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Posts Tagged with investment property

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.

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Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's sales market, property taxes and rates etc | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 21 July 2011

Rents rose strongly in the June quarter, our median 2 bed apartment rising $40 to a record $580 per week. The downturn in international students at the start of 2011
had slowed the market but a resurgent corporate demand has seen us achieve some great results for landlords. The supply of rental homes in this postcode is slowly starting to rise again, but we’re still below the levels of 2 years ago.  The CBD’s record rents are steadily encouraging tenants to look up the hill and, while affordability is affecting some tenants, Spring Hill landlords are benefiting.

Note: RTA stats quoted here cover all of postcode 4000 including Spring Hill and Brisbane CBD

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



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Posted in Brisbane CBD, Spring Hill | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 21 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 Woolloongabba and Dutton Park area rose a very strong $40/week to $440, but local 3  bedroom houses dipped $20. So while the trend is up the market is still finding its way. There’s still some catch up on neighbouring suburbs happening and tenants are recognising the good value the suburb offers.

Note: RTA stats quoted here cover all of postcode 4102 including Woollongabba, Buranda and Dutton Park

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


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Posted in Brisbane's rental market, Dutton Park, Woolloongabba | 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


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Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Highgate Hill, South Brisbane and South Bank, West End | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 21 June 2011

There’s an often forgotten key to the growth of Brisbane’s inner-city property market over the past 10 years. Those people we love to beat in rugby league have played a huge role in driving the development of many Brisbane apartment projects, especially during the early 2000’s. And the latest national house prices show New South Welshmen and women may soon be looking to spend their dollars north of the border again.

Sydney’s median house price stands at $515,000 and the graphs are fairly stable for Australia’s largest city. Their market has been solid. In Brisbane we’ve had a big slowdown in sales numbers and our median price is down to $430,000 – now a 24% discount on Sydney. After the busy sales market of 2007-2008 Brisbane was only 6% cheaper than the Cockroach Capital. We’re starting to look cheap.

Many of the Brisbane’s big apartment buildings really only proceeded during 2001-2004 due to strong sales to southern states’ investors. Local agents and developers will argue they had broad appeal – and many did once the market got going. But Sydney-siders especially got our wheels turning. They saw something in Brisbane that locals often couldn’t. Strong population growth, jobs creation through economic strength, the start of a more cosmopolitan and modern (Sydney-ish?) style of living, a sense of optimism and of course better weather.

And now that our prices are so much lower than their own we should expect renewed interest once again. Brisbane’s median house price is cheaper than every capital except Hobart and Adelaide. Yes, even Darwin is dearer. Dig a little amongst the recent sales in some new Brisbane projects and there’s already a pattern of interstate interest. Not all the moons are aligned as they were a decade ago, but with our rents rising and the resources boom driving our employment, NSW investors will find us more and more attractive. 

Even if we beat them in the football!

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Posted in Brisbane's sales market, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 13 April 2011

Who gives you advice on property investment? It’s one of Australia’s biggest asset classes yet the purchase of residential property is usually made from a real estate agent. We’re a talented bunch, modest too, and we can help with info on local trends and plenty of on-the-ground resources. But are we best-placed to help you decide on investment strategy?

The law makers don’t think so, and some years ago legislated to prevent us, and others without a Financial Services licence, from making any comment on the investment potential of a property. We can tell you about its history but can’t offer advice or give predictions on future performance. We don’t have training or skills in assessing an investor’s position and working out what’s best for them. So fair enough.

But with more than a third of Australia’s population relying on investors to provide them with a home, you’d hope someone out there is helping Australian landlords invest in property. Many accountants, solicitors and other professional advisers are ‘pro-property’ and some financial planners do support it as the best fit for their clients. But unfortunately many planners simply don’t have sufficient financial incentive to suggest that their clients consider property. There’s a huge gap in the investment industry between the info available and attention given to residential property, as there is for other asset classes.

Financial planners currently receive fees for selling their clients into various offerings from financial institutions, and usually don’t get a penny for suggesting you buy a house. (Some are paid high commissions by property developers, largely made possible by the time and marketing costs the developers can save by using this sales channel. But the number of sales made this way is a drop in the bucket).

So the government’s current shake-up of the financial planning industry might be interesting to watch. The proposal is for planners to charge clients a fee for advice and not receive commissions. We understand the Financial Planning Association’s supporting the move away from commissions for investments to “ensure perceptions of conflict are removed.” Whether their clients will be prepared to pay enough for advice remains the greatest concern.

How might this key change the popularity of property investment? Will planners start digesting property stats and watching market trends. We’ll watch with interest.

We’d love to hear your comments.

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Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, real estate marketing | 1 Comment »

Posted by admin on 16 March 2011

Having trouble with a tenant that’s dragging their heels on rent payments? Maybe had an abandoned property with a nasty clean-up bill? Neither are much fun and are some of the investment risks landlords face every day.

But spare a thought for one landlord in northern Malaysia who called around to collect rent, only to find his house completely gone!  The double storey wooden house had been stolen!

According to newspaper reports Zuria Ali, 30, said he was greeted by the sight of scattered wood, a damaged television set and twenty-four concrete pillar holders when he went to the site of his house in Malaysia’s northern Perlis state bordering Thailand.

Apparently a neighbour saw three men hard at work removing the place and thought Mr Zuria had sent them. Let’s hope he had a first rate landlord insurance policy…

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Posted in Brisbane landlords | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 26 November 2010

It’s not like you needed another reason to appoint a property manager to handle your Brisbane investment property!

A self-managed landlord at Greenslopes has had a black snake thrown at him by a cranky tenant. Facing court today the tenant pleaded guilty to assault, the incident occuring when the landlord issued another tenant a breach notice.

Turns out the snake was dead. It’s not known how far the landlord ran before he found that out…

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Posted in Brisbane landlords, just for fun! | No Comments »

Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 25 October 2010

Australia’s rental marketplace has long had a reliance on small investors, but in recent years the number buying residential real estate in Brisbane’s inner city has been low. After the strong rental growth of 2006-2008 returns have leveled off and big capital gains aren’t considered a sure bet, at least in the short term. Finally the growing confidence from self-managed super funds may give investment property a much-needed new buyer group. One with a longer term view of returns.

Once considered an option only for the very rich, we’re recording more and more property sales to self-managed funds. These are often mums and dads with a decent but not massive sum in their funds, who are using the growing acceptance (and sometimes enthusiasm) from banks to fund a residential property purchase. Accountants and other advisers are learning more about the required structures, and despite tinkering from the government there’s increasing confidence in this as a way to leverage your retirement savings.

The set-up isn’t ridiculously expensive or time-consuming, the bank loan is limited-recourse, you can get some real diversity in your retirement fund and it gives you greater control over the asset’s management. Many of us know and trust real estate as an investment vehicle and directing some of this nation’s enormous superannuation reserves into housing can only be a good thing.

Worth a call to your adviser?

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Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's sales market, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 18 December 2009

Our MD Rob writes a regular column for the property pages of OurBrisbane.com Here’s the latest:

Brisbane apartmentIf life is like a box of chocolates, Brisbane’s inner city is the variety pack! Property investors can choose from modern studio apartments for $140,000 or six-pack style apartments from the 1970’s for $350,000. Modern high-rise apartments range from $350,000 to $7 million. Or for those who crave their own piece of dirt, houses are generally priced from $500,000 upwards.

As a property investor do you see yourself as a small business person? You should. Your annual rental income will likely be $25,000 or more, so it’s worth having a good hard look at the rental marketplace and working out what product offering you’re going to make.

Some people dream of owning a riverfront penthouse, but for rental returns they’re lousy. There are not many tenants wanting to spend $2000 per week. Median priced homes are the safest territory as this is where the majority of people live. Around the CBD and surrounding suburbs the going rate is $430-$520/week for a 2-bedroom apartment. Have a look at www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au for median rents in all inner city suburbs.

Tenants don’t have the long term focus of a buyer, so while future improvements like new bridges, tunnels or new shops are all a key part of your capital gain plans, they’re not going to earn more rent for you today. A suburb like Woolloongabba might not earn top rent today, but what if that new subway goes ahead with a station in the suburb linking it directly to the CBD’s Riverside Centre?

We see investing in property as a balancing act, capital gains being the main aim and rental returns important to your holding costs.

So why choose the inner city over a modern house in the ‘burbs? Like many purchasing decisions your location choice is probably more about your own needs than the final property you buy. Is it a set-and-forget investment where you have minimal involvement? Or do you want to add value to the property by spending your weekends labouring at plastering walls or back-breaking paint work? (Okay so I’m giving away some bias here!). Your decision will vary too if you’ll want to make the place your own home one day.

What the inner city clearly offers investors is Brisbane’s largest rental market. We survey tenants regularly and a home’s proximity to their workplace always ranks highly in their decision making.

The CBD is our largest workplace by a country mile, with St Lucia’s University campus also a massive pool of potential tenants. We don’t believe rental returns will make you rich but, for peace of mind, keeping your cash input to a minimum, and simply having the largest choice of potential occupants, it’s hard to beat the inner city.

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Posted in Brisbane CBD, Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Brisbane's sales market, Woolloongabba | No Comments »

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