1. Set Your Budget

• Determine the amount you can afford to spend;
• Meet with a mortgage broker to pre-approve your finance, by doing this you can determine exactly how much you can afford to spend on a property. It is usually safe to purchase a property within 90% of your pre-approved loan amount;
• Ensure you allow money for purchase costs (generally 5% more than the selling price) and it is always recommended to allow a buffer of 5% for any unexpected costs.

 2. Start Browsing

• Define your investment objectives
• Short list 2-3 projects (properties) that broadly match your investment objectives.
• Use the ‘7 Vital Signs’ to cross reference/match your investment objectives against the selected properties.




There are ‘7 Vital Signs’ contained within three key categories to consider for research when evaluating a suitable investment property;

A) Area information,

B) Physical attributes of the property,

C) Financial attributes of the property.

• Use the online investment calculator to select 1 property

The online calculator has several input variables; by altering each you will be able to consider different risk scenarios including holding costs and potential future gains. This is a powerful way to test the performance of your short listed properties against each other. Including a vital property performance indicator; Net Rental Yields can also be calculated.

If you require any assistance please contact us.

A word of caution

a) Property is a long-term (15 years and more) investment, thus any future predictive capital growth speculation shown on the website by any third party provider, should be measured with a word of caution: Future predictions cannot be determined by past performance for any asset class.

b) Historically property has grown in value but there is NO evidence of a regular property cycle: the period for a property to double in price vary greatly from round Australia. Some speculators use the term “Peak-to-Peak” to describe a property doubling. Australia’s national historical capital growth 7-9%. (source REIA). Property has also grown at a greater rate than inflation by 2.7%-3.5%. (Source BIS Shrapnel)

c) Be mindful of the risks associated with investing in property and how to potentially mitigate such risks.

 3. Secure Your Property

• Select a property from your shortlist to reserve – this can be done by clicking ‘reserve’ on the price list page for the relevant property. You have the option to submit an offer (e.g. lower price); acceptance of the offer rests with the vendor;
• Once you have reserved a property, you should:
  - Notify your solicitor to expect a copy of the sales advice and contract
  - Prepare the required deposit
  - Make an appointment with your solicitor to sign the paperwork and arrange payment of the deposit