Styling to sell: Why more Australians are using property stylists in a slowing market

Posted to Facebook on 23/1/2019 at 3:20 PM
Commenting on “Styling to sell: Why more Australians are using property stylists in a slowing marke”
https://www.domain.com.au/news/styling-to-sell-why-more-australians-are-using-property-stylists-in-a-slowing-market/

Posted to Facebook on 23/1/2019 at 3:20 PM
Commenting on "Styling to sell: Why more Australians are using property stylists in a slowing market"
https://www.domain.com.au/news/styling-to-sell-why-more-australians-are-using-property-stylists-in-a-slowing-market/

Beauty is skin deep, so is interior decorating / styling. I do find this laughable and like Spock from Star Trek used to say. "highly illogical".

Many owners splash out when they find their property is not up to scratch. As the article indicates, some even take up a loan to engage a property stylist to jazz up the house.

If buyers rush in to buy such properties, very likely they are overpaying for decorations that do not exist when they are removed after sale.

When come to spending money, I am a bit of a scrooge. However, I do realise that my wife and I work hard for years, and therefore we are not doing ourselves justice if we do not spend some on our own.

No, I do not mean just travelling overseas or having big feasts on occasions; we do add some improvement to our house. We are doing this not because we are considering moving, but to improve our "quality" of life.

You do not have to wait for the white paint to turn yellow, or the door knobs become an eye-sore; you have to do something about them sooner, for your own pleasure and enjoyment, without paying attention whether this will add extra thousands to the property value.

However, it is important not to over capitalise your property by adding expensive, but out-of-character and non-functional extensions. You may enjoy it as a pet project, but it may back fire when you sell the property later.

Thank you for reading.

Want a credit squeeze with that fall in house prices

Post to Facebook on 8/1/2019 at 12:36 AM
Commenting on “Want a credit squeeze with that fall in house prices”
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/want-a-credit-squeeze-with-that-fall-in-house-prices-20190103-p50pg2.html

Posted to The Age (4/1/2019) on 4/1/2019
Commentng on “Want a credit squeeze with that fall in house prices”
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/want-a-credit-squeeze-with-that-fall-in-house-prices-20190103-p50pg2.html

The Royal Commission causes banks to lose lots of money, and they will try to recover the money by increasing interest rates, much higher than the cash rate determined by RBA.

Unfortunately, RBA also slowly increases the rate in response to overseas interest rates increase.

This double whammy will result in many loan defaults, thus weeding out those who should not be buying houses in the first place as I have explained many times before.

Genuine real estate investors are shrewd and not concerned with credit squeeze. They are ready to strike only if the price is right. Their primary object is to achieve profitable bottom line and healthy ROI.

Thank you for reading.

House values set to fall up to 11 per cent in some Australian suburbs in 2019

Post to Facebook on 7/1/2019 at 1:29 PM
Commenting on “House values set to fall up to 11 per cent in some Australian suburbs in 2019”
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/house-values-set-to-fall-up-to-11-per-cent-in-some-australian-suburbs-in-2019-20190107-p50pyp.html

Posted to The Age (7/1/2019) on 7/1/2019
Commenting on "House values set to fall up to 11 per cent in some Australian suburbs in 2019"
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/house-values-set-to-fall-up-to-11-per-cent-in-some-australian-suburbs-in-2019-20190107-p50pyp.html

Another day, another bad news! When will this end? It is always easy to join the queue of doomsayers after every Tom, Dick and Harry have waved the white flag.

Our local experts and developers do not seem to read overseas news or have any idea about historical real estate events of our neighbouring countries like Hong Kong, and now China. Obviously every soul has his own views and consoles with the saying that "it can never happen to me".

It was really sad that many professionals directly and indirectly involved with real estate, the real estate agents / agents' representatives, investment advisers, lenders, journalists, seminar gurus, building companies, etc created unnecessary hype to lure the unsuspecting and some greedy investors to invest beyond their budgets.

Ignorant mums and dads trying to help their children to get a foot in by paying the initial deposit of overpriced auction properties indirectly helps to wipe out tens of thousand of their children's future retirement fund.

History tells us that the high end properties were not immune to great drop in prices. In addition, Maslow's Hierarchy of needs also tells us that when one climbs the needs ladder, one will yearn for more of other needs.

Apartment or formerly known flats, were meant for those financially not so well off. No matter how luxurious the interior is furnished and finished, an apartment is still a box within a big block of building, sharing common space with many others. I find it cheaper to live in luxurious hotel with all the facilities and amenities covered in my package.

Besides economic cycle, family growth cycle also plays an important part in the growth and decline of a suburb or region. If timed correctly, one can own a nest egg sooner than expected.

To all the experts out there, can you tell us under what circumstances that we can see a recovery? May be my dart board throwing prediction that the real estate downward slide will stop after mid-year 2019 can be just as accurate.

Aussie property market facing the moment of truth

Post to Facebook on 3/1/2019 at 9:06 AM
Commenting on “Aussie property market facing the moment of truth”
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/aussie-property-market-facing-the-moment-of-truth-20190102-p50p8k.html

Posted to The Age (3/1/2019) on 3/1/2019
Commenting on “Aussie property market facing the moment of truth”
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/aussie-property-market-facing-the-moment-of-truth-20190102-p50p8k.html

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the inflation rate in 2018 was 1.26%. That is to say, a property worth $1,000,000 at the start of 2018 should have increased to $1,000,000 + $1,000,000 x 1.26% = $1,012,600 by the end of 2018.

According to many reports, median property price has dropped by 10%, or using the previous property of $1,000,000, it can only be priced as $1,000,000 - $1,000,000 x 10% = $900,000

Mathematically speaking, the 10% drop in price should be based on the inflated price at the of 2018; that is $1,012,600 - $1,012,600 x 10% = $911,340

So, what is the real drop in property price?

Let me show you how to calculate this:
($1,012,600 - $900,000) / $1,012,600 x 100% = 11.12%

Reported price drop does not refer to a specific property, but a sample of properties. If the sample consists of 1,001 properties of varying prices, and these prices are arranged in an ascending order, the price of the property listed the mid-point or 501st property in the list is known as the median price.

If the median price is $1,012,600, then 500 properties are sold for less than $1,012,600 and 500 properties more than $1,012,600. What median price does not tell are the lowest and highest prices. For all you know, the lowest price can be 20% less than the median price, and the highest 20% more. 20% is just an arbitrary percentage used for illustration only.

As you can see, median price is not the same as average price. Both median and average prices are used as a guide, and each property should be judged on its merit.

It is important not to be a smart Alec to tell the owners the property or their house is overpriced. To them, their home may be their castle. If you are interested in the property and want to negotiate, DO NOT upset the owner. Use a professional or real estate expert to negotiate on your behalf.

If you think the price is non-negotiable and not worth the price, walk away! One day, you may be in the same position, not prepared to negotiate with buyers who show interest in your property for sale in the market.

Thank you for reading.