The Blog
- Show all categories
- Rentals
- Social and Community
- Selling Your Home
- Buying
Nov 21, 2018
Found your dream home to buy and wondering what happens next?
After endless hours of inspections, countless Saturdays spent viewing open homes, you have finally found your dream home to buy. Congratulations. If you are wondering what happens when you find a home to buy and want to secure the property, this video will outline the next steps that are involved to allow you to move closer to owning your new property. [siteloft_youtube video_id="hayMRhx4u_w" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you are looking for a property to buy, request to be added to our open home alert YES, ADD ME TO YOUR OPEN HOME ALERT Make an offer on a property It’s really important to talk to the agent to make sure that you let them know that you are interested in the home. There is no reason why you should not be able to offer on the house, even if it’s an auction property. A simple statement of “Would the owners be open to an offer beforehand?” will be accepted by most agents. Feel comfortable and confident about the fact that you are able to put an offer in. Contact your solicitor Once you have agreed on a price, the next phase is arranging for the contract to be reviewed. Ask the agent to provide you with the contract, and have it reviewed by your solicitor or conveyancer. If you do not have a solicitor or conveyancer, ask a family member for a referral, or even the agent should be able to recommend someone. Advise your finance provider You should let your mortgage broker or bank know that you have found your dream home, and that you want to proceed. They will arrange for a valuer to inspect the property, depending on your equity. If you have a high level of equity, then the valuer may not need to go and look at it. If you are sort of quite high with your lending ratio, then they would normally go and inspect the property. Pest and Building Report If one hasn’t been done already, then you would want to make sure that you arrange for a Pest and Building Report to be completed. This report will make sure the house is structurally sound, and that there are not any active termites. Sign and exchange your contract Once you have completed all this, you are ready to sign your contract and exchange. Settlement will usually occur 42 days after exchange, which is when you will be able to collect the keys to your new dream home. Congratulations! If you are looking for a property to buy, request to be added to our open home alert YES, ADD ME TO YOUR OPEN HOME ALERT So that's what happens when you find a home to buy. I hope that has helped you today, but if you have any questions whatsoever I’d love to talk to you. My number is 0426 264 771 and I look forward to talking to you soon. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Nov 6, 2018
Why should you use a property video when marketing your home for sale
Over the years, there have been many changes when marketing your home for sale. Advanced technology has seen the emergence of online platforms which allows for easy access to video promotions allowing your property to be advertised in a sophisticated and detailed manner. But why use video to sell your home? In this video, well-known identity, Kane Weeks, from the Real Estate Products Group joins us in a discussion about the changing advertising and marketing platforms in real estate when selling your property. The Real Estate Product Group is a company that supplies videos, professional photography, furniture styling and floor plans for the real estate industry, helping us successfully list your home for sale and sell for a great result. [siteloft_youtube video_id="IMLcusWpqL8" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home, download our free insider secrets to being ready to sell checklist. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST Property Videos for Real Estate A new innovative way to market homes is through the use of professional and detailed videos. Both buyers and sellers engage with these videos as they showcase the property in its best light, especially if the property has been prepared for sale with some simple design tips. Videos have been around since the inception of YouTube, in 2005, with the real estate industry only now catching up to the innovation and technology to sell and its platform. With people now making the most of their mobile phones, videos are an easy way for them to view the property through their phone. Property videos can show more intimate features of the property to buyers, such as flora and fauna. They allow us to express what can’t really be said in a photo, and allow emotions to be articulated, something which can be difficult to do with a newspaper advert. Lifestyle benefits, such as showcasing the benefits of living in Fairy Meadow, can be highlighted much more effectively with a property video, allowing you to showcase the property to a buyer to illustrate to them how it will change their lives and what they will enjoy about living in the home. Some property aspects simply cannot be put into words in a written format. Highlighting aspects such as a trickling fountain, or a cool shaded deck area in the backyard can be difficult to show to someone when they are flicking through a newspaper or magazine. Technology is now allowing us to push this information to someone so that they can see what lies within the property. Below are some examples of our some of the properties we have sold that have been shown in their best light through our production of their property video as a part of their marketing campaign. [siteloft_youtube video_id="7HXD56JyOTc" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] [siteloft_youtube video_id="SJwWzRDXPic" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] [siteloft_youtube video_id="k11Ma0_10RI" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] You can easily see why use a video to sell your home. If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home download our free checklist – Insider Secrets To Being Ready To Sell. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST I hope that has helped you today, but if you have any questions whatsoever I’d love to talk to you. My number is 04 26 264 771 and I look forward to talking to you soon. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Nov 4, 2018
Should you sell or buy first?
A commonly asked question from people is “should I sell my house first or buy first?” From people looking at the benefits of downsizing, to those selling their first home and buying their second. If this is a question that has you second-guessing in this changing real estate market, this video will outline the pros and cons of each, depending on your situation. [siteloft_youtube video_id="nNteRYfYpwE" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home, download our free insider secrets to being ready to sell checklist. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST Do your house research to sell your property Prior to signing an agency agreement with a real estate agent to sell your own home, it pays to take a look at what is currently on the market for sale. Three great real estate portals to use as research tools are: joanned.com.au realestate.com.au domain.com.au While online research provides great information, it does not replace a physical inspection. It is a good idea to step inside the properties that are on the market that have what you are looking for and attend a few open homes. There are three different ways you can find out about open houses during any given week. They are: Real estate portals such as realestate.com.au and domain.com.au Request to be added to our open home alert Saturday’s Illawarra Mercury Real Estate Liftout Attending these open homes can also give you your own knowledge on where your property pricing sits in the current market. This means when you do list to sell your house, you will be fully informed of the current market conditions, allowing you to price your home to sell. If you do find your perfect property sooner rather than later, you might want to consider Selling By Auction to expedite the process. If find several homes that really interest you and you feel you could see yourself living there, then you are probably going to be in a pretty good position to be able to sell your home first and then buy something that you like. Choosing this path may mean you have to review your finances to allow you to purchase, and you may look to utilise a deposit bond. On the other hand, if in your information gathering exercises, you find that you can’t really see a property that stands out and there is nothing suitable, then you are probably better off to try and find something first, secure that property and then look at selling yourself. In doing this research, you will start to get an idea of how much money you are going to need to purchase your new property, and compare it to how much you think you can realistically sell your existing property for. This will give you an idea of how much money you could you have in your hand before you commit to another home. So to answer the question of should you buy or sell first, the advice is to get out in the current local real estate market and have a look around. You will be able to make a decision on how long it may take you to find the next perfect home. Predicting the market is difficult - and there are different influencing factors at play all the time. If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home download our free checklist – Insider Secrets To Being Ready To Sell. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST I hope that has helped you today in whether to buy or sell your house first, but if you have any questions I’d love to talk to you. My number is 04 26 264 771 and I look forward to talking to you soon. Considering how you can Right Size your Home and perhaps move into Aged Care? Register for this short course and learn how to best right size your home when moving into aged care. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Oct 30, 2018
Design tips when selling a home
With many properties currently on the market for sale, ensuring that your property stands out and looks its best will help you to achieve the asking price of your property when selling your home. When listing your home for sale, the first four weeks are crucial in ensuring you sell your home fast for the right price. This makes it important to hit the market with impact. If you are wondering how to make your property looks its best, this video conducted with Penny Magro from Style by Penelope, offers some simple interior design to sell your home. [siteloft_youtube video_id="wKeNejS5bvA" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home, download our free insider secrets to being ready to sell checklist. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST With 15 years experience in interior design, Penny Magro, from Style by Penelope, has been through many homes and has been able to provide various styling tips to allow people to showcase their home at its best. Below are five top styling tips recommended by Penny for preparing your home for sale: Remove Your Personality One of the most important style tips is to remove your own personality from the home. Ideally you need to get used to the that one day this will not be your home. Removing your collection of items such as your collection of jugs, or antiques, or photo frames will allow for a blank canvas on the property, meaning that a broader number of people can fall in love with the home as they see themselves living there. Furniture Layout For Home Sale Don’t have large furniture in small rooms, and don’t have too much furniture. There has to be a flow in the place. Allow people to breathe and relax in the rooms in your house. Moving from room to room needs to be able to work. For example, if you have two large sofa’s and two large chairs in one lounge room, consider having just one soft or possible one chair and a small side table. This will give the room a feeling of space, and will allow for groups of people to walk through comfortably. When groups of people walk through for an open an inspection, a large coffee table in the middle of a lounge room will feel cluttered. Front Exterior Presentation A lot of people concentrate mainly on the internal of the house but you should consider other areas of the home. When you walk up to the front gate, it should be pretty and clean. It has to make people want to fall in love and think “I could live here”. Have one grand pot with very healthy green foliage on the front veranda or porch, rather than lots of little pots, along with a nice welcome mat at the front door, and clean windows. Make people feel that this could be their front door they could be opening for the next few years. Neutral Colour Scheme For Buyers Make sure that the colour scheme of the home does not clash. Tone down the use of colours, using varying shades of neutrals. Keeping the colour scheme simple will be a blank canvas for others to add their own personality. Clean and Tidy Home Have the property fresh, clean and inviting. Master bedrooms should look very sumptuous because the people who are walking through will see that as their room. Add a lovely throw at the end of the bed, and have clean, fresh, new linen. Scent of a House Avoid using air freshener. It can be overpowering, particularly when a property has been closed up for a while. We recommend a vanilla candle, quietly burning in the background so that it is not noticeable. It will be a subtle scent and add some lovely ambience. If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home, download our free insider secrets to being ready to sell checklist. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST I hope these interior design to sell your home tips helped you. If you have any questions whatsoever, or for an accurate property assessment, I’d love to talk to you. My number is 0426 264 771. I look forward to talking to you soon. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Oct 27, 2018
Can you really predict the real estate market?
People love to predict the real estate market – where it’s going, how low it is going to go, or how high it will rise. Sellers want to know if they should sell now or wait; buyers want to know if they should hold off on buying for another six months to see if housing prices will drop. If you are wondering how to predict the real estate market to try and stay ahead of the peaks and troughs, this video will provide you with some insight from a real estate agents perspective on forecasting the property market. [siteloft_youtube video_id="AxssBQyMyBE" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you are looking for a property to buy, request to be added to our open home alert YES, ADD ME TO YOUR OPEN HOME ALERT Working as a real estate agent means being in the real estate market every single day of the week, every week of the year. By engaging with buyers and sellers constantly, the actual realisation is that you cannot predict what is going to happen with the real estate market tomorrow. Influences on the real estate market Essentially, the real estate market is not just how many buyers or sellers are present in the market. Economic factors, employment rates, inflation rates, interest rate changes, banks increasing interest rates even though the Reserve Bank of Australia hasn’t, or banks not passing on rate cuts are just a few elements that affect the real estate market. Any increase in day to day living expenses, such as an increase in petrol prices can put financial stress on people, which causes a flow-on effect to the real estate market. The unemployment rate can affect the market, along with any changes to industries, such as the closure of a business. These types of concerns will impact on buyer confidence. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was the last major decline in the real estate market, and it was not foreseen. It is very difficult to speculate, as there are so many factors that play a part in influencing market conditions. Should you wait to buy? If you are looking at buying a property and you expect to stay in there long-term, it really does not matter what is happening in the market today. In 10 years’ time, it won’t matter if you brought at the top of the market, or the bottom of the market. In 10 years’ time, your property is likely to look like you bought it for a bargain. Property is always growing, and it has continued to do overtime. We can pretty much put our money on the fact that property will always return in the end. Property will go down and it will go up – just like the share market. Business Insider shows the historical bumpy increase that the Australian house prices has taken. Don’t try to pick the market. If you find the house that you want, don’t delay. Buy the one that you want. Don’t try and think, “I’m going to be picking the market.” What you really want to do is to pick the house. I hope these insights on predicting the real estate market have helped you today. If you have any questions, I’d love to talk to you. My number is 04 26 264 771 and I look forward to talking to you soon. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Oct 24, 2018
Creating social change with KOCO
Countless initiatives are being born every day by amazing individuals who are creating social change. We thought we would take the opportunity to share a story that has inspired us. What is Knit One Change One (KOCO)? Danielle Chiel is the owner and founder of KOCO (Knit One Change One) – an Australian company formed in partnership with women who live in rural villages of Southern India. KOCO means Knit One (garment), Change One (life). KOCO employs women from rural villages in Southern India, with many of these women having little or no formal education, and no employment opportunities apart from seasonal labour work. Each woman employed by KOCO not only learns the skill and science of hand knitting, but also English and mathematics skills, time management, and communication skills. KOCO artisans are trained to hand knit to exact specifications for catwalk fashions for global fashion brands, along with huggable toys, luxurious homewards, amongst other things. All the proceeds are used to help train, and employ more unskilled women in Rural Southern India to knit so they can support their families and live a more empowered life. KOCO has a goal to employ 40,000 women in rural south India, breaking negative economic cycles and ensuring the viability of village life. In order to achieve this goal, they need to knit one million garments each year. How you be creating social change with KOCO? With Christmas well on the way, we are helping to promote these beautiful hand-knitted Christmas decorations on behalf of Danielle of which proceeds will go towards her Knit One Change One Project. By purchasing 12, you will be helping to employ one woman for a week. You can visit https://www.koco.global/mission/ to view the full story, and see and purchase the amazing designs. One Agency JD Property Agents and Joanne Danckwardt are proud to support Knit One Change One, and are an affiliated partner of the Change Agent Initiative where industry experts choose to give back collectively and help create social change. Will you join Joanne in supporting Danielle Chiel with the Knit One Change One initiative – creating social change with KOCO to assist women in Southern Rural India? Please feel free to spread the word. You can connect with me on Facebook and watch Danielle’s journey unfold or contact me on 0426 264 771 for further information. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Oct 23, 2018
First offer on a house: do I have to accept?
Do you have a price in mind to sell your house? Commonly asked questions I hear are “Do you have to accept an offer on your home?” or “Should I accept the first offer on a house?” To answer these, the question to ask is “What will it cost you to wait for THAT price and what is my home really worth in the current market? You want to sell your house fast for the right price. This video will explain to you the importance of knowing and understanding time on market vs price and buyers and their comparison habits. This will allow you to make an informed decision on which offer you should and should not be accepting, and it will show you how much you could be costing you to wait for the price you think. [siteloft_youtube video_id="_taz314IPd4" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home, download our free insider secrets to being ready to sell checklist. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST Buyers and Their Comparisons Sometimes people have a figure in mind that they’d like to achieve when selling their home. Buyers won’t always know what that price is, and they will make up their own mind on what they think the property is worth based on other homes that are on the market at that particular point in time. It’s just like when you going shopping for an item. You will be comparing prices from different companies on the same product. Buyers are the same when they go looking for houses. They will look at a multitude of homes and the price they feel it is worth will depend on what your home is offering compared to others. Generally there will be a range that buyers will sit in for your particular house. Time On Market Vs Price When your home is on the market, the first four weeks are crucial. If you have a fixed price in mind and it is above the range of what buyers believe the property to be worth, then your home will possibly stay on the market for a lot longer and it will not sell easily or quickly. While you do not want to sell the property too quickly, you also do not want it being on the market for too long. This is where the first offer on a house is important to really consider. At week 5 and 6, buyers start to ask “what is wrong with that property?” There might be nothing wrong with the property other than the price you have in mind of what you want to achieve. Unfortunately, buyers don’t look at it like that. They will think that if it has been on the market for a long time there must be some structural issue with the home causing the property to lose value in the market. It has been recognised that the longer a property stays on the market, the lower the expected chance to achieve a great sales result. So asking for, or waiting for, THAT price can sometimes cost you a lot of money, as you could end up getting less than what the buyers may have originally thought the property was worth. The longer the property stays on the market, the less buyers think the home is worth. Achieving a Successful Sale Price It is important to enter the market with impact and an accurate sale price, and be open to real estate offers early rather than price adjusting along the way. That includes that first offer on a house. Real estate agents are no longer the ‘gatekeepers’ of information. When priced competitively in the first instance, researched buyers will be attracted to the property. Pricing your home to sell will attract quality buyers, with great competition can to be expected, thus driving the sales price upwards. If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home download our free checklist – Insider Secrets To Being Ready To Sell. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST I hope this has helped you. If you have any questions whatsoever, or for an accurate property assessment, I’d love to talk to you. My number is 0426 264 771. I look forward to talking to you soon. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.
Oct 17, 2018
3 tips for pricing your home to sell
With the market constantly moving, there are 3 things you should be aware of for pricing your home to sell. If you are wondering how to get the asking price for your home so it doesn’t sit on the market this video will outline how to undertake house price research, how to price your home and how to get the asking price. [siteloft_youtube video_id="hVVfm7DcZtk" autoplay="0" suggestions="1"] If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home, download our free insider secrets to being ready to sell checklist. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST Do your house price research How do you arrive at the right price for your home to ensure you’re pricing your home to sell? The best place for you to start is to do some research yourself. Before you have an agent come in and let you what they think, get a bit of an idea yourself. Three great real estate portals to use as research tools are: realestate.com.au domain.com.au One Agency JD Property Agents recent sale When using realestate.com.au and domain.com.au it’s very important to go into the sold section as this is a true reflection of what properties are actually selling for. Look at the sold tab, put in your suburb and also make sure you’re looking at other homes that are matched to yours. If you have 3 bedroom 2 bathroom double garage house, look at homes that are 3 bedroom 2 bathroom and double garage. This will narrow your search and you will get a great feel on what your property is actually worth to ensure you are pricing your home to sell. You can also look through the photos of the homes that have sold, both internal and external, giving an idea of its condition. Why should you attend an open house However, online research does not replace a physical inspection on the home. It’s really good to step inside the properties that are on the market that have characteristics similar to yours, and take yourself off to a few open homes. There are three different ways you can find out about open houses during any given week. They are: Real estate portals such as realestate.com.au and domain.com.au Request to be added to our open home alert Saturday’s Illawarra Mercury Real Estate Liftout Asking price versus selling price Have a look around to see not only what is on the market, but also what they are asking for. You should remember that the asking price could be different to the sold price. Don’t base your pricing research on what they’re asking for, but rather what the properties are actually selling for, as that is what buyers are paying for homes at that particular point in time. One of the dangers of over pricing your property is it can then sit on the market too long, causing people to ask what is wrong with it. This method can not only reduce its value but also increase your costs in having it on the market for an extended period of time. The Time On Market vs Price rule has recognised that the longer a property stays on the market, the lower the expected chance to achieve a great sales result. However, you also don’t want to go the other way and price your property too low. This could be cheating you out of thousands of dollars and affecting the quality of your next home purchase. Next steps for pricing your home to sell After completing all this research, you will have your own knowledge on where your property pricing sits in the current market. This means when you speak to an agent, you will be fully informed and understand whether the price they are giving you is merely to gain a listing for themselves, or to actually sell your property. If you’re ready to discover the secrets to being ready to sell your home download our free checklist – Insider Secrets To Being Ready To Sell. YES, DOWNLOAD MY CHECKLIST I hope that has helped you today, but if you have any questions whatsoever I’d love to talk to you. My number is 04 26 264 771 and I look forward to talking to you soon. If you have any family or friends that might benefit from real estate guidance, please feel free to pass on my details or share this link. I’d love to be able to help.