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Don’t make these property investment mistakes

Market Insights
5 years ago
3 minutes

Buying an apartment as an investment property is a huge milestone for most of us. That’s why it’s crucial to make the right purchasing decision – even though you aren’t going to be living in the property yourself.

We take a look three key things you should avoid at all costs.

Missing out on the First Home Owner Grants

If you’ve decided that your first foray into property ownership will be as a landlord, you could be missing out on potential savings from the First Home Owner Grant.

To qualify for the grant you have to be purchasing a property as your own primary residence. You’ll need to live in this new property as your principal home for at least 12 months, commencing within 12 months of your settlement date.

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After this 12 month period, you can then move out and move tenants in – and go back to renting if you choose. It’s a small inconvenience that could save you thousands of dollars.

Check out the eligibility and grants on offer in your state here.

Overpaying for building amenities

Strata fees, Owners Corporation fees, Body Corporate fees – they have a few names but ultimately they all amount to the same thing: ongoing costs that you will incur as the owner of a property in a multi-residential building.

With many apartment developments upgrading their in-building amenities to outdo each other, the cost to build and maintain them has also increased.

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The potential problem is that you will have to pass on the increased fees to your tenants. This may exclude more potential tenants from choosing your property.

The trick is to make sure you don’t buy into an apartment development that has so many expensive amenities that the Owners Corporation fees eat into too much of your rental income for the property.

If you are going to live in the property yourself for years to come, you may be happy to use and pay for all of these amenities such as swimming pools, gyms, private cinemas and so on. But your potential tenants may not see the value.

Find out exactly what Owners Corporation fees pay for here.

Not considering transport connections

More people will be more likely to choose your rental property if it has easy access to public transport.

Quite simply, if you buy an investment property out of the reach of people without their own vehicle, you are reducing the potential pool of tenants.

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In Australia’s capital cities approximately 8% of people do not own a car. But even tenants with cars are more likely to favour a particular property if there’s handy transport nearby. Young couples, in particular, are likely to only have one car between them, so public transport is still a must-have.

Remember, the best way to decide where to purchase an investment property is to look for the things you might look for if you were intending to live there yourself.

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