Melbourne’s property market won’t stop until demand from COVID lockdowns has eased and interest rates increase.

Though the winter months may ease some of the excitement, house prices are assumed to continue rising until the end of the year, and well into next year.

Most suburbs of Melbourne have gone up, recovered and gone beyond where they were before COVID hit.

In the last few months, we’ve seen about 20 per cent growth across Melbourne including popular areas like Craigieburn, Epping, Thomastown, Lalor, Roxburgh, on average and it seems there’s still a way to go.

We will start to see it slow down as first homebuyers achieve their goal but there will still be plenty left over the next few months.

Melbourne’s median house sale price surpassed $1m for the first time in the first three months of 2021, after a staggering 8.8 per cent quarterly increase, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
Australia’s banks, NAB, ANZ, Commonwealth and Westpac — have each predicted Melbourne house prices to rise by between 7 and 16.2 per cent by the end of 2021.

If you’re interested in becoming a home owner for the first time or looking to downsize now is the perfect time. Contact SKAD Real Estate agents today to further discuss your options.

Craigieburn, with its large newly built homes, is ideal for families and you’ll find your neighbours to be just that – friendly maturing couples and families.

With grasslands and golf courses, shopping centres and skate parks, and good proximity to Brunswick cafes, weekends can fill up quickly in Craigieburn.

Craigieburn is an evolving area with many planned housing estates, some award-winning, so housing is affordable, varied and largely contemporary in design.

Craigieburn has 177 properties available for rent and 261 properties for sale. Median property prices over the last year range from $595,000 for houses to $400,500 for units. If you are looking for an investment property, consider houses in Craigieburn rent out for $400 PW with an annual rental yield of 3.5% and units rent for $350 PW with a rental yield of 4.5%. Based on five years of sales, Craigieburn has seen a compound growth rate of 8.0% for houses and 2.8% for units.

With flourishing estates, many schools, great shopping, grasslands and sporting facilities, Craigieburn offers a wonderful family lifestyle full of spacious homes and room to breathe.

Zip up Sydney Road and the Hume Highway and you’ll find Craigieburn, just 25kms north of Melbourne’s CBD. It’s an evolving area, retaining its greenery – you’ll find many activities here including golf courses, sporting grounds and conservation grasslands here. It’s developing considered new housing estates with shopping centres and facilities like the Hume Global Learning Centre.

The Lifestyle

Craigieburn can offer you everything from shopping at Craigieburn Central, Craigieburn Plaza or Highlands (which hosts a monthly farmers market) to having a round of golf at Craigieburn Public Golf Course or a picnic at DS Aitken Reserve. You can also check out what’s on at the gallery at Hume Global Learning Centre, or drive down the Hume Highway to the many different cafes of Brunswick’s Sydney Road.

Homes

While some estates more established than others, Craigieburn can offer affordable contemporary family homes built on well-designed estates. Along Waterview Blvd you’ll even get just that – water views – from your spacious new family home.

If you want to relax in a brand new family dream home, with good shopping nearby, plenty of schools, great facilities and impressive grasslands, Craigieburn’s definitely the suburb to be at. Just 25kms north of the city but a quick half hour drive to the cafes of Sydney Road, there’s something for the whole family here.

Continuous lockdowns recently in Melbourne have hit property auctions in our city, but most experts do not expect to see an end to the boom any time soon, though price rises are likely to slow down.

Preliminary figures from researcher CoreLogic show that almost two-thirds of auctions scheduled in Melbourne during the week ending last Sunday were withdrawn, contributing to a clearance rate of a paltry 35 percent.

Even with a lot of auctions being cancelled, there still appears to be plenty of demand from buyers. That is being driven by record-low variable mortgage interest rates and fear of missing out by wannabe property owners.

However, property prices in Melbourne could soon be hit by affordability constraints. 

Currently, ANZ economists are forecasting national property prices to rise by more than 20 percent in 2021, unaffected by the latest round of lockdowns. 

Even in Melbourne, where the clearance rate had been hit the hardest, prices are still holding up well considering the lockdowns. 

Some analysts expect house prices across the capital cities to rise by 7 percent next year and a further 3 percent in 2023.

Other analysts are forecasting dwelling values to rise by 5 percent next year, followed by a drop of 5 percent in 2023.

A lot of property investors favour one type of property – either apartments or houses. While there are pros and cons to both, one of the advantages of houses is the investment you’re making not only in the house, but also in the land.

Land value increases in value over time, and investment in a piece of land also gives you options to renovate, subdivide and develop, all of which lead to greater increase in value. But, with a land investment, also comes time, money and skills.

So, what’s the best path to take?

HOUSE AND LAND INVESTMENT Advantages
Opportunity for higher value increase – this depends on market conditions Strategic improvements e.g. renovations, subdivision, development Depreciation of the structure of houses
Disadvantages
Generally lower rental income Higher maintenance costs APARTMENT Advantages
Generally higher rental yield – good for your pocket Easier to hold – a strata manager is responsible for the upkeep of the building More properties at the cheaper end of the budget
Disadvantages
Not owning the land means the value won’t go up as much or as quickly Strata fees Less renovation opportunities Some markets are oversupplied Banks can have stricter lending policies 

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT INVESTMENT PROPERTY? While all types of property have good and not-so-good aspects, there are some key decision-making factors you should take note of. Ask yourself…
Can I afford this property? – Know your limits. If you can’t afford the deposit, the loan repayments, the taxes you’ll pay, the agent’s fees and any renovations you’ll need to do to ensure good rental income, don’t buy it. Speak to a lender or mortgage broker who can help you work out what you can afford.
Is the location good for you? – Quality location is one of the most important parts of a real estate investment. It should be a deciding factor in choosing the type of property you buy. If you know the location is right, but can’t afford to buy a house, an apartment might still allow you to own an investment property in an up-and-coming area.
Is there enough chance of income? – If you’re keen to maximise your profit from every investment, one of the biggest advantages to houses and land investment is the potential to expand. Buying land means you can create multiple income streams via subdividing, developing or rebuilding. This tactic is only and option with house and land investment.
TALK TO AN EXPERT Before you sign any contracts, talk to our team of experts to discuss the right investment strategy for you.

The real estate industry is the same. People still need to move, and virtual home tours are very common. Although, as you may know, buying a new home isn’t as simple as viewing homes. 

There are a few different steps involved in the home buying process and completing these tasks from home comes with challenges at multiple times during the process. 

Here are some tips that addresses every step of your home buying journey, allowing you to purchase a new home in the safest manner possible. 

Step 1: Consultations

This is just like your typical buyer’s consultation, except for the fact that the meeting is held over video conference. This is a good opportunity for you to get to know us and decide if we are a good fit to work together. 

We’ll start by discussing your needs. Understanding your motivation for buying a house and what is important to you as a homebuyer helps us a lot in the home buying process. Our goal is to deliver a fully personalized experience, and make your dream come true.

Next, we’ll discuss the market. We’ll cover difference between a buyer’s and seller’s market, as well as the specific market conditions in the area you would like to move to. This also serves as a natural transition discussing your criteria. 

We will work with you to identify your list of “must-haves,” a price range that you are pre-approved for and comfortable with, and any additional criteria that you have your mind set on. 

Once we’ve answered any additional questions you might have, we’ll walk you through our loyalty agreement and associated business disclosures, then send them via DocuSign for you to easily review and complete. 

Most tenants will do the right thing and pay their rent on time
but you need to be ready to act when they don’t and be willing to start the eviction process if the behaviour continues.

Step 2: Property Search

Our agents will keep you up to date and email you homes that fit your search criteria as soon as they hit the market, giving you inside access that buyers looking on third party websites won’t have. During this step, we’ll be keeping in close communication to keep track of the homes you are considering, as well as any background research needed to help you evaluate different properties.  

Step 3: Video Tours

Since we can’t schedule a time to go and see properties, the virtual showing process is the best option.

When you find a property that you want to see,  your agent will schedule a time with the listing agent to do a walkthrough of the home. The virtual tour can either be done live over Facetime or a pre-recorded for you to watch whenever you like. 

We recommend booking a live viewing with your agent so that when you view the property live, you can ask questions and get answers right away.

 

Step 4: Sign Online

Once you’ve found a property, toured it virtually and decided to put in an offer, we can help you sign the documents digitally. 

We’ll start by taking you through the purchase contract and identifying opportunities for negotiation. Once we have arrived at terms that you agree with and are confident will result in the acceptance of the seller, we will create a digital offer and send it to you via DocuSign. 

As an extra, along with your offer, we recommend you create a personalized letter to send to the seller to introduce yourself. You can explain why their home is the one for you. We will then send the offer to the listing agent to present to the seller. 

 

Step 5: Payment Process

Once your offer is accepted by the vendor and your contract is complete the settlement process begins. To ensure your safety, we can do all of the banking and deposit money process online!

If you’d prefer to handover a cheque, your agent will arrange a time to pick up the cheque while maintaining proper social distancing rules and ensure that it is delivered in a timely manner to the seller. Regardless of your situation, we are prepared to handle this step with your safety in mind. 

 

Step 6: Final Inspection

We will ensure that the vendor is aware of your inspection appointment time so that they can properly disinfect the property and maintain social distancing while the inspection is being conducted

We usually recommend that buyers attend the last 30 minutes of the scheduled inspection in order to go over the report with the inspector. Every inspector operates a bit differently, but we will work with your inspector to schedule a time to connect over video chat to discuss the findings included in your inspection report, and then proceed with any repair requests that you may have.

 

Step 7: Settlement

Usually, you would normally go in person to complete your closing paperwork, but since we can’t at the current time, we are working with solicitors that are taking innovative approaches to make your settlement date safer for you. 

All the documents will be sent digitally and as a buyer the only thing you have to do is contact your agent to arrange picking up the keys. If necessary the agent can drop the keys off to a secure location where you can collect them later, making the whole process contact free.

Step 8: Congratulations on Your New Home!

Once settlement is complete and the keys have been handed over, the property is yours! If you need help finding moving companies, we will be happy to reach out to companies our past clients have had good experiences with and ensure that they are taking proper health precautions. 

The world is changing, and we are ready to adapt in order to make your real estate goals happen. If you have any questions about our virtual home buying process or would like to schedule a virtual consultation, call us at 1300 SKAD RE or email us at info@skadre.com.au

 

As with anything people buy, homes need to be marketed to reach the right buyers at the right moment. Marketing and advertising is a big part of what your real estate agent can help with (although some will charge extra for the service). The better the marketing, the more interest and the more competition, which means there’s the best chance possible at getting a good price when selling your home.

There are many ways to market a home, and your real estate agent should come to you with a strong marketing plan to reach prospective buyers. Our agents take care of the marketing plan for your home. However, if you are selling your home yourself, here are some top tips for successfully marketing property:

1. Create a thorough marketing plan

Your real estate agent should have a good grasp of what sells homes in your area: for example, whether people read the local papers or if a major newspaper will be worth the outlay. The marketing plan should include not only print advertising but also digital and physical marketing materials such as flyers, a pamphlet for your property, and signage.

2. Get great photographs

Part of selling a home is creating a vision. Prospective new owners are looking for feelings of happiness, security and comfort in your home, so fantastic photos are the cornerstones of any property marketing campaign. Making sure there’s plenty of light, no clutter, and a sense of space is essential; to achieve this you may get a professional stager to arrange hired furniture in the space. Of course, if you have views, a great garden, a pool, period features or recently renovated kitchens or bathrooms, these should feature prominently in the pictures of your home.

3. Make use of your street frontage

Marketing a property is rarely done without the use of a signboard, as attracting the attention of passers-by is a time-tested marketing method. One particularly worthwhile feature of the signboard is that it can capture people who are not necessarily actively looking for a new home to buy – that is, they’re not scouring the listings and circling the real estate supplement in the newspaper – but could be persuaded when the right home becomes available. For this reason, it’s always worth putting up a signboard, even if you’re in an apartment and the board isn’t directly attached to your property.

4. Do a flyer drop of the neighborhood

People who are already living in your area can be the perfect source of potential buyers: for example, young families who are growing out of apartments and want a family home in the school area or retirees looking to downsize but stay close to their friends and family. Creating a good flyer or brochure to distribute around letterboxes and to hand out at open for inspections is an important part of good advertising.

5. Cover the major online advertisers

Your real estate advertising will of course have its widest reach online, so ensure that your estate agent has created fantastic listings on realestate.com.au and domain.com.au to show off your property to the biggest audience of homebuyers in Australia.

6. Make sure you have professional copywriting

It’s sometimes very clear that real estate agents – instead of hiring a professional who knows how to wield words to their best effect – will often write the property description themselves. And it’s not always pretty. Make sure that your agent sticks to what they do best – selling houses – and hands over the copy creation to a professional writer.

5. Choose the right agent

Most people selling their home choose agents from the most recognizable agencies, or perhaps who they bought the property through initially. The problem with this is that the agents from the biggest agency on the block aren’t necessarily the ones who understand the market, what buyers are looking for, or what the best tactics to sell your house are.

Not all agents are created equal, there are good and bad agents everywhere, so make sure that you take the time to find the right agent to whom you can trust.

 

Feng shui to sell a house fast

Feng shui is the art of arranging buildings, objects, space and life to achieve harmony and balance, and many believe adopting its principles can help you sell your house faster. Follow these basic feng shui rules to increase your chances of a quick sale:

Paint your front door – The front door is one of the most significant aspects of a house in the practice of feng shui, and should exude strength and confidence. Paint it a bold, lucky colour like bright red to help attract positive chi to your home.

Reconfigure the walkway to your front door – In feng shui, it’s considered back luck to have a direct pathway to the house like an arrow towards a target. If it’s possible, redirect the pathway to your front door so it’s curved or angled, such as by laying an S-shaped stone path.

Install entryway lighting – If you don’t have lights on either side of your doorway, install them. According to feng shui, lights attract chi energy and luck to your home.

Start prepping your home now

 

Home-selling improvements that take less than an hour

One of the biggest tips for selling your house is to give the place a spruce-up before you go to market. However, making home improvements can also be one of the unseen costs of selling a property. If you want to make the biggest impact for the smallest investment of time and cash, here are 15 quick ways to help you sell your house:

1. Tidy the front garden and nature strip

Curb appeal is an important factor in getting people interested in buying your house, so spend an hour mowing, weeding, edging, and pruning.

2. Clean the windows and mirrors

Make sure your windows are nice and clear, giving a sense of space, light, and air. Same with your mirrors, especially the ones in the bathroom.

3. Put away kids’ toys

After a while, it can be difficult to remember what your house looks like without all the Lego, balls, dolls, and trucks, but tidying them away will make a big difference to the sense of space and calm in your house.

4. Pack away personal items

De-personalising is a great house selling tip. Taking away knick-knacks, most of the family photos, letters, bills, medications and reminders creates a more streamlined environment that people can imagine themselves living in.

5. Put out some nice throw cushions

One way to give your living room and bedrooms an instant lift is by using some attractive throw cushions on the sofas and beds.

Be sure to make a ‘getting your house ready to sell’ checklist. It could be as easy as getting some new throw cushions to spruce up your living room.

6. Take everything off the fridge

Clear off the artwork, postcards, magnet collection, and shopping list – the fridge is a large surface in the kitchen, and the eye can be drawn to the clutter. Kitchens are an important consideration for buyers, so making it look its best should be top of the ‘getting your house ready to sell’ checklist.

7. Put some plants inside the house

Another way to make the environment more pleasant is to add some house plants to the living spaces.

8. De-clutter surfaces

Go through the house with a keen eye for any clutter – books, papers, magazines, trinkets, stationery. Anything that could be put away should be.

9. Make sure it smells fresh

Think about all the senses when you’re preparing for a house inspection: the smell is a big one. If your place smells damp or stale, it could be a turn-off for potential purchasers, so open the windows or burn some essential oils to freshen the smell.

10. Clear any magazines from the bathroom

Many bathrooms have a stack of books, newspapers, and magazines that go unnoticed. Clearing them away makes the bathroom much tidier and more appealing.

11. Add lamps to make the lighting brighter

If you’ve got dim or harsh lighting, adding lamps to dark corners is a great way to brighten a space or create a gentler light.

More tips for selling your home include brightening up dim rooms with lamps.

12. Fix creaky doors and leaky taps

Been putting off some DIY jobs? Now’s the time to upgrade. Get out the spanner and the DW40 to eliminate small, but irritating, flaws in your home.

13. Dust in hard-to-reach places

Above door lintels, in the corners of ceilings and floors, on the top of cupboards. Keen-eyed buyers will notice cobwebs.

14. Repaint window sills and door frame

Painted wooden window sills and door frames often get chipped or stained, so a quick touch-up is a good way to improve the look of your home quickly.

15. Tidy the backyard

Pop away the lawnmower, bikes, kids’ toys, neaten up the barbecue area, and remove any major weed breakouts.

To get a general idea of how much your property may be worth before you sell, you can also request a free property value estimate online. This only takes 30 seconds and gives you an in-depth report featuring historic sales data and comparable home sales in your area

Avoid selling during the holidays

While selling in summer allows you to showcase your home in

Its best light, you also want to make sure that your property is on the market at a time when there’s plenty of buyer interest. As a general rule, avoid selling over the Christmas period when people tend to be on holiday or spending time with their family.

Choose a qualified real estate agent

Picking the wrong real estate agent can end up costing you thousands of dollars and causing you a huge headache, so it pays to do your homework before making a decision. Here are some of the key things to consider:

• Track record/reputation: What properties have they sold recently? Do they have positive online reviews?
• Sales/marketing plan: How will they promote your property and how many open homes will you have?
• Fees and commissions: How much of a commission does the real estate agent charge, or do they operate on a fixed-fee basis? Do they include marketing in their fees?
• Service: How will they keep you updated throughout the selling process?

1. Choose the right agent and auctioneer –

These are debatably the most important people involved in your auction. Your agent and auctioneer will have a big impact on the outcome of your auction, so it’s imperative to take time to find the right partner to help you sell your home. Choose someone with a proven positive history, look at the agent and auctioneer’s recent sales in the area, and make sure your auctioneer is registered under the Land Agent’s Act.

2. Set your reserve price –

As the Vendor, you can set the reserve price with your agent. Look at previous auction results in the area to get an idea of how much you can expect from your property, and consider the supply and demand during your time of sale. Make sure you’re not picking a holiday time, as people aren’t usually keen to buy during these periods. Talk with your agent and make sure you pick the peak time to sell your home.

3. Spend time preparing your home –

Whether it’s styling your home or making renovations to increase your property’s value, little changes can boost the appeal of your home in order to attract potential bidders. Keep your house looking nice all the way until auction day – you never know when a prospective buyer is looking. Speak with your agent about hiring furniture for Auction day if you’ve already moved out, as buyer’s like to see the appeal of the home and having the house styled helps greatly with this.

4. Advertising price –

When advertising your property prior to the auction it is necessary to give prospective buyers guidance on price. The advertising price should be set in accordance with the comparative market value of the property and with consideration of the reserve price. Speak to your agent in depth about what’s right for your home. Some buyers will not contact the agent if they see the property advertised for auction without an indicative price range so it is vital to provide this information to them, the more open and clear you are about it, the more people will seek more information!

5. Social Media Marketing –

In order to for you to have a successful auction and get the sought after price for your home, it is essential that you utilise social media advertising to attract as many prospective purchasers as possible to your auction. This is done by advertising the property in every possible medium and also making sure that all the neighbours are invited. Having a large crowd at an auction creates a perception to prospective buyers that there is strong interest in the property and that they need to bid in order to purchase the property. Even invite friends and family!