09 Jul What people will sacrifice to get a property – Bessie Hassan
78% of Aussies would tolerate undesirable property and suburb features to break into the market. This was revealed in a study released recently. So, what would you put up with to get into the property market? You might be surprised what some people are prepared to do. We discuss that with Bessie Hassan.
Transcript:
Kevin: As property becomes harder to get into, it’s only a matter of time before people start to put aside some of their prejudices, some of the reasons why they wouldn’t want to live in a certain area. That’s according to some research that was done recently by Finder.com.au. From that organization, Bessie Hassan joins me.
Bessie, I’m not real surprised about this, but let’s go through some of these results. Firstly, hello and welcome to the show.
Bessie: Hi, Kevin. How are you?
Kevin: Good. Not really a surprise – is it? – that people would forego some of their predetermined thoughts, I guess, things like the number 13 not being unlucky.
Bessie: Yes. The good news is that 78% of Aussies say that they are willing to compromise to an extent. We are understanding just how difficult it is to buy a property in today’s market and that there really is no such thing as the perfect home, so we are willing to make some compromise there – and it can certainly go a long way, too.
Kevin: What are some of the things that they wouldn’t compromise on, Bessie?
Bessie: You mentioned number 13 there. That’s been deemed an acceptable issue, as is the deceased estate. People are really seeing the potential in those sorts of properties as well.But when it comes to unacceptable issues, the top one there was a bad smell. If the property itself or the suburb has a bit of a bad smell, there’s a bit of a health concern associated with that, so that was the top one.
That was followed by asbestos, a high crime rate, abandoned vehicles in the same street, or being located in an industrial area.
Kevin: Is it surprising that people aren’t concerned about… Well, I suppose deceased estates, but a property that had a murder take place in it, did that come up in the survey at all or does that come under deceased estate?
Bessie: It came under here. We didn’t specify exactly. But even then, we’re noticing that the mindset is shifting. I’m not suggesting that someone goes to actively seek a property with asbestos or anything like that, but if you are serious about breaking in, you are going to have to look past some issues, certainly.
Kevin: Here is a really interesting one, I think, for anyone who is looking at putting their property on the market: a street that contains abandoned cars, trailers, or boats.There’s nothing worse than driving down the street and seeing this all on the footpath and so on. It’s a big turnoff for buyers.
Bessie: Yes, it can take up valuable parking space as well, and it can be a sign of crime in the area – something that people don’t really want to fit into. They don’t want to live in that sort of community.
But I have personal experience with this. I actually had to compromise on three of those supposed deal-breakers. I live in an industrial area. We have a red bus that appears and disappears from time to time; nobody knows who owns this red bus. And also, our rear extension was completely asbestos. We had to get rid of that safely, as well. And it turned out to be more affordable than we were expecting as well.
While these aren’t things that you wish for or are actively looking for, you need to decide if they really are deal-breakers or really just flaws that can be looked past.
Kevin: What about things like fast-food outlets? Did that come up at all?
Bessie: It sure did. That was actually deemed an acceptable issue.We asked people if they’d mind living within two kilometers to a fast-food chain. It seems that people do not mind at all. They don’t mind that late night McMackersrun for a thick shake.
Kevin:Bessie, what about male and female? Were there many differences between the sexes?
Bessie: There were a few. It seems that overall, men are more willing to put up with anything just to get on the property ladder. Women were more willing to put up with pets fur. We did ask people about whether evidence of pets would turn them off. It seems that women are more likely to put up with that. Men are more likely to tolerate things like brothels, high crime areas, and deceased estates.
Kevin:Interesting. What about state by state? Were you able to relate at all to any kind of affordability study?
Bessie: South Australians are the most desperate to get into the property market, so they told us that they’d put up with just about anything to get onto the ladder, and that was followed by Sydneysiders, perhaps unsurprisingly there. Queensland is the least likely to put up with a lack of suburb trendiness, it seems. Only 42% are willing to do so. Also, South Australians are the most tolerant of asbestos in the walls and ceilings.
So, there were some differences between the states, definitely.
Kevin: Bessie, before I let you go, were there any people in the survey who said that they’d be willing to accept all of the above just to get into the market?
Bessie: There were, indeed. Nine percent of property hunters tell us that they’d be happy to put up with all of these things just to have their chance at home ownership.
Kevin: Wow.And we can probably expect that to grow, I would think, Bessie.
Bessie: Yes, absolutely. I think it’s a sign of things to come.
Kevin: Bessie Hassan from Finder.com.au.Thank you so much for your time, Bessie.
Bessie: Thanks so much, Kevin.
No Comments