Bucket list for 2013 in real estate

by  Andrew Winter,  News Limited

I HAVE compiled my wish list for 2013 rather than resolutions.

How happy Real Estate would be if they could be fulfilled!

1 One Australian property law
We are a country of just 22 million people, so let us choose the best bits from each state and make us a world-class leader in property transactions. This would ensure we were not only a beacon of efficiency and transparency but logic too, a system for the new era, a system that not only protects buyers, but equally protects sellers.

2 Fairness in the residential lettings market
Tenants do need protecting, but how about the poor old landlords? More often than not landlords are not wealthy banker types, but mum and dad investors giving it a go. Let us break away from this one-sided policy we seem to have picked up from the UK and US and bring back fairness and common sense, with one set of laws for tenants in all states please.

3 Interest rates a little lower
True, our rates are historically low but we are in a global market and they are sky-high compared to the US and UK and even Japan. Can we try to consider more fixed-rate promotions without penalties? True, it is not ideal if rates go down, but if you are comfortable with an amount per month or per week the assurance of no changes gives everyone peace of mind and an ability to truly budget.

4 Stop telling everyone they, too, can be millionaires
Many who claim this achieved it in an era when, to be fair, all you needed was a little nerve and a reliable lender/broker and off you went! We are not likely to see this type of property phenomenon again for many, many decades if ever. The value percentage gains needed just do not add up at the moment and we really couldn’t all be property millionaires.

5  Stop listing at over-the-top prices
You are just wasting everyone’s time. You should always add a bit for negotiation, because you never know, but just because the vendor wants a certain price does not mean that’s what it’s worth, and a good agent should just hang back until the sellers get serious.

6 More creative housing construction
Small does not mean bad, and good design is not expensive. Please let us see far less of the McMansions and House Burgers and more freestanding canapes and fine terraces.

 

Source:  Andrew Winter. News Limited

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