New homeowners have been slugged a staggering $10.5 billion in repair costs over the past decade as poor construction standards have left them battling leaks, cracks and other problems. Financial comparison site Mozo’s Property Pain – Building Defects Report 2019 also found most new and newly renovated apartment and house owners have been plagued by…
Bit of a chartfest today: a look at the tale of woe that is building approvals in six quick charts. Attached dwelling approvals nosedived another 18 per cent in July 2019 to be 44 per cent lower than a year earlier, driven by huge ongoing declines in unit approvals in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The…
Are you interested in renovating properties? I know I am, as are many of our clients at Metropole who see it as a great way of adding value and manufacturing capital growth at a time when our markets are flat. Yet despite Australia’s love affair with TV renovation shows, apparently many Australians just can’t be…
More and more Australian property investors are moving into advanced strategies such as small property development as a way to grow their wealth. Of course, property development brings with it more potential financial rewards than traditional property investment, but it is not without it risks as well. There a number of factors that you must…
You may have considered it while piling the shopping bags on top of a cramped and dated kitchen bench, or perhaps it crossed your mind after a dog and a baby came along. Whatever the reason, if your abode feels too humble, now is the time to take action. Benefits of renovating Renovations are soaring…
Whether your planning to renovate your own home, an investment property to hold for the long term or its a property to flip for a profit, the fundamentals don’t really change. The end goal is usually always to maximise the value and to increase the rental returns of the property. 1, Avoid over-capitalising Start with…
What is land surveying? If you’re buying a property with the intention of developing or significantly renovating it, well you need to know about land surveying. If you’re a first-time small developer or renovator, the only time you’ve probably seen land surveyors is when they’re on the side of a road with their special equipment…
Every year people complain about Easter eggs being in the shops already in February, it’s one of those perennial water cooler topics like the magpie swooping season. Tax time is no different and for my part, I wish I wasn’t droning on about the end of the financial year approaching every year, but my insatiable…
Owning an investment property will invariably result in having to spend some money on it. The good news is that the tax man (perhaps we need a gender-neutral term but technically the tax commissioner is a man) will let you claim that expenditure as a deduction. However, not all deductions are equal. Spending money on…
As a Quantity Surveyor or QS if you will, I have the pleasure of a little inside information when it comes to reading some of the articles or catch phrases written by other quantity surveyors. No sour grapes here, for the most part we all get along. I have some great relationships with a number…
