Short-term rental agreements have long been considered high-risk by property owners, but thanks to the meteoric rise of the sharing economy and platforms like Airbnb, perceptions are quickly shifting. Now, an ever-increasing number of investors are leasing their properties on a short-term basis – often to travelling professionals or international tourists – for an impressive premium. However, with the market having enjoyed a significant boom … Continue reading A Look Ahead: 2019

You know things have probably gone too far when your bank starts obsessing over what you had for lunch… But that’s just what media reports are suggesting when it comes to how some banks now analyse your living expenses during a loan application. When the bank wants to know what you ate for lunch, something isn’t right… The Sydney Morning Herald(1) recently reported an instance where … Continue reading Fixing The Credit Crunch!

The wonderful thing about real estate is that there are lots of ways that you can use it as a vehicle to create wealth.  So how do you choose the right strategy for your circumstances? Over the past few months I have been writing about our relatively strong economy, and the success that many of my investors have achieved in recent years by following my … Continue reading Choosing The Investment Strategy That Best Suits Your Needs

With the benefit of hindsight, being a successful property investor is simple. For instance, it’s easy to see that we would have been far better off holding on to that first home that we bought 15 years ago for $150,000, which is now worth $400,000. Or that we should have rented out that innercity property instead of selling it to invest in another property – … Continue reading How To Invest In Property At Any Age

Earlier this year, after a long period of consultation and community debate, the NSW government announced welcome reforms to short-term letting. This came in response to the burgeoning growth in online home-sharing platforms across the world. The new planning framework will clarify the regulation of short-term letting, designating the practice as exempt development. There are now a range of new rules that hosts must observe, … Continue reading Share Economy Regulation Plays Catch-Up

The bathroom is one of the spaces in a home that, when improved with a smart renovation, can give the average property a massive wow factor. However, the bathroom is often neglected, especially in rental properties, as it can be seen as too costly and complicated to renovate. The reality is, putting your bathroom renovation on hold may be costing you thousands in potential rental … Continue reading Reno Focus: Bathroom

The golden rule of property is clear: only ever invest in blue-chip property. That means inner Sydney and inner Melbourne, and disregard everything else, right? Please, no! Here’s the thing: there is no such thing as a ‘blue chip’ location to invest in. It’s utter BS! Australia is a massive country with hundreds of towns and cities. Each location has its own unique economic profile, … Continue reading Why Blue Chip Is BS

Now that the effects of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the royal commission into banking are being felt far and wide, would-be property investors are finding it increasingly difficult – and often impossible – to obtain finance. Since funding is becoming a scarce resource, borrowers need to be much more strategic about their investing decisions. When pulling together your strategy and deciding what type … Continue reading Capital Growth Or Yield? Which Will Make You Rich?

When Jason and Hayley Chittenden bought their first home in Western Australia, they didn’t have the intention of getting into property renovation. “Jason had a background in mining, and we’d spent five years living in the Goldfields region, where we bought our first home. This gave us the money to put towards building our next home down in Australind,” Hayley says. Jason and Hayley relocated … Continue reading Staging The Dream

John and Lani Tucker started their respective relationships with property separately, in the mid 2000s. At 24 years of age, John bought his first property in Melbourne for $45,000, while Lani made her first investment in her native UK. “These were our attempts back then to provide shelter and escape the nest,” John explains. “We then went on to sell those properties for differing reasons … Continue reading To Have And To Hold