We’ve heard the dire warnings of a property market crash from the doomsayers, we’ve heard that the Australian economy will take a big hit because of the downturn in mining and the effects of Brexit and financial crisis in Greece… but where do we actually stand? How is the Australian economy actually tracking? Dr Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Economics, and Chief Economist at AMP Capital joins us to answer those questions.

While many Australians will sit on the sidelines waiting for someone to ring the bell heralding the property market has bottomed, savvy investors will be out looking for and buying investment opportunities created by the current buyers’ market.  While many unsuccessful property investors speculate emotionally, the successful investors use research and education to get their investments right. Michael Yardney gives us some of the time tested rules these successful investors use to make their fortunes.

Rarely do I see a startup company ruffle as many feathers in the real estate industry like Purple Bricks has in the last few weeks. Purple Bricks, if you have missed all the hype, is a UK based company that claims to be a full service agency offering to sell property for owners for as little as $4,500 but, as you will hear, that is a bit misleading. We caught up with that company’s CEO when he was in Australia. For the first time in the 10 years or so that I have been doing this show, I make a comment about Purple Bricks after I speak with Michael Bruce in the show this week.

This week, my feature guest is Miriam Sandkuhler from Property Mavens. With a background in the financial services industry, Miriam was interested in property from a young age. Starting at 23, she began building her own portfolio, but some misguided ‘advice’ from selling agents led to some very costly mistakes and this experience contributed to her becoming passionate about the advocacy side of the property industry, and ultimately led to her starting Property Mavens. I discuss that journey with Miriam.

In an Australian first, a tiny home project has been approved for disadvantaged and the homeless in NSW. CEO and Co-Founder of The Tiny Homes Foundation, David Wooldridge joins me to discuss the initiative.

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Transcripts:
Purple Bricks turns the industry red - Michael Bruce
Kevin:  Purplebricks, the UK-based online real estate agent that charges homeowners a flat fee to sell their property, is promising to shake the local market and save Aussies nearly $6 billion in commissions. There has been a lot of news and a lot of talk about this in the last week or so.

Purplebricks, of course, has launched. They launched in the UK in 2014, where they charge homeowners a flat fee – as I said – of $4500, including marketing costs, to sell their homes. Joining me to get a bit more detail on this, the CEO and co-founder, Michael Bruce, for Purplebricks.

Michael, thank you for your time.

Michael:  It’s my absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

Kevin:  That’s okay. The Purplebricks concept has been very successful in the UK, as I said. But attempts in Australia to run a similar concept in the past haven’t really worked. Why do you think this is going to work as opposed to others? What’s so different about Purplebricks?

Michael:  I think what’s absolutely clear is that people have tried to do things along the journey, but they haven’t done anything like Purplebricks.

What Purplebricks does is it takes great local property experts, licensed real estate agents,