The Real Estate Shonks Thread

[muzzamo]

Thought it would be interesting to start a thread on this.

I'll start with this one:

With the number of house sales falling of a clift, have you ever wondered what a Real Estate agent/professional does to fill in spare time before they receive their redundancy offers?

Yesterday quality newspaper, the Australian runs an article “Mum ready to go shopping for second home”

The article reports :

THE memory of her mortgage rate rocketing above 9 per cent last year is not enough to scare Kirsten Friedli away from the property game.

Following the Reserve Bank’s decision yesterday to drop the cash rate 100 basis points to a 45-year-low of 3.25 per cent, Ms Friedli is ready to go shopping for her second home.

With $220,000 left to pay off a $350,000 home loan, Ms Friedli, 35, and her partner Matthew, 40, plan to take on another mortgage to buy an investment property.

Cool, so this Mum from Port Kembla thinks it is never a better time to buy property. But hang on, doesn’t Real Estate Agents think it is never a better time to buy? Umm.

What does a google search yield us? Umm, she has a facebook profile.

It turns out that Kirsten Friedli actually works in Marketing for real estate agents Dougmal, see here.

Surely the reporter from the Australian must have known this before reporting on it? This just seems like blatant dishonesty to me. I get really fired up about this topic because there seems to be so much media manipulation going on due to the relationship between the newspapers and the real estate industry (via advertising)

[joshzxzx]

Real Estate agents have no idea, They are there for one thing and one thing only TO SELL HOUSES and MAKE MONEY..

I work in the Financial Industry and laugh when the real estate agents say there is nothing better than bricks and Mortar. IDIOTS!

My only advice, Never and i mean never rely on what a Real estate agent has to say! Always get a second opinion....

[muzzamo]

Real Estate agents have no idea, They are there for one thing and one thing only TO SELL HOUSES and MAKE MONEY..

I work in the Financial Industry and laugh when the real estate agents say there is nothing better than bricks and Mortar. IDIOTS!

My only advice, Never and i mean never rely on what a Real estate agent has to say! Always get a second opinion....

So what sort of results do you think happen when we allow our newspapers to become effectivly mouthpieces for the real estate industry?

[joshzxzx]

Real Estate agents have no idea, They are there for one thing and one thing only TO SELL HOUSES and MAKE MONEY..

I work in the Financial Industry and laugh when the real estate agents say there is nothing better than bricks and Mortar. IDIOTS!

My only advice, Never and i mean never rely on what a Real estate agent has to say! Always get a second opinion....

So what sort of results do you think happen when we allow our newspapers to become effectivly mouthpieces for the real estate industry?

People get fooled and make stupid decisions...

[Howie]

Just before this gets out of hand, no-names in this thread (we don't want to be done for defamation). If you feel you've been hard done by there's always the ombudsman, you can contact the real estate association of South Australia. Cheers.

[Cruise]

Do you own property Muzzamo?

[Omicron]

Real Estate agents have no idea, They are there for one thing and one thing only TO SELL HOUSES and MAKE MONEY..

Sounds fine to me. What else are they going to do? Not sell houses? Not make money?

This, however, astonishes and frightens me far more:

Hoping to land a bargain


A FLOOD of applications to buy 11 cheap new homes in Brahma Lodge are expected next month when Salisbury Council opens its affordable housing project.

Under the pilot program the council will sell 11 house and land packages in Dansie Cres but homeowners will not be required to pay for the land until they sell the property. Prices are yet to be set but the builder, McCracken Homes, expects the two and three bedroom homes to be sold for between $250,000 and $270,000. Salisbury Mayor Gillian Aldridge (pictured) said not having to pay for the land up front would reduce monthly mortgage repayments condiserably.

“For most home buyers, by the time they buy the block of land and build the house it’s sometimes out of their reach,” Ms Aldridge (pictured) said.

“It means that in future years, council will retain a percentage of the land value as it increases.”

Ms Aldridge said the council had already received about 100 expressions of interest, but expected more than 1000 people to register when applications opened on March 17.

To be eligible to register, applicants must live or work in the Salisbury Council area, be a first home buyer and have a household income under $59,000.For further details visit the council’s website.

http://news-review-messenger.whereilive ... a-bargain/

What nonsense. Subsidising a home purchase in one of the cheapest suburbs of Adelaide to home-buyers who would never be allowed to borrow the value of the house and land in the first place? Have we learned nothing at all from the financial crisis?

[loud]

I first heard about this concept about 12 months ago, I can't remember where... some breakfast or cocktail show...

Anyway, whilst very sceptical about the whole "something for nothing thing" I would suggest people wait for the full terms and conditions to be released before canning the crap out of an innovative idea.

Equity Finance Mortgages have actually been around for quite a while, the only difference here is that the council is providing the finance rather than a bank or credit union.

So what happens is this:

Council provides 30% equity finance on value of property - no repayments due until property is sold or purchaser chooses to repay
Purchaser maintains mortgage for remaining 70% of the property
If or when the property sells (or purchaser chooses to pay out early) - the equity finance is due.
This will work by the Council being paid back the amount originally borrowed plus a share (not sure what percentage but probably 60%) of any increase in the value of the property

If you do some quick numbers on the difference in loan repayments for a full loan versus a "subsidised" loan for a $270k property, you can save yourself over $5k a year in repayments, which for someone who can't afford to maintain a full loan is absolutely brilliant. (Based on 30 year loan, monthly repayments, 5.74% interest)

Yes, the purchaser will not achieve asignificant capital gain due to the repayment of the equity loan, but that is not what it is about. It is about reducing up front costs and monthly repayments.

[Prince George]

What happens if they default? Have the council then given the land away for nothing?

[loud]

What happens if they default? Have the council then given the land away for nothing?

Good question... I assume you mean default on the traditional mortgage component of the loan?

It would be set up in such a way that the council have first rights to recover costs...

ie. purchaser defaults on main mortgage, property falls in to the hands of the council. Council sells property to cover their cost and then remainder of proceeds go to traditional lender.

[stumpjumper]

What happens if they default? That's easy.

The council, who still own the land, come around and pull it out from under the house, leaving the homeowners with exactly what they paid for.

The council then finds a good spot and spreads the land out again for someone else to build on.

Next question!