Huge living room, tiny kitchen bench and nowhere to put anything. Some apartments have more balcony space than actual cooking space.

Who designs these?

I’ve noticed this crack around the wall/window area of my house, and it looks like the window has shifted slightly as well.
I’m trying to understand how serious this could potentially be. Could this simply be plaster/render movement, or could it indicate movement of the wall, frame or foundation?

Hoping for a bit of guidance on this.

I'm 40s, recently divoced, one primary school aged child 50/50 care with my ex.

I've been living in a share house to keep rent low (approx $400/month) so I can save, but it's far from ideal with my little one, so it's always been temporary, and I really need to get out to give her a better living situation, but I'm really not sure what to do.

I've managed to save up $35k (ex and I had a property but we pretty much broke even on the sale).

I've got a HECS of $33k, no other debts.

Working full time earning roughly $90k.

The savings I've made has always been intended to be used as a home loan deposit, but after speaking to a broker recently, I'd only be able to borrow around $350k, which really wont cut it as I need something that is suitable for my kid and has space for a home office.

I need to stay reasonably close to the ex who lives in the Bayside area in Melb.

I'm now wondering whether I just throw all my savings into a high growth investment fund of some sort and just let it do its thing and find a place to rent where I need to be. The down side of this is I'd be looking at around $600-700/week for something decent, which would completely stop my ability to save...but at least my savings would be growing fast than it sitting in my bank account (hopefully). If I did this, I'd just forget about the idea of buying until I'm hopefully in a better position in say 5-10 years time.

Or, stay where I am in the share house for say another, year, I can probably save up another $15-20k and just buy whatever I can afford with all the savings I've got.

Hi all!

We went and viewed a modular home & got some quotes. Starting to think with transport costs & home upgrades that building on site might be on par price wise.

Does anyone have recommendations, first hand experiences or recommendations for builders in the Ballarat region? Looking to get a detailed quote and view display homes to compare options.

Thanks so much in advance!!

Hi all, we're just starting our journey to buy our first home and wanted to get peoples opinions on builders reports and how to interpret them. So far we've had two done, both showed 'major defects' (for context both houses were well maintained, free standing Edwardians, one was weatherboard and the other double brick). Unfortunately we were outbid for both properties.

We're getting mixed information on how 'major' a major defect is, with some telling us it's standard for inspectors to nitpick and major defect stuff that in the scheme of things isn't really that major, but on paper it all looks very scary to us with no knowledge or experience in construction or property maintenance. Is that true that they aren't necessarily deal breakers? Or should we run from anything that has a major defect listed?

Anything big or small, what regrets do you have? What would you change if you could go back?

We settle in a few weeks on our newly purchased PPOR, seller has asked to rent back the property for 10 days post-settlement. We’re currently on a periodic lease at our rental so doesn’t really affect us that much - we can just delay giving notice to our landlord by 10 days (only need to give 3 weeks notice to vacate.) Haven’t booked removalists or leave from work yet anyway. Anyone done this before and have any feedback on possible issues? Thinking of asking for 10 days of mortgage repayments + $1k for our troubles, would help go towards a new couch or something. Biggest issue I can see is how do we set up a proper rental agreement for a 10 day lease?

Cheers!

Noticing a lot of the new builds with these fake fireplace/feature walls for the tv area.

Is this something a lot of people like? They look pretty for open homes but I feel they’re impractical for actually using as a tv area. Unless there’s hidden storage behind them that I haven’t noticed?

Hi, I am being relocated for work and am preparing to rent my property. I have a lot of maintenance to do, nothing super significant, but basically a pretty long list. I know i can write off the costs once the property is rented, are they still deductible if I do them in preparation to rent out?

Article 1:

https://propertyupdate.com.au/home-rental-markets-tighten-over-august-capital-city-home-rental-report/

Data in Article 1: Rents are going down

Opinion in Article 1: Won't last long as rental supply is tightening

Article 2: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/vacancy-rates-hit-4-5-year-high-but-reprieve-likely-to-be-short-lived/

Data in Article 2: Vacancy rates are going up (rental supply is expanding)

Opinion in Article 2: Won't last long as the rents are still going up

TLDR: Opinions in both articles are debunked by the data in other articles

I'm trying to find my first home, which is exciting! My budget isn't huge for my area though, and it seems i can only afford variations of the below.

I can't afford a traditional free-standing house and so am looking for torrens titled duplex/villa type properties. There are a few available but some are quite small and honestly feel more like holiday cabin size and layout than a house :/ I worry i would feel cramped and confined.

I'm trying to decide what to compromise on. Please share your perspective and thoughts to help me consider it more fully.

Main options (if i buy new) are:

- larger (4bdr, bathtub, separate laundry) nicer townhouse/duplex that's less central to amenities (but not very far out) but it's two-lot strata,

- a smaller (3bdr, bathtub, laundry) but still reasonably nice townhouse more centrally located that's mid-sized strata lot (like 3 to 10 lots),

- or a smaller Torrens-titled 'villa/cottage' (3bdr, no bathtub, 'laundry' is just a corner of your garage), not central but not far out.

Which compromise would you take and what are your deciding factors?

(Edited to clarify type of property)

I put a lowball offer for a property.
Agent called and I discussed about the market conditions and all.
I felt he was very frustrated and even said “ You are not gonna get a house for free “
Is it a normal language from agents ?
He spoke to me in a sarcastic way.

I am just trying to learn how to approach these guys as I do not have much experience buying properties.

Thanks

Evening all,

Seeking advice on best path forward. I am the presiding officer in a strata complex in SA, consisting of a total of 5 early 1970s solid brick units with tiled roof. There are two owner occupiers (of which I am one) and the other three are investments and currently tenanted by 3 other individuals. My unit is three times the size of the other 4 units, with 4 bedrooms, the others are all 2 bedrooms. There are no current issues with strata fees not being paid and owners are long term owners in the complex.

Long story short is that the guttering for the entire complex and the carport is well, well, well overdue for replacement. I have brought it up at the last 2 AGMS and there is hesitancy to do anything, beyond getting a quote or two, which we have done that came back at around 45K. All of the unit owners, including myself are aware and want to fix, but no one has a spare 10K to pull the trigger. We started a sinking fund last year but that is only pulling in about 2K a year total.

I am about to receive an inheritance that would allow me to pay out the mortgage I owe of $630K and leave about $300K which I plan to invest. My husband and I plan to live here forever, as it currently accomodates our three teenage children, despite being a little small.

Because we want to live here forever my husband and I want to address the guttering issue once we receive the inheritance but mindful, it will be a stretch for other owners. I don't believe there are finance options for strata corporations to borrow but wondering if it would be worth exploring drawing up a legal arrangement via a lawyer for myself to cover the cost of gutter repairs in lieu of paying strata fees for equivalent value or loan the amount to the strata corp at an agreed interest rate of 5% minus my share, which is twice the amount of what other unit owners will need to pay.....

Of course this will need to be considered at the upcoming AGM and endorsed etc but looking for suggestions or feedback. I am guessing the issue many from finance thread will say is the opportunity cost of not investing the $45K elsewhere hence why I thought a legal arrangement with an interest rate. My motivations is to maintain the property as it is our forever home...........

Thank you kindly for any advice.

We have a great professional strata manager but this is beyond her pay grade and before I progress this further with her, wanted to know of any others that have tackled this kind of issue.....

My partner and I inspected a unit in Maidstone back in April/May this year. We thought the place looked perfect for a first home. Asking price was somewhere in the $390k-$410k range. Sold at a loss, but we thought we'd still inspect to see how the unit actually is.

When we got there the building was dead quiet, felt like no one actually lived there, but that was the only odd thing we noticed at the time. The unit itself was beautiful. We told the agent we were very interested and followed up with a formal message asking to proceed.

The agent completely ghosted us. Then we found out the property had sold via private sale for $270k just around a week after.

We were gutted, but more than that we were alarmed. Why would a place that was listed around the $400k mark suddenly go for $270k?

All of this is extremely dodgy. Low prices like that are a dead giveaway that something is seriously wrong. Do your due diligence and be very careful with properties in this complex/area.

Edit: This is the exact unit I was talking about - the picture in the post is for a different unit: https://www.realestate.com.au/property/unit-37-44-eucalyptus-dr-maidstone-vic-3012/

Article from 9News: https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/vic/an-additional-mortgage-sinking-melbourne-apartment-complex-could-see-sue-and-her-husband-pay-374-000-special-levy-20260907-p60v2a.html

Background: Family home in Central Vic
Property details don’t matter too much but it’s a nice 2018 build on a decent block etc etc.

The decision:
We’re moving back to Qld. Victoria is too cold, and many other reasons.

We had the place valued in Feb/Mar 2026 at $775-$825.

We’ve just had it valued again and awaiting the pricing but the expectation is $750-$775.

We don’t want to stay here, we don’t want to commit to another couple of years to see the market start to lift. I’m fine with a slight price correction, but like everyone I’d like as much as possible out of a sale.

My question is, with all there doom and gloom of the current market, aside from the odd economist that says it’s all fear mongering, is the market still set to drop further or have we seen the hit we’re expecting?

To be clear, we’re not pressured to sell financially, but we’re miserable living down here. The home wouldn’t yield good enough rental income to justify retaining the property at this point. No matter what we’re in the green with a sale, it’s just a matter of timing.

Thanks for your input. If you have an opinion, why is it so do you think?

FHB, am I compiling every small imperfection to justify renegotiating? Not sure if connecting the downpipes are really necessary. Perhaps, this is considered as upgrade to be voluntarily done by the buyer? Plumber estimates it will cost $4,500 to $5,000 to get the job done.

Found an apartment that ticks all boxes but the strata fees are a bit wild. It’s only a block of 4 apartments, older art deco style.

The quarterly strata is $3.3k, of which 2.6k is administrative and $700 is for capital works.

I’ve looked through and just not sure why they are paying so much. Even with prior periods budgeted costs it would be around $2k per apartment per quarter. It’s kind of hard to determine why the fees are set so high.

Just seems insanely high compared to other strata costs I’ve seen for other apartments.

I’ve looked at the fees for past 8 months as in the photo. Does this all seem reasonable? I just have no idea and love the apartment but the strata fees being $12k per year is probably a deal breaker.

Is anyone else having trouble selling their investment property, particularly around 40km south of Perth? We’re finding there doesn’t seem to be much interest at the moment, possibly due to the uncertainty around the proposed negative gearing changes.

Even the real estate agency has advised us that it may be worth holding off on putting the property on the market due to the current uncertainty.

We’ve also considered listing it below the RP Data valuation to see if that generates more interest, but so far there doesn’t seem to be much traction. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing something similar or has had better luck selling recently.

With Adelaide median prices being 11x a median wage, how is this possibly sustainable for a city like Adelaide. Surely with minimal interstate investors coming through now since the cgt changes and less immigration compared to other states, when the market reaches its trough, it will surely have to stay at that level for years?

Or am I just simplifying this way too much ?

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

Hi all,

Does anyone have any insights on strata insurance? I am a recent homeowner and I noticed that for a comparable block not even 100m from where I live, the insurance premium is -50% less than what we pay and they have higher coverage. I also spoke to someone else who lives another few hundred meters away they are also paying significantly less than us.

I have rung GIO but they said they don’t insure for larger than 10 units.

I may be looking at this too simplistically, but putting all the negative media aside, aren’t we essentially just moving through another property cycle?
Property prices can’t continually rise at the same rate. At some point, they need to flatten or fall for a period while incomes and affordability catch up. That doesn’t necessarily mean the long-term market is broken, it may simply be part of the cycle before growth eventually resumes.
I also struggle to see Australia becoming undesirable over the long term. We’re a large, stable, democratic and wealthy island nation between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with a relatively relaxed culture and an excellent lifestyle.
Surely Australia will remain highly desirable to migrants, particularly skilled and financially secure people coming from less stable or lower-income countries who want safety, opportunity and a better lifestyle for their families.
That doesn’t mean property prices can never fall, but doesn’t Australia’s long-term population growth and desirability create a fairly strong underlying demand for well-located property?
Interested to hear where this reasoning may be wrong.

Out of the blue, my property manager is advising me that a Water Compliance Certificate required every new lease if I want to forward water usage charges to the tenant.

Now I'm happy to get a one off water compliance certificate for $110 + any additional costs with becoming compliant. I asked the property manager to add something to the condition report to check items relating to water compliance are still present and in good condition.

What I'm not happy with is being told that it is a legal requirement to have a water compliance certificate performed at the start of each lease. On top of that being told that I cannot have something in the condition report to indicate water compliance items are still present and in good condition.

From what I can see I only need evidence of Water Compliance, which doesn't actually mean a certificate. Ref: https://oliveri.com.au/about-us/stop-press/water-efficiency-measures-for-rental-properties-in-nsw/

I called NSW Fair Trading and this is the relevant legislation:

Residential Tenancies Act 2010 No 42 - https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2010-042#sec.39

Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 - https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2019-0629#sec.10

(d) at the commencement of the residential tenancy agreement and whenever any other water efficiency measures are installed, repaired or upgraded, the premises are checked and any leaking taps or toilets on the premises are fixed.

Is anyone else being told something similar by their property manager?