Hey everyone! Does anyone live in Docklands and feel okay about it? I know it has its challenges, like limited amenities and high strata fees, but I’ve noticed that townhouses there are relatively cheaper than in other areas. I’m curious about your experiences living there. Is it worth it? Let me know!

Can't find an agent I like and the thought is crossing my mind to sell myself rather than giving someone I don't like 30k

Looking at potentially guiding myself into a commercial property side of things. I was wondering if anyone has some advice or tips to do before looking at actually going in for something. I’m taking my time and going to do a lot of research and it’s something I’d look at within a 2 year range potentially.

TIA. Stay awesome and have a great week!

We have a quote for stage one $495 contract review, then stage 2 $2209 for exchange of settlement. Is this standard?

Lots of redditors say to have 6/12 months savings but is that the reality? I closed on my apartment with 2k in the bank 😂 The additional fees were unexpectedly enormous

I'm looking to purchase a property but have discovered there is a drainage easement running diagonally through the middle of the lot. The house, built c.1985 is directly on top of the drainage easement which was established c. 1920s-1930s.

Keen to get some friendly advice if anyone has experience.
I will also be speaking to a professional, just in the process of finding one.
Everything else about the property is great, however, I'm really concerned about this easement and the asking price doesn't appear to provide a discount for its presence.

• when I get a conveyancer, what should I be asking them regarding the easement?
• what are the terms of the easement? I don't think there's an S88B as it didn't come up in an InfoTrack search. Are there general laws that prevail and if so where can I find that?
• could there be a situation where the house has to be dug up to maintain the stormwater pipes? If so, who bears the cost of that? I.e. the beneficiary of the easement or the homeowner?
• if I wanted to redevelop on the site in the future, how prohibitive is the easement?
• general thoughts on the situation and would it be a dealbreaker for you?

Further details:

1. Deposited Plan (included in contract of sale) - has some handwritten notes on what appears to be different occasions, note i) of a proposal to grant a right of drainage of stormwater over the site in favour of the next door neighbour; note ii) "the site of the proposed new drainage easement has been approved, is now piped and carries drainage water from subject and adjoining lands".
2. Sydney water BYD enquiry - doesn't show any easement lines so I'm guessing it's a private easement. There are water mains and sewer mains running in front of the property outside the lot's boundary line.
3. Potentially also relevant - the planning certificate [section10.7(2)] of the lot also says the land is at risk of flooding.. "The land, or part of the land, is within the flood planning area (FPA) and consequently the probable maximum flood (PMF)."

Thanks for reading the long post. Any advice / comments / recommendations much appreciated!

This is longwinded, sorry people. Bare with me while I try to get my story across lol.

So life is a funny old thing. I'm finally getting into my own house in a month's time with my wife and two children, in a small rural town, and have a job I begin in mid January. As it turns out, there's a house I can move into at the farm I'll be working at. And there's no rent to pay and power is even covered by my employer.

This opens up the possibility of renting out my own house, which I was really excited about and proud of. But if it benefits us financially, then I'm very open to the idea of renting it out. I'm not expecting to make a fortune out of it - I think $300 rent a week would be about right for the area, certainly no more than $350. That, in addition to whatever we can afford weekly in repayments, would help us hammer down the loan faster, which sounds great.

But I'm not completely (though I am mostly) naive - what are the pitfalls I haven't considered in doing this? I know there's plenty of scumbags out there who damage properties, so there is that on my mind. I'm aware I'd be wise to get landlords insurance, and find a good property manager. There would be obligations I would have to meet as a landlord. Not to mention expenses fixing and maintaining things for the tenant/s.

The house is a 1950s build that just needs a little bit of TLC, mostly cosmetic, that cost about twice my annual income (i.e. cheap as).

Would you do it?

I'll give the job a settling in period too... It would suck massively to get a tenant into my house only to realise I hate my job and need to get out asap, and can't even live in my own house.

Would love to hear from seasoned landlords... I never had intentions of becoming one myself, and my head is spinning a little bit about it all.

The alternative is if I live in my own house, I get a company ute, and and an extra few dollars per hour (in a sense I guess I kinda do pay a little bit of rent for the farm house). So that's not insignificant given how much I'd be saving on fuel and vehicle running costs, not to mention an extra $120-$150 pay pre-tax each week.

Thanks for any input :)

Located in Melbourne and with all this recent rain we’ve noticed our gutters overflowing. Managed to get a plumber friend to come today and use his camera to locate a blockage but it’s 5m into our neighbours property behind us.

Initially the property was 1 big block but subdivided decades ago (we are the initial house, we now share a rear boundary).

Oddly I also have storm water running to the front of my property to discharge as well as this rear pipe

I can’t see any easements related to storm water on my or my neighbours property in the online searching I’ve done.

Trying to figure out who’s responsible here. Although I am happy to get it repaired myself.

Or where would you buy now?

And why?

Hey, Need some advice, our acerage property went on the market nov 1st and we only just got an offer today subject to the sale of there house. (Qld)

Has anyone ever done subject to sale? I think it’s pretty common on properties like mine in the stix.

Does anyone know if I get the deposit if they fail to sell there house (I mean the markets hot so there’s no reason why they won’t sell there house) but it’s to ensure they are serious/) I feel like I need some security since I’m the one bearing the risk?

Thanks :)

We just had a tenant move into our granny cabin it's on the corner so separate entrance no contact. We asked for the 4 weeks bond and 2 weeks rent in advance. He provided 3 payslips and NSW id card for verification said he was going through divorce and has no rental History as he always lived in his own house that his wife lives in now. I kind of slacked in my verification process and didn't check anything very stupid of me. Now the thing is he paid $1600 cash and we gave him keys he has moved in and after chasing a bit has only paid $200 and applied for rental bond loan from FACS .for some reason I thought to google him and he had an outstanding warrant in 2022 . Now I know he going to be a hell of an year to chase the rent I need to evict him the bond hasn't been lodged yet how can I do this ?

Hi all, disclaimer first - I am going to seek legal advice however was hoping to get some general OPINIONS and thoughts here.

Scenario: My brother and I are currently looking at purchasing a townhouse together. I will be in a position to “pay” my half with savings and he would have a small deposit for his half and then take out a loan.

Question: In an ideal world, my brother would take out a loan for the remaining amount owing on his half of the property and my half would be completely unencumbered. Whilst he will end up paying much more for his half than me (due to the interest), this is still a much more affordable option to get into the property market and roughly will not cost much more than he currently pays in rent. Will the bank allow for this or would we both need to be on the loan?

Thank you

I'm nearly at the stage where I am able to afford a property! Came across this video which really puts a spotlight on strata/body corporate here in Australia and its definitely worst than I originally thought. Well worth a watch for others who is looking at purchasing an apartment or unit

Game changer for me as I'm no longer interested in an apartment or unit which has strata attached. Admins please remove if shared already or not allowed here.

https://youtu.be/LdbCTFWAR5Y?si=LN1eqO6s4Qc6RNWq

We just moved into a new house a few months ago. The only gas is for the hot water system. Our bills have come in at around $110 a month, or almost 5000Mj from 24 September to 27 November. I want to know if that's a normal amount of usage or if we might have a leak somewhere?

The gas water died in the first month after we moved in and we got it replaced with a new system. It should be relatively efficient since it's brand new. We don't use gas other than for hot water and we have solar panels, so in retrospect we probably should have got an electric system but we were in a rush to get it fixed and didn't really think clearly.

Hi all,

Super basic question that I cannot find the answer to anywhere. We are buying in Vic and using the FHBG to save on LMI, so the “cap” is $800k.

There is no confirmation on the gov website if the cap itself includes a price of $800k or the property needs to be below the $800k cap to qualify for the scheme.

Anyone able to confirm since the property we are looking to buy is exactly $800k?

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I recently put an offer on a house that i can easily offered but subject to finance. Since putting the offer im starting to get cold feet. Is there a way i can show the bank that i can't afford it so I can back out of the offer? Also will this potentially impact my credit rating and hinder my chance of buying a property in the near future?

Hi, can anyone recommend a good conveyancer in the inner west of Sydney that doesn’t charge per contract review?

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I've been formally approved for a loan by CBA on the condition that I also get a place for the First Home Guarantee. Any idea how long this may take? My cooling off ends this Wednesday and settlement is in a month and this is the last piece of the puzzle for me so would ideally like it asap of course.

Thanks for your help.

As the title suggests, I’m looking at subdivision. As part of that I was initially thinking or arranging a surveyor, then onwards from there. I also want to arrange a conveyancer to add a name to the current title/existing dwelling. (I’m assuming that a conveyancer is the best professional for that task).

It occurred to me that a builder will just go through these steps anyway, so would it be best to visit the bank first & then go straight to the builder?

All advice is welcome. I’m an absolute beginner with this… Thanks in advance.

If it matters, I’m in South Australia.

How do I work out my serviceability for different pay groups? Is there a website I can use or excel spreadsheet?

The person who lives in the apartment above me has installed an AC last summer. The discharge water from his AC drips down onto my balcony causing significant mould. Not only that, I’m not able to use my own balcony as water is always ricocheting everywhere and not to mention the non stop dripping sound at night.

I approached him last summer. He said he was going to fix it, but he didn’t. What next steps should I take? Would like some advice please 🙏

I've searched through and most of what I see is people saying "my guy was really good, went through the floor and the ceiling and....." but never mention the guy, and ignore comments asking who they went with.

I also don't trust the businesses that have only 5 star reviews where most of the people only have a few reviews and they all read like generic chatgpt" John and the team helped me through the whole process, they were very polite and professional... " etc.

I'm buying in Dandenong. Anyone know of someone they/family/friend used that was good?

Here is the story

1000m corner block, split into two blocks, separate title homes

House 1 560m 4 Bed 2 Bath 2 Car

House 2 440m 4 Bed 2 Bath 2 Car

Both house same age and are near identical in layout and floor size.

REA told me that House 1 has an offer of $960K (buyer awaiting finance approval), seems about right from my research for the area.

I asked for price guide on House 2 and he vaguely indicated approx. $30k cheaper.

I did the math on (price/land) $960000/560m = ~$1700/m

440m x $1700 = $748000

But $748000 is way to cheap for the suburb in question and a 3 Bed townhouse are in the $800k range.

Anyone have any suggestions for how to calculate the value of a property.

I've recently separated from my partner. We have two teenage kids and live in Sydney. He is buying me out of our property, I will get a lump sum payment of $260k and retain about $120k worth of shares.

I cannot move to another area and house/apartment prices where we live are expensive $1.2m at the very least for a 3 bed appartment. I am in a high income bracket and buying a home at this level will stretch finances given the low lump sum I have to put towards it.

I think my options are:

1. keep the shares and buy an apartment within budget. This allows me to have a home that's mine however will be small with teenagers

2. Sell the shares and buy an apartment that will stretch me less, I'll have to pay CGT on the shares, but will have less mortgage. I loose on the investment growth

3. Buy an investment property, rent a bigger house with the intent that when the kids are older and not reliant on me I sell the investment and buy my own home. This gives me tax deductible benefits.

3 feels like the most sensible financial option but I'm not super keen on renting, I am struggling with the emotion of not owning my own home. Have I missed any considerations or options

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could help me with information on commercial leases. We are looking to rent a retail space in SE Qld but have never done this before, complete newbies.

We have been told the annual rent on the tenancy we're interested in is $45,100 + GST. Is it ok (perhaps even expected) that we come back with a lower offer on that? And if yes, how low is too low? (Eg would offering $40,000 + GST be considered taking the piss?)

Also, outgoings are $7590 + GST per annum. Does this sound like a reasonable amount for SE Qld? And does the lessor need to supply an itemised list of the outgoings to us as the tenants? Is there usually any room for negotiations on outgoings?

The lessor has also asked us for a personal guarantee but we are not doing that (as have already been told by our solicitor not to). Is this ever a deal breaker for a lessor, does anyone know?

We will have our solicitor look over the proposed lease once we get closer to a more formal offer but I thought I'd ask around here for info first.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

**If anyone has any suggestions for a better sub to post this on, please let me know. I wasn't able to find anything specifically related to Qld small businesses.

EDIT: tenancy is 100sq m.