Real Estate Right

Episode 34: Agent X - Choosing The Right Agent Part 1

Real Estate agents are up there with car sales, but have been getting better in recent years with more training, more transparency and new legislation that upholds professional conduct and obligations. But some still find the loopholes and don't represent the person who is paying them properly. If caught, there are fines and possible jail time. Today, we find out how to chose the right agent to sell your home and what to stand clear from.

With over 25 years experience in the real estate industry, with a diverse involvement from different agent franchises to different suburbs, Agent X has seen it all.

1. Let's start with some horror stories...What's the worst thing you've seen an agent do to get a person to sign on the dotted line to either sell or lease their property?

2. If you are thinking about putting your home on the market, and have no idea where to start, how should you be choosing the agent?

3. What are the main attributes of an agent we should be focusing on?

4. Carly from Spotswood wants to know how many agents should we interview before deciding who to go with?

5. If an agent pressures you to sign on the dotted line on the first meeting, what should you be thinking?

6. How can we ensure that when we sign up with an experienced agent, they don't give us a less experienced agent to the the inspections and hard work?

7. Should we ever chose an agent that doesn't represent our suburb?

8. What can happen to an agent legally, if they misrepresent their client in any way?

9. In retrospect, how unlucky would you be to have an agent who does the wrong thing?

Episode 33: Nicole Jacobs - Thinking Outside The Square for Your First Home

First Home Buyers are feeling deflated as more and more restrictions on lending is being felt, price rises continue to price them out of the market, and the knowledge and power the seasoned buyers have, gets them consistently pushed to the way side. 

Nicole Jacobs is back from Nicole Jacobs Property.  Nicole is featured as one of the Buyer's Advocates on 'The Block, is featured on 'Open Homes Australia' and regularly gives her advice through radio and print media channels.

1.  How do you think a First Home Buyer should approach the market?

2. What do you think is the main thing holding First Home Buyer's back?

3. Where would you first start?

4. What help are some of the government grants? Should we depend on them?

5. You're a country girl at heart, what do you think about buying rural? What are some of the perks and pitfalls?

6. Jack from Black Rock, really would love to buy in the suburb he grew up in. What would be your advice for Jack, knowing that the entry level may be more than he can afford?

7. Are there any other strategies that could help get a First Home Buyer into the market sooner?

8. How can Buyers' Advocates help you on your first home buyer journey?

 

Nicole can be contacted at email at: info@nicolejacobs.com

Website: Nicole Jacobs Property:  nicolejacobs.com 

Phone: 03 9596 5555

 

 

 

Episode 32: Part 2 - Undercover Architect Amelia Lee - Buying a Home with Functionality In Mind, Rather Than Trend

Amelia Lee is an award winning architect with over 25 years industry experience in over 250 projects, including 3 of her own, she did with her husband. After a career in private practice, working for a large residential developer and then co-owning her own architectural practice, Amelia started Undercover Architect in mid 2014, and now works with thousands of home owners each year through her online courses, podcast and blog. 

Undercover Architect operates mainly online, and helps and teaches home owners how to get it right, when designing, building or renovating their family home. Whatever your dreams, your location, or your budget, and whomever you're working with, Undercover Architect is your secret ally. 

 

1. How do we stop ourselves from being caught in the trap of 'stylish' and go for 'practical'?

2. Why is it that a lot of buyers or home builders lean towards including what's trendy in their homes, rather than think of the practical application of a home?

3. What should we be working out with what we want to achieve within our home before we buy? 

4. What are some of the practical elements of a home that remain timeless?

5. Should we consider spaces and indoor/outdoor connections as timeless, rather than physical décor?

6. But if we are considering décor, what are some of the elements that seem to last the test of time?

7. What should we be considering in terms of the floor plan? What's a workable orientation?

8. How can we apply our due diligence to building or buying when it comes to the practical nature of the property?

9. What council information should we consider before buying or building a new property?

Episode 32: Undercover Architect Amelia Lee - Buying a Home with Functionality in Mind, Rather Than Trend

Amelia Lee is an award winning architect with over 25 years industry experience in over 250 projects, including 3 of her own, she did with her husband. After a career in private practice, working for a large residential developer and then co-owning her own architectural practice, Amelia started Undercover Architect in mid 2014, and now works with thousands of home owners each year through her online courses, podcast and blog. 

Undercover Architect operates mainly online, and helps and teaches home owners how to get it right, when designing, building or renovating their family home. Whatever your dreams, your location, or your budget, and whomever you're working with, Undercover Architect is your secret ally. 

 

1. How do we stop ourselves from being caught in the trap of 'stylish' and go for 'practical'?

2. Why is it that a lot of buyers or home builders lean towards including what's trendy in their homes, rather than think of the practical application of a home?

3. What should we be working out with what we want to achieve within our home before we buy? 

4. What are some of the practical elements of a home that remain timeless?

5. Should we consider spaces and indoor/outdoor connections as timeless, rather than physical dècor?

6. But if we are considering dècor, what are some of the elements that seem to last the test of time?

7. What should we be considering in terms of the floor plan? What's a workable orientation?

8. How can we apply our due diligence to building or buying when it comes to the practical nature of the property?

9. What council information should we consider before buying or building a new property?

 

 

 

Episode 31: Frank Valentic - What You Need for Your Investment Check-List

Buying an investment is a whole different animal to buying your home. You definitely look at property differently when you don't have to live in it. 

Frank Valentic from Advantage Property Consulting is going to give us a crash course on what we should have as part of our investment check list. Frank is possibly one of the most recognised faces in Melbourne Real Estate. He is renowned for helping people secure their financial freedom through education and building a portfolio of investments. He is also the buyers advocate, we all know from 'The Block'. 

 

1. What should be our main objective when we are looking for an investment property?

2. How do you determine if a property is 'Investment Grade'?

3. Gus from Clarinda is contemplating buying an investment and is wondering what is the best demographic he should be aiming for as a tenant?

4. Should we be more concerned with capital growth or rental return?

5. How high on your priority list should you make your property manager's interest in your property?

6. What's your 15-point investment grade checklist?

7. What tools can we use to work out how much an investment will cost me out of pocket?

8. What's 'Due Diligence' because I can guarantee you that not many people do it?

9. What's your best advice to those who want to start an investment portfolio?

 

Episode 30: Josh Hommelhoff - How Involved Should You Be In the Selling Process? Let the Experts be the Experts.

It's amazing how many houses we go into, where the owners seem to know everything about real estate and want to 'help' in ways that is actually more hurtful to their sales and marketing campaign than helpful. 

Today we talk again to Josh Hommelhoff about how involved a vendor should be when selling their home. Award winning real estate agent for over 18 years and a consistently high performer with the Ray White Group, Josh Hommelhoff  is a leading agent and partner at Ray White Carnegie and is here to tell us how involved you should be in your sales campaign when selling your home.

 

1. How should you be selecting your real estate agent to sell your home?

2. Tell us about some examples where an owner has been too involved with the selling process.

3. How involved is too involved?

4. What is a real estate agent's expectation of vendor involvement that's acceptable?

5. Who are the worst type of people who get too involved?

6. How can an agent prevent a seller from being too involved?

    A) Is it a matter of trust?

    B) Is it a matter of thinking they know the industry?

7. Can being too involved jeopardise the selling process?

 

You need to trust your agent has your best interests at heart. Josh is one agent who ticks all the boxes, and he is always here to help you sell your home.

You can contact Josh Hommelhoff at Ray White Carnegie on 9571 6777.

 

 

 

Episode 29: Edgar Lok Tin Yung - Feng Shui Tips on Making Your Home More Prosperous For Sale

Feng Shui is on the top of the lips in many Chinese homes, but what is it? How can we use it in our homes? What's it supposed to do? How do we make it work? All these questions will be answered in this week's podcast- 'Feng Shui tips on making your home more prosperous for sale'.

 

Edgar Lok Tin Yung is a Feng Shui Master and Chinese Astrology expert. Edgar brings passion and experience from years of training under traditional Feng Shui Masters. He has been using traditional Chinese Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology to assist local and international clients since 2000.

 

1. What is Feng Shui?

2. How can we apply it to our homes to make it more prosperous for sale?

3. Which area of the house is the most important to activate in order to have a good sale?

4. How can mirrors help around the home?

5. How should we place beds in a bedroom?

6. How should we be decorating our kitchen to bring in good luck?

7. What should we remove from our home to keep the good luck in?

8. What is considered to be a lucky colour? 

9. What are some contemporary tips that are based on Feng Shui principles?

10. What should every home for sale have, to bring in prosperity?

11. What's the most bad luck you've seen in a house and how have you helped it?

 

Edgar has a great offer for all our listeners... make sure you tune into this week's terrific episode to find out what it is.

Edgar can be contacted through his website:

loktinfengshui.com.au

 

 

 

 

Episode 28: Sue Sulman - The Code in Copywriting

Copywriting has become a major player in the art of marketing homes and great copy will help get the right buyers to the right properties. A lot of people believe that the agent writes the ads, but more and more, you'll find the top agents employ professional copywriters to do the job. 

Writing copy for over 22 years, for some of Melbourne's leading agents, my job is to paint the picture of quality and/or opportunity to help attract buyers to the door. Today I chat to fellow copywriter Sue Sulman who has similar years in experience as me to explain to Real Estate Right listeners, the subtle hidden meanings in our copy. 

What's the first thing most vendors say to you when you walk in the door? (What's a copywriter?, and ahhh, I thought the agent wrote the ads).  

Why is copywriting so important?

1. The Cliché 'Renovator's Delight'- what are we using now to get away from the cliché, but also paint a clearer picture in the options?

2. What makes a study?

3. What's the difference between a garage and a carport?

4. What's the difference between a workshop or studio or shed?

5. Why do some agents say they have 3 car spaces in their icons, but when you get there, there is only a single garage?

6. What's the difference between an open fire place and a fire place?

7. Understanding how the ad is structured...if the location is mentioned first, then the house hasn't really got much going for it, unless the location has a unique factor- like it has park, bay or city views, in a prestigious school zone, its in the best part of the suburb.

8. If an ad says it has heating/cooling, it generally means that the person writing the ad hasn't confirmed what type of heating and cooling the property has...some people like refrigerated air conditioning, some like evaporative cooling. There are big price differences and comfort levels, and it should be written in the ads.

9. Courtyards vs backyards... what's your take on when a courtyard becomes a backyard?

10. What does 'original' really mean? ( The good- quality stood the test of time, The bad- it hasn't been looked after). How do we ensure we create the positive side to the word 'original'?

11. What does 'Period' home really mean?

12. What's considered to be a 'double bedroom'?

13. European appliances- What does that actually mean?

14. What should we be weary of when reading ads? (Mis-spelling of brand names or local attractions names, abbreviations that can't be understood etc).

If you would like one of us to help you with your copywriting:

Sue can be contacted at suesulman@gmail.com or if you would like me to do your copywriting try Sue Langeder at realcopyright1@gmail.com 

 

 

Episode 27: Kate Yeowart - The Quirks and Complications in Buying a High-Rise Apartment

Kate Yeowart from Strata Equity Management is on again today to talk to us about High-Rise Apartments. In recent years, high rise apartments have been a contentious issue, with some going up in flames, others having issues with cracking, some having concerns with the locals regarding over development and then there is the issue with upsetting local business during construction. But the reality is, our city is growing in numbers, our suburbs are slowly spreading out and our lifestyles want to be low maintenance.  

Today we talk about the quirks and complications of buying a high rise apartment. A respected leader in the strata management industry, Kate Yeowart is the managing director of Strata Equity Management. Kate has worked in all facets of real estate, as well as a law clerk and credit manager. She holds a degree in political science which she puts to use in her business and is a regular on Real Estate Right. Welcome Kate. 

Kate, this topic is a bit of a passion for you. As you've seen a lot of 'Behind the Scenes' issues that are happening with both new and old apartment blocks, as well as the rise of creating lifestyle developments which are more like hotels than residential homes.

1.You can buy a Melbourne inner city apartment for as low as $350,000 which is awesome for first home buyers and investors, however when buying a high rise apartment, what are the things we should be considering before we make a purchase? Owner's corporation fees, on-site recreational facilities, on-site caretakers, gardening, lifts, construction quality of the entire block, sound between apartments and from the common areas.

2.So with all that in consideration, what would be the most apartments you have seen in a high rise development?

3.Could you expect that if you divide the owner's corporation fees by the number of apartments, that's what you should be paying, or do bigger apartments pay more?

4.Should we be wary of lower owner's corporation fees assuming that there isn't consideration for long-term maintenance?

5.Getting onto the touchy subject of the flammable cladding that got some major publicity a few years ago, how do we know if the building we have bought into, or currently own, has been built with the flammable cladding?

6.What are the best materials a high rise apartment should be built from?

7.If we wanted to remove combustable cladding, how can we go about doing it? Will the building insurance cover the removal and replacement of the cladding? How can the owner's corporation manager help you with the process of removing the cladding?

8.Is this why its important to join your owner's corporation committee, so that you can have your say into what gets done, especially when there are a lot of owners involved? What do we get out of being in the committee? Thanks so much Kate, for another informative episode on understanding the processes when it comes to owner's corporations and buying a high rise apartment.

Kate Yeowart can be contacted at strataequitymanagement.com.au 

 

 

Episode 26: Laurence Damiani - Property Vs Share Market

Investing can be an exciting time - whether it be on the share market or with property. When you first start, you look to see how the market is going, which shares or suburbs are booming, which one's are crashing, who's buying what, cry when it takes a tumble, and celebrate when the dollars come in. Today we are talking to a former investment banker, now real estate agent, about the good, the bad and the ugly of investing.

Laurence Damiani has had decades of experience and expert knowledge in valuations, wealth creation and lending portfolios, and has worked across the globe in New York, Sydney and Melbourne, working for companies like JP Morgan Chase, Westpac/Bank of Melbourne and Citibank, and recently became a real estate agent in St Kilda East to utilise his skills in financial portfolios to help his clients in building their property portfolio. Passionate about all things that build wealth creation, Laurence is here to tell us about the difference between the property market and the share market. 

1. What's the number One rule when it comes to investing?

2. What's good about investing in property, vs investing in shares?

3. What are some of the problems associated with investing in property vs investing in shares?

4. Steve in Campbellfield is weighing up where to put his money, what are the on-going costs associated with buying property and buying shares?

5. What types of returns could we expect with both property and shares?

6. You hear about investors having big falls, and also big wins, when it comes to the share market, why is it good not to have all your eggs in one basket?

7. Why is it that the property market goes up with the share market goes down, and vice versa?

8. If you want to be able to cash up easily, which is the best way to go?

9. What are some of your best tips for investing?

Laurence, Sue and Grant tell us some stories that have been both good and bad dealings with both property and shares.