Margaret Lomas takes a look at the suburbs around Australia that are ‘coming to life’ in terms of future growth. She says don’t overlook Melbourne just because there is a lot of talk about oversupply. She tells us why.

Property investment & business coach Peter Spann explains what he looks for when he buys a property and how he identifies ones with a twist. He tells us about his best and worst deals and what he learned from those experiences.

Bryce Holdaway from Lifestyle’s Location Location Location Australia explains the benefits he sees in being what he calls a borderless investor.

We are also joined by Carolyn Boyd from Domain who has been looking into the horror stories surrounding building contracts – like the one we mentioned a few weeks ago with Samantha Powers - and Carolyn says it is about the quality of workmanship so she has some tips that will help choose the best people to engage.

Michael Yardney has some great advice on how to avoid paying too much when you buy. He will explain the benefits of employing ‘knowledge detachment’.

And our success story this week is from Wendy MacDonald who calls herself a “developer-grandmother”. Hear how she turned a Brisbane property into a 10 room student accommodation complex and is now developing a 20 unit 5 story complex on the site returning her a whopping $700K plus profit.

 
Transcripts:
Michael Yardney
Kevin:  When a purchaser gets involved in negotiating for a property they’ve fallen in love with, emotions quite often can rule logic. It’s very easy to get caught up in the moment and end up paying more than perhaps you should do.

As either a home buyer or a property investor, it’s critical not to get carried away with your emotions but instead approach the negotiation process from a position of knowledge detachment.

That’s according to Michael Yardney from Metropole Property Strategists who joins us. Hi, Michael.

Michael:  Hello, Kevin.

Kevin:  Michael, explain a little bit more about that, because it’s one of the areas where a lot of property investors can go wrong.

Michael:  Kevin, unfortunately, the market is creating a lot of emotion at the moment – the old emotions of fear and greed: fear of missing out, greed of wanting to get in and make the market work for you.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with either being fearful or being greedy; the question is, though, am I allowing that to rule the way I’m negotiating, and am I making it work for me or against me?

Kevin:  I sometimes wonder, too, Michael, with the growth of the number of auctions right around Australia whether this is becoming even more critical.

Michael:  It is, very much so. Only today, we were in the situation where we were forced to make an offer before auction. In most cases, if I was a vendor or if I was an agent, I would be suggesting the vendor go to auction and see what the marketplace is going to offer. because in our strong environment at the moment they’re getting some very good offers at auction.

But sometimes for personal circumstances, the vendor doesn’t want to take that risk or want to pay for the marketing campaign, so they start a campaign, and then agents are currently moving to having these little private auctions – these Dutch auctions, these blind auctions, these one-off bids. It actually puts you in a very different negotiating position that can be as nerve-wracking and scary for a buyer as an auction.

Kevin:  Michael, help us. What are some of the rules of engagement?

Michael:  The first thing you have to do is do your homework first. Rather than flying blind, make sure you understand that if it’s a pre-auction offer, depending upon how soon before the auction it is, it’s going to be an unconditional sale, as well. Make sure you’ve done all you’re due diligence. Make sure your solicitor has checked the contract. Make sure you understand what the property is worth. The best weapon coming into negotiation is know