Independent Property Valuer and Financial Adviser

Hi gn2011,

"I'm looking at buying an off the plan investment property, is there any point in getting an independent property valuer?  If so, any recommendation in Melbourne?"

The short answer is "no."
 
Off the plan purchases can be very tricky to value.  No one has the crystal ball to know what a property will value at at the time of completion.  And, no one will know, with any degree of certainty, what the workmanship would be like.  Unfortunately, the show room is not an indication either.  Any Meriton buyers will confirm this.  Example:  my sister-in-law bought a Meriton built-apartment in Hornsby.  They are on the second floor.  The bathroom was leaking from above.

Rhodes apartment buyers in Sydney are now realising that their off the plan units, now completed, comes with toxic smell. 

Off the plan buyers in one of the developments in Alexandria Sydney, when completed, discovered that rain water gushes inside the lock up garage. 

I have said it before, and I will say it again, if you want new, buy one that's 3-years old.  All the warts would have come out by then.  If the walls will cracked, it would have done so by this time.  If it has flooded, you will know from the strata report (read it carefully, find out what that body corp is spending their money on.  If you see plenty of repairs being done, bail out… pronto!).

I didn't know this then when I bought my unit in Hunters Hill which I had since sold.  I didn't read the strata report my conveyancer requested for me.  Had I done so, I would have saved myself thousands in sinking fund. There were so many repairs being done that the regular body corp fee wasn't enough.  I recall this experience with shhhivers running down my spine.  It was an absolute pain.

At the end of the day, though, it will remain to be your decision. 

Take care,

Angel

Hi gn2011,

Unfortunately an independent valuer can only give you an estimated price, and estimated rental but will not be able to tell you neighourhood, community stuff.  It is expected that you would have covered this in your research. What you are expecting from the valuer is outside of their remit, but I could be wrong.

Rental estimate should also be taken with a grain of salt.  If there is a flood of units, all being built at once, and all being available at the same time, there's going to be many landlords competing from the same pool of potential tenants.  High rent can only be obtained when there is scarcity but not when there is a flood of available, similarly designed and sized units. 

Your best plan of action would be to call a valuer listed in the yellow pages and asked him/her if you would include community, neighbourhood, infrastructure topics in his valuation.

Take care.

Angel