We offer practical property advice if you are considering buying a property. With 35 years of experience, trust Rawson to give you advice on buying property. Buying a property involves a lot of preparation and activity. The following is a general guide to the process.
Real Estate Advice for Buying Property
Property Advice: Before you begin
Our first piece of property advice is to decide:
- which town or suburb you want to live in
- whether you want a house or an apartment
- how you will pay for the property
Property Advice: Which town or suburb?
When you choose a town or suburb, our real-estate advice is to consider the following:
- is it convenient for your work?
- does it have the amenities like places of worship, shops and schools that you need?
- is there public transport (bus, train, taxi service)?
- what is the crime rate?
- is the air clean or is it polluted?
Property Advice: House or an apartment
If you buy a house, you will own the whole property and you will have to maintain and repair it. You will also be able to use it as security for a loan.
If you buy an apartment in a building, what you will own will depend on the type of ownership scheme:
- if it's a sectional title scheme (i.e. a condominium or strata property), you will own the apartment (and any garage or servant's quarters or storeroom that you buy with it) directly, and you will jointly own the "common property", such as the passages, the elevator and the garden, with the owners of the other apartments - you will be able to use your apartment as security for a loan
- if it's a share block scheme, you will not own the apartment itself, but you will own shares in the company which owns the building, and those shares will give you the right to live in the apartment - you will not be able to use your shares as security for a loan
Property Advice: Ways to pay
- Generally speaking, there are three ways of paying for a property:
- paying the full price in cash
- paying part of the price in cash and the rest with a loan (usually called a "bond")
- paying the full price with a loan (known as "100% bond")
If you take a loan, you will have to repay it over a period of 20 years (though this is variable). Our property advice is that you should not spend more than 30% of your monthly income on the loan repayment.
Property Advice: How to find a property
We advise finding out about properties for sale in several ways:
- look at websites
- read newspapers - many of them have special property advertising pages
- drive around the suburbs (especially on Sunday afternoons) and look for "for sale" or "on show" signs
-
visit estate agency offices.
Property Advice: Looking at the property
Once you have found a property that interests you, you should look at it carefully. Our property advice is to ask about, or look for, the following in particular:
- is the building in good condition?
- are the grounds in good condition?
- are the walls damp?
- does the roof leak?
- is the electricity (or gas) in safe working condition?
- is the plumbing in good working condition?
- how much are the annual rates?
- do you like the neighbourhood?
- is there a lot of traffic along the road?
- are there vagrants in the neighbourhood?
- are there plans to develop any new buildings or roads that might affect the property?
- how much the monthly levy is (this will be your share of looking after the "common property")
- if any special levy is being discussed or planned
- to see the body corporate's most recent financial statement
- if the developer or the body corporate has reserved a right to extend the scheme in the future.
Please note: We have compiled this property advice in good faith, but we accept no liability for any errors, or for any use that is made of it, or for any problems or damage that may arise as a result of using or acting upon this real-estate advice.
