Buyer Solutions Market Roundup 2016

By Janet Spencer

Rental Round Up

If you plan to buy an investment property in 2017, please book a consultation with Buyer Solutions.  Your asset selection criteria need to be very rigorous or you may find it hard to secure a quality tenant.  In traditionally strong rental areas like South Yarra rents are softening in the face of over-supply.  New towers are popping up all over South Yarra, Prahran, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne and we are avoiding these suburbs for apartment buying at the moment.

Buyer Solutions pick investment properties that we expect will appeal to tenants and as a result our rentals tend to move quickly when they come vacant.  Frequently, replacement tenants are secured prior to departing tenants moving out.  As a result Buyer Solutions vacancy factor is almost zero.

Major renovations have been recently undertaken on three properties on our rent roll, significantly adding value and increasing tenant appeal.  It’s amazing what a difference new carpet, a fresh coat of paint, installation of a split system and a facelift for the kitchen and bathroom can do for a property.

Buying Round Up

Buyer Solutions has been busy for both investors and home buyers in 2016.  SMSF acquisitions continue to be attractive to those wanting to build wealth and pay less tax for retirement.

Of course, we treat all purchases as investments at Buyer Solutions regardless of end purpose for our clients.

Interest rates are interesting at the moment with Westpac increasing official rates recently and signs of possible fixed and variable interest rate increases being on likely in 2017.

Will major world politics like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump affect our property markets, we will update  you in 2017.

I think the most vigorous growth and most competitive suburbs we have been buying in this year have been in the inner West.  Sunshine, Newport, Footscray and Footscray West have been super competitive.  One street has seen $200,000 growth in approximately 6 months as evidenced by  an auction result last weekend in West Footscray.  Buyer Solutions clients may have grown their equity by up to 20% in 2016 for and in some cases in just 6 months in these “super hot” suburbs.  It will be interesting to see if this is sustainable in 2017 or a temporary spike.   We will keep you informed.

Selling Round Up

Our vendor advocacy service was busy in 2016.  Clients needing to sell before or after using our Buyer Advocacy services often ask for advice and guidance in the sales process.  Sales of properties that we selectively acquired for investors and developers, imposing strict asset selection criteria in years gone by have been sold for great reward.  In Elwood, St Kilda, South Melbourne, Blackburn, Mont Albert North and other areas dotted all around Melbourne successful sales have been concluded.  Happy vendors have pocketed the profits or upgraded to a better property at a higher value, improving their portfolios or place of residence in the process.

When selling, the method of sale and the marketing must be carefully considered and tailored to the unique qualities of the property.  In 2016, depending on what suburb and how the market is performing in the moment, we have advised both private sales and auctions.  It has got to be carefully considered and implemented to achieve a great sales result, on a case by case basis.

The team at Buyer Solutions have thoroughly enjoyed working with and for our clients in 2016.  If you need help with any property related matters in 2017, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Buyers Advocate, Buyers Agent, Buying property, Housing Market, State of the market

2016 round up, buying, recap, renting, selling, State of the market