Australians have a love affair with property. It’s got to be the most popular topic talked about at a dinner party or with mates over a beer at a BBQ. Remember those days!.
Unfortunately, most of us think that we are property experts because we live in a house.
It’s like buying a second car. Would you buy without getting a mechanic or doing an RACV check?
If I am in a dispute with my neighbour over the position of a fence, am I in a stronger or weaker position trying to win that dispute if I represent myself or hire a Barrister?
It’s the same with property but the stakes are so much higher because of the size of the transaction and the money involved.
A lot can go wrong. Buying and selling property is not a straight forward process.
My involvement in property stretches back to 1985, as a Cadet Property Valuer with Burgess Rawson, Fitzroy’s and Westpac, before forming WBP in 1995, becoming CEO for 15 years and later Chairman of WBP Group, one of the largest property valuation companies in Australia.
Over the last 10 years, I have been a licensed estate agent, buyer’s agent, property advisor, guest speaker and asset manager.
I have been involved in thousands of property transactions over the last 35 years and my experience has taught me to be wary.
Every client is different, every property is different and there are so many moving parts, from contractual matters, to price and terms, planning and building issues and literally hundreds of attributes that I know either drive future value or detract from it.
This expertise and experience I carry to every new property I buy, sell, value or provide independent advice on.
Let’s look at just a few of the lessons learned here.