Talking Apartments

While short stay rental may sound like a great way to make some extra money there are lots of extra costs.  In this chat we work through the pros and cons of short vs long stay rentals including what property is best suited. Also what are the extra costs of short stay rentals inluding the booking site cost, cleaning, furniture etc etc. 

The Gold Coast Council are changing their rating system for apartments so now higher apartments with a better view pay more rates. Does Victoria have a similar view tax?  Also we chat about when investors sell should they ask a tenant to move out or is it OK for them to stay. 

With the rental market growing rapidly many owners and renters are dealing with the issue of rent increases. Owners want to look after their renters but need to cover increased costs. Renters are battling cost of living presures so it is a tricky balance. 

Apartment rents have been volitile over the last few years. Lately they have risen sharply and everyone wants to know if they will keep rising. 

It was some time ago that Josh and Emma Wilson met at an 80's party on the South Coast of NSW. Since then they have moved homes and travelled through France before falling in love with Melbourne and each other somewhere along the way. Josh grew up in the Barossa Valley in SA and was a self confessed computer nerd in his early days before building a very successful IT Project management business Me...

When Harriet Alexander was living in London she took in a three legged rescue dog. "Pedro" had a number of behavioral issues due do past trauma and neglect. Little did she know at the time Pedro was about to completely change her life. Harriet was so determined to understand him and how to help him that she ended up making a career of it. With the help of inspirational mentors and a lot of study i...

If you have never tried a Canelé you are in for a treat. If you are already a fan then I have some very exciting news. With its origins in the Annociades convent of Bordeaux where nuns cared for disadvantaged children, Melbourne has its very own decedent of the French boulangerie Vincent Uso moved to Australia from France about 6 years ago. With a dream in his heart and the secrete recipe from his...

Don't you just adore a good love story. Jelmer Stellingwerf was happily going about his life working in Switzerland when he was swept off his feet by an Aussie girl studying music at Zurich. Somehow he convinced his boss Australia would be a fantastic place to set up a new office and he and Karina moved here in 2019 leaving his family behind in his home land of the Netherlands. Karina is a profess...

Have you every wondered how some people are able to do so much for others without any hint of personal recognition or financial gain. Growing up in Melbourne as the youngest 4 boys Nic Bolto had his outlook on life re set when his oldest brother Rob died of Leukemia. As if that want enough he lost another brother to suicide sending him and his family into deep shock for many years. What he discove...

Most Victorians have endured some form of restrictions since late March 2020 and it will continue until late November 2020 and beyond. For Daniel Wolff the early days of lockdown were tough and it took him a couple of months to settle into a pattern that helped him deal with the personal and commercial challenges most of us are facing every day. Daniel is the Director of Capstone Education who are...

It times of trouble and challenge it is truly heartwarming to hear about less fortunate people being supported. Su Mai grew up in Malaysia before spending time in London, Uganda and Boliva and now Melbourne. Through Su Mai's work in her business Art Tearapy she supports people to take charge of their own mental, physical and emotional well-being. Su Mai explains how she uses her own personal exper...

As we have discussed several times the apartment market trends differently in each capital city around Australia. The local market dynamics such as supply and demand play a big role but now we have the variations in Covid-19 restrictions and interstate travel factors at play as well. To help understand what is happening we welcome back our go to apartment market commentator Leigh Warner - Head of...

While Covid-19 has turned up the pressure on all of us, the importance on mental health and well being has always been there and always will be. This special episode of Talking Apartments goes inside the home to discuss the very important and personal issue of mental health. Rachel Bowes is Head of Crisis Services and Quality at Lifeline Australia and speaks to us about what you can do to manage y...

When the property market hits troubled waters the industry turns to valuers for help to understand the property fundamentals and navigate their way through the complexity of issues. Valuers deep property knowledge provides a rigor that grounded and provides structure to factors not normally experienced. That is certainly the case now given the combined health and economic crises combining in a per...

Firstly I hope this finds you and your loved ones well and successfully working your way through all of the challenges Covid-19 is creating for all of us. Over the last 2 weeks there has been lots of announcements from the government and industry bodies about changes in response to our living, working and financial arrangements. The federal and state governments have been very active is getting fi...

There are 6 themes driving the apartment market in 2020 plus gobal economic issues like the Coronaviris. Some are shorter term and some longer but all will directly impact how apartments perform from both a capital and rental value throughout the year and beyond. Mr Leigh Warner - Senior Director Research Australia with JLL has just completed his analysis for the residential market outlook and dis...

One of the greatest fears for most sellers of real estate is what happens if we don't get our price or worse still... it doesn't sell at all. Adding to that stress is if you have already bought your next home and committed yourself financially so you have double the exposure to the market. What about if someone offered you a guaranteed sale price but still let you go to the market to see if you ca...

One of the keys to having a sucessful investment property is getting all the little things right. Some of them like landlord insurance don't make for riveting dinner party conversation, but are very important to understand and have in place. Landlord insurace for apartments is a bit different from houses. For a start it is part of a larger building and has many other residents and owners all aroun...

While the spring selling season tends to drive the housing market, the apartment market doesn't like to miss a good party and this year, it is getting picked up for the ride. Spring has sprung early and values are on the move. Trent Wiltshire is an economist at Domain focusing on the property market and housing policy. As you will hear he has some good news for both house and apartment owners. Whi...

For 10 years from the mid 80's  Stephen Hodge was one of Australia's leading professional cyclists racing in Europe competing in 6 x Tour de France, 4 x Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) and 2 x Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain). Through the work he and others have done on and off the bike he has helped pave the way for male and female Australian cyclists to win not only the Tour de France but many othe...

With apartment buildings now exceeding 1000 units and containing multiple uses such as retail, office and food plus many resident services, the role of the Owners Corporation Manager (OCM) (formerly Body Corporate Management) has had to step up dramatically recently. Add to this issues such as combustible cladding, greater community integration, high service standard expectations and long term mai...

I had to book a long way ahead to find a slot with Nerida which is not surprising really as Nerida Conisbee is the Chief Economist at REA group (or for our purposes - realestate.com) and is a regular commentator on the property market for many TV and radio stations on the residential property market around Australia (as well as some highly regarded property podcasts. haha). As it turned out the ti...

Regardless of your political persuasion if you are a property investor you would have been pleased to see negative gearing and capital gains tax rules remain unchanged after the recent Federal Election. With those issues off the table it is back to business as usual when it comes to property tax. One important property investment tax deduction that is occasionally overlooked is depreciation. This...

Just had a very enjoyable catch up with Jordy Catalano and Tim Fleming on the current issues and future direction of apartments. Five years ago Jordy Catalano and Tom Hywood launched Apartment Developments to bring the disparate offering of off the plan apartments to one place. Both Jordy and Tom are the sons of Fairfax media heavyweights and injected fresh energy into a burgeoning sector. Since t...