Written

for

The

Australian

Newspaper

-

The

deal

with

developers

I thought it would be interesting to explore a few different matters that investors should watch out for in a heated property market. In this article I wrote about the different ways that you can provide a deposit for a brand new property and which methods are riskier than others. I also wrote about what to do if a developer knocks on your door and lastly wrote about the risks of lending money to developers (even though there is the promise of high returns).

Several of our Sydney Financial Planning clients have been approached by developers to purchase their property. A common theme in discussions when this occurs is the lack of clarity on what to do. How much should they push the envelope in terms of the asking price? Do they even want to sell? Is the sale dependant on my neighbours selling also? How long will this take? And the list of questions go on. In the article I interviewed a leading Sydney based Real Estate Agent who advised that people who find themselves being approached by developers should seek advice from a buyers agent or real estate agent. Being approached to sell your property to a developer may only happen once in your life, however buyers agents and real estate agents handle it on a regular basis and thus are well equiped to help you through the situation.