Victoria

To Buy Or Not To Buy (Off The Plan)

To buy or not to buy (off the plan) is an important issue for an increasing number of new homebuyers and property investors. When done responsibly with professional guidance (offered by Jim’s Building Inspections, for example) it can be a positi...
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Meth testing - the new norm for prudent home buyers

The New Norm? Including Meth checks in Pre-Purchase Building Inspections For home buyers there is nothing unusual about organising a Pre-Purchase Building Inspection on a potential property purchase. For smart buyers, a Pre-Purchase Building Inspe...
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Am I An Owner Builder?

Whether you are or aren’t an owner builder can sometimes be a tricky concept to get your head around. Even if you didn’t personally lift a hammer, but rather project managed different trades to do the work, – you are still, legally, the owne...
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Blacklists For Potential Tenants? You Betcha!

Yes. Blacklisting tenants is a thing and may not be talked about because of shame-related issues. According to the ABC, a person can be blacklisted without even being aware. His or her name in such a case will pop up on tenancy databases meanin...
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What's involved in a home inspection?

Most of the time we never get to meet our clients face to face and only a small handful are ever able to come along to the home inspections we organise. So there is often a bit of mystery around what exactly we do during a home inspection. ...
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What's Depreciation?

New to the property investment game and struggling with the lingo? You’re not alone. Below is one definition posted by news.com.au to build your real-estate knowledge. What’s depreciation? > Depreciation Often investors can claim a po...
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The D-Word: Time To Talk Depreciation

Sad fact: Many Australian rental property owners are failing to correctly calculate depreciation. “I have often seen clients who have owned investment properties for five, six or seven years and have never claimed any form of depreciation becaus...
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Beware Of Unqualified Building Inspections

How to avoid unqualified building inspections? In a Fairfax article, Chris Dyce, president of the Australian Society of Building Consultants, says go with experienced building inspectors. Make sure they’ve work experience in the industry and don’...
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What Victoria’s New Tenancy Laws Mean For Landlords

Victoria’s new tenancy laws mean that landlords need to pay extra attention to basic standards, especially relating to health and safety. These include (but are not limited to) providing functioning heaters, stoves and even deadlocks. Furthermore, ...
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10 Horrifying Traps a (Good) House Inspector Might Find

Number One: Asbestos. Enough said. Number Two: Termites. In a word: EVIL. Number Three: Fire hazards. Wouldn’t wish this upon my worst enemy. Number Four: Faulty smoke alarms. It’s a thing. Number Five: Ghosts. Okay, kidding. Okay, ma...
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