What is the best time of year to buy a house?

While spring is renowned as the time that sellers dust off their properties and place them on the market, this doesn’t mean it is necessarily the best time for buyers to go shopping.

One of the biggest issues with shopping in spring is the flood of other buyers looking to snag their dream homes, which increases competition and housing prices.

“There is typically a seasonal uplift in buyer numbers over the last quarter of the year, which means the benefits of a higher number of options to choose from are offset by a higher number of prospective buyers,” explains CoreLogic RP Data’s Tim Lawless.

“Buyers may be better off when there are fewer buyers around in the winter months, at least from the perspective of being able to negotiate hard on price.”

Although there is a lot more to look at during spring, there isn’t necessarily more to choose from, depending on your individual circumstances and finances.

It may be just as beneficial for buyers to look around during slower months, as this will give them more time to consider properties, more time to negotiate and more time to organise their loans.

“Seasonal factors will always play a part in the dynamic of the housing market, but so too do other factors that are harder to anticipate such as changes in the regulatory framework that might make obtaining finance easier or harder, changes to economic circumstances or other things that can be absolutely unexpected,” Lawless says.

Taking all of this into consideration, the best times to buy are as varied as the people looking. It is a good idea to assess what’s most important to you before following the crowd.

“Buyers are probably best positioned to use the timing that works best for them and their budgets rather than waiting for a particular time of the season where conditions might be more or less favourable,” Lawless says.

 Before you hit the open home circuit, speak or write to me about how to finance your property purchase.

What can you expect your property manager to do?

A property manager’s role includes collecting rent, of course, but they also manage your relationship with the person who lives in your property, so it is important to find a property manager who will do the best job of keeping the tenants happy and will get you involved only when you want to be.

Property managers market the premises, select tenants and organise the lease. They coordinate the payment of rent and call tradespeople to make repairs when necessary.

However, further to these duties, there are subtle elements of property management that often go unnoticed by the average landlord, which could be referred to as ‘tenant management’ or ‘relationship management’. Good relationships, clear communication and even better service go a long way towards keeping tenants in a property to minimise rent-free periods, and towards making it easy for an investor to own a property without having to think about it often.

“There’s a balance between what the legislation says, what the client wants and what the tenant wants. And it is our job to strike that balance, essentially,” explains REINSW Property Management Committee Member Lisa Indge.

“It is very much a people focused service, and I would suggest that the most important thing in property management is people skills. It is our priority to take care of the client first. But it also important to understand that having a broken relationship with the tenant is not in the owner’s best interests,” Indge adds.

“We are mediators, what we are doing is softening things from one side to the other to try to come out with a reasonable outcome for both parties.”

And this ‘from one side to the other’ doesn’t just mean that a property manager should provide good service to the tenant. They should also be able to tailor their service for the different needs of individual landlords and properties.

“There are different types of investments, but also different types of investors,” says Indge. So, while some landlords live interstate or overseas, others live around the corner from their asset. Some have no connection to the premises, while others once considered the property their home and are very attached to decision making.

Investors should make it clear from the outset just which camp they fall into, and find a property manager who is happy to involve them to the desired degree in decisions and maintenance. “It is important to have that communication with the client and an understanding of where they are coming from,” Indge explains.

 Before you take the plunge into property investment, speak to an MFAA Accredited Finance Broker about the best ways to finance your purchase.

Should you manage your investment property?

While managing your own investment property can seem like a simple way to keep more of the rent flowing towards the mortgage, there’s a little more to it than making sure the house is standing and collecting the money.

Managing your investment property appears pretty straightforward: you find a tenant, they pay rent and you keep a close eye on your asset. It’s cheaper, and may suit people with the know-how and available time necessary to sustain a financially viable real estate asset.

If you have a reliable tenant willing to pay market rates and you know how to protect your rights and your tenant’s rights in the event of a mishap, chances are your investment will run smoothly. But there are some very important factors to consider before donning the managerial hat.

Firstly, there’s a lot of legislation in place to protect tenants and landlords. If you don’t have the means to become familiar with the law, running the books on your own might not turn out well.

“Knowledge of the legislation is the most beneficial part of what we do for our clients. That is something that we encounter continuously: breaches and other issues,” explains the finance broker.

“The legislation is very grey. A professional property manager will have the experience and knowledge to guide their client as to each case and what the likely and fair outcome should be.”

DIY property managers also need to manage lease agreements, rental payment authority, bond lodgement forms and property inspection reports. In the case that something goes wrong, the correct implementation of these documents could be the difference between a win or loss at the relevant tenancy tribunal.

Property managers also market the premises in order to ensure that you get a good price, and the property may be more appealing simply because renters know they will be dealing with a professional rather than an owner.

“Prospective tenants prefer to deal with an agent. They tend to shy away from self-managed properties because they like to have the middle-man,” the broker says.

While self-managing is right for some, having a professional, trustworthy manager available to handle inquiries, damage or a broken lease can pay off for other owners. It all comes down to whether or not you can commit the time and effort needed to ensure your investment needs are met, as well as the rights of your leasing tenant.

Speak to an MFAA Accredited Finance Broker about how to finance an investment property purchase.