weekly auction resutls

Expenses you must know about when buying a house

by Chris Lang on March 14, 2012
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When people are planning to buy a house, often the first question they think of is “Do we have enough money for a deposit?”. This is a good place to start, but the expenses involved in buying a house don’t just end there – in fact, there are many more costs people should know about […]

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Location, location, location!

by Chris Lang on March 2, 2012
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The most famous expression of realtors is “Location, location, location!”. This really is one of the most important things you consider when buying or renting a house. A conveniently located older house can cost much more than a new one in a different neighbourhood. To make it easier for us, the biggest real-estate internet websites […]

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Understanding real estate ads

by Chris Lang on February 28, 2012
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Not very long ago, reading property listings of houses advertised for sale / for rent to me felt like reading in a different language. Property ads, especially the ones in newspapers, have so many abbreviations – no wonder a person new to real estate (or new to Australia) needs a dictionary to understand them. Some […]

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5 Ways to Deal With the Stress of Buying a House

by Chris Lang on February 9, 2012
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Let’s face it – buying a house is stressful. This process can completely take over your life and change many things about it. First you start giving up activities you used to enjoy, then your priorities change, suddenly there is tension in your family, which can escalate to frequent conflicts, and so on. You need to be aware of the cause of all that, to get your life back to normal.

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The smart way to pay stamp duty on a house – part 1

by Chris Lang on August 22, 2008
The smart way to pay stamp duty on a house - part 1

Stamp duty is a tax that you have to pay when purchasing a house. It is a significant expense and without a doubt puts an additional strain on home buyers. The smart way out is to use OPM (Other People’s Money) to pay it – whenever possible. Here is how it can be done:

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How to prepare certified copies of documents

by Chris Lang on August 19, 2008
How to prepare certified copies of documents

It can happen that in the house buying process you will be required to produce certified copies of certain documents – and many people are unsure what that means. Whenever you are being asked for a certified copy of a document, here is exactly what you need to do:

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Honey, I bought us a house online

by Chris Lang on August 12, 2008
Honey, I bought us a house online

It’s official – now you don’t have to leave your house to buy a house. Why? Aussie real estate auctions are now available online. As more and more people prefer to do the shopping in the privacy of their home, companies are trying to meet the demand and create great new services.

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How Google Maps made property research easier

by Chris Lang on August 9, 2008
How Google Maps made property research easier

he latest feature Google added to maps – Street View – makes property research so much easier! What we used to have is this view from above and it was really helpful, at least to understand what the closest amenities are – is there a school, a shopping center, a park near by etc.

Street level takes property research to a different level – you can actually tour the streets and see where the closest milk bar is or what kind of local shops are there. It really is as good as walking the streets.

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Pre-purchase inspection: things that go wrong and how to get it right

by Chris Lang on July 10, 2008
Pre-purchase inspection: things that go wrong and how to get it right

I recently had two building and pest inspections done by two different companies. The price was almost the same – but the difference in quality of service was amazing.

The first company responded to my booking promptly and arranged for the inspection to be carried out on the next day. I was promised that in case they find termites I will get a call immediately. Of course I was hoping that they wouldn’t because I really had my heart set on that property, but guess what – they did. Their inspector called me and let me know that there were signed of infestation and that the report will have the details.

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5 Great tools for online property research

by Chris Lang on June 17, 2008
5 Great tools for online property research

Doing efficient research of properties online saves you tons of time – and time is money, right? It is really a good idea to find out all you can about the house before you take time to inspect it. And it is possible with the help of these very useful tools: Reiv – weekly sales […]

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Types of houses in Australia – now with pictures

by Chris Lang on June 13, 2008
Types of houses in Australia - now with pictures

A picture is worth a million words, right? As I promised in my previous post about types of houses in Australia, here are the pictures of houses of different periods and styles. Hopefully these will help you identify the style of your house and the period it belongs to.

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