Rob Klaric tips for home buyers faced with too much choice
Residz Team 5 min read
Finance-ready home buyers have a lot of choice right now. Apart from choosing to buy now or to hold off until next year’s anticipated house price falls, home buyers must decide where they want to live and what type of property they want.
Residz ambassador Rob Klaric has been in the real estate game for more than three decades. In his book ‘Secrets of the Property Expert’ he devotes a chapter to ‘Decisions, Decisions.’ Here we share some of his great advice for home buyers.
Start your in-depth research before you buy
A 2019 Zolo survey found a five minute cursory look was all it took for some home buyers to snap up a home. But more thorough purchasers typically will spend one to two hours looking at a home before they buy.
Rob Klaric is a fan of the latter approach. He suggests you always plan and research.
Knowledge is power, and these days knowledge is readily accessible, says Rob.
“Make sure you use every available tool to your advantage to educate yourself and complete your own due diligence before making any commitment to buy.”
One of those tools is Residz.com, our free platform which has data on 12 million addresses around Australia. Print out a free property report for suburbs you’re interested in, or the specific address if you’ve got it. You get loads of info about crime data, internet speeds, local amenities, school results, demographics, investability scores and more.
With this tool in hand, you can make more informed decisions. Here are some choices facing buyers.
Apartment or house?
Because you’re not paying for the land on which they sit, apartments are cheaper, says Rob. If your choice is dictated by money, and you buy wisely, then buying an apartment can bring you closer to your dream home.
However, he adds, that if you’re able to secure a house and land rather than an apartment, that will always be the preferred investment because you’re in total control of your asset.
“You always have more flexibility if you own a freehold property because you have the say about all decisions regarding repairs and maintenance, a luxury not open to you in an apartment complex.”
Rob’s verdict: House trumps apartment if you can afford it.
Local, national, or international?
Rob says that buying real estate in an area you don’t know is fraught with danger. Perhaps you’ve heard about glowing reports of huge property growth in a region and you want in.
“The best advice I can give you is: don’t,” he says.
He says risks include:
- Lacking the knowledge to analyse the results you’ve been reading, so don’t know if one-offs may have stimulated the growth.
- Lacking vital knowledge on many details that can influence your choice of location (Now Residz can help research at a distance).
- Not understanding local laws. The laws relating to property differ widely from state to state and country to country. You risk making a bad decision if you don’t understand the differences.
Rob’s verdict: Local is always best.
Sea/tree change or bad change?
We know that the pandemic saw a structural change in the housing market as many hybrid and remote workers felt free to choose a regional or coastal lifestyle home but keep their city job.
Rob says some mistakes that are made when people do a tree or sea change are:
- People don’t factor in the costs of maintaining a lifestyle aways from the city, especially if there are limited work options in their dream location (or the boss wants you back in the office a few days a week)
- The idyllic location you fell in love with starts to lose its gloss when some realities of living in a small and potentially remote place hit home (fewer amenities and entertainment, no family and friends nearby).
- Rural or seaside abodes rarely keep pace with the value of the city property you’ve sold (if you did sell). Going back becomes difficult.
Rob says research lowers the risk of you regretting the decision. You can use Residz.com to find out about schools and amenities before you make the change.
He recommends renting, if you can, for 12 months before deciding to buy into an area that you don’t know well.
Rob’s verdict: The amber light is flashing so proceed with caution.
Location or position?
Location, location, location is the mantra, and Rob suggests position within a suburb or location is important too.
The value of a property can be adversely affected if it’s on the wrong side of the tracks (with high crime trends, high bushfire or flood risk, or not quite making it into a desirable school catchment area).
“Remember to look past the suburb alone, and carefully examine the immediate neighborhood surrounding your potential purchase to make sure you’re not mistakenly buying in the worst street within that desirable area.”
Rob’s verdict: Buying the worst house in the best location won’t save you if the position is wrong.
Water view or large block?
For those fortunate to be in this price bracket, this can be a conundrum, says Rob. He says historically the lifestyle benefits of water views have made them a better investment than rural properties (just search up the investability scores of coastal properties in our Investability Index!)
He says large rural properties will always be in demand if they have good infrastructure and easy accessibility - and a property with a great water view may not be worth as much as one big block that can be subdivided.
Consider:
- Position and location should be considered first, and then water views and land second.
- Assess your options from a financial point of view, balancing up the cost to buy, and the likely resale value of each property.
Rob’s verdict: The resale value of the property wins the day.
Renovate or ready-to-move-in?
Plenty of TV and streaming channels extol the virtue of doing up a tired, worn-out property to which you can add value. And, it’s very common to see home owners choosing to renovate.
Rob says renovation can certainly be a way to increase your investment in the long term, but it carries its own measure of risk. Not the least of which are the soaring renovating and building costs.
Be careful not to be too carried away by potential and pause to consider the following:
- Are you good at DIY or will you pay for all work?
- Can you live in the property while it’s being renovated?
- If not, have you factored in the costs of renting while the work is being done?
- Are you confident the changes will in fact add value?
- Is there a risk of overcapitalisation?
Rob’s verdict: Be warned! Renovating is hard work, it’s messy, noisy, and rarely runs to either budget or schedule.
Residz can help buyers and sellers reduce the stress:
- If you’re considering purchasing or renting a house, make sure you download our free property report for that address. We have 12 million addresses in our database, with every report offering information on internet speeds, crime trends, bushfire and flood risks, investability scores and a whole lot more.
- Would you like to sell your home and connect with home buyers willing to pay your dream price? Residz has the solution, for zero dollars. Put a DreamPrice on your home to test interest. Read about DreamPrice(™) here.Image: Rob Klaric from the cover of Secrets of the Property Expert