Why Skipping Strata Checks Could Cost You a Fortune
Buying your first property is not an easy task. One particular client, been looking for six months, they have made offers on three different properties and the offers have been accepted, but only after they've done a property strata report have they found out the special levies and those special levies run into tens of thousands of dollars.
So if the client didn't do their due diligence, that would have cost them, after settlement, a lot of money. And what I'm advising clients at the moment is when you are making offers, definitely do strata reports.
If you're buying a house, definitely do building and pest inspections. Just don't rely on real estate reports to your own because the bad stock, that is stock that has got special levies, that is damaged, that there is something else happening that it's not been disclosed, like termite damage is hitting the market.
The investor is instead of spending money or maintaining the debt, they are passing that liability onto the market and selling it while they can.
And first time buyers seem to be the ones who are attracted to the probably lower price properties and they're the ones who could get stuck with a higher bill after settlement.
Normally when there's a economic downturn or interest rates rise, the bad stock in property market hits the market first. So normally that washes through in the first three, six, nine months, but after a period of time they are sold and what you'll find is the better stock starts to hit the market.