Almost 52,000 Australian households are at risk of defaulting on their mortgages in the next 12 months and a quarter of home owners are under home loan stress, a data analyst has said.
According to Digital Finance Analytics (DFA), 767,000 households were in mortgage stress in April, meaning they had little leeway in their finances, up from 669,000 the previous month.
Of those, it said 32,000 were in severe stress and unable to meet repayments with their current income.
It estimated almost 52,000 households were at risk of defaulting in the next year.
Source: Jennifer Duke | Domain.com.au
The real estate industry is quickly turning against “free” agent recommendation websites, describing these services as “misleading”.
Some agents are boycotting the sites and real estate institutes up and down the east coast are busy alerting authorities, claiming sellers don’t understand that their information is being sold to a select few agents.
In recent years two main players have emerged in this space; LocalAgentFinder and OpenAgent.
Source: Michael Pascoe | The Sydney Morning Herald
Funny thing about the sellers' market for most residential real estate in the east coast capitals: vendors are signing real estate agency agreements that read as if the agents are doing a massive personal favour listing the property.
Just like commission rates, agency agreements are entirely negotiable. It's a simple matter to put a line through objectionable clauses before signing.
And this when auction clearance rates and a shortage of stock mean most properties in the hotter markets are close to selling themselves.
SOURCE: The Australian
SELLING your house can be daunting. There are dozens of possible agents to choose from. Who do you trust? And should you go to auction? Will you waste your money on expensive marketing campaigns?
Faced with this task, more sellers are hiring vendor advocates, advisers who hold their hand through the entire sale process, from choosing an agent to picking the best photos of the house. Vendor advocates mean real estate agents “are kept accountable by a third party”, says Scott McGeever, managing partner of Brisbane buyers’ agent Property Searchers which is also a vendor advocate.
SELECTING A REAL ESTATE AGENT
Choosing a real estate agent is one of the most important decisions you make when selling your property. After all, buying or selling your home is one of the biggest decisions you're ever likely to make in your life.
Therefore, it's important that you pick a real estate agent that not only has all the necessary credentials but one that also has something in common with you. A trustworthy and reliable real estate agent will take the time to listen to you and find out exactly what it is that you are trying to achieve.
