As has become our end of year tradition, for the fourth year we take a look back and share with you some of the many photos we've taken during a year of living and working in beautiful Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. 

It's been another crazy year of lockdowns, remote work, and never-ending change, as it has for all of us. 

We hope you enjoy this look back at some of the things that make this little patch of the world we live in so beautiful, despite everything else going on. 

All the best for a safe and prosperous 2022. 🥂
- Natalie, Paul and the CPM team

Oh - and if you'd like to take a look back at our previous years' wrap-ups, see 2018, 2019 and 2020. 

Investors of property in regional NSW will be pleased with the data presented in the latest CoreLogic November Home Value Index. The report, released on December 1, highlights the continued strength of property in the regions both from a capital growth and rental yield perspective - and indicates that Regional NSW specifically has outperformed many other areas of Australia.

Moving house can be very stressful for even the most organised person. We know! But moving house as a family with young children is even more difficult. 

In this post we summarise some tips to make moving day and the transition to a new home in Newcastle a smooth one for your whole family. 

You may be expecting a post about knowing your income and expenses - your financial figures - but we're going to take a different path in this article. 

Just as important as knowing the financial numbers for your investment is knowing the other essentials - the important numbers which dictate how and when you can take certain actions with your investment property. For example, knowing how many days notice you need to provide should you wish to ask your tenants to vacate the property, how many days notice are required to increase the rent in your property, how many routine inspections can be held per year, and more. 

Think of this post as your "cheat sheet" of must-know, non-financial numbers for the success of your property. Let's get started!

There is a lot to consider when you first take the step to rent out a property you own. Whether you are looking to move out of the family home and offer it for rent, or whether you have purchased your first investment property specifically to find a great tenant - there is a lot to be done before it hits the market. 

A conversation with an experienced rental property manager is of course a very good place to start. Additionally, the following points will provide a broad overview of what will need to be done and/or prepared in advance of finding a tenant for your home. 

We've been saying to investors and others via our blog for some time that the rental market has been running hot, resulting in some landlords and agents aiming very high with the rent they seek for their property. 

Often it is the currently advertised rental pricing which influences where a landlord or agent predicts that rent should be set. However, this provides only part of the story. 

In this post we discuss 3 reasons why you shouldn't use currently-advertised rental pricing to determine your own property's rent.

This week we were engaged in a discussion with some industry peers around the need to consider more than just the dollar value when setting rent for an investment property. Below, we share a real-world example of the outcome of an investor seeking high rent above other considerations, and the avoidable results of this approach. 

In the process we introduce the 3-Way Balance of Setting The Ideal Rent.