The latest issue of Australian Property Investor magazine has hit the stands and in this issue it unveils its fifth Hot 100 list of suburbs set for property price growth in 2011 and beyond.

The Property Professor, Peter Koulizos, is also featured this month and he reports on the latest good news and bad news he has gleaned from RP Data Market Update.  Peter is a property educator at UniSA and TAFE and the author of The Property Professor’s Top Australian Suburbs – a guide to Australia’s top suburbs for property investors and homebuyers

Read some of Peter’s article below

Reading some of the newspapers or watching the evening news, you’d most certainly be excused for thinking that Australia was in an economic recession. Much of what we hear in the media is doom and gloom; rarely is there a positive story about the property market nowadays. However, when you dig a little deeper, you can also find some very positive news, which can give us a little bit more confidence in the market. Yes, it may sound strange, but there definitely is positive news out there!

First, the bad news.

• Canberra was the only capital city in Australia where property prices increased
  during the three months to April (and that was by a miserly 0.8 per cent).
• The number of properties selling is well below the five-year average.
  The average time taken to sell a house has increased from 41 days last year to
  55 days.
• The average time taken to sell a unit has increased from 36 days last year to
  51 days – that’s an increase of over 40 per cent!
• Vendors have to drop their asking prices for their houses more than they did last
  year; from a discount of five per cent to 6.5 per cent.
• Vendors have to drop the asking prices for their units more than they did last
  year; from a discount of 4.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
• Auction clearance rates have been trending downwards since the beginning
  of the year.
• The number of properties currently on the market are at almost all-time highs –
  there are 280,000 properties currently for sale!

Consumer confidence is dropping.

If you want to read Peter’s good news this month we have a special offer for our readers!

Bundled The Property Professors Top Australian Suburbs & Sold For Top Dollar for a bargain price and FREE postage and handling! Limited stock so don’t miss out!

To read Peter’s full article click here

Charyn Youngson
Professional Home Stager | Property Renovator | Author

I was recently browsing the Australian Property Investor Magazine website and was heartened to find an article listing the Top 12 tips to Getting a Great Property Valuation.  Especially when I read that the Number 1 tip was Home Presentation.  It comfirms what I consistently preach to my clients (both home owners and property investors) that a combination of Home Staging and cosmetic Renovation are not only great tools to add value to a home before selling but  you can also squeeze extra equity out of your current home or investment property prior to refinancing.

Please find below the part of the API article written by  Michaela Ryan

It’s quite frustrating to have your home loan application knocked back or the loan amount reduced because the valuation came in too low. Here’s 12 ways to get a good one.

Investors periodically have their properties revalued in order to finance additional investments. For example, just say your property’s value has gone up by $50,000. Most lenders will let you borrow around 80 per cent of that value ($40,000) which you can use as a deposit for another property purchase. In order to work out exactly how much they’ll lend you, lenders will often send a property valuer around. So we’ve asked a couple of industry experts for the insider’s word on property valuations. How can investors get the highest figure possible?

Phillip Grahame from Herron Todd White says, “The main things in a valuation are the size and functionality of the dwelling and the size and location of the land.” So obviously the chances of a favourable valuation mainly come down to your choice of property in the first place. And of course, it also depends on what the property market in general is doing at the time. However, according to our experts, there are a number of things you can do to make sure you pull off the best valuation possible on the day.

1. Presentation

Grahame says presentation is the most important thing to take care of when you have an upcoming valuation.

“(Make sure) the gardens are looking nice and the clutter throughout the house is cleaned up and all that sort of thing. Because first impressions, even with property valuers, do count,” he says. “If it’s freshly painted and really neat and tidy and presents well, as it would to a buyer, then we’re going to be more positive on that particular property.”

Mark Ruttner from First Valuation Group agrees, “The owner should provide a property in a state of repair similar to an open for inspection. “There’s nothing worse than rolling up to value a house and all the clothes for the last two weeks are on the bedroom floor; the toilet seat is up; dishes for the last week are still sitting in the sink.” Ruttner suggests mowing the lawn and trimming the edges. He also says any external painting should be fully completed, as first impressions can be significantly dampened by incomplete paintwork.

to read the other 11 Tips    Click Here