A high-profile industry figure has called for an end to undocumented selling activity, which many agents believe is rife in their local market. John Cunningham says not having an agency agreement not only jeopardises potential commission for the agent, but puts vendors and agencies at risk since they’re unwittingly part of the issue.

When buying a property, or any other big-ticket item, we usually want to buy it at the best price possible, while the vendor wants to sell it for the highest price they can achieve. Good negotiators have developed the art of being able to influence others to see things their way. They know how to get others to do things they want to get done. Michael Yardney shares with us the Secret Power of Persuasion – the six universal principles of influence.

Gavin McPherson from Oasis Properties tells us why he and his colleagues are focused on investing in South East Queensland.

We catch up with the person who has been named as the top property manger in Queensland. We ask her what we should be looking at when considering employing a property manager.

We know that apartments are growing in popularity but did you know that in a little under 20 years over half of Sydney’s population will be living in units. With so much close quarters living there are going to be a growing number of disputes. Michael Teys has written a book on what strata laws will be like in the future and how they will impact how we live in this environment. We discuss that with him.

“Pitch it low and watch it go” is a saying in real estate used by agents to entice interest from buyers. In the November issue of Australian Property Investor magazine you can read an article called “Under quoting crackdown” that gives a detailed description about how big the problem really is and what you can do to protect yourself. Miriam Sankuhler is a buyer's agent and director of Property Mavens and she joins us to talk about how wide spread the problem really is.

 
Transcripts:
Gavin McPherson
Kevin:  I’m delighted to have back into the show Gavin McPherson. Gavin is the CEO for Oasis Property. They work all around Australia, but it’s interesting to note that they’re predominantly looking at the southeast corner of Queensland right now, and I’m curious to know why.

He joins me. Hi, Gavin.

Gavin:  Good day, Kevin. How are you?

Kevin:  Good, mate. Thank you for your time. I’m very keen to talk to you about this. I don’t want to talk hotspots, but why the particular focus on South East Queensland?

Gavin:  A really important… A bit “wonkish” point to make, but a very important point. Ever since 1988 – so you could say as long as Australia has been a global economy – Australians have always spent between 33% and 55% of their household incomes. Now, you’re looking at those southern states, Sydney and Melbourne, we’re there – 54.6%, 55% – whether you want to argue over a decimal point or not, we are there. It’s over.

Now, if you marry that with the fact 62% to 68% of people getting home loans at the moment, so they’re the homebuyers we know of, they’re investors, and investors are after only one thing – money. If they can’t get that growth out of Sydney and Melbourne – which they are not going to get, in my opinion and in almost every person’s opinion; they’d be breaking new records if they did, put it that way – then they have to move somewhere else.

Then you have the discrepancy between Sydney markets and your southern markets. Now, as you move down that channel of 4.7 million people in greater Sydney, 4.4 in greater Melbourne, you’re moving down to the markets like Gold Coast and Brisbane. You have up to a 65% discrepancy in house prices. But let’s not forget us in Queensland. We only have a 12% loss in wages, so somebody has to close that gap.

If there was deficiency in those southern Queensland markets insofar as the fundamentals, then I’d have a problem. But there