Nestoria Interview: Chris Lang from Homeiown
Christine Lang is another example of a European starting out in Australia. When she first moved to Aus. she realised that though she'd bought and sold a couple of homes in the past, the Australian property market has its own ins and outs and different rules apply – both in the rentals and purchasing markets. So Chris generously, it turns out, started the Homeiown blog to share her experiences of the Australian property market with others, including any bits of relevant property based news she picks up along the way.
Chris has shared some of her mounting knowledge of the Australian property market with us via interview, continuing the series of property based interviews:What would you say are the main problems facing people wanting to buy property in Australia at the moment?If I had to name the most painful problem with buying property in Australia it would be the affordability. According to the 2010 International Housing Affordability Housing Affordability Survey by Demographia, Australia (Sydney in particular) is on top of the most unaffordable places list. The list compared 6 countries, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and Canada. Sadly, Sydney and Melbourne are rated 9 and 8 respectively - which means that it takes 9 average household incomes in Sydney and 8 average household incomes in Melbourne to buy a house. Compared to houses in the UK that were mostly rated 6, it makes Australia a very expensive place to buy a house.What are some of the unique features of the Australian property market and what are the main external factors that influence the market?
I would say that property auctions are quite unique and characteristic to Australia. In many European countries property auctions don't exist as a selling technique, or are not very popular, but here in Australia they prevail. Personally, I prefer private sales for many reasons, but this is the reality of our real estate market.
I guess that external factors to influence the real estate market are similar to other countries' - for example interest rates (which affect mortgage repayments) are an external factor that seriously affect the activity on the property market. Also incentives introduced and then withdrawn by our government, such as first home owners grant, are turning the "heat" on an off.Can you tell us which of Homeiown's pages are the most viewed and what people contact you looking for advice on?
People are turning to Homeiown looking for independent and practical property advice. Many of my readers come from other countries (UK for example), they are new to Australia and they want to understand the local real estate industry jargon, such as what the term "under offer" or "under contract" means, what types of houses there are in Australia, how to make an offer on a house for sale, and in general to learn the whole process of buying or selling a house A to Z. The topics of renovations and renting advice are also very popular.
People often contact me about tricky situations, such as when tenants suspect their rights were violated or they've been treated badly by the property managing agent, and they just don't know what to do. I've been also getting mail from first home buyers that are having problems with the estate agents or the vendors. One of the interesting questions from home buyers was "How do I make sure the agent is taking my offer to the vendor, instead of just throwing it in the bin because he doesn't like the number?". I told him to send 2 copies of the offer, one to the agent and the other via post to the property address, this way the vendor can't miss it even if the agent decides this offer is not good enough.Nestoria is designed to make it easier for people to find their perfect property – do you have any other advice to help people find the property they're looking for?
In my opinion house-hunting is a full time job, so anyone who is helping the house-hunters get things done quickly and easily is earning some major karma points. However, using smart tools and seeking information are not the only things that help in the search for the perfect home. It is important that people find out as early as possible in the process what their borrowing power is, and then find out what area they can afford to buy in. It will help reduce the frustration and it will shorten the time spent searching, because people would only look at properties they could actually afford, thus eliminating unnecessary inspections, phone calls and trips.
I saw on your site that you've written about the Commonwealth Bank's Augmented Reality Property app., but what other ways do you see the internet or other technologies changing the property market?
Internet is really a wonder, and there is so much more it could do for the home buyers / sellers. Live property auctions can be broadcast via Internet and bidders can participate without leaving their home, online auto-pilot bidding systems can be introduced to help property investors participate in multiple auctions at the same time (similarly to other auction systems that already exist), the process of making an offer on a house can be converted into an online one. This is just the tip of the iceberg, my head literally explodes with ideas for innovation in real estate.
Technology to me is something that helps us do things we could never believe possible very quickly and conveniently. Applied to real estate market, from buyers' point of view technology ideally will shorten the house-buying process from the average of 6-9 months and will make it as hassle-free as possible. Real estate agents will naturally embrace it, because it's their friend - a friend that maximizes exposure, brings in more clients in less time, etc. So no doubt, in the future technology will definitely change the way we do things now. If you could invent some kind of site or technology or app. etc. for property, and there were no limitations on its powers, what would you think would be the ultimate property tool/ product?
If I learned anything about buying or selling a house, it's that the skills and personality of the real estate agent you deal with play a very significant role in this process. I've found my "unbiased and objective" self avoiding conversations with agents I didn't like about houses that I actually was interested in. And the opposite is true - as a seller I would pay a higher commission to an agent that I liked dealing with, just because I had faith in his selling skills. If there was a way to create a virtual real estate office with virtual real estate agents, all friendly, highly skilled, honest and professional, I'd be the first client there.Can you share with us the most important thing you think you've learned about buying and selling property in Australia?
In real estate market, everybody is looking for the best deal, right? But what I really believe is that there are hundreds of best deals we are passing by every day. Anyone who wants to buy or sell a house needs to go through the process of learning the market - just by looking at the houses for sale, noticing their features and comparing prices. Once you are ready - the best deal will find you.Thanks for that – especially for the optimistic closing thoughts!
Posted
by Kat Parr Mackintosh
