Category: Selecting A Property

Are you new to real estate? Do you want to know some practical ways on how to get started? In this article, you will learn what you need to know about property investment, straight from the experts who have been in the business for years.

Getting started in property investing can be confusing and costly if mistakes are made, but with careful planning and first-class market information, kick-starting your financial future can be a breeze!

1. BUDGET

The first decision for first-time investors should be to decide on their budget – and then stick to it. It sounds obvious, but knowing your budget and getting pre-approval for your loan in writing so you can put in realistic offers with confidence is absolutely critical.

You also need to factor in purchase costs such as stamp duty, mortgage costs and settlement costs.

2. TYPE OF HOME

There is a huge difference between buying a home and purchasing an investment – the best opportunity for capital growth may not necessarily be the newest, nicest property. Investors need to carefully consider why they are buying and what they expect from the purchase.

However, there are issues to consider such as if you are willing to undertake renovations, how much maintenance you want to deal with and if you want to manage your own investment. All of these decisions play a part in deciding whether to buy a house, unit, townhouse or any other property that best suits your needs and budget.

Download Beginner’s Guide to Property Investing

3. LOCATION

Limiting your search for an investment property to one or two suburbs is ideal, especially for new investors. It’s imperative to know as much as possible about the area you’re wanting to buy into – including that you can afford to buy the specific property type you want in these suburbs. If not, you may need to look to a suburb further out or look for an older property.

4. PRICE

When you’ve chosen your target suburb, the next step is, knowing the right price to pay for any property.

One of the best ways to ensure you can accurately assess how much to offer is by looking at 50 to 100 properties in that suburb and assessing their eventual sale prices, with the aim of being able to walk into a property and know what it is likely to sell for within a few per cent.

Once you have found a property you are keen to purchase, decide what it’s worth in the current market and make a good offer, being careful not to overpay and ensuring you have the right terms and conditions. The key is to act quickly, but to not get carried away when there is competition or pressure from the sales agent – and jeopardise the performance of your investment by overpaying just to get into the market.

5. TIMING

Another crucial piece of advice is not to try and time the market. Holding back believing prices may drop can leave you wishing you’d got in sooner and not tried to pick the exact bottom.

Fear and indecision can have a huge cost in real estate, as can delaying buying in order to save a bigger deposit.While this sounds like a clever strategy, it can hit the hip pocket hard as you can miss out dramatically in lost equity and potential capital growth.

EXPERT ADVICE 

Watertight research and data are critical in property investing, and there are a raft of ways to access such information, so don’t be afraid to seek expert help if you’re not sure as it can save a lot of headaches in the long run. 

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If you want more information about property investing, why not read our Property Investing Beginner’s Guide eBook.  Or, if you’re ready to talk about buying your first home, why not complete our Getting Started form to get the ball rolling.

NEED FINANCE?

If you’re ready to invest and you’ve got any questions about finance, call us for a free Financial Health Check: 08·9381·7450 or download our Finance Services information.

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Property Wizards believes everyone has the right to the knowledge to help you accumulate wealth, no matter your background, education or income.

We can help you unlock the potential of the real estate market for your family through savvy property selection, negotiation on price and conditions, development expertise and the magic of robust research.

Regardless of market conditions, our research, local knowledge, and access to silent sales means we find the hidden gems that can outperform the market in capital growth and rental returns for long term wealth creation.

Importantly, we’re able to provide property investors and homebuyers with the same level of representation that property sellers have benefited from for years.

Your property portfolio is your path to financial freedom and the lifestyle you’ve been longing for.

Property Wizards takes away the stress of buying a property and saves you money at the same time. We can show you how, or you can sit back and let us do all the hard work for you.

Homebuyers and investors waiting for proof the market has bottomed out may want to re-think their strategy.

The practice of sitting back and waiting for confirmation the market has definitely bottomed out could be a costly move.

Many buyers want to have certainty, so they stay away from the market until they see strong evidence of price growth across the board.

This tendency means when the market is at around the bottom, there are less takers and it can present the perfect opportunity for astute buyers to potentially snap up a bargain from a keen seller and give you a head start on others.

Making the most out of property investing is about the right property choice and time spent in the market, rather than trying to time the market – and this is certainly true for the Perth market right now, so if you delay buying, you risk missing out.

Selecting your ideal property

However, buyers must remain aware that just because there are properties available does not mean they are good investments and selecting the right property is crucial. Similarly, some sellers are still asking too much, and those overpriced properties will be left sitting even as the market turns.

The majority of our enquiries are for add-value properties – those where the price is good to start with and then offer potential for adding value quickly, making it even better. People are wanting to be more in charge of their own destinies – I guess because the market has messed them around a little in the last few years.

So being back in control of decisions relating to their financial security and future is paramount in the minds of investors in the Perth market. Self-Managed Superannuation Fund buyers, and those people looking to escape the rat race through investment are key players at present.

They are buying now because sentiment is turning and for the good properties there is already competition, meaning prices may soon start to edge up.

Choosing the right suburb

Choosing the right suburb is critical. Areas close to the city, the ocean or river are where people most want to live. Next best is having easy access to these lifestyle attractions along with others such as shops and cafes.

Being close to work opportunities and good schools ranks highly and fly-in fly-out workers want easy access to the airport.

Areas that have good long-term prospects – not just flavour of the month and not just because next year is expected to be good – you need it to continue being good.

Also, where you can get good add value opportunities, whether they be renovation, subdivision, development, future rezoning or just that extra X-factor that sets it apart from others.

If you want more information about property investing, why not read our Property Investing Beginner’s Guide eBook.

If you’re not sure what type of strategy would best for you or you would like to learn more about different strategies, why not download our 4 Strategies to Success fact sheet.

Or, if you’re ready to talk about buying your first home, why not complete our Getting Started form to get the ball rolling.

Need finance?

If you’re ready to invest and you’ve got any questions about finance, call us for a free Financial Health Check: 08·9381·7450 or download our Finance Services information.

Connect

To stay up to date with our latest information, property news and blog posts, you can subscribe, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Property Wizards believes everyone has the right to the knowledge to help you accumulate wealth, no matter your background, education or income.

We can help you unlock the potential of the real estate market for your family through savvy property selection, negotiation on price and conditions, development expertise and the magic of robust research.

Regardless of market conditions, our research, local knowledge, and access to silent sales means we find the hidden gems that can outperform the market in capital growth and rental returns for long term wealth creation.

Importantly, we’re able to provide property investors and homebuyers with the same level of representation that property sellers have benefited from for years.

Your property portfolio is your path to financial freedom and the lifestyle you’ve been longing for.

Property Wizards takes away the stress of buying a property and saves you money at the same time. We can show you how, or you can sit back and let us do all the hard work for you.

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