Know Your Market Inside Out

Know Your Market Inside Out

When your in the market looking for that next investment opportunity, it pays to pick just a few suburbs and get to know them back to front.

Recently we purchased a property within one day of it coming onto the market. This was possible because we knew the suburb intimately, we knew what the property was worth and what we could do with it. I have listed below some ideas on how to get to know a suburb:

1. Pick a suburb or two, but I would suggest no more than 3.
2. Get on the web and read the newspapers to get familiar with the properties that are listed in the area.
3. If you have a price range and know how much you can spend, first narrow your search to fit within that price range, then go to the open homes for as many properties in that price range as you can. Later once you get familiar with what is available within a certain price range, you might then go up in price range to see what a bit more money will buy you – this you will need to know if you are considering purchasing a property to renovate as you will need to know first what your competition will be and also what kinds of features those properties have that make them appealing.
4. When you go to view the properties, make note of what is around, see what other properties are in the street – is the house your looking at the nicest, the worst or somewhere in the middle.
5. Drive around the suburb, understand where the shops are, where the parks, schools and public transport is located. These are all things people consider when renting or buying a property.
6. Find out some information on actual sales prices that have been achieved – listing prices are not the best gauge, although they give you an idea, the actual price is the real data. You can find this out by simply calling agents who have sold in the area – you might see that on the Internet the property is under contract, call the agent and ask how much it sold for. If there are still conditions on the contract, they might not be able to tell you but make a note to call them later to find out. Another way is to use research tools like RP Data, PriceFinder or Onthehouse.com.au.

The idea is that you become very familiar with the suburb and that puts you in a position to be confident in making offers on properties and you can spot a bargain when you see it. It also means that when your looking at either renovating, sub-dividing or property development, you have an idea of what the sale price could be for the end product.

All this effort is arming you with the knowledge you need to buy the property well – after all, when it comes to property investing you make your money when you buy.

Cheers
Shane

Category: Property Investment