Posts by Cate Bakos
Dealing With Competition While Making an Offer – Cate features on RealEstate.com.au
CMA’s…. helpful or useless?
CMA’s (acronym for Comparative Market Analysis) are often downloaded and referred to as Buyers navigate their way through their due diligence in preparation for bidding on, or negotiating for a property. Frustratingly though, they often steer buyers in the wrong direction when data in the report is insufficient or when the integrity of the data is…
Read MoreHow Changing Bank Policy Affects Investors and Tenants – Cate Bakos writes for API
What effect have First Home Buyers had on the Victorian Market of late?
Only four weeks ago the State Government Stamp Duty Concession changes applied for First Home Buyers in Victoria. Increasing the 50% concession to 100% for all purchases sub $600,000 and applying a concession on purchases up to $750,000 was bold and we predicted that sales results in this price bracket would be skewed. A month…
Read MoreValuation Shortfalls… what do they mean?
In this tough investor market, the term “valuation shortfall” is dreaded by all. It is a banking term which means that the bank valuation is less than the price paid for a property. This is a particularly rare occurrence for an auction property but nonetheless, it is something that every buyer should be mindful of…
Read MoreReal Estate Agents – Make Them Your Friend Not Foe – Cate’s interview with RealEstate.com.au
The Sporadic Nature of Auctions
Yesterday we bid on a rare property; a classic single-fronted Victorian cottage in Footscray on just over 300sqm of land with dual street frontage. Many such blocks have since been subdivided and it is no surprise to familiar locals that these streets boast a blend of period cottages and street-frontage townhouses. When our investor clients selected…
Read MoreDoes Land Equate to Capital Growth? – an article by Amy Mylius for SPI
What makes an investment property a great one?
Last Saturday a delighful new investor client followed her itinerary through her first weekend of inspections and later that afternoon we received her diligent feedback. One property was a strong ‘green light’ and clearly stood out from the rest. Situations like this can prove to be a real challenge. Quite often we’ll identify a winning property in the first…
Read MoreAppraising a unique property… science vs art
Yesterday we had an auction bidding assignment in Armadale at a beautifully renovated, substantial family home in a pretty street near the train line. While we knew we’d have tough competition, gauging the interest and appraising the property was indeed a challenge. This is because of the uniqueness of the house. This beautiful brick Federation…
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