New figures illustrate just how hard some real estate markets have been hit by the downturn in the resources sector. Michael Yardney tells us where and by how much.

Senior Economist Dr Andrew Wilson explains how we can tell when enough becomes too much, that is when a market goes into oversupply and prices are impacted, investor and commentator Chris Gray speaks about how he has recession proofed his portfolio and valuer and Chairman of Herron Todd White, Gavin Hulcombe, tells us where he sees investors go wrong with research.

We have some sharp negotiation strategies to share with you as Nhan Nguyen tells us how he ensures he gets it right at the purchase stage. Remember you make money when you buy not when you sell so this advice is gold.

Australia is an enormous country. When we look at it from space, especially at night, the image can tell us a lot about the local property market and gives us an insight into why it has been reasonably solid compared to some other countries. Mark Armstrong from iPropertyPlan explains.

 
Transcripts:
Chris Gray
Kevin:  As we round out 2015 and head towards a brand new year, it’s a pretty good time to be thinking about your portfolio and how you should be recession-proofing your next investment property as you build your portfolio. Chris Gray is a great friend of ours, a media commentator, a property expert, a TV presenter, an author, and a speaker.

Gee, you’re pretty busy, Chris.

Chris:  It sounds as if I am, but the great thing is with media, you can do it absolutely anywhere in the world and you can leverage and send to thousands of people, so it’s all about efficiency.

Kevin:  Indeed it is. What’s your strategy for recession-proofing property?

Chris:  I think the biggest thing is it’s in the quality and the location of the property you buy because like in any recession, you find some businesses do the most amazing business in the recession and not everyone is affected. The main thing with property is if you buy the right property in the right suburb that is attracting the right tenants, there’s no reason for it necessarily to be affected.

Kevin:  Does it always have to be in a blue-chip area, Chris?

Chris:  It doesn’t. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I always find that if you stay around main capital cities, there are so many different industries supporting those capital cities that even if one or two industries are put down, there are certainly enough people employed in the other locations versus obviously, if you’re in a one-industry town in, say, mining, for instance, it’s hard to fight back in Perth if the whole mining industry is going down.

Kevin:  With your portfolio, when you’re looking for a new property, do you always look for something you can add some value to, and does that actually help?

Chris:  It always helps if you can add value, but for Sydney, for instance, where I’ve been buying, it’s such a heated market, I always say I’d rather buy fully renovated today where I can add no value than buy unrenovated tomorrow, because it might take me three, six or nine months to find something unrenovated and in that time, where I might have made $20,000 or $30,000 on the renovation, I might have paid $50,000 more in the price. It’s all about trying to put things into perspective.

Kevin:  How important to you is your buffer? I imagine, if we’re talking about recession-proofing your property, you’ve got to be prepared for any sort of economic situation that might come up.

Chris:  Exactly. In every part of the business world and investing world, they say cash is king and no much more than property. The majority of times people lose money in property is when they’re forced to sell, so if you have cash on hand, just like working capital in the business, even if your tenants move out, or interest rates go up, or you lose your job, if you have cash on hand that can last you maybe one year to three or even five to t