There have been local impacts with Brisbane and reduced prices and higher rents, on a city level I suspect the impact has been quite limited, working out exactly how much of the slow market is due to the flooding is only an estimate though.

Rest of the year.. It's an educated guess I always say, though if forced to guess I would look at the interest rate expectation curve 18 months out, another rate rise might present some more motivated sellers, buying conditions are already good but perhaps might get even better.

A recent quote I particularly liked about the business of predicting: – From 'The Personal MBA'

'Many people make a business of selling certainty, which doesn't exist. Prediction, forecasting and other forms of business soothsaying are popular because they provide the illusion that the future is knowable and controllable. Excersizes in prediction aren't worth the cost – if there was a foolproof way to predict gas prices, interest rates, or stock prices, the people with the magix knowledge would be enormously wealthy and would have no need to sell you anything'

Excellent work Kent! Would be interested in a breakdown of the reno costs and what you found worked the best in terms of bang for buck.

Jamie,

I'm always looking

Due to the amount of enquiry I have been getting in the <350k and <300k price brackets from investors, often looking around Logan because they need the higher yield as well, I've just adjusted my fee structure as a trial to make it less expensive to hire a BA for these investors. Can't say it's a large trend yet but it's something that I have reacted to.

That's an impressive square one to be back at, I like the game you play! It's a strong starting square in terms of all the components, net worth + income + saving habit

Key take away from your post is that your lifestyle is well covered by your income, that's pretty important. I see people who earn more money than 160k, sometimes significantly more who struggle to make ends meet and get ahead.

First step I think is to work on the knowledge base, for property I quite like the investor group meetings that are available in most places, the kind of evenings where you pay $20-$30, get some coffee and bikkies and make contacts and listen to different people speak about their business or investing experiences.

One issue is to watch out for is a premium on the price, I've seen some ordinary results for DHA investors as they simply paid too much for the property, applies to all property but perhaps a little more so to an area where the marketing is so powerful.

DHA house in Brisbane.

Bought in 2003 for 341k
Sold in 2010 for 458k

Assuming the investment tracked the gains from a Brisbane housing index over the same time frame the sale price should have been around 610k.  So the original investor would have been significantly better served by throwing a dart at a map when buying.

Kent Cliffe from Momentum Wealth posts on here and has impressed with his knowledge when I have spoken with him.

http://www.momentumwealth.com.au/

Perhaps your information source is thinking of the SEQ regional plan? Upper Mt Gravatt and Carindale are principal activity centres from this document, nothing new about that information though.

TOD (transport orientated development) is also a possibility, but nothing specific for Mt Gravatt that I have seen.

Generally a nice area though!

Are you talking about solar heating Sebastian?

There's actually a lot of choice out there!

Look for someone who is truly independent, not actually selling you a specific product but prepared to help match a property to your exact needs.

Hi Scott,

I always get a smile when agencies publish their list of 10 must ask questions you have to ask your agent, of course said agency that published the list no doubt fulfills 100% of their own questions!

I suggest the following template when interviewing a prospective Buyers' Agent.

* Check insurance
* Check agency principal's history and character
* Ask for sample purchases similar to your target profile
* Do some digging yourself and verify knowledge and experience & what they have been buying
* Have a chat with 1-2 previous clients, talk about the weather.. whatever.. just throw in the question 'would you use X again?' and pay attention to the answer

None of this would take particularly long and it would solve a lot of problems I believe. Also it's not a scientific list yet, just a beginning and open to improvement!

 In response to your questions I would answer

a) Definitely. 25% of total fee up front and remainder on unconditional.
b) Independent
c) No
d) A lot. Average search time 26 days, but maximum in 2010 was 4 months, plenty of properties carefully inspected.
e) Very detailed, the idea is to fulfill the client's needs rather than to push them in any particular direction, so working out all criteria and which are most important is critical.
f) Really a lot, something to ask for examples of when you are interviewing an agent!
g) I'm not sure I understand this question properly, without background info of client or property you can't do anything.
h) No, though some alignment can work well without conflict. Also all benefits and discounts passed 100% onto client.