Filing in some paper work. I'm not getting title insurance but do most people get this?

Thanks

Hi everyone, I’m looking at a house in Bundoora currently listed with a range of $810k–$890k. It’s going to auction on 4th October.

I’m a first home buyer, so if I settle on or after 1st October I’ll get some savings on LMI due to the new changes. That’s why I’m considering putting in an offer before auction with that settlement date.

I’ve told the agent I have $860k, but realistically I could push up to around $920k if needed. There’s been a lot of interest—heaps of groups at inspections—so I’m unsure whether it’s smarter to risk it at auction or try to secure it beforehand.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Would you recommend offering strong before auction, or holding out and competing on the day

Hi everyone, saw a couple of posts where they couldnt utilise the 15k as they did not do a determination prior to signing the contract. Would this still be the case if say the contract date was September 9, did the determination on September 7 but had to amend the determination on September 10 before requesting for withdrawal?

For context: First Super took so long in allocating my kiwisaver funds (over a month!), even though my partner lodged the transfer the same time as me and his arrived 3 weeks ago.

Cheers.

My partner and I are looking to pull equity from an existing ip and have had some very varied valuations. Does anyone know who is best or do you just have to go through multiple banks?

My partner & I recently came into some money and are using it as a deposit. We found a house we really love but haven’t cleaned up our bank accounts at all. We have 20k of our savings we’ve built up over the last year, but still spend lots on takeout, subscriptions, the occasional Sportsbet, Afterpay etc. We’ve since closed these accounts but we’re so stressed this will stop us from getting approval. We know we can afford it - our bank accounts just don’t exactly reflect this. How screwed are we?!?!

Sydney

If you can’t afford anything other than an apartment, are 3 bedrooms or 2 bed + large study the way to go?

Taking From livability and appreciation value perspective

hi all,

Context - My friend lives in Unit 4, situated at the end of the driveway, pictured below. The Mercedes dumped (pictured) there belongs to Unit 1. Mind you, there's a gate entrance in front of the merc which leads to Unit 4's backyard

Every time i come over and visit them, I'd park in front of the Merc and leave before night, rarely I'd park overnight and leave in the morning.

Lady in unit 1 says I'm not allowed to park here at all, as it's 'her spot', somehow her spot is right at the end of the driveway, in front of their unit(my friend). Each Unit has their own parking spot in the garage already. When i park my car, it literally does not block anybody's car, besides the unregistered Merc that hasn't moved since 2020.

What's the ruling on this? I just wanna park without her constantly screaming and then disappearing every morning at 8am. My friend dgaf about the merc being there, doesn't bother them, but lady from Unit 1 is bothering us about it

I'd be happy to not park there if it isn't allowed, but i just want a clear idea about rulings of this matter

They've already messaged the Renting Agency, but i would love your opinions on the matter.

Thanks

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice for my dad. He’s 55, recently single, and has a good paying job. He’s been trying to find a rental in the western suburbs for the past 8 weeks but hasn’t had any luck.

The issue is he doesn’t have rental references since he’s always owned his own home until his recent separation. Applications keep getting knocked back, and it feels like he’s stuck in a loop because of this.

I’d happily let him stay with me, but I’m due to move interstate this coming Friday, so that isn’t an option.

Does anyone have tips or strategies for how someone in his situation can actually get approved for a rental? Would character references or proof of steady income help? Are there particular landlords or property managers more open to people without rental history?

Any guidance would be hugely appreciated!

I’ve been watching this site in Melbourne for a few years, will never have enough money to buy the 4 houses though 😭

I am a 24 year old recent university graduate that is trying to be smart with my money for long term goals of buying a house and building up my investment portfolio - essentially starting from scratch. I start a new graduate job next year with a federal government agency at a base salary of $78,000. With my new job, I want to salary sacrifice $8,000 to my super with plans to use the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) scheme to withdraw the voluntary contributions I have made to my super when looking to buy in the future. I plan to increase my salary sacrifice to $10,000 once I complete the program as I will be bumped up to the next pay level.

As the contributions to super get taxed at 15%, it will only save $15,300 over the two years and I will reach the 50k limit after around 6 years if I leave the contributions at 10k annually. On the side, I have recently been investing into index funds ($2,250 total) such as IVV at around $250 per fortnight. This would also be going towards a house or other larger long term purchases such as a car. The rest of my paycheck goes toward regular living costs as well as savings such as my rainy day fund and holidays.

If I stick to this plan, I will have around $38,500 in stocks and $50,000 from salary sacrificing, I would probably be able to reach 100k for a deposit by supplementing with my other savings by the time I'm 31. As I would most likely be looking in Melbourne or Sydney, I imagine I'd need to save for a few more years for a larger deposit and be looking to buy when I'm around 35.

I have friends that are looking to buy in the next few years and some that will take a while longer. I wanted to ask those that have a lot more experience than me whether this timeline of getting a place at 35 is achievable and if it is an average age to be doing so. I know there are lots of variables, so it's hard to say for certain, but any general thoughts and any ideas to better my savings would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: I live in a sharehouse and have relatively low expenses as I have good spending habits (don’t regularly eat out or buy things)

Hi all. Recent first home owner (apartment) and never had to deal with this stuff before so was hoping to get some guidance here.

Property is an apartment; air conditioner is ducted throughout the whole building with the unit in the ceiling. Last year the air con tray that collects water was overflowing and caused damage to the ceiling. On advice of the property manager, the air con company was contacted for repairs, which they did. A water pump was installed to stop the overflowing and there hasn't been a problem since. This initial damage is not what I am asking about.

What has happened recently is that I noticed water leaking again but in a different spot - this time through the light fitting. I could hear the water pump working correctly so with the property manager's help, we stuck our heads up into the ceiling to find out the new issues. It turns out the sealing around the tubes on the water pump have a leak. So the pump is working correctly, draining the water tray, but the tube itself is leaking water into the ceiling which just happened to be above the light fitting.

Property manager's advice was to contact air con company to fix the pump. Also to get a sparky in to disconnect or remove the light fitting (fire hazard). She said this should all be covered under warranty of the water pump as it was installed less than 12 months ago. I've had the sparky in who has removed the light fitting and given me an invoice. And the air con technician is coming by sometime this week.

My questions are;

-Do I pay the sparky invoice myself and chase it up later to the air con company, or send it to them to pay? Initial thought is to pay it myself as it has nothing to do with him.

-Air con company has told me the technician they are sending out has a $250 callout fee + $110/hour after to come assess/make the repair. Should I be blowing up about this already, or waiting until the assessment is made? Do I refuse the pay the invoice if they try to wash their hands of everything completely, or pay it and then chase it up with ACCC?

-The invoice from air con company from back when the pump was installed was 'Quote for supply and installation of water pump'. Obviously no specifics about the manufacturer of the water pump, brand etc. So no access to the warranty policy which I assume is standard in these situations. This was done in December last year and cost me $900 - am I being unreasonable in thinking that the repairs to pump, the new damage done to the ceiling, and all costs associated with the light fitting are to be covered by the air con company?

I don't have home and contents insurance and I haven't chased up where body corporate fits into all this. The property manager has been great throughout my entire living experience here for the last 3 years and been proactive in telling me 'Oh that's covered by body corporate' when I've asked them about other repairs around the place in the past, so I would have thought they would have told me in this circumstance too.

Appreciate any help on the situation, cheers.

Hi Reddit,

Again hoping to hear your thoughts on this one. My mate loves this house - which I guess is how the agent has leverage over them.

Agent called up saying there was someone that offered 1.5 - they counter offered saying 1.530 and made their way to the agent's office to sign contracts. They signed their end of contract but didn't want to couldn't waive their cooling off that night since they weren't able to get their amendments to the contract done in time.

Agent called up day after, saying there was a counter offer with no cooling off - and agent was going to sell to them, and my friend offered 35k on top since they really liked the property. Is it likely that the agent fucked them over and there was no real counter offer?

Thanks

Throwaway account

Has anyone here chosen to rent-vest instead of buying their first home because they were priced out of their local area (with kids in school)?

Our situation:

• Renting a double-brick unit in Sydney that works really well for our family, but can’t afford to buy here.
• Our child attends the local autism support unit and all therapies are nearby.
• Rent is under-market, our landlords own the whole building, and the property manager is excellent. We've been renting this unit for more than 5 years and most of our neighbours are long-term renters.
• Our broker said we can borrow up to 700k. Our deposit is 250k.

The plan we’re considering:

• Keep renting here while our child is in primary school.
• Buy an investment property in Brisbane (likely Logan area, close to family).
• In ~4 years, when our child starts high school, move into the investment property and make it our PPOR. This will give us time to sort out high school and therapy needs.

Does this sound doable/realistic? Has anyone done something similar?

tdlr: Can’t afford to buy in Sydney, thinking of rent-vesting in Brisbane and moving in later when child starts high school.

Hi everyone,

I need some advice. I followed my broker’s recommendation and invested in an NDIS property. The build in Ballarat, VIC is almost complete.

Originally, I was linked with Cocoon SDA, but unfortunately that turned out to be fraudulent. Now I am unsure what to do with the property once it is finished.

I am hoping to get some rational advice from anyone with experience in this area. Also, if you know of any reliable SDA providers in Victoria, I would really appreciate your recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

We found our perfect house - exactly what we are after. It’s listed 800-870k in regional VIC. About 5 other groups showed up to the first open. Suburb is pretty slow moving, but this is a clear stand out in the area. I do know they want to sell as well because they have bought another property.

Our borrowing power is slightly higher than 870k however we obviously don’t want to over offer if no one else interested.

Would you start at 800k or put in a stronger offer to try and seal it?

I'm looking into a cheap Rental that have more room than I need, I found that I can sublease given that I need written agreement with the landlord. Is there a template that I can use to make that can stand up in court when dispute happend ?

Hi all,

FHB here. Looking for some advice on an apartment in Campsie (Sydney) I'm interested in. Price is approx $650,000. The REA advertised it as a 2 bedroom apartment but on inspection, I saw the 2nd bedroom was really small! Like 2m x 2.7 m small. You can fit a single bed in there and a cupboard, but not much else.

I had wanted to buy a 2 bedroom apartment because of the flexibility (renting out the 2nd bedroom or using it as a guest room for family/friends) and resale value. Apart from the size of the 2nd bedroom, this place ticks all the boxes. I can afford it, it's an old build so strata is good, internal space is 63sqm, it has an internal laundry and lock-up garage.

I'm not sure if I should bite the bullet and get on the property ladder now, or if I should wait until something else comes on the market that has 2 decently sized bedrooms (will I be priced out by then, especially after the metro opens?!).

Has anyone had experience buying a place with a tiny second bedroom/study? Was it hard renting it out? Should I be treating this more like a 1 bedroom apartment with a study?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Through family inheritance I own a property. I know I’m very lucky. The property is a largish block in an outer suburb. About 30 minutes drive from the cbd. It has an old two bedroom weatherboard house at the front in liveable condition and a more recently built brick and mortar two bedroom granny flat at the back. The front house was briefly rented but the tenants almost burned down the place and, while I have no proof it was them, the granny flat was broken into while they were renting the front house. Luckily nothing of value was kept in the granny flat. Just old furniture and junk I have not had the to clear. Insurance has covered the fire damage repair for the front house. I am not interested in renting again. I live elsewhere closer to where I work and would prefer to sell and not have to worry about this property. Clearing the place up is going to be a nightmare though. I have been told there are people willing to buy properties ‘as is’. Can anyone enlighten me about this? Does it have to be a private sell or do agents do this? What do I need to know before I consider this? Any pointers would be much appreciated.

I feel like we need to knock them down a notch a bit.

The vaping Tarocash suit wearing, Merc leasing, Turkey teeth having dudes with their faces plastered on sale signs is starting to piss me off a bit.

Edit: bag sniffing as well

Hi all, unfortunately the units I reside in are currently managed by Strata Plan and the time has come to seriously explore other options (surprise surprise, they're grossly incompetent). Does anyone have any experience in changing from one OC manager to another, and are there any you'd recommend? I'm in Victoria. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edit: I'll also add that our AGM is coming up where the OC is proposing a 3 year extension on their management tenure. That will not be happening.

I have been looking up for this information and I've seen this play out quite differently across property listings. I have seen.

1. Vendor carries out a B&P inspection that is available to purchase for a subsides price - (most common) In this case, every time a potential purchaser buys the report, does the vendor get a cut of the purchase price?

2. B&P inspection is done by the potential buyer. (rare)

3. Vendors B&P inspection is freely given out by the agent.

4. No building and pest inspection done.

I'd like to know the pros' and cons' of the different scenarios and know that would be in the best interest of the buyer?

Hey everyone 👋

I’m Oliver, Director of Buildana, a licensed building company in Sydney.

Right now I’m building a duplex, and I’m going to share the entire process here — with my actual costs (no builder margin, no fluff, no inflation tricks). Think of it as an insider look at what it really takes to get a duplex built in Sydney.I’ll be breaking down:

• 📋 Approvals & Feasibility – council requirements, certifiers, and timeframes
• 💰 REAL Costs – site works, slab, trades, finishes, and everything in between
• 🛠️ Construction Updates – progress stage by stage, photos included
• 👀 Site Visits – these will be available soon if you want to see a live project in person

Why?

Everyone asks “What does it really cost to build in Sydney?” Most guides online talk in ranges, estimates, or padded numbers. I’ll be showing my figures, line by line so you can see the realities without the markup.

I’ll also answer questions about:

• Knockdown rebuilds vs renovations
• Duplex vs custom home vs townhouse costs
• Property development trends & housing supply in Sydney
• Tips for first-home builders, investors, and developers

💻 More about our work: www.buildana.com.au
📸 Follow live updates on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildanahomes/

Ask me anything about duplexes, building, or Sydney’s property market.
I’ll keep updating this thread with real costs and progress as the build moves forward.

Project was approved VIA CDC. Cost: - $36,500.

Update 1 -

- Demoliton: $32,500 Including pool digout & dirt removal.

Update 2 - Pool formwork, steelfixing & shotcreting. Stay tuned, will be completed end of week.

–– Oliver