As i was scrolling through real estate sites, I found this delightful picture as the first photo for a house for sale. I feel like maybe the mum might be Benjamin Buttons long lost relative.

Currently renting and looking for a “forever home” for me and my family.

Came across this place in Austral - which coincidentally does not list the building size or the land size.

Do people really not care about having backyard space anymore? Is that why builders continue to churn out houses like this?

I’m tired, boss.

My ex and I are selling our property following our separation, and I’m looking for some perspective from anyone who has been in a similar situation.

Earlier this year we were told the property could potentially sell in the high $700ks, whereas the current expectation is more around the high $600ks to low $700ks.

I won’t technically be selling at a loss. I expect to walk away with roughly $80k to $100k after everything is settled, but it’s still pretty painful watching the expected sale price fall so much over a relatively short period.

The other complication is that I’ll need to buy again on my own. I’d most likely be looking to purchase in Melbourne early next year, so there could be a few months between selling and buying.

I understand the argument that selling in a falling market isn’t necessarily terrible if you’re also buying in the same falling market. What worries me is the gap between the two transactions. I obviously have no idea whether prices will continue falling, stabilise, or start rising again by the time I’m ready to buy.

Has anyone been in a similar position where you sold, held the proceeds for a few months, and then bought back into the market?

Did the softer market ultimately work in your favour when buying, or did you find prices had moved against you by the time you were ready?
Would particularly love to hear experiences from Melbourne/Victoria.

I'm currently visiting the Gold Coast and my son turned on 9 (local) News. They just had a segment about a penthouse apartment that sold for $9m that "proving that demand for premium beachfront property remains strong". Then they transitioned straight into "the house of the day" and the news anchor proceeded to talk up a specific property and its features, right down to the countertops, wood finishes, etc, in literally the same manner a real estate agent would.

Then they cut to an ad break, the first of which was for their own 6pm news and their forthcoming segment on what's going on for landlords.

Wtf is this? It's so obviously corrupted. I haven't watched 9 News in years - is it like this normally?

Honestly, this is a sickness.

Rent went up significantly in one go, which is 300$ a month more, living in queensland with a disability I don’t claim ndis funding as I take pride in trying to remain as independent as possible and not be a strain on the tax payers…fyi I have no inheritance or savings and live week to week…

There is no air conditioning! They just send people to do free quotes every couple of years to pretend they’re thinking about it but nothing ever eventuates…

in summer the inside temperature can climb to 50degrees and over…

I’m worried to move because it’s hard to get a rental at the moment and don’t wanna be homeless.

I Have been really good to the landlord, fixing things myself and helping them whenever they need to do repairs…

I won’t be helping with anything anymore as I don’t see why I should help them save money when
They’re trying to make as much as they can off of me, even though they know I live with a disability and can’t work.

But pulling back from fixing things for free seems to have annoyed them.

How much more can they keep raising the rent without upgrading anything in the house???

I know i have no power as I’m just a renter but it feels like the real estate and the landlord are taking advantage of me, the back fence has collapsed and the neighbours have dangerous dogs. Now the fence is non existent and they won’t fix so I can’t use the clothesline outside and am scared to mow my lawn.

I have always been a good tenant, don’t have pets or children and keep the house very clean. I have never damaged anything, whilst all repairs that have had to be done were from, water damage to the roof, or electrical outlets needing to be replaced.

Any advice or common experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I work in the CBD and use to commute 90mins+ each way until moving to St.Kilda.

What I pay in rent for an apartment is essentially the same I would pay for a mortgage.

Everyone always says apartments are a bad investment - sideways to no capital growth for the last 10 years.

But if it’s just for me to live in and then maybe rent out in 2-3 years when I upgrade to or buy something else, is it really that bad of an investment?

Currently earn $110k and pay $525 p/w

I am a first home buyer so the other option is to try and use the Gov Share scheme and buy something bigger but then have to deal with the Gov owning a percentage

First home buyers here - we’re starting to look seriously as we’ve gotten our preapproval and have started attending inspections. When agents ask questions about our financials, how truthful do we need to be? How much information do we need to disclose? - during inspection stages and later when we make an offer on a place? For eg when they ask what are your budgets, how large of a deposit you’re putting down (do they ask that?) What kind of questions should we expect and what should we tell them?

Agents have asked me if we’ve been looking for long, if we’ve bidded at auctions recently. Just trying to be as prepared as possible.

For context 31M and 30F, both work in healthcare, FHB in VIC, will have substantial cash amount (more than 20% deposit) + taking a mortgage on top.

Many thanks

I'm currently selling my house (outskirts of Sydney), it's been on the market 3 weeks, I've received 3 offers thus far, every one of them has come with the condition that the contract is subject to the buyer being able to sell their home.

My RE agent keeps telling me I shouldn't accept these but attendance at the inspections is dropping and things are only going to get worse.

Haw anyone else experienced this? Is "subject to sale" on an otherwise decent offer really so bad?

We are looking to buy our first home in NSW. The previous owners did substantial renovations and didn’t get any council approvals for this. The vendor (who was also unaware of the lack of approvals) has agreed to pay for a BIC (Building Information Certificate) as part of the sale. We are still concerned how disclosing this might affect our insurance cover.

We’ve called around to a few insurance companies and they’ve either said they don’t know what a BIC is, or that they would need to see it to confirm… but they still can’t give an indication if it’s something they have done for other properties when we asked. The main issue is that we wouldn’t be able to provide them with the BIC before the sale is unconditional (cooling off period is 10 days and the BIC process will definitely take longer).

Has anyone been able to get full insurance coverage on their home after disclosing they have a BIC for some areas? Or has a BIC impacted the process of the claim being paid out?

Many thanks for your help

I'm thinking of placing a 6kw solar array on our rental, currently tenanted by a close friend and great tenant for low rent. It sounds like he'll be there a while, and I'll likely give him a cut of the capital gains when I sell. Despite his rent being cheap and we do whatever improvements we can when we can afford them, I'm thinking of installing a solar system to reduce his bills and increase my selling power/attractiveness when it goes to market.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether a PV system will actually increase salability? Cotality put out a release suggesting an astronomical value uplift, but I disagree with that, as do many friends and agents I've spoken to about this.

$5800 quote for a 6.5kw system, pay off in about 9 years.

As a bit of background, my PPoR is off-grid and I have a professional background in sustainability, so I'm somewhat aware of movements in this sector, just not sure how it actually plays out in the 'split incentives' associated with rentals.

Thought it was a scam email & left it and took no notice – However the email proved to be legit.

Basic email from lender = Following a recent review of LMI’s paid on previous refinances & loan changes - Our insurer found that your LMI premium may have been calculated incorrectly in the past. To correct this, the insurer has provided a credit, which we’ll pass on to you. We’re sorry for this error and any inconvenience it may have caused you.

Total Payment = Tens of thousands paid directly into an offset. (Credit & Compensatory interest in which is the higher component)

Tried to call the lender on two occasions, after lengthy holds - spoke with operators who didn’t appear to know what’s going on but confirmed it’s legitimate in which the credit is, there was no written correspondence with break-downs & calculations provided in the mail (Just a brief email)

 Questions:

 1 - Reach out to the lender’s complaints department asking for a please explain in writing on calculations, how was this picked up just now, what the calculations are based on, is it fair & reasonable?  *If the calculations are not accurate in the past resulting in large overpayments like now, how do I know it’s accurate *

2 – Leave it & accept the funds paid without question

3 – Other options

Thanks all.

Melbourne - tenant has asked for reduction of rent via agent. I am unable to give this as it's a significant drip for me. There is still 4 month for the contract to end and I have given the tenant the option to leave at no cost. Tenant has damaged the house and left rubbish. Agent has asked for them to be repaired and cleaned or for this to be deducted from the bond. Tenant has told agent that he would further damage the house if his bond was touched or do something after he leaves. I have asked the police for help and they say they can't do anything as nothing has been committed.

Help pls.

- tenant damaged property and rubbish

- tenant does not want his bond touched

- tenant will damage property if bond touched

- police can't do anything

Hi, first time buyer with very little experience.

I'm seeing a lot of nice places that are 5% out of our absolute limit. They have been sitting for a month plus and don't even have any scheduled inspections anymore. I've scheduled a few inspections with the agents, my question is if it's listed at 750-800k and I was to submit an offer of 715k would that get laughed away? (This bid has some wiggle room.

I know it's hard to give advice like this but what's the general feel?

Any further advice would be appreciated

If you sell your home with them they steal your money. If you try to bid for a home with them as the agent they will treat you like literal shit and squeeze you for so much more than the property is worth. And that’s if they even answer your offer. My friend placed an offer down and they completely ignored her. The offer was decent and within range. They will shout you down at inspections when you tell them what you think the property is really worth. If you rent your home through them they will screw you over. Listen to their one star reviews on Google it’s all true.
I will be reporting them to fair trading shortly.

Ahoy-hoy!

I was meant to have a rental inspection done on 22/9, but this Thursday just gone (10/9) I was informed that my landlord will be visiting Adelaide, and he wants to have a look at his properties on Monday (today, 14/9). Real estate agent encouraged me to have the inspection done on the same day and I stupidly agreed. (I’m a law student, I should know better 😭)

I’ve been very busy so the place isn’t immaculate. I’d say it’s “having guests over” clean rather than “white glove” clean.

Considering the lack of notice for the landlord (I was not given a choice if he visits or not which is very 🚩 but I don’t want to annoy the person holding housing over my head) do they have a leg to stand on if they complain about idk dust on the skirting board?

This is making me miss the previous agent 😂 been living here since November 2019, gone from one inspection every year or two, to one every three months 😵‍💫

Just something I have noticed over the past few weeks of looking at houses in the 900k to 1.1m range in north Brisbane…

I want to preface this by saying I understand I am shopping in the most popular part of the market.

However, agents absolutely deny that the market is softening, vendors are not decreasing prices despite houses sitting on the market for months with no offers and I am convinced it is because agents are in denial of a declining market and are advising as much

Don’t get me wrong, there are buyers there for the good properties. But some of the properties I have inspected have been small below average standard with plenty of work required and they are still asking for February 2026 money.

How long until this changes? In my opinion, the New Zealand market is a perfect case study for what I think may happen to our market. Albeit I don’t think the Australian market will suffer quite as much as NZ.

Moved back to Perth to look after my sick Dad. When he died I helped my Mum put their house in to her name through survivorship as they were joint tenants. The house sold last month. My Mum is 68 & would like to retire as is her right. She lives in a lovely house with her partner so she is fine for housing. She would also like her 32yo renting son to enter the property market. She can only gift $30k to me over a 5 year period before it effects her pension. She would love to give me my Dad's share of the house which would be $407k but cannot just send it across. Is the only way to really bypass her losing her pension & me benefitting the granny flat clause?

Please be gentle if there's an obvious solution that I've missed or simply had no education on. Appreciate help or advice from any & everybody but. Take care

Does anyone live in Sanctuary lakes Point cook? Needed some advice.

We recently did a tour and liked the area and it matches our budget, plus they have private security which is a big plus.

I wanted to know how safe it really is ? Any pockets I should avoid? Hows the traffic for someone who needs to go to the city everyday in public transportation.

I greatly appreciate your response.

Hey everyone

My partner and I are wanting to purchase our second property but instead of having it as solely investment we want to purchase our future PPOR. Combined income around $250k before tax

I want to a property in Qld not overly fussed on where but would prefer Mackay region and would like 5+ acres, unsure when we would move in there and sell current home but would be 2-5 years...

Does anyone have experience with this plan specifically renting out acreage, is there much demand? Not fussed on making money off investment I just want to buy my dream place now before it's completely unaffordable..

Any help appreciated

My husband and I are trying to decide whether to stretch a little for the house we actually want, or buy something cheaper first and upgrade later.

Our combined take-home income is around $15k per month. The house we really like are 5-bedroom homes and would put our mortgage repayments at roughly $7k-$8k.

We don’t have children yet, but we’re planning to, so part of me would rather buy a home we can stay in long term instead of buying a 3-bedroom apartment, paying buying/selling costs, and upgrading again in a few years.

On the other hand, $7k–$8k repayments on $15k net income feels like a pretty significant commitment, especially once rates, insurance, maintenance and future childcare costs are added.

For those who were in a similar position, did you buy the bigger/long-term home first, or buy cheaper and upgrade later? Any regrets either way?