pay down your bad debt while you are doing your due diligence. 
 This is a big one, and one of the easiest to do. Personal debt (which most, including myself, call 'bad debt' because it is debt that is not producing an income) can hurt your chances when working with a lender (or a broker who engages lenders on your behalf). I read somewhere that for every $1,000 of credit card debt, personal loan debt, or other debt that you can pay out, it can add around $5,000-$10,000 of loan capacity to your status. Not sure how true that is, but my trick is to use your due diligence time (say three to six months of intense research) to aim to pay off as much outstanding debt as possible. You'll be surprised at how much more a lender will loan you when you have little to no personal debt. The additional volume of loan you can then have may enable to you to invest in a more desirable investment property than you initially hoped for.
3. While on finance – get used to the word 'no' and use it to your advantage. 
 The trick here is all about lenders saying no. Those who employ the services of a mortgage broker are less likely to have an ‘absolute no’ (in other words, not one single lender willing to lend to you). But even then, never accept a ‘no’ from a lender as defeat. Banks and other lenders, while tightening their purse strings in the past year or two, are still willing to lend, you just have to find creative ways to agreeing on a product-type with them. 
 
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4. People watching!
No, not in a perverted neighbourhood peeping Tom kind of way, but more in a 'walking the streets, eating in the restaurants, and sitting in the local park on a Saturday' kind of way. Get to know your target suburb occupants firsthand by witnessing them in their daily lives. Why? This can help give clues as to the kind of property type to buy.
Census data and other data sources cannot always be trusted in capturing the snapshot of who really lives in a suburb, so you need to see this first hand. It'll help inform your decisions about dwelling type, bedroom volume, and demand for proximity to certain amenities. For example, if you see lots of very young families with babies – despite data telling you otherwise – those babies will likely need pre-school within a couple of years. It may be worth considering proximity to pre-schools as a factor in your property search.
5. Always keep your eye on the prize by having an exit strategy up front. 
 Too many new investors – including yours truly – tend to focus much of their energy on the acquisition stage. Some people are heavily focused on growth, so they set targets like 'I want to acquire one property a year for 10years, and then hold'. But then what? Selling up, or 'cashing out', as some call it, is a process that must be planned for, up front, by collaboration with an account, an advisor, and with your personal dreams, hopes, and aspirations. That last part is the most important bit, and should be the dictator of when it's time to cash out.
If you are like me, you'll want to be spending most of your 50s and beyond cruising down the Nile River for six months of the year, or trekking through Alaska or something. You need to figure out how you are going to dump as many of these properties as possible, at the right time to achieve your goals. If you have 10 properties you may want to offload over half of them, but beware: this process could take many years to do it in the most tax-effective way. Starting out, you must focus on the start, but so too should you map out when you want it all to end.
6. Build your industry relationships and foster them.
Build solid relationships with your ‘crew’ (as I like to call them: your mortgage broker, solicitor, planner, accountant, managing agents etc). I send them all a Christmas card every year. It sounds like a minor thing to do, but little touches like these, help keep the relationship strong. In effect, you are paying all of these people to do work for you, so really, you are their customer. If anything, they should be sending you a Christmas card! But being polite, while being assertive, helps to maintain a good relationship. I’ve known investors who treat their crew terribly, getting angry at them all the time over small things, being rude and demanding on calls with them. This attitude can come back to hurt you later on if you need to call upon them for a favour; the favour may be met with resistance or little interest.
7. Be more organised. 
 A pretty obvious one, but as you start to collect data, due diligence research and then move to a property purchase and ongoing management of it, you’ll collect lots of information. If your day job is in an office, you are probably pretty organised when it comes to paperwork, Microsoft Office files, and so forth. For those who do not work in such an environment, you need to become very savvy, very quickly, with data filing and admin. It sounds boring, but having everything organised and easily/quickly accessible is key. Some areas you can make more efficient are:
<ul>
<li>File naming conventions. Keep successive versions of your spread sheets, word documents, and pdfs logically named, and filed in the correct folders</li>
<li>Back everything up. Ideally you’ll have some kind of network-attached storage that can duplicate every ‘save now’ in a document, on a second drive or space, so that data loss is avoided</li>
<li>We still live in a print world, sadly. This means you’ll get lots of bills, notices, and contracts in print. Ensure you keep these filed in logical lever arch folders, or invest in a filing cabinet and employ a consistent filing convention to ensure nothing is misplaced.</li>
<li>Keep a log of all expenses close to where you keep the receipts for them.</li>
<li>Generally speaking, keep everything that any key party (lenders, solicitors, estate agents and so on) sends you, even if you don’t think you’ll need it later on.</li>
</ul>
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a target="_blank" href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/">Property Spectator.</a>
 
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Seven smart moves when buying your first investment property: Cameron McEvoy

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There is a hotly contested argument in the Australian property investing landscape: Buying off the plan versus buying established properties.  Most investors starting out are likely to enter the unit market instead of buying freestanding houses. This is particularly evident in capital city markets, where detached dwelling price entry points are usually not within reach of first-time investors. So investors look to the unit market for easier accessibility and (arguably) easier ongoing management while holding. As such, they come across this choice fairly early on in their investing career, with some favouring off-the-plan apartments and others preferring established stock only.
But which type is the best?
I favour established stock, and here’s why:
First of all, let’s start with the biggest factor: price. Property is all dependant on location, we know this; but if compare the price of an off-the-plan unit with an established unit (same bedrooms, floor space, parking etc) in the same suburb – and even street –  the cost will be much cheaper. Sure, the older unit may not be as pretty, or have as modern styling or features, but it will be significantly cheaper than the off-the-plan stock, making it more readily accessible for entry-level investors.
Additionally, there is scope for renovation to increase value and rental return, throughout your ‘holding’ life for the property. This is a handy tactic in times where capital growth may be flat, or when increasing interest rates can dip an investor too far into the ‘negative’ in terms of holding cost. Off-the-plan residences have a built-in maximum ceiling rate for rent with little scope to add value via renovation for a good five to 10 years from completed construction.
This flows into my next point. Established stock that has stood the test of time is typically better built than new stock. Not always, but developers look to cut corners with building materials, design, and functionality. Sometimes developers are looking only at what will drive their biggest profit margins, instead of the dynamics of the area they are constructing the block in are demanding. I find this interesting because often developers market most heavily not to would-be home owners, but to would-be investors.
You should always pay utmost attention to your due diligence when buying off the plan for this reason. It is never a happy discovery when an investor realises that while she signed off on Smeg kitchen appliances two years back, her finished kitchen is furnished with cheap inferior fittings that look OK for about a year but have no wear and tear sustainability. This translates into expensive holding costs in years two, three, and four when inferior fittings break down.
Somebody has to pay for all those marketing costs. Yep, somebody has to pay for all those fancy high-gloss 60-page booklet they print, every billboard ad, every online banner ad they have to buy ad space for. No prizes for who picks up the bill for it: yep, you, the investor. And working for over six years in the media advertising industry myself, let me tell you that mass-scale marketing ain’t cheap. As investors, paying for someone else’s marketing campaign is something that should be avoided, and buying established stock helps reduce your risk of exposure to this.
 
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This is also a good transition in to my other bugbear about off the plan units. Sure; people who are pro off the plan will be quick to retort about how depreciation in the first five to seven years will be a huge tax incentive for them, and they will be able to get great returns for the "golden years" that any depreciation report findings will offer them in these years. But the reality is this; you lose whatever gains you would have made – and then some – by paying for those over-inflated marketing costs to begin with! Savvy investors know this. What good is say $18,000 of additional depreciation revenue over the first five years or so, if you’ve had to outlay an inflated sales price by $30,000 to begin with?
Buying off the plan in areas of high development is a huge risk area. We’ve seen areas of Melbourne, Gold Coast, and more recently inner Brisbane, all suffer from this. Developers find areas that have high demand and then accommodate for that demand in their offering. Sounds fairly logical, right? Here’s the problem; another 15 developers have also had an eye for the same area, yet there may only be demand for say, four or five buildings worth of tenants in that area over the next two years of construction. See the problem? Suddenly that rental appraisal for your off-the-plan apartment of $400 per week now, in 2012, is whittled down to $330 per week in 2014, where, at completion, your apartment is just as vacant as countless others, in a saturated marketplace.
Developers will always have a vested interest in maximising the volume of units they can fit in one block. The result? Too many small units that do not have the features that the local would-be renters in that suburb desire most. The most glaringly obvious casualty, in the fight for maximising floor space, is to lose dedicated separate kitchens in favour of ‘galley’-style kitchens that are really just one wall in a small lounge room. This may be fine for, say, inner-city studio and one-bedroom apartments where the market is happy to have a tiny kitchen in favour of other features, but I am seeing more and more developers building two-bedroom apartments in middle to outer-ring areas of cities with galley kitchens. This is a huge no-no because most times, middle-ring two-bedroom would-be tenants demand dedicated kitchens. Older style units – say, older than 10 years or so – will usually provide dedicated kitchens in units of this type.
Lack of understanding renter demand is one thing developers can miss, but there is another negative flow-on effect here, and that is in strata and maintenance costs. Many off-the-plan developments have special features – rooftop gardens/terraces, water features, lifts, pools, gyms and so on – and while it is no secret that this sharply increases strata costs quarter to quarter, the issue of supply and demand can also adversely affect capital growth here. How? Well, what good is an on-site tennis court, for instance, if the development is in an area that has no demand for such a thing? If I am a tenant looking for housing but am not a tennis player. why would I pay $40 more per week in rent to have a feature I will not use? Older stock tends not to have such extravagant features. This is because older stock was arguably better planned to understand the demands of the community who were to reside in their structures.
Location. Savvy investors will know that well-located older stock can increase in value much faster than off the plan can. And I am not just referring to heritage, character, or other "cherished" types of property. I am referring to prime location. For instance, if there is an old red-brick, three-floor walk-up that is wedged between two community parks, complete with barbecue areas, play gyms and other amenities, you know that a developer won’t come along any time soon, bulldoze the park, and build a 10-story monster next to your block (effectively cutting off views and amenity). Sure, while this does happen from time to time, it is a rarity. Off the plan, on the other hand, usually secures blocks in areas where entire streets and multiple blocks are rezoned for medium-density housing. What does that translate to? Well, that beautiful eighth-storey apartment overlooking the park with city views could very likely have three equally tall buildings constructed around it, a couple of years later, if zoning has allowed for this. This reduces your capital growth and sometimes rent rate achievable too; if once-great views are obstructed and extra stress – parking problems, traffic, and noise – occur as a result.
Last of all, parking issues. Parking may not be in high demand for some areas, but for those that are, often developers simply build big basements in which they simply have dedicated spots, separated only by painted lines. Fewer basements these days are offering dedicated lock-up garages, per unit, in favour of open-air painted-line car park spaces. For areas where car parking is in high demand, lock-up garages will always be more favourable than just spaces. Tenants like the flexibility of having that space – they can have storage, or a car, or sometimes both if there is enough space inside. If parking is a high priority, tenants will usually favour an older style unit with dedicated lock up garage, than a newer block with a security basement without dedicated lock up storage per unit.
Although I am in favour of established stock over off-the-plan units, in the end, any investment is always about the due diligence. If you get down to one of each type of dwelling; and the numbers stack up to favour the off-the-plan unit, then you should obviously go for that. I am keen to be challenged on the points I make above, as I am sure there are benefits to off the plan purchases that I’ve not considered, but for now; this investor remains to keep his buy-and-hold strategy exclusively to existing stock purchases only.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a target="_blank" href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/">Property Spectator.</a>
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Why you should buy existing property rather than purchase off the plan

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With Xe.com is citing AUD to USD conversion figures of around $1.04, and further signs that the US economy is slow but is likely to grow by the critical 3% in 2013, I thought now was as good a time as any to revisit property investment in this market. Where I initially focused on the risks involved with market selection within the country, quality of tenants and fluctuating currency exchange rates, I want to look more closely at some of the buying and holding costs involved with US property investment and highlight areas where this may differ to Australian property investment.
The list is not exhaustive, and it’s likely that there are further unforeseen costs that others will have experienced in getting in to this market. In particular, there may be nuances between various states that are not accounted for here. In 2013, I’m aiming to be on the ground in the US to conduct further research and investigate several key markets identified as ‘game-changers’ in terms of their scope for future capital growth. I’ll look to report back in during and after this trip with further discoveries I make.
It is important to note some of the additional set-up costs involved, no matter how small. I say this because many young investors or those with very limited savings look to the US because of its attractive entry point costs. These low costs can be the difference between a viable investment and a non-investment, where there is not enough capital to make up the entry costs to proceed with an acquisition. This is important to highlight for low-cost properties such as some of those in the US.
Take an Australian investment property purchase of say $300,000. The late discovery of a couple of extra thousand dollars in sudden fees can be much easier to accommodate in Australia.
Where US investors get unstuck are those who have not allocated additional funds much contingency. So where a $5,000 contingency on a $300,000 Australian buy may not be that big a deal, for someone who has overextended on a $50,000 US buy, a last-minute $5,000 fee could destroy the entire feasibility of the project. The below will at least give an indication to some of the fees involved in a US acquisition, regardless of whether the buy is a $50,000 property or a $250,000 property.
Setting Up an LLC:
This is a ‘limited liability company’, a must for non-US citizens looking to build an investment portfolio in the US. This cost actually varies depending on who you get to help set it up, but can be anywhere from $2,800 to $6,000, depending on the scale and complexity of the way it is set up and its intended purpose.
An additional LLC “holding fee” may be payable depending on the state you are buying in. I do not know the cost of each state, but typically this is around $1,000.
Title search, inspection and solicitor’s settlement fees:
This is similar to Australia typically; anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 depending on the size and scale of the property being settled.
 
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Personal travel fees:
If you are buying site-unseen, you may be able to avoid the travel costs involved on a whirlwind trip to the US, but this tactic is only recommended for those who have absolute trust in the company or buyer’s agent you are working with for the purchase. Many investors should look to budget in a few thousand dollars to visit the areas you are set to invest in.
Property management, building insurance and county taxes:
These are all annual charges payable to different stakeholders, but can range from 6-10% per year for property management fees – this is definitely an area where investors should not cut corners. This holding cost is entirely dependent on the annual rent coming in, but if you are buying an “entry-point” property you’d be typically hoping for around $800-$1.000 per month in rental income, translating to around $900 per year in property management.
Building insurance is an absolute must and should always been included.  Allow around $1,000 to $2,000 annually for this
County taxes are annualised and are pretty much like the Australian version of quarterly council rates (to fund the basic services and facilities of your suburb). These are actually similar to most Australian council rates; anywhere from $150-$300 per quarter.
Cost of Finance:
Regardless of which financier you enlist in the US to finance your loan, you will likely be paying additional fees – and higher interest rates – than domestic US citizens would be paying for those same loans. The fee types involved are as similar and varied as Australian loan fees are, so it is vital to be fully aware of all application, establishment, annualised, and exit/departure fees involved with your loan product
US government tax:
This is an area I must do a lot more research in, but just like in Australia, tax returns for any income must be filed each year. Capital gains tax at the “cashing out” phase of your property holding term is also something that should be addressed upfront. This is challenging, because capital gains tax laws for foreign investors have changed considerably over the years and continues to change often. This means for those who employ a mid-long term holding strategy (typically 10-20 years); the laws may change several times by the time you “cash out” further down the track. This means it becomes harder to plan for this.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Property Spectator.</a>
 
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The costs for Australian property investors looking to buy in the US

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The truth is, the best time to plant a tree will always be "10 years ago". But while hindsight is a great tool to reflect on the past, it is useless for planning and acting in the present. This is because no two moments in time are ever the same. If that sounds a little vague, let me put this in to a property context. There are so many variables in the property investment space occurring at any one time, each one reacting to and affecting the others differently, and in changing volumes. This dynamic mix means that conditions are constantly changing, so very rarely would one exact same market conditions present itself twice to the would-be property investor. In this sense, it is true that yes – the best time to act and to start planning (and implementing!) your investment strategy will always be "now".
Probably the best way to reassure aspiring investors who have doubts is to look at one main performance metric: the property asset class performance over time. I say this because property follows a cyclical trajectory. While few are able to predict exactly how long one full property cycle takes to occur (a cycle completion is not really observed until after it has ended – in other words, only really definitive in hindsight), history tells us that a cycle occurs approximately every five to 10 years. It doesn't really matter how long or short each cycle is. Instead what matters is that cycles occur and that the four main phases to one cycle finish and a new one begins over time. These four phases are a definable peak period, then a decline, followed by a flattened, or stagnated market, followed by a rising market.  Cycles have been plotted pretty extensively over the past 20 or so years, due in part to both better demographic and census data analysis being made available and residential property investment as an asset class coming in to its own. The emergence and industrialisation of property investment has then fuelled this demand for data and statistics in the past five to 10 years, allowing for unprecedented granularity in statistical analysis and coverage of market trends.  Going back about 20 years before that – so, the early 1970s – cycles were fairly loosely observed and tracked, with some of the early pioneering residential property investment strategists beginning to grow their portfolios as far back as this point. Up until then, the concept of using property as a wealth driver was limited only to those "investing" in their own homes and being done with it. What a shift we can observe from those days! Now many investors choose not to own their own home, instead renting where they want to live, and buying where they want to invest.  What this means is that we have a good track record that regardless of how bad things seem at the worst phase of any property cycle and all the naysayers shouting loudly from the rooftops "the bubble will burst and you'll all be left exposed", history tells us otherwise. Even when observing examples where extreme market corrections take place (I refuse to call them "bubble bursts", because that language suggests that a single person or small group is forcibly and artificially blowing air into the bubble at any one time, suggesting that a such a single-party force has any control over the market – it does not; the market is far too big and complex for any one party to influence significant at any one time), the markets do recover again and providing your investment strategy can work around this; i.e. employing a tactical approach such as long-term "buy and hold", or a manufactured-wealth strategy such as "renovate and hold" or even "flipping' property".
 
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 Let's observe the USA market correction that occurred in 2008. While values dipped heavily in many markets during this time, fast-forward four years and USA national averaged values are in a much better place. Recovery has by no means commenced in all markets, with some markets still to correct further, by and large many markets have begun growing further and some are even coming in to an early boom phase. 
 
Nearly all market monitoring metrics are born from following the property cycle. Variables like interest rate peaks and troughs, supply and demand, and demographic factors such as population growth and decline can all be deduced and plotted against the overall property cycle.
 
<img src="/images/stories/2012/11/mcevoynov14.jpg">
<div>There are certainly some factors that make right now, so November 2012, very attractive to new investors: 1) Capitalising on current cyclical position. I have always believed that Australia is made up not of one big cycle, but hundreds and thousands of smaller ones, all operating independently. But when you average out the national trajectory, it seems that most markets are in their flat/bottomed out stage of their cycles. In other words, now is a great time for mostly dirt-cheap price entry points for property.</div>
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 2) The cost of finance is very cheap. How cheap? There are fixed and variable interest rate deals out there so cheap;that they have only been recorded lower just once in the last 50 years. Now is a great time to revisit your current rates (if you are already an investor), or acquire property on a cheap finance deal.</div>
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 3) Supply and demand in most markets is excellent. And I say "most" markets because there are of course exceptions. Inner Melbourne, for instance, is oversupplied, with demand levels low. But for every market like this one, right now there are three or four others where rental demand is very strong. This means that quality tenants – who are willing to pay market rate for the right kinds of properties – are out there in abundance.</div>
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 4) Infrastructure projects are quietly creeping onwards. I say quietly, because there has not been huge levels of noise in the market about these, but most states and territories are pushing on with development projects such as new arterial roads, highways, train and bus lines, parks, hospitals, and education facilities (including entirely new university campuses). Align with areas where development will make residing in these areas more attractive, and there are gains to be had. </div>
"Now" is always the best time to invest. As always, do your thorough due diligence and seek out opportunity in relation to the property cycle.
Cameron McEvoy is a NSW-based property investor and maintains a blog, <a target="_blank" href="https://propertyspectator.blogspot.com.au/">Property Spectator.</a>
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The best time to invest in property is right now

Developers and apartment buyers have a narrowing window of opportunity before Brisbane's Olympic infrastructure pipeline begins competing directly with residential construction, pushing up costs, tightening labour supply and making new projects increasingly difficult to deliver.

While Brisbane's apartment market continues to benefit from strong population growth and limited housing supply, industry research suggests the years leading up to 2027 could prove to be the most important period for developers looking to secure builders and buyers hoping to purchase before the next wave of price increases.

A new Colliers report, Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Creating Solutions, highlights the scale of the challenge. While thousands of new homes are planned across South East Queensland, the Brisbane Olympic Athletes Village alone will deliver more than 10,500 beds during the Games before being converted into around 1,750 to 2,000 apartments. Equivalent to almost two years of typical inner-city apartment supply, the project will also absorb a significant share of the construction workforce and building materials.

The broader construction pipeline paints an even clearer picture.

Construction Skills Queensland's Horizon 2032 report forecasts Queensland's annual construction pipeline will average $69 billion over the coming years before peaking at $75 billion in 2027-28. Demand for construction workers is expected to increase by 17 per cent to almost 150,000 people, with the industry facing an annual shortfall of around 19,000 workers that could blow out to as many as 35,000 during the peak construction period.

The Olympic venues, athletes village and supporting infrastructure will account for billions of dollars worth of work across South East Queensland through to 2032, creating intense competition for labour at a time when Australia's residential construction sector is already under pressure.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150489 project_image_fid=373834]

Colliers Queensland Residential Director Andrew Scriven said the convergence of these projects is creating a clear window of opportunity for both developers and buyers.

"From 2027 onwards, the market will shift dramatically," Scriven said.

"Labour will increasingly be locked into government-led infrastructure and Olympic projects, which means private residential developments will face higher costs and tighter margins. The developers who move now are the ones most likely to get projects off the ground."

Scriven said the same dynamic would also affect buyers, with fewer apartment projects expected to launch once construction capacity tightens.

"If you're looking to change your lifestyle over the next five years, now is your window of opportunity to buy."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150713 project_image_fid=373827]

Developers are already positioning themselves ahead of that window.

Following the success of Monarch at Toowong, Consolidated Properties is preparing to launch two new Brisbane apartment projects in the second half of 2026. They include <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/gloriette-30-bedivere-street-yeerongpilly-qld-4105">Gloriette</a> at Yeerongpilly Green, a 25-storey tower within one of Brisbane's key Olympic precincts, and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/castile-47-skyring-terrace-newstead-qld-4006">Castile</a>, a recently approved 25-storey riverfront development at 47 Skyring Terrace in Newstead.

Hutchinson Builders will deliver both projects, with early works already underway at Yeerongpilly and Newstead expected to commence later this year.

The timing comes as Brisbane's fundamentals continue to strengthen, with strong interstate migration, population growth and vacancy rates remaining below 1.5 per cent.

Colliers Queensland researcher Pragya Sharma said Greater Brisbane is forecast to require around 40,000 new apartments between 2021 and 2031.

"There's a real mismatch emerging between when housing is needed and when it will be feasible to build," Sharma said.

"As a result, the period leading up to 2027 presents a key window of opportunity for developers to secure approvals, funding and construction capacity, while buyers will have greater choice before supply constraints intensify."

Colliers research outlines a critical pre-2027 window to start residential projects before labour squeeze: now is the time to buy

Joel Robinson

Developers, buyers on watch in South East Queensland ahead of construction crunch: Colliers

It's taken less than nine months for developer Sherpa Property Group to sell out all 51 apartments in its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-oasis-palm-beach-7-9-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Oasis</a> development in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/palm-beach-qld-4221">Palm Beach</a>, over a year before its anticipated completion.

&nbsp;

Located at 7-9 Sixth Avenue, the $67 million development has resonated strongly with both local owner-occupiers and downsizers seeking high-quality apartments within walking distance of the beach, dining precincts and everyday amenities.

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Christie Leet, Founder of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sherpa-property-group">Sherpa Group</a>, said the sell-out reflected both the strength of the Palm Beach market and the success of Sherpa's community-first approach to development.

"The sell-out of Oasis is a fantastic outcome and reinforces the strong demand we're seeing for thoughtfully designed apartments in lifestyle locations," Leet said.

"From the outset, our vision was to create a development that genuinely enhanced the Palm Beach community while providing residents with exceptional homes and wellness-focused amenities.

"We've been incredibly encouraged by the level of local support throughout the campaign, 72.5 per cent of buyers are locals, with a significant proportion of purchasers choosing Oasis as their future home rather than an investment."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151449 project_image_fid=357463]

Construction is now progressing following development approval, with trusted builder LPS Group delivering the project and completion anticipated in Q3 2027.

Oasis forms part of Sherpa Group's successful Flourish collection, which has become recognised for its focus on wellness, community and elevated coastal living.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151449 project_image_fid=357469]

Residents will have private access to a rooftop amenity space featuring a pool, gym, sauna, steam room, hot and cold plunge pools, spa and barbecue facilities.

"The success of Oasis demonstrates that buyers continue to prioritise quality, location and lifestyle," Leet said.

"We are proud to have delivered a project that has resonated so strongly with the market and look forward to bringing Oasis to life for our future residents."

Sherpa recently launched <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-soleira-palm-beach-1150-1160-gold-coast-highway-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Soleira</a>, its third instalment of the Flourish brand in Palm Beach following Flourish Oasis and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/amargo-6-12-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Amargo</a>.

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Sherpa sells out Flourish Oasis in booming Palm Beach

Urban Property Group's <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/la-vera-macquarie-park-94-talavera-road-macquarie-park-nsw-2113">La Vera</a> is leading the next phase of Macquarie Park's residential evolution, with the new apartment development set to become the first of several new apartment projects in the precinct to complete.

The 169-apartment building has now topped out ahead of its scheduled completion in the third quarter of 2026, as new residential investment continues to reshape one of Sydney's largest employment hubs into a true mixed-use precinct.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=368645]

Cox Architecture has designed La Vera to capture the best of its unique positioning on Talavera Road, orienting the building towards Lane Cove National Park.&nbsp;The building features a sculpted northern façade with flowing curves inspired by the surrounding landscape, while its city-facing elevation adopts a more structured architectural expression to maximise skyline views.

"The vision for the project was to conceive a building that adopted an organic and curvilinear form to the northern portion that faces the Lane Cove National Park," <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cox-architecture">Cox Architecture</a> Director Felipe Miranda said.

"The residents that reside in the northern portion of the building benefit by having beautifully crafted curved balconies that speak to the natural context and heighten the relationship of their internal living spaces to the external balconies."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=358802]

La Vera offers a diverse mix of one, two, three, and four-bedroom configurations, with prices currently starting from $740,000. Buyers so far have been a mix of Sydney-based investors,&nbsp;metro commuters, owner-occupiers and downsizers from surrounding North Shore suburbs.

Both investors and owner-occupiers have been drawn to La Vera's proximity to Macquarie University, Macquarie University Hospital, Macquarie Centre and the Sydney Metro, infrastructure that supports both strong rental demand and a convenient lifestyle for residents.

The apartments feature full-height glazing, timber flooring throughout living areas, stone kitchen benchtops, SMEG appliances, floor-to-ceiling bathroom tiling and ducted air conditioning.

Residents will have access to a rooftop recreation level featuring a swimming pool, sauna, barbecue facilities and landscaped relaxation areas, complemented by additional communal space at ground level. Many apartments enjoy uninterrupted views across Lane Cove National Park, reinforcing the project's connection to its natural setting.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=364551]

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a>, a family-owned developer and builder with nearly four decades of experience, holds a 4.5-star iCIRT rating and was Australia's first developer to introduce 10-Year Latent Defects Insurance (LDI). La Vera is the first apartment development in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/macquarie-park-nsw-2113">Macquarie Park</a> approved to offer the additional insurance protection, alongside a five-year warranty on SMEG appliances.

Urban Property Group CEO Patrick Elias said the additional protection reflects changing buyer expectations in the off the plan market.

"Consumers are a lot more weary and a lot more concerned in buying off the plan than they ever have been. Having LDI is a tool to portray the confidence that we have in our product, and a confidence we want buyers to share," Elias said.

Following completion of the building later this year, buyers will move into their apartments well before Christmas.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134951]

La Vera closes in on completion as Macquarie Park continues residential transformation

Brisbane developer Red &amp; Co's decision to include dual key apartments in its debut Gold Coast apartment development, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/como-varsity-lakes-22-lake-street-varsity-lakes-qld-4227">COMO Varsity Lakes</a>, is proving to be one of the project's biggest drawcards, with buyers quickly snapping up the flexible residences.

More than half of the project's 36 dual key apartments have already sold, helping drive COMO beyond the 50 per cent sold mark within the first month of launch.

The strong response highlights growing demand for apartment designs that can adapt to changing lifestyles, with buyers increasingly looking for homes that accommodate multi-generational living, provide rental income opportunities or simply offer greater flexibility over time.

Located on the shores of Lake Orr, COMO will deliver 156 apartments across 16 levels, with the dual-key residences forming a limited release within the broader development.

Each combines a primary two-bedroom apartment with a fully self-contained studio on a single title, connected by a shared foyer and lockable internal door. The design allows owners to house ageing parents, adult children or guests while maintaining privacy, or lease the secondary residence to generate additional income.

Just 17 of the original 36 dual key apartments remain available.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135546 project_image_fid=367096]

The innovative configuration combines two fully self-contained residences on a single title, typically comprising a primary two-bedroom apartment alongside a separate studio residence, connected via a shared foyer and lockable internal door.&nbsp;

The model is proving particularly attractive to owner occupiers navigating changing family dynamics and the realities of the current housing crisis.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135546 project_image_fid=363511]

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/project-marketer/npa">NPA</a>&nbsp;CEO Andrew Erwin said dual key living was resonating strongly with modern buyers because it delivered both financial flexibility and practical lifestyle benefits.&nbsp;

“The housing crisis and rising cost of living are fundamentally changing how Australians think about home ownership,” Erwin said.&nbsp;

“Dual key apartments provide a genuine solution for families who want to stay connected while maintaining independence. Parents can help adult children save for a future home, ageing parents can remain nearby without moving into aged care, and owners still retain privacy and flexibility.

“Importantly, buyers are also recognising the financial advantages. It creates the opportunity to generate additional income from part of the home without the holding costs associated with owning a separate investment property.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135546 project_image_fid=363509]

Unlike traditional dual occupancy arrangements, the residences operate under a single title, meaning owners only incur one set of body corporate fees, council rates and holding costs.&nbsp;

The secondary residence can also evolve over time - functioning as guest accommodation, a home office, creative studio or private retreat before later becoming an income-producing asset.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/red-co">Red &amp; Co</a>&nbsp;Director and Co-Founder David Laverty said the strong early sales reflected growing buyer urgency and changing priorities within the market.&nbsp;

“Securing more than half of COMO’s residences within such a short timeframe is an outstanding result and a clear endorsement of both the design and location,” Laverty said.&nbsp;

“Buyers are responding to the combination of location, connectivity and amenity, but ultimately it’s value relative to other East Coast markets that is driving enquiry.”&nbsp;

“We’re also seeing strong interest from owner occupiers looking for homes that can adapt with them over time. Flexibility has become one of the most important considerations for buyers in today’s market.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135546 project_image_fid=363515]

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/bda-architecture">BDA Architecture</a>, COMO features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom residences with 2.7-metre ceilings and larger-format floorplans aimed at owner occupiers, downsizers and lifestyle-focused buyers.&nbsp;

The development will feature an extensive rooftop recreation and wellness offering including a 25-metre lap pool, sundeck, barbecue and dining areas, gym, sauna, plunge baths, landscaped gardens, wellness spaces and rooftop pickleball and paddleball courts.

The remaining dual key apartments range from 137 sqm to 167 sqm and include generous three-bedroom layouts with separate self-contained studio accommodation and dual parking.&nbsp;

Erwin said the dual key concept represented a broader shift in how Australians would live in the future.

“People want homes that can evolve with their lives,” he said.&nbsp;

“A dual key apartment can suit a family today, support an ageing parent tomorrow, and potentially generate income later on. That adaptability is becoming incredibly valuable in the current environment.”

Prices currently range from $2,115,750 to $2,583,000.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=135546]

Inter-generational living drives demand for COMO’s dual key apartments as housing pressures reshape buyer priorities 

Builder-developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/ceerose">Ceerose</a> has doubled down on its Leichhardt ambitions, lodging its second State Significant Development Application (SSDA) in the suburb in the last six months.

Their newest proposal seeks to transform a former industrial precinct into a new residential community centred around the adaptive reuse of one of the site's heritage warehouse buildings.

The new project, on a 6,930 sqm block at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/40-76-william-street-leichhardt-nsw-2040">40–76 William Street</a>, will bring more than 200 apartments to a suburb that has seen little to no new supply in recent years. It follows Ceerose's late 2025 SSDA for a mixed-use apartment project on nearby Parramatta Road, signalling the developer's growing investment in Sydney's Inner West.

Ceerose Founder Edward Doueihi told Apartments.com.au the developer’s long-standing presence in Leichhardt and the Inner West had given it a strong understanding of how the area has evolved and where its future opportunities lie.

“Ceerose has had a long-standing presence in Leichhardt and the Inner West, giving us a unique understanding of the area’s evolution and future potential,” Doueihi said.

“Having delivered projects throughout the region, we have witnessed the suburb’s transformation first-hand and understand the opportunities for its continued growth.”

Doueihi said that understanding also informed the planning process, with a comprehensive Stakeholder Engagement Outcomes Report prepared before the application was lodged.

The report identified the key issues and concerns raised by neighbouring residents and other stakeholders, allowing those matters to be considered and incorporated into the design where appropriate.

He said the delivery of additional housing would also play an important role in supporting the revitalisation of Norton Street and the Italian Forum.

“By increasing the local residential population, the development is expected to strengthen demand for local businesses, encourage further investment, and help restore the vibrancy that made the precinct a thriving destination in the early 2000s.”

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7258c54c-8167-479e-8361-2d5fca9915b4" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010B%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%202.jpg?VersionId=S9DQfxu_jpcB5LrAEYFUbyMzg5odW6i5" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/woods-bagot">Woods Bagot</a>, the redevelopment would involve the demolition of four existing industrial buildings while retaining and adaptively reusing the site's most significant warehouse. The retained structure would anchor a new residential precinct comprising five interconnected buildings arranged around a large central landscaped courtyard, with heights stepping from five storeys along the surrounding residential streets to 11 storeys at the William Street corner.

According to the Architecture Design Report by Woods Bagot, the proposal "seeks to create a residential village centred around a generous green heart while celebrating the site's industrial heritage through the adaptive reuse of the existing warehouse building."

The development would comprise 203 apartments, with 188 proposed as build-to-sell residences, alongside 15 affordable housing apartments.

Rather than treating the retained warehouse as a standalone heritage object, Woods Bagot has sought to weave the site's industrial history throughout the masterplan. The proposal retains the north and west facades of the landmark corner warehouse, while new buildings reinterpret the site's brick-and-steel industrial language through their material palette and architectural expression.

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e8c64c2-881b-49e1-8c90-6b6acaaa45b6" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010C%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%203.jpg?VersionId=Qm8_8H_Xrg_sc4Mdjc59vlAcKF_5wRTb" />

The design is organised around what Woods Bagot describes as a "green heart", a landscaped communal open space that reinstates the leafy character removed when the site became an industrial storage facility. A new pedestrian laneway running through the site would improve permeability between William, North and Francis streets, linking residents through landscaped public spaces while activating the ground plane.

Residents would have access to communal gardens and shared recreation areas distributed throughout the development. Sustainability has also been prioritised, with the project targeting an average 7.9-star NatHERS rating. Proposed initiatives include rooftop solar generation, rainwater harvesting, passive solar design, naturally ventilated lobbies, extensive cross-ventilation and the reuse of existing building fabric to reduce embodied carbon.

The adaptive reuse strategy became a defining feature of the application after heritage investigations found only one of the site's industrial buildings could feasibly be retained. The Heritage Impact Statement concludes that preserving the key warehouse façades while referencing the site's industrial character throughout the new development provides an appropriate balance between renewal and conservation.

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="efffafdb-594f-4e2b-a067-921fd51c05e1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010D%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%204.jpg?VersionId=DPmE4.k16YRt0i27hEZVtJAffarpvUfx" />

"Retention and adaptation of the site buildings has been explored but found not to be feasible except for the tallest building, whose street facades will be retained," the heritage report states.

"The proposed building will interpret the brick and steel character of the subject site, including reuse of some components and construction of a large 'sawtooth' structure in the proposed open space."

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3bfef2b5-83f5-40cd-9cab-767092f34266" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010E%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%205.jpg?VersionId=7asb3i_ql4ybbuJOUb5UHBEIy0Q9t.DF" />

The William Street site is located around 300 metres from Leichhardt North Light Rail station and a short walk to Norton Street's retail, dining and hospitality precinct. The surrounding area has increasingly become a focus for urban renewal given its proximity to public transport and the Parramatta Road corridor.

Doueihi founded Ceerose in 1998 and has grown the business to become one of Sydney's more active apartment developers in recent years, with completed projects including The Alex Collective in Alexandria, Abbie's Lane in Annandale, and the award-winning Munro House in Elizabeth Bay. They are currently delivering Belgravia, 17 luxury apartments in Potts Point.

Cameron McEvoy

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