So, you’ve found what appears to be the perfect “splitter block” for your first potential property project. To help with the due diligence, Nhan Nguyen, from Advanced Property Strategies, runs through his checklist of items to ensure the project is viable.

In recent times Northern Territory home sales take a huge hit. Quentin Kilian, CEO of the Territory Real Estate Institute says it is the lowest quarterly levels on record and he explains why.

Andrew Mirams from Intuitive Finance answers the often asked question - to lock in or not?

Michael Yardney answers Adam’s question about looking for a property with a twist.

A new report says that most Australians have identified a 4 bedroom/2bathroom home as their ideal property. So how does that compare to the homes of our parents and even our grandparents? Bernard Salt says what were considered luxuries for our parents in terms of housing was 3 bedrooms and an indoor toilet. My how things have changed.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that when you plan to approach a lender, you will have an idea about how they will look at your potential purchase? There are some properties that the banks will treat more favourably than others and Bryce Holdaway tells us which ones.

 

Transcripts:

 

Nhan Nguyen

Kevin:  Say you found what appears to be the perfect splitter block for your first potential property project. Maybe not; maybe you’ve done it before. Well, we’re going to talk about due diligence with splitter blocks now. Nhan Nguyen from Advanced Property Strategies has had a lot of experience with this and helped many people do it. We’re going to ask him some questions about due diligence.

Nhan, thank you very much for your time.

Nhan:  Excellent, mate. Thanks for being here.

Kevin:  How do we go about finding a splitter block, Nhan?

Nhan:  One of the easiest ways to find splitter blocks is you need software, which is the ability to see – x-ray vision as I say. We use PriceFinder or RP Data; they’re subscription programs that you can use, and it allows you to integrate with Google Maps and see what double blocks look like from an aerial view, because they’re all there.

Kevin:  Are all double blocks the same?

Nhan:  No, definitely not. There are a handful of different types. One is what we call the widow block, so two triangles added together; it becomes a big rectangle. That’s what’s called a widow block. They can be a bit more cumbersome and you may need to get a development approval, or reconfiguration as we call it, to make them usable.

The standard splitter block that you have is a 20x40, and when you split them, you’ll have two lots that are 10x40 each. The other block, which is the third option that you have, is a double block we call it in generic terms, but really, it’s just one block that does need to be subdivided into two, and that’s a 20x40 subdivision block.

There’s a technical difference between a splitter block and a subdivision block. The subdivision blocks, you actually have to get a development approval, because you’re going from one into two and you’re creating a new lot, whereas a splitter block is already on two titles and you don’t have to get an approval as such.

Kevin:  Apart from finding out what sort of block it is, what other due diligence methods or steps should we take in terms of services?

Nhan:  There are two key parts to due diligence. With the services, you generally can check it out before you dig. There’s a website – it’s just 1100.com.au – and on that, you can log in and once you give the address, and it will spit out for you where the location of the services are.

Generally, I use the five finger technique, where you look at the five services. There’s water, sewer, stormwater, Telstra, and power. Generally, the connections that you have to connect straight away are the water and sewer. If it’s what is called an infill block, where there’s power and telephone directly nearby,