Posted by admin on 10 January 2012
Most of the ‘old heads’ we meet amongst property investors have a calm patience about them. Many owned property during the soaring inflation of the 1970’s, interest rates of 17% and ‘recessions we had to have’ in the 1990’s, and finally the boom times of the 2000’s. Slow to panic in dropping markets, un-tempted by rising valuations, undeterred by a troublesome tenant, they focus on the long term. We’re not saying it’s the only way to approach property investment, but it’s certainly worked for many.
In the early 1990’s one Brisbane property investor and author jolted plenty of us into investing in real estate. Jan Somers, a former Cleveland school-teacher, wrote a best-seller called “Building Wealth Through Investment Property”. Her message? You can’t do nothing and expect to retire on anything more than chicken feed. Compulsory super won’t be enough so invest then be patient. It’s become unfashionable to buy books like that… but the message remains sound.
So as we kick off 2012 will investors return to Brisbane real estate? We’ve seen self-managed super funds nibbling at the offerings and the ATO reports that of the $418 billion held through SMSF’s less than $15 billion of it is currently invested in residential real estate. And $114 billion is sitting in cash deposits. It’s a huge market waiting for the ‘right time’.
What would tempt you to invest in real estate right now? Higher rents? Scrapping capital gains tax? Reduced stamp duties? Or is just not the right time to buy Brisbane real estate?
We’d love you to share your thoughts in a quick survey (5 questions only). Please click through.
Tags: Brisbane Property Management, Brisbane property sales, investment property
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's sales market, property taxes and rates etc | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 December 2011
Like a kid who can’t wait to grow up, inner-Brisbane’s property owners are wishing the days away to the start of a fresh year. The market soothsayers are surprisingly quiet about the prospects for 2012 – and probably because 2011 caught so many of them out. Here’s a quick recap:
1. Home prices in inner-Brisbane can drop when the experts least expect. After a mini-recovery in 2010 median prices dipped further this year (“officially” around 6-7% but with plenty of variation between suburbs and price brackets).
2. Home owners will choose to stay put. During 2011 sales volumes in most inner-Brisbane suburbs dropped to their lowest in over a decade, with many not willing to sell for less. Just 12 months ago it seemed likely we’d have a busier market, with good job security giving buyers confidence to upgrade and move. Few predicted the economic uncertainties of 2011 (or the daily in-your-face negativity of that bloke on the Today Show amongst others).
3. A tight supply of rental homes has not led to strong rises in rents (yet). Rents grew 4% in the June quarter but have otherwise been fairly flat in Brisbane’s inner-suburbs this year. Remember the post-floods hysteria with predictions of rent blow-outs? This subdued market hasn’t surprised us – most landlords are not wealthy and become very cautious with rent increases and potential vacancies when there’s economic uncertainty.
4. We can use our money wisely. Many of us are taking advantage of interest rate cuts to pay down debt, building equity without price growth.
So bring it on 2012, we’re ready for you. Inner-Brisbane’s home-owners have had a tough year but we’re in good shape for anything you can throw at us!
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Brisbane's sales market | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 9 November 2011
Australian home-owning households are 9 to 13 times wealthier than their rental counterparts, according to new data released by the ABS. With a median net wealth of $737,000 for those who’ve paid off their homes and $487,000 for those still repaying the bank, the numbers dwarf rental households’ median net assets of $55,000.
The ABS National Accounts show the huge disparity, but age and household size don’t explain the gap. The average age of a renter is 41 and those paying off a mortgage are 44. The ABS says the average rental home has 1.8 adult occupants while home owners have just 2.1 adults living under the same roof.
A recent Credit Suisse report says Australians are now amongst the world’s wealthiest, with real assets per adult second only to Norway.
The ABS data also shows the growth in the business of renting an investment property. In 1960 just 2.5% of GDP was earned by renting out a dwelling, but by 2010 this had risen to 8%. Last year $99 billion of rent was paid on just under 2 million Australian homes.
Tags: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Brisbane home buyers, Brisbane tenants, household types
Posted in Brisbane landlords | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 14 October 2011
New data on Brisbane’s rental housing market shows tenants are not moving as often, staying longer in their homes to save money. And it seems landlords are keeping a lid on rent rises to keep them there. Bees Nees’ Annie von Rudzinski says the Residential Tenancies Authority’s latest stats showed the turnover of tenancies is lower than during 2010.
“Tenants know that moving house is expensive and if their rent increases are fair they’ll stay put. The RTA stats show that over the past year Brisbane’s median rents rose just 4% and that’s been accepted by the market,” Ms von Rudzinski said. “Landlords have become more cautious too and many are reluctant to have an empty property. We saw the same conservatism during the GFC in 2008 and this means tenants currently have less pressure on them,” she said.
But the supply of rental homes is rising slowly and without new construction rents will increase again. “Across Brisbane the total rental pool grew by just 1,253 properties in the September quarter. That’s half the number we added in the June quarter – we’re just not bringing a lot of new rental housing onto the market.”
September’s RTA stats showed no increase in rents on the June quarter. A 3 bedroom Brisbane house rent remained at $390 per week while a 2 bedroom apartment is $380.
Tags: Brisbane housing supply, Brisbane property manager, Brisbane rents, Brisbane tenants, median rents Brisbane, property management Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market | No Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 5 October 2011
It’s worth a quick drive down Grey Street at the moment. With scaffolding starting to come down on two of the iner-city’s biggest construction sites you can get a first look at the mammoth extension to the Convention Centre (pictured today) and, directly across the street, the new Queensland headquarters for the ABC.
The ABC’s 400+ staff will be moving in early in the New Year so local landlords should benefit from that extra demand. We understand parking will be an issue for them so no doubt there’ll be interest in moving nearby. The extra crowds at the Convention Centre will no doubt boost demand for our local hotel rooms and there’s always positive spin-offs for the area when we have more visitors spending money.
Good times indeed for South Bank!
Tags: ABC Brisbane, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Grey Street South Bank, tenants Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane landlords, South Brisbane and South Bank | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 3 August 2011
Preparing a tenancy agreement is not the simple process it used to be. Like much of Queensland’s property paperwork this heavily-regulated lease has grown in length enormously over recent years. Somehow the Acts get bigger, the agreements get bigger, but whether either side is any better off is anyone’s guess. One of the biggest dangers for self-managed landlords and inexperienced agency staff is contracting out of the Act, usually through requiring tenants to meet unlawful demands.
And sometimes those who should know better can come unstuck too. According to the RTA’s latest news two principals of a Brisbane real estate agency have been fined $3,000 each for six offences including adding special terms into tenancy agreements in breach of the Act. They were ordered to write to all existing tenants and inform them that certain special terms that had been written into the agreements would not be enforced.
No conviction was recorded.
Tags: Brisbane Property Management, Queensland tenancy legislation, Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act, Residential Tenancies Authority, tenancy agreement Queensland
Posted in Brisbane landlords | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 21 July 2011
The official data for the June quarter’s just been released and landlords (and would-be investors) should take encouragement from them. We like to use the 2 bed apartment rents as our benchmark and across inner-Brisbane they rose 4% or $20 to $470/week in the 3 months to June 30th. Across wider Brisbane City they rose just 1% and there’s no doubt some pockets are witnessing stronger demand than others.
The CBD/Spring Hill was up $40 (but this followed a $35 dip in March when the lackluster student demand pulled things back). The West End peninsula has just dropped $20 after a $30 rise in the March quarter. So while the trend is up the market is still finding its way.
Out of interest 3 bed houses (the next largest rental type in inner Brisbane) also rose $20 in the June quarter to reach $500/week. The rental pool did grow over that time, but only by 366 dwellings. Some areas like postcode 4066 actually lost homes from the rental supply during the quarter, usually the result of owner-residents buying from investors.
For median rents in your Brisbane postcode go to www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au
Tags: Brisbane rental properties, Brisbane rents, median rents Brisbane, rental supply Brisbane, www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 18 July 2011
We like to use the 2 bed apartment rents as our benchmark and across inner-Brisbane they rose 4% in the 3 months to June 30th. Across wider Brisbane City they rose just 1% and there’s no doubt some pockets are witnessing stronger demand than others. Rents in this 4101 peninsula dropped $20 to $480 after a $30 rise in the March quarter. So while the trend is up the market is still finding its way. We added just 31 homes to the local rental pool in the June quarter, and while some new apartment projects are underway there’s good reason to expect rents to grow further.
Note: RTA stats quoted here cover all of postcode 4101 including South Brisbane, Highgate Hill and West End
If you would like a rental appraisal for your property just give our head of Property Management – Annie von Rudzinksi a call on 07 3214 6899.
For median rent information visit www.whatrentmyhome.com.au
Tags: Brisbane apartments, Brisbane housing supply, Brisbane property manager, Brisbane real estate agents, Brisbane rents, Highgate Hill property manager, Highgate Hill Rents, investment property, median rents Brisbane, property management Brisbane, Rental Market, rental supply Brisbane, South Bank Rents, South Brisbane property manager, South Brisbane Rents, tenants Brisbane, West End property manager
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Highgate Hill, South Brisbane and South Bank, West End | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 15 June 2011
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve surveyed tenants living in Brisbane’s inner city, asking them to rate the importance of 22 features of rental homes. Tenants were reminded that extra features in a home do cost them more in rent, so the survey responses are a collective ‘shopping list’ – the items they’d like to have as their budget affords. It gives landlords a better insight into buying and improving their investment properties.
The most important item in a rental home:
Outdoor living space. Even with a dose of cold weather during the survey tenants say they want an area to get outside. Balconies, decks and courtyards are a bit hard to retro-fit in your rental property but it’s food for thought when you’re buying your next one. And it follows that improvements you make to those outdoor areas, for example adding a roof over a deck or even some simple privacy screening, would be welcomed by your tenants.
Clean and modern:
You’d expect tenants to want a modern home and they do. Three of the top 7 features they seek relate to the condition of the home with “a modern home or one in great condition” scoring a close 2nd on their overall list. Tenants are prepared to put their hand in their pocket to have modern fittings. We regularly hear tenant feedback that rental homes need fresh paint, new carpets and other simple updates. As a landlord it can be hard to keep an eye on these things but they have a clear impact on your rental return.
And the features tenants won’t pay to have:
The wooden spoon goes to gymnasiums, closely followed by swimming pools. Those of you forking over big body corp fees to maintain these items might be feeling a little frustrated with this finding but it didn’t surprise us. We’ve been surveying tenants since the late 1990’s and both items consistently rate amongst the least important in a rental home. Buyers and re-sale interest in them might be another story.
If you’d like a copy of our full report for landlords just email info@beesnees.com.au and we’ll forward it on. How tenants choose their rental home’s location and plenty more info is included. Keep in mind the surveyed tenants mostly live in apartments in suburbs within a 5 kilometer radius of the CBD so the findings should be read in that context.
Tags: Brisbane property manager, Brisbane rentals, home renovations Brisbane, property management Brisbane, tenant marketing Brisbane, tenants Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, architecture and renovation, real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 24 April 2011
A wind of change is brewing for Woolloongabba and Dutton Park and you can see it in the latest rental stats, released with the Residential Tenancies Authority’s March quarter report. Local apartment rents are back up to $400 (for a median 2 bedroom) from $380 last quarter, with 3 bedroom houses rising $50 to $470/week. These rents are rising but the glimpse of what’s to come lies with a comparison to the adjoining postcode 4101. In the Gabba and Dutton Park median rents are so much cheaper than Highgate Hill and the other 4101 suburbs – $100 cheaper for a 2 bed apartment – that it’s hard to justify.
Some of this is due to new apartment projects in West End adding higher quality stock to their rental pool. But on any measure the Gabba and its surrounds have plenty to offer and the area’s proximity to the CBD is often overlooked. Rents across the inner-city were generally flat through 2009 and 2010 but patient landlords look like they’ll now be rewarded. In Woolloongabba there might be some “catch up” in the next couple of years.
Note: RTA stats quoted here cover all of postcode 4102 including Dutton Park. Buranda is a locality within the suburb of Woolloongabba so its also included.
Tags: Brisbane rental properties, Brisbane rents, rental prices Brisbane, rental supply Brisbane, Residential Tenancies Authority, www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Dutton Park, Woolloongabba | No Comments »
Most of the ‘old heads’ we meet amongst property investors have a calm patience about them. Many owned property during the soaring inflation of the 1970’s, interest rates of 17% and ‘recessions we had to have’ in the 1990’s, and finally the boom times of the 2000’s. Slow to panic in dropping markets, un-tempted by rising valuations, undeterred by a troublesome tenant, they focus on the long term. We’re not saying it’s the only way to approach property investment, but it’s certainly worked for many.
