Buying in BrisVegas sight unseen

Hi another Sydneysider priced out of Sydney here,

No idea why Brisbane is called BrisVegas so hoping no offence to Brisbanites.

Wondering if anyone has purchased in Brisbane without ever seeing the property in person? If so what is the process you have taken?
Or is it a must to personally visit the property?

E.g. Is it reasonable to just use a Buyers Agent, then Building and Pest inspections for purchasing then have the Property Mananger manage the property once settled?

Also what are the things to look out for or recommendations when purchasing in Brisbane?
e.g.
I believe settlement is 30 days but can be negotiated.
I heard conveyancing should preferably be done using Brisbane conveyancor/solicitor.
Does Dual occupancy potential vary greatly between various councils?

 

Hi another Sydneysider priced out of Sydney here,

No idea why Brisbane is called BrisVegas so hoping no offence to Brisbanites.

Wondering if anyone has purchased in Brisbane without ever seeing the property in person? If so what is the process you have taken?
Or is it a must to personally visit the property? I'm in the processing of buying one in Brisbane having only seen the outside of the property only, not the inside! But the key for that one is the location, I know the property isn't the most modern and I accept that.

E.g. Is it reasonable to just use a Buyers Agent, then Building and Pest inspections for purchasing then have the Property Mananger manage the property once settled? Yes, that's reasonable, but if you are in Sydney, wouldn't you want to look at the place at least once in your pest and building or finance cooling off periods so to speak, and if it's not what you expect, then you can pull out? It's only 90 minutes away, and airfares arent that expensive.

Also what are the things to look out for or recommendations when purchasing in Brisbane?
e.g.
I believe settlement is 30 days but can be negotiated. I have 42 days as standard, but do whatever suits you. The market is still fairly cool in Brisbane, so its still a buyer's market more or less.
I heard conveyancing should preferably be done using Brisbane conveyancor/solicitor. Yes, I wouldn't use a NSW based legal person for a Brisbane purchase.
Does Dual occupancy potential vary greatly between various councils? There's not that many councils in Brisbane you'll be glad to hear, so it will be easy to check it out. You've got Brisbane City council (covering the majority of metro Brisbane), Logan City council, Moreton Bay Council, Redland Shire Council and I think Ipswich City Council?.

Good luck!

 

Welcome!

I just bought an IP in BrisVegas using a BA. Settles next week after a 6 week settlement.

It was sight unseen, but the BA provided me with plenty of photos via their Dropbox account. They were present with the B&P was done. They also went back a 3rd time after the bad storms hit the area - to check there was no damage.

I flew up to meet a handyman service on site that will be doing some repairs and tidy ups. That was a few weeks ago, so I could see the property for myself and decide on what I wanted quoted. That work will start the day after settlement.

You do need to use a qld solicitor/conveyancer.

Make sure you use the floodcheck websites. You can do searches for specific properties.

If you use a BA, don't expect to sit back. Put a lot of time into research. That will give you better knowledge so you can bounce ideas with a BA. Be prepared to change tack if you find the market conditions tough ( lots of competition in the market ).

You also need to think carefully about your strategy. The types of properties you are looking for, what attributes and characteristics of location, property type, land size, etc.

 

I make offers on contracts from here and if successful I fly up a few days later to check it out. I'm looking at stuff that flies out the door so if I flew there prior to signing anything I'd miss out.

 

Oh - Dual Ocs. I think I heard from beachgurl that Brisbane City Council are clamping down on Dual Ocs. Apparently a no no in Brisbane if the zoning is not right.

More info on SS:

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81288

 

Can anyone recommend a flood check website?
Cheers

 

http://floodinformation.brisbane.qld.gov.au/fio/

 

Sorry for being so negative, but for me personally, I refuse to buy anything unseen even if I was to have a buyer's agent. I know that having the emotional attachment should be taken out of the equation and should be based on numbers, however I feel that purchasing a property is not like buying a t shirt. A friend I know bought two properties in Cairns through the "advice" of his cousin and brother and they sold him both duds which is still not tenanted out at the moment. This exercise is going to cost him as he wants to sell the two units back on the market. Really his fault because he did not do his due diligence and relied on the falsified projections.

I was interested earlier in the year in Raymond Terrance (halfway between Newcastle and Port Stephens) and was able to establish from a visit there where some of the good streets were over the bad ones ie the bad street had stripped out cars, cracked glass on the road and walk path, broken front doors and all the houses was runned down.

Its your hard earned money and you should not part with it so easily. Take a trip down, talk to some of the locals in the RSL club or neighbors (great source of information but don't believe everything) and also as mentioned by the others you want to make sure that the tradies are not quoting you for work which is not necessary (I personally had this and I was able to tell them to stop BSing me because I was personally down there at night to check).

 

NEVER buy sight unseen, just not worth the risk when you are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars

 

Yup I just did it. Worked out perfectly. Photos were fine and the price was so good that I knew if I waited to do more DD I would have lost it.

 

It's one of those ironic nicknames like when you call a red head "Blue". I prefer Brisneyland.

 

@JRS


Brisbane = Bris
Gold cost = our own little Las Vegas

=

BrisVegas!!

 

haha, have never heard that one. No, it definitely started as a **** take on our fair city.

 

I think next time I buy, I will give my BA instructions to get some short videos of the street and surrounding streets. Photos were great and helpful but videos are better.

So easy with a smartphone these days and a Dropbox account.

My BA in the course of visits for the property I bought took over 100 photos. Very helpful.

With other properties they inspected for me, perhaps another 100 to 150 photos.

 

We've bought and sold a property never having seen it .

You need someone you trust to check it out .

We've bought several subject to inspection . On only one have we walked away when we've actually seen the place and in that situation. The property was misrepresented by the agent .

It supposedly had a double garage and a downstairs rumpus room , but the downstairs rumpus room took up the rear half of the garage so you couldn't fit cars into the double garage .....

These days of google earth make things much easier , so you can see things like the **** looking house on the other side or the transmission wires down the back fence .

As we're only looking for standard buys , I'm finding we're able to eliminate most of the duds before we get there .

On our last trip , we were interested in most of the properties we saw and main one we weren't interested in had structural issues which for some reason the pictures the agent put on the web site didn't focus on

Cliff

 

Great advice all, very much appreciated.
Bouncing ideas off BA and checking flood maps will be very valuable.

Once all has settled and tenanted, would you often have to return to the check up on the property on a regular basis?

 

In my experience, the most important thing is your relationship with the selling agent. They will have all the information on the negatives of the property so its important to build rapport and an open relationship with them.

Secondly, having a good team on your side like a PM who is happy to help with inspections (even for a small fee), tradespeople, B&P inspector etc will help you draw a fairly clear picture on the condition and location of the property.

At the end of the day however, I believe it comes down to the price you pay for the property e.g. you are not going to knock back a property for $50k under market value if it means shelling out $5k worth of cosmetic reno

 

this seems to one thing that puts people off buying interstate (not having a shot at you). your pm should keep you updated with condition etc. now... it is being rented but that doesnt mean tennants are rougher or harder on a house than you or i*. what damage has happened in your place over say the last year? maybe the garden got out of hand or a tap needed new washers, any heads through gyprock lately?. or another thing what if you moved interstate and away from the IP??
if your not going to the inspections with the PM at each interval, all you'll be doing is driving passed and saying "yep, there it is". harrasing tenants for your own inspection isn't required and can be off putting for you to poke around someones pad
Get your PM to email you copies of reports and photos too. plus ask them to look or ask if anything needs looking at if you want to keep on top of things

 

I have had residential property 5 km away that I haven't even driven past in years. Early on I did and even managed them myself but over time became more of a numbers game