Ratings & Reports

James Buyer Advocates has introduced a dramatically new concept of approaching property buying called Property Reports and Property Ratings.

This system, and the related tools, allows you to separate the bad property from the good, and the “gems” from the downright ugly.

This system – with its dynamic, patented assessment tools – is the cornerstone of our unique approach to buying property. We apply it to give you a competitive edge in the property market, and to help you buy right.

 

Key Melbourne Ingredients

1. Position – overall area, precinct within area, road within the precinct.
   We like to use the words "Suburb Mosaic". Some suburbs are right for you and some are not. This can cover Lifestyle, Water, Leafy Green Streets, Coffee, Cinemas, Schools, Rail Transport, & Freeways.
2. Block Size, Orientation and Slope.
3. Price.
4. Style
   Classic Period - Victorian, Edwardian, Italianate, Californian Bungalows. No Style Period - most between 1940s and 1970s - not all but most. Modern (architectural gems v dated junk).
5. Type – Small, Medium, Large, Houses or Apartments.
6. Floor plan, Features.
7. Light & Space.
8. Quality (well built and those that look well built), Condition and possibly Long-Term Rentability.
9. Neighbours (the hidden joys of possibly living next to Homer Simpson and his five-storey power-plant plans).
10. Consistent above-average-performing Capital Growth.

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Property Ratings is a quick-step tool used to buy right

As you know by now, buying right doesn't mean saving a few bucks off the price or getting a big deduction off some fancy valuation or asking price. Buying right is all about securing a property that will provide you with low-risk, long-term, above-market growth.

So what does the James Property Rating system look for?
The answer is Growth.

Sure, the cash flow needs to be affordable and make sense. We are not proposing you buy a large parcel of land and don't worry about the interest-holding costs. But what we are saying is to look for growth as your main driver or your cornerstone in buying property.

So how does growth work?
Quite simply, growth comes from price increase.

Take, for example, a cash-flow-positive $1.5 million property with no growth. It may make you $250,000 after tax for a whole 10-year period. Alternatively, a negatively geared property of the same value that doubled may make you (after CGT allowance and the after-tax money you forked out during the 10-year period with a market rent) about $1.25 million. Without price increases, you cannot work the system of acquiring more properties using equity. All good property systems need growth as their cornerstone. To be fair, our example is extreme but you get the point.

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Property Ratings helps you make quick and accurate decisions

Property Ratings is a great tool to:

1. Compare hundreds of properties quickly and accurately.
2. Compare very different properties in a meaningful way.
3. Compare properties priced very differently.
4. Look into the future in a more objective manner.
5. Reduce the influence of wearing “rose coloured glasses” in the decision-making process.
6. Make buying a lot safer.

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Property Reports
We are moving on your property, so let's do a FULL PROPERTY REPORT.

Before you press the button, we move onto a detailed analysis of all things relevant. We cross our i’s and dot our t’s. We do this through our detailed 20+ page Property Report.

 

Our industry-leading property reports cover:

1. Area, Land, Building Ratings.
2. Comparable sales with photos and floorplans.
3. Detailed comments on kitchen, bathrooms, living areas etc.
4. How it matches Your Requirements.
5. Estimated Price before and at auction.
6. Capital Growth Rates.
7. Rental Assessments (if required).
8. Government Data.
9. Agents' “true” thoughts.
10. Action Strategies.

 

And much more – for a sample, please click on the icon at the top of this page for a pdf or review sample text below. Please note that there is no additional charge for our clients for this service.

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After the reports, we still do more, as, in Melbourne, it is “Caveat Emptor” – Let the Buyer Beware.

Buyer Beware - Paperwork
Here are two recent cases where the unsuspecting buyer could have bought a dud, a financial nightmare, and something that may have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to rectify. In the first case, we didn't buy a Brighton property after we were given a section 32 that had a title that we felt “smelt” a little. Two other solicitors confirmed our first thoughts. The land within the subdivision, but outside the actual house itself, was not on title. Further investigation also showed that the land above 20 feet was also not on title. Without labouring on the detail, if this property was to be bought for development, then it was going to be a nightmare.

The other case was in Box Hill and was eventually rectified after much argument pre-auction. There were no less than nine deficiencies in the section 32 relating to issues such as body corporate, insurance etc. This was simple stuff that should have been in the section 32 – in fact, it is required by law to be in the section 32 - yet it wasn't.

In Victoria, unlike some other states and countries, we do operate under Caveat Emptor (“let the buyer beware”) and that applies for pest inspections, building inspections, legal documents and so on.

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Selling Agents are not obliged
Is the agent obliged to carry out termite inspections, or checking for rising damp, or looking for dangerous electricals or illegal building works? No. Is the agent responsible for the section 32s? No. It's buyer beware.

How many times does an auctioneer get up and say that the paperwork is confusing and incomplete? We've never heard it - yet it often is. We went to auctioneer school and the first words we learnt after “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen” is “The paperwork has been on display and is simple and straightforward - you can buy with confidence.” It really is a case of let the buyer beware.

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Agent or Seller Valuations
Agent valuations - an increasing “professional” move by agents is to get sworn valuations as evidence of value. Independent valuations by ethical valuers are very valuable, but only if they are current and accurate. However, a valuation bought by the seller or agent is not independent, as they have a bias.

A valuation by an agent is his or her opinion only. And we acknowledge that our opinions can be biased towards you, the buyer. We have seen a $1.3 million sworn valuation on a property worth less than $1 million and a $950,000 valuation on a property with a written offer of $1.85 million.

Valuations are very useful. But we only respect them when we know the source, the independence and the criteria. Valuations don't determine a price - a buyer and seller does.

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Pest, Building and Legal Inspections.
We always recommend them and arranging independent inspections is one of our standard procedures.
1. Termites are throughout Melbourne and, if you are unlucky, can cost thousands of dollars to repair.
2. A new roof may cost you more than $20,000. By contrast , a “wonky floor” may be only $300 to repair but it seems a big deal.
3. Practically every single property document has an issue or a fault affecting the buyer. Most issues are very minor; however, some can - and do - end up in the Supreme Court. For example, we looked at a property that, had we bought it, would have meant there were two legal buyers as the recision notice was not properly executed.

Always do the proper homework.

 

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