You may have heard or even participated in the ABC's Australia Talks survey project. 

In July 2019, the Australia Talks National Survey asked 54,000 Australians to share their thoughts and feelings on almost 500 questions "about their lives and what keeps them up at night".

While the topics covered were varied, a summary has recently been compiled highlighting a selection of findings specific to the differences in points of view between landlords and tenants. 

Most interesting were the opinions of renters about the affordability of rentals and housing in Australia. 

In a rather amazing and rare story, a Sydney property developer has placed a home on the market for sale with an asking price of roughly $1.5 million which he did not purchase, and which was not gifted from family or an acquaintance. It has been awarded to him legally under the rule of adverse possession.

In this article we discuss the law of adverse possession and the history of this extraordinary case. 

An investment property is a wealth creation vehicle. An investor of course wants to return the greatest revenue they can reasonably achieve while the property is in their possession, through capital growth and increases in equity to strong rental return and ideally a positive cash flow. 

In conversations with landlords, we often here that their previous agent handled the rent collection just fine, made maintenance arrangements as needed, and found new tenants when required. However, once a tenant was signed on to the property, things seemed to go into automatic pilot, set-and-forget. This at times included neglected to monitor and action a potential rent increase from time to time. 

​In this article we discuss our approach to completing rent reviews and actioning increases in rent.

The marketing of many Newcastle real estate agencies can make them all seem much the same. "We'll always call you back", "We look after your property as if it's our own", "Number 1 Agent in XXXX Suburb", etc. 

How do you separate the marketing promises from the actual service experience you are likely to receive from the real estate agent? If you have a family member, friend, or colleague who has direct experience with an agency, this is a good way to get a read on the agency's performance. 

However, more likely you will need to read a number of real estate agent reviews. Here are some tips to ensure you make the most of your research.

Two years ago we wrote the article "Should I Use An Online Property Management Service Instead of Hiring A Property Manager?". In this post we spoke about one of the many online property management service providers offering very low fees, raising some food for thought around what may or may not be included within those low fee structures. 

Now, two years later, there are even more options for investors to consider in the management of their property. In this article we revisit the potential pitfalls of selecting a very low cost or flat fee property management business. 

When budgeting for the costs of holding a rental property, most investors factor in the regular, repeatable expenses such as council rates, water service charges, building and landlord insurance, property management fees and strata fees (where applicable). 

From time to time there are additional expenses every investor is likely to incur - the trick is that the timing and extent of these expenses tends to be unpredictable. Due to their unpredictability, they can be more difficult to budget for and are sometimes neglected completely. 

Following is not an exhaustive list by any means, however should help as a reminder to new and seasoned investors alike of the importance to allow for a savings buffer to ensure any untimely surprise expenses are little more than an inconvenience. 

Whenever we meet a new landlord, part of our conversation around preparing the property for the rental market includes a discussion of smoke alarm compliance and testing. Often, landlords may be unaware of their obligations, while others have a limited understanding of what appropriate smoke alarm testing and compliance entails. 

In this post we discuss the primary elements of smoke alarm law in NSW as it impacts landlords, and address the question of whether landlords should feel satisfied with testing smoke alarms themselves.