How to Stay Cool When House Hunting
Stressed at the thought of buying a house? You’re not alone, in fact, Allianz Australia conducted a study in 2019 which found that “searching for a new home affects the mental and emotional wellbeing of more than half (51 per cent) of Aussie home buyers,
Renovation Rules: What Permissions Do I need to Renovate?
So, you’ve seen a property that you feel has great potential to be renovated into the perfect home or investment property. Let's say it is a stand-alone, three bed, one bath single storey on a 580 square meter block. The home has had one owner for 30 years and requires modernisation. 'Perfect!', you think to yours
The Best (free) tools and tips to help you find the perfect home
Whether you are buying your first property or adding to your property portfolio, we have collated the best on and offline resources that can help target and speed up your search efforts.
10 Steps To Take When Buying Investment Property: Part 2 Find And Buy Your Property
Armed with a clear plan and the dream investment team you are already set to make more informed and financially viable decisions. Unfortunately, this does not negate the need for you to do your homework. There are multiple factors that combined can make or break an investment property. As a potential investor, you will want to be as informed as
Is Now the Time to Buy Your Dream Apartment?
While we all know that house prices are going through the roof at the moment, you might want to take a second look at that prime-location apartment overlooking Surfers Paradise. That’s right, while Australia is bouncing back from COVID-19, many countries around the world are struggling to recover, so tourist hot-spots across Australia (
Huge Prices or Tiny Houses?
House prices! Just when you think that surely they can’t go up anymore, they go up! The Australian housing market remains red hot, and increasingly properties are going for well over asking price, as many first time home buyers get blown out of the water by those with bigger budgets. Australian house prices are rising at the fastest ra
What To Know Before You Purchase a Fixer-Upper
Often reserved for buyers with building experience or the very bold, a ‘fixer-upper’ property can often prove to be an opportunity for not only a bargain - but a chance to create something that’s totally bespoke!If you’ve spotted a home that needs a little (or a lot) of TLC, we’ve got the low-down on what you need to know
Five MORE factors to consider when buying the perfect building block for your home
Locations of adjacent properties In most cases, you will be buying a block of land that is adjacent to other lots, which may or may not have existing dwellings on them. If you buy a block that is next to a pre-existing home, this will determine where you build your home and what type of building you can build.Conversely, if the
Five factors to consider when buying the perfect block to build your home
It really is the classic Australian dream - to buy the quarter-acre block on which to build the perfect home. You kinda have a picture in your mind about what you’d love to build, so now all you need to do is find the perfect block right? You’ve searched online and found some great options, and some that seem too good to be true. Ten a
4 Big things to consider when buying a beach house
Wouldn’t it be nice…The crisp sea air accompanied by the soft sound of waves greeting you every morning as you stumble out of bed. Not even thinking about shoes, you take the short and lazy stroll to the beach. It really is the classic lifegoal, to get that dream house by the beach and enjoy all that it has to offer. What could be m
The Insider Guide to Buying the Great Australian Queenslander
With ongoing lockdowns and border uncertainty, there is a well-publicised increase in the number of Aussies looking to relocate to the great Sunshine State. And who can blame them? Glorious weather, easy-going people and vast tracks of space, Queensland is increasingly the place to be! And what could be more ‘Queensland’ than the Icon
What is a buyer’s agent and do I need one?
Ask almost anyone who has bought a property before (especially a first home ), and they will tell you that it can be a difficult and challenging process. However, not that many people can claim to have purchased a property during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic! Not only is demand falling in some areas (such as inner cities), but demand
5 Essential things to look out for when viewing a property
At PestBuildLegals, we are huge advocates for ensuring that you get the best team together to ensure the best outcome when buying your home. Therefore, any quote that you receive through us is always from a provider that we have personally verified. But even before you get quotes for a pest or building ins
The 7 ‘Hidden’ Costs of Buying a Home: Part 2
Yes, there is a part two! In the last article, we broke down some of the biggest costs that are associated with buying you home. Why? Because for many of us (especially us first home buyers), buying a home is scary enough without being blindsided with unexpected bills and expenses. Indeed, at PestBuildLegals, we always recommend that y
The 7 ‘Hidden’ Costs of Buying a Home: Part 1
When you buy your first home (or even your second or third!), it can be easy to lose sight of the many ‘additional’ ( and mostly unavoidable ) costs that are not always obvious when you are first starting out. So, apart from the mighty feat of accumulating your d
Do I need a Pre Purchase inspection when buying a new build?
You’ve found your future home, you’ve made an offer, and it's been accepted! At this point, your contracts are drawn up and the responsibility falls upon you, the buyer, to ensure that there are no hidden defects, pending repairs or structural issues with your new property. Your contract will be conditional on pre-purchas
5 Financial Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying Your First Home
There’s no end of things to bear in mind when buying your first home. In fact, it can be easy to be overwhelmed. In our experience with home buyers over, we’ve noticed that there are many lessons that are often only learnt once the property purchase has been completed. Indeed, like many things in life, we often look back and wish we
How to save more than 50K when buying your first home
Buying your first home is no doubt one of the biggest investments most people make in their lives. Ensuring that your finances are in order is one of the first and biggest challenges to overcome. It is therefore helpful to know that there may be some unique avenues of support available exclusively to first time home buyers. If that’s you,
What are "Pest, Building and Legals", and why do I need these when purchasing a home?
They say that buying a home is one of the most stressful things that you will ever do (after getting married!). From the long search for the dream home, to arranging finance and then making an offer , it's no wonder that fifty-one percent of first home buyers surveyed found the process “stressful”, while 42% described
7 Essential Steps To Buying A Home
After a long search, you have finally found a home that you love, and so now it’s time to take the essential next steps to secure that property. We know that buying a home can be a confusing and even stressful process, especially when doing it for the first time. However, it does not have to be that way. The most important part of buying
