It seems like a simple way to do things: divide the sale price by the size of the apartment, then apply it to the next one. For example if it’s a 2 bed, ensuited place for $500,000 place that’s 100m2 we’ll take that $5000/m2 and use it on the 1 bedder that’s 70m2. But there’s a number of problems with the theory and they all come back to what it is that we place a value on when we buy. Views and elevation. Standard of finish and condition of the home. Numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms. And the list goes on.

So as much as it would be an easy way for home buyers to determine value, rate per m2 is rarely accurate unless the apartments are very, very similar. Two apartments in the same building have the same “base value” regardless of their bedroom numbers, because they both offer a place to sleep in that location. You’ll fit more people into a larger one of course, but if you double the size you’ll rarely double the price. This is why property developers often make great margins on small apartments and have bigger designs in their mix often for little more purpose than to help broaden the market appeal and ensure the project’s not perceived as ‘low-end’.

That couple upped their offer by more than $60,000 once they stepped back to think about other apartments that were truly similar. And of course an offer from another interested buyer helped prompt their decision too!

Yet traffic of another kind is really the best value real estate advertising. It’s the potential buyers driving and walking past your property. The web is an important part of promoting real estate but for dollars spent you can’t beat a simple signboard stuck to the front fence. Home buyers love to trawl through the back streets of their favoured neighbourhoods, eyes peeled for an undiscovered gem. And despite the layers of data, up to the minute satelite imagery and Street View pics, those web ads just can’t tell you what it’s like to stand in that street. The noises, smells, breezes.

We often have seller clients say they don’t want their neighbours sticky-beaking through at an open home. And while we understand the desire for privacy some of the best word-of-mouth promotion you’ll get for your property comes from your neighbours. They live there and they want to share it with friends and family. They think homes in the area are worth more than they really are and they’ll talk the place up til the cows come home. They’re like real estate agents, only free!

So we’re not surprised how many buyers tell us they found their new home by its signboard. It’s the cheapest item on any marketing plan and it finds you buyers who’ve already chosen your neighbourhood.

Brisbane-based property commentator Michael Matusik  adds some valuable insight into why we’re not witnessing banks stepping in to sell up property: “Our higher saving rate is well documented, but exactly how it is being achieved doesn’t get much commentary.  It is not just a simple case of saving more money.  For the most part, Australians are saving more by repaying more than the minimum on their housing loans.”

Matusik never shirks from offering an opinion. “The fact that we are paying off our mortgages faster is often ignored by the doom and gloom merchants who predict a repeat here of what occurred overseas, and continue to preach about the pending mother of all property crashes.  Yet, according to AFG, the average new loan-to-value ratio is a comfortable 67% and the latest ABS figures show that house prices fell just 2.2% across the Australian capitals over the last twelve months.  Yawn.  And yet we keep on reading about mortgage stress and impending doom.”

Bargain hunters might get tired of waiting…

Vertical gardens are popping up in design magazines around the world and southern cities have a couple of notable examples already up and running. Attaching more than 4,500 plants to the side wall of a Sydney apartment building the designers at TRIO (pictured)have created a garden that’s 12 storeys high. They say the trend to vertical gardens is just starting but there are lots of benefits. Horticulturalist Phillip Johnson says as well as removing Co2 they attract birds and butterflies to their buildings. “They are also effective for insulating against heat and reducing city noise”.

And they can look great.

One South Brisbane residential tower that’s currently before Council for approval has a vertical garden proposed for its main façade – stretching 5 storeys high. It’s in a fairly urban settings with plenty of concrete around it, so it’d be a welcome addition to the neighbourhood (even if the tower itself won’t be). It’s south-facing so no doubt there’ll need to be careful plant selection and planning for maintenance.

Let’s hope this trend takes hold in Brisbane’s inner city, with designs that ensure these green walls always look as good as the artists’ impressions. Otherwise they’ll be like huge versions of those dead pot plants on balconies!

We won’t weigh into the politcial debate but here’s one observation from a local real estate agent: there doesn’t look to be much happening with this project and the idea that anyone will make millions from it (at least in the next couple of years) looks pretty unlikely to us. The Spring Hill apartments were launched to the market almost 2 years ago and at the time they said construction would be completed by “mid 2011″. We don’t see any action on the site yet…

And luckily there’s a great new alternative. The Real Estate Institute of Queensland has launched our own search portal REIQ.com Our members own the site and we don’t need big, data-heavy ads from banks or mortgage brokers. So tenants and home buyers get a clean, fast-loading portal. The site already has more than 75,000 listings on it, making it the largest Queensland-based real estate portal.

Bees Nees principal Rob Honeycombe is a Director of the REIQ so we’re naturally big supporters of the site. Rob says the real benefit for buyers and tenants is the site’s industry ownership. “REIQ member agents are talking to them daily and we hear the feedback on what they want from a real estate portal. REIQ.com is the result of that and with agents owning and controlling the site we can make sure it stays relevant and fresh.”

REIQ.com are running a competition to celebrate the launch and you could win $20,000 by visiting the site and entering before 5pm this Friday. Here’s the link!

What can the REIQ do to improve the site? We’d love to take your comments back to them.

If you’d like a sales market update for your property please call our South Brisbane specialist, Rob Honeycombe on 0423 332 022 or 07 3214 6800

If you’d like a sales market update for your property please call our West End specialist, Rob Honeycombe on 0423 332 022 or 07 3214 6800

If you’d like a sales market update for your property please call our Woolloongabba specialist, Rob Honeycombe on 0423 332 022 or 07 3214 6800

If you’d like a sales market update for your property please call our Spring Hill specialist, Rob Honeycombe on 0423 332 022 or 07 3214 6800