We've been writing for years about the somewhat hidden downsides of selecting a low-fee or online only property management business  - see "Flat Fee Property Management - What's The Hidden Danger?" from 2019 and "Should I Use An Online Property Management Service Instead of Hiring A Property Manager?" from 2017.

Now it has been confirmed that low-fee property management business Yabonza has gone into liquidation. 

For a long time now we have all become increasingly aware of the accelerated state of the rental market post-COVID. Rents across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have significantly increased as a result of a combination of factors including regional migration away from capital cities, construction delays for building of new homes, and increase in demand for space as the number of people working from home increases. 

We first wrote about this trend as far back as September 2020 and several times since. 

A conversation we are now having increasingly frequently with property investors is that they feel that the rent they are receiving for their property has fallen behind the market. The reality is, if your property has had an existing tenant in place for several years, then yes it very likely has fallen behind currently advertised rents due to the extraordinarily high spike in asking rents over a relatively short and recent period.

Landlords and tenants are equally likely at some stage to wonder who is responsible for the eradication of pests in a rental home. Tenants wonder if the responsibility lies with them, or whether the landlord should take action to remove any vermin. 

Fortunately, there is clear information from NSW Fair Trading on responsibilities for controlling and removing pests. A summary of this information is as follows.

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. 

In this article we run through a series of steps we regularly see from investors who are fed up with terrible service from their current real estate agent, only to be wooed to stay where they are by a fee reduction.

If this sounds like your situation, read on.

According to the latest CoreLogic Cordell Construction Cost Index (CCCI), residential construction costs nationally have increased 9% in the 12 months to March 2022. This marks the highest annual growth rate in construction costs since March 2001 following the introduction of GST, and impacts renovators, new home buyers and even existing property owners. 

Not surprising off the back of record property price growth nationally, there has been a surge in the number of regional and coastal million-dollar suburbs. 

Once the sign of owning a prestige home, properties selling for $1million+ have become increasingly normal across hundreds of suburbs around the country. And here in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, there have been 14 newly-added million dollar suburbs as at March 2022.