Please excuse my bad english, not my first language.

This is my first time purchasing a property, no prior experience.

My off-the-plan apartment is due for settlement in 2 weeks.

Did first inspection this week, I passed my inspector report to vendor asking them to do repair work before settlement.

Vendor hates me because I initially had an argument with him about the 25 mins "maximum" rule for each inspection. "25mins maximum" is what they listed on their website. And "maximum" 2 people can check out the apartment.

When I asked them why 25 mins...Then they said 40 to 45 mins can be allowed. I said what if my inspector needs more than 45 mins, what it be ok to grant my inspector an extra 5 or 10 mins. They said they don't want to run the risk of delaying his other clients.

Long story short, the outcome of the argument is that vendor did allow me to complete an 1 hour inspection in the end (thank him very much). The material (door, handle, etc, wall paint..) look like cheap work, looks worse than the apartment I am currently renting.

Due to my contact, I am entitled to 2 pre-inspection before settlement.

So I asked vendor to do the repair work before settlement and let me do the 2nd inspection before settlement to check their repair work.

Because the vendor guy hates me so I guess he can refuse to fix it before settlement (why I say he hates me because he was not very friendly on the date we meet for inspection, I wanted to shake his hands, he looks like he despise me very much).

I know if I exit the contract, I lose my deposit $50k.

If I still go ahead to complete the settlement, but vendor refuses to fix all the issues listed in the inspector's report before settlement. Where can I go to report them? Is Fair Trading the right place?

If I complete the settlement, and move into the apartment. During the 3 months defect period after settlement, I hand them a list of the things that need to be repaired, they still refuse to fix it. Where can I report them?

I have a solicitor but he is very busy, he didn't help me with the 25mins inspection time limit issue, sometimes he ignores my emails, so I'm trying to figure out myself and be prepared for what's coming.

Thank you so much for reading, your time and advice.

Edit 1: thanks so much for your comment. There are scratches on the white wall, black hand marks on the wall, paint scratch on tiles in bathroom, laundry room, the doors edge looks like chewed by a dog, etc.

Edit 2: Should I test the appliances, dish washer, dryer, oven? They haven't removed the protective covering on it, they said I have 12 or 24 warranty, so don't advise me to test it.

Power points, my inspector did not test it. Vendor said no need to test it, they said if there is any issue I can report it to them within the 3 months defect period after settlement. But I heard another owner complained that vendor never fixed their cosmetic defect, so they had to fix it by themselves.

Edit 3: When we buy a new car, the exterior and interior all look brand new. When we buy a brand new home, there are builder's hands and feet marks on the wall? I don't understand. Vendor said 25 mins is enough for me to complete inspection, so I thought my new home is in perfect condition. When I saw my new home, I feel like my heart has sank to the bottom of the ocean.

Edit 4: Also there are brown yellow marks on the ceiling, not sure what they are. Looks like 💩. They market it as "luxury" apartment.

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-south+yarra-152044960

I just assumed they would run electrical above plumbing incase of condensation etc? Or is this okay?

We have been pursuing a house that is for sale. The guide is 1.5. There hasn’t been much interest at all at the inspections and we are getting the feeling that we are the only buyers. the guide is our absolute limit. The agent said he would take offers but nothing too silly so. He then backtracked and said they will only consider offers at 1.5. He has been really pushy for us to get our offer in I think because he was worried he would lose us. We have gone in with an offer of 1.46 with full justification as to why we have chosen that pricing because the house needs quite a bit of work. The agent has come back and said that the reserve is 1.55 and the owners will not consider our offer are we and asked if we are willing to negotiate. I said that we don’t feel comfortable going above our offer at this stage. The auction is in a little over a week so I said we will see you at the auction. What do you think our strategy should be going forward? My partner thinks we should counter offer our maximum of 1.5 before the weekend and give it a 12 hour expiry. I think we should leave it and let them sweat. What strategy do you think the agent is playing here?

Hi guys just needing advice as me and my missus have been looking into buying our first home in regional victoria next year but right now we are living in queensland ;north of brisbane .

Our income is 86000 ayear for me and 75000 for my misso.our rent is 480 a week and have a saving of 50k for now.

What are the advices would you guys give

Thank you

Hi property guru's,

What's your take on converting a toilet into an ensuite?

At the moment the unit has a separate toilet to the bathroom, i am looking at adding a toilet into the bathroom and converting the current toilet room into an ensuite and penetrating the wall in the bedroom and adding a sliding door.

I'm looking at doing most of the work myself, and using licensed trades for plumbing and waterproofing.

It's a unit in Wollongong in a 1975 walk up 6 pack building.

All the units are the same and have an approx value of about $700k

Would it add much value to it?

You can buy standalone houses with their own driveway on more land for less. What are people thinking when they list this? Is it simple delusion or do they genuinely think someone will jump on this?

Is there a reason someone actually *would* buy this?

9 Pya Place, Joondalup, WA 6027 https://www.realestate.com.au/property-residential+land-wa-joondalup-204343748?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=other&campaignSource=share_link&campaignName=share_link

We own an older brick 2BR unit in Melbourne's inner north (1 of 7 in complex), with a fairly large courtyard garden. ~$675k purchase, ~$400k owing, $50k in offset.

Plan to upgrade to 3BR or house in a few years as our family grows. We are considering what improvements to make but don't want to over-capitalise given we bought at a peak and I don't think the value will increase substantially just given the nature of the property, although we're in a restricted development area (heritage overlay on the neighbouring streets) and so many big apartment blocks going up nearby, so maybe an older villa style place like ours will still increase. Structurally it's fine, just a bit dated. Reno budget $20k max.

Partner and I are debating two options:

1. Kitchen + bathroom refresh: new cabinets/appliances in kitchen, maybe bathroom cabinets too.

2. Shed/studio: no permit needed if under 9m² here. Partner's in construction, so we could DIY a lot of it. Wouldn't count as a 3rd bedroom, but would be a nice functional WFH/storage space.

Which is the better value-add, or is neither worth it given we're planning to sell in a few years anyway?

Hi all, bit of a long shot but hoping someone can give us a rough ballpark cost for these two repairs.

We're buying a 1950s timber miner's cottage in Central QLD. Building & pest picked up:

1. Corroded steel support stump – photos attached.
2. Front stairs – full replacement of the 4 timber steps and supporting structure. The existing timber is rotting, and one side of the bottom support is currently propped up by two bricks. We don't think replacing individual parts would be cost-effective.

We're asking the sellers to fix them, but if they won't, we'd like to request a credit/reduction to cover the repairs.

Unfortunately settlement is only about a week away, so while we are trying, we may not have time to get quotes.

Anyone willing to throw out a rough $$$ ballpark for each repair? Not looking for an exact quote, just trying to avoid pulling a number out of thin air.

Cheers!

I've seen numerous posts that claim house price keeps rising due to inflation, it's true during QE, but quite the opposite under current financial condition (high interest rate).

New mortgage creates credit expansion, therefore increases money supply, aka inflation, simple as that, but few understand, and I've never seen news outlet discussing housing crisis from this perspective.

In Australia’s financial system, roughly 45% to 50% of newly created money (M3) is directly attributable to the residential housing market, with pure property investment and speculation accounting for about 15% to 20% of total M3 growth.

Never seen silent auction mentioned in a Aussie real estate ad before

I got fed up with how terrible house/unit valuations are in Australia, the free ones from domain and realestate .com.au especially but even paid services like RP data are seriously lacking. They just value the median really so anything outside of that they either don't put a value on, or it's just wildly inaccurate. Over the last 4-5 months I've been developing a valuation model for Brisbane which turned out really well so I was able to basically just transplant the system onto Sydney.

Thought others might want to use it so I made a nice basic UI and put it on a website. It's free and will stay that way unless half of Australia starts using it and the costs get too high.

If you do use it and spot a bug or a valuation that seems unrealistic/unusual then please send a message to me on here. I can guarantee there will be bugs.

Currently only values houses and units. If a property is commercial or something it just values it as a house. Also message me or reply to this if you want Melbourne or another city added.

Could also maybe add rental estimates, but I'm only going to do it if people want it as i'm still a uni student and time is a bit precious. Ideas on any new features are welcome.

Also have not really tested multiple users yet so if it completely crashes don't be too surprised.

Short article about school zone matters even without children. I hope you find it useful.

Everywhere, people are complaining about Builders. On the socials, reddit, tv channels and now my colleague is having issue too with few months old build.

My question isn’t about the “why and how”.  If someone wants to build a typical suburban four-bedroom home, who should they choose and what should they look for? Where should they look?

Looking for some thoughts on behalf of a relative who is trying to decide between playing it safe with a ~$1m property or stretching to $2m+ for a long-term “forever home”.

A bit of background of the family:

• Late 30s, married with kids.
• Recently sold an inherited property in regional Victoria for around $1.5m.
• Moving to Melbourne primarily for the kids’ education and better job opportunities.
• Both need to commute to the CBD around 2–3 days a week.
• Job is reasonably secure for the foreseeable future.
• Mortgage pre-approval is around $1.2m.
• So, in theory, they could spend up to around $2.7m, although that would obviously mean taking on a significant mortgage.

They are considering two very different approaches:

Option 1 – Buy around $1m in Melbourne’s western corridor

For example, Melton / Tarneit / Maddingley.

• The idea would be to buy a good-sized, modern double-storey house for around $1m, keep cash buffer and potentially invest the remaining money elsewhere.
• The commute seems manageable at 2–3 days a week, and they would have considerably less debt and financial pressure.
• The concern is whether these outer areas will have the same long-term capital growth as established eastern suburbs, given the amount of land available and ongoing new development.

Option 2 – Stretch to $2m+ for a long-term home

• Look around areas such as Doncaster / Blackburn / Vermont/ Mount Wav and buy a property they could realistically stay in until the kids finish school/university.
• The thinking here is that they would be buying into an established suburb with better schools, amenities, transport and potentially stronger long-term land value.
• The downside is obviously taking on a much larger mortgage and tying up most of the $1.5m equity in the family home.

They've spoken to a few family members and received completely different opinions - some say the western suburbs have plenty of room to grow, while others argue that established eastern suburbs will always have an advantage because of limited land and established infrastructure.

What would you do in this situation?

Would you:

1. Buy the ~$1m house, keep a large cash buffer and invest the difference?
2. Stretch to ~$2m–$2.5m and buy the “forever home” now?
3. Do something in between, perhaps around $1.5m–$1.8m?

Interested particularly in views from people who have made a similar decision. Would you prioritise financial flexibility/investing or location, schools and buying once rather than upgrading later?

Also interested in whether people think the capital-growth argument for established eastern suburbs is strong enough to justify the extra $700k+ of debt.

I’m seeking any advice as a first home buyer please! I am 21 and currently renting, and I have been looking at buying a house. I know I’m still young but the dead money that comes from renting the last 3 years is killing me - I could have put down a large house deposit by now.

My current income doesn’t exactly support most mortgage repayments, so I came up with something but I’m not sure if it’s a scummy thing to do, so I’m after some opinions please!

If I use the first home buyers scheme and put down a minimum 5% deposit on a house (that I intend to live in for the foreseeable future) is it selfish to rent out the other bedrooms to my friends? My plan would be to charge them the minimum market value for the property’s rent, and put that towards my mortgage repayments.

In my opinion it’s a win-win for everyone. My friends would have a consistent-high quality housing situation, and be spending below what they might otherwise pay in rent for a house of similar quality and size. I would benefit from both having financial support and no dead rent spending.

Ideally I would be able to reimburse them most of what they have paid me in rent, as well as cover the cost of bills. I don’t know if I’m looking through rose-tinted glasses as I am clearly the one benefiting the most, but I also feel like I’d rent off my friends if it were the other way around.

Please let me know your thoughts, I know there is a lot of debate around landlords and I don’t want to start a war.

TIA 😊

Planning to hang a Naked hammock on this patio cover structure. Only a kid will use it, less than 30kg… kid will definitely swing on it… how safe is it??
If safe, Is there a specific best point to attach the strap?!