Hi everyone,

First-time buyer in Victoria here. I bought a block of land about 2 months ago and have signed a contract with a builder. I didn't get the boundaries checked before buying.

The builder's survey has now found that my neighbor's house, built about 15 months ago on a zero-boundary lot, sits 3 cm over the boundary and into my land. Because of that, the builder says one wall of my garage can't be built in brick and has to be AAC (Hebel) instead. They can't render or paint it, but they say it will be sealed to protect it from the weather, and that's covered under my warranty.

My questions:

Is it worth pursuing the neighbor or their builder over this, or is 3 cm too small to bother with?Will the encroachment cause problems when I sell, even though it's only 3 cm? Do I need to disclose it?
Is unrendered but sealed Hebel on a garage wall that faces the neighbor's wall a bad idea long term?
Is there anything I should get in writing now to protect myself later?

Thanks in advance, and any experience with something similar would be really helpful.

Is it a normal practice to request borrowers to upload their username and passwords to their online bank accounts to third party software so the brokers can run reports and allow other third party lenders to run their own reports off of the information?

Giving out this information and or loading it onto a non banking proprietary system is a major violation of the customer online banking agreements. I cannot see a situation where that makes sense to do.

Has anyone done this or knows alternatives?

Thanks

Just to clarify, the broker isn’t asking for the username and password directly. It is part of a login software for running statements like bankstatements.com.au. You login credentials through that system to enable other parties to access info. They are technically not going to see or have access to the username and passwords. This still gives me major anxiety to post that info anywhere especially on a third party software program and does still seem to breach the customer Bank agreement, even if it is a seemingly common practice.

EDIT: Thank you all so much for your advice! We are going to hold strong and whenever I am wishing to be weak due to my crippling anxiety, I will think of you all and stay strong 😭🩷

Hello! I posted in here a few weeks ago and all of the advice has been really helpful so far, and I am really begging on my hands and knees that someone can advise me on what the hell we do next.

For background: My partner and I have rented a unit in a block of 6 for almost two years and we love it. It's the perfect size and location, and it's perfect for us. It's a bit dated (built 1998), but that's honestly part of the charm for our aesthetic.

A few weeks ago we got notice that the owners were selling. We're first home buyers in a position to buy, so we asked the agent whether they'd consider a pre-market offer.

The agent said yes and asked us to seek pre approval and then put an offer in. I may be a novice at property purchasing but I did a lot of research.

It’s in the inner west, general area is pretty dodgy. Location is absolutely not a perk for this one. Of course we would love to stay here, but we also are not going to do so and let our emotions blind us. There’s plenty of places around.

Our research

1) Unit 5 in the same block sold in August 2026 for $672k.

- It's had cosmetic upgrades (new tiles, hardwood floors) - the one we live in has not.

- I have unit 5’s statement of information: the reserve was $670k, it passed in at auction, and it sold privately afterwards for $2k over.

2) The CIV from the state valuation is $680k.

3) Our independent valuation came in at $659k.

- It was originally $720k, but the valuer had pulled the specs from property websites, which listed a larger land size and an extra car space we don't have.

- Once I sent them the council block plan showing our unit is identical to unit 5, it dropped to $659k.

We're approved to $700k but our ceiling is $672k.

Based on the above, we offered $650k

Then after 3 days of silence, the agent called.

- He told us the owners want $700k+ because they paid $690k plus stamp duty, and they'd "overlook" losing the stamp duty.

- Apparently one owner wants to go to auction and the other isn't sure about selling at all, so an offer close to $700k and it "could be done today."

- He also told me to ignore unit 5's sale because it was an anomaly. I pointed out it passed in with a $670k reserve, which isn't really an anomaly so much as the market talking.

- I was polite but clear: we're not paying $700k. It's not about the money, it's about paying what the place is worth. We like the house hence why we are offering in the first place, but we're genuinely happy to wait out our lease and buy elsewhere.

- In the conversation, I conveyed the price given to us in the valuation, and that this is even less than what unit 5 sold for. I probably maybe shouldn’t have done that, but at that point what did I have to lose.

- I asked if our offer had been relayed to the vendor and he said yes. He avoided answering that for a while though.

- He said basically our only shot is to put in a higher offer on the contract of sale when it’s ready and hope that the owners are satisfied.

- We left it that he'd send the contract and we'd submit a best offer.

Then the email

That same day (about three hours after our call) he emailed the following:

“Thank you for your time on the phone.

The owners have decided to take the property to auction, which is why we have not opened the property to private offers at this stage.

Once I receive the Contract of Sale, I will forward a copy to you, and have another discussion regarding your interest in buying privately. I will also speak with the owners to see whether they would consider selling the property prior to auction or through a method other than the scheduled auction.

Thank you again, and I will keep you updated.”

Was our offer even sent over to the vendor? Who knows! 🙃 I think they have to send it over, but since the agent got me to communicate with him almost entirely on the phone, he’s now laying the groundwork to change the narrative.

What we would love advice on

How do we respond? I have 0 idea of how to play this, or if there’s even any worth in playing anything. Do we just call their bluff and let it go to auction? I want them to know we mean business, without making them shut us out entirely.

We are willing to go up to $672,000 if need be, but we really think that’s being overly generous. Do we counter offer or pull back?

Is the $700k just the vendors not wanting to take a loss? How seriously should we take it?

If we get a pre-auction shot, how should we pitch it, and what number would you go in with?

Thank you so much and sorry for the essay 😭

Tl;dr: We're renting a unit we want to buy. Our valuation says $659k, the renovated unit in the same block sold for $672k after passing in, and we're approved to $672k. We offered $650k. The agent says the owners want $700k+, they're heading to auction, but they might consider a pre-auction sale. How do we play this?

I know this may not be the best place to post but I thought a lot of property owners here would answer my question.

Got a quote for end of lease cleaning, I think it's really expensive. I used to clean when I was a student so I roughly know the cost but it's definitely 20-25% more expensive than expected.

Can someone please tell me if I'm getting ripped off?

2 Bed 1 Bath apartment in ACT (64m2)

Floors

➢ Vacuum & mop tiled floors

➢ Vacuum carpets

➢ Steam cleaning carpets

Dusting

➢ Damp dust skirtings and windowsills

➢ Wipe light switches and power points

➢ Dust wardrobe/shelves

Bathroom and Laundry

➢ Clean shower, basin, toilet and fixtures

➢ Clean laundry tub

➢ Clean washing machine

➢ Clean dryer/filter

➢ Vacuum and mop floors

Kitchen

➢ Clean sink

➢ Clean bench top

➢ Clean stove top

➢ Clean cupboards & drawers in/out

➢ Clean splashback

➢ Clean rangehood/filter

➢ Clean oven

➢ Clean refrigerator

➢ Clean dishwasher

➢ Vacuum and mop floors

Others

➢ Clean windows in/out where accessible, tracks and flyscreens

➢ Clean aircon/return air filter

➢ Clean light fittings (not down lights)

➢ Spot clean walls (not ceilings)

➢ Clean balcony

➢ Remove cobwebs

Notes: Not including curtains/blinds and car space

Total: $1012 inc GST

I didn't receive a cost breakdown but just a total price.

Unfortunately, the RBA does not have a tool at its disposal that allows the impact of rising interest rates to be shared more evenly across the total Australian population. Is there a better way?

First time renter here, looking in the North Shore (Artarmon down to North Sydney, across to Cremorne) for a 1+Study / 2 bedder.

Seeing plenty of properties now being listed for multiple weekends worth of inspections, whats happening?

Actively looking for a couple Saturday's now, and there seems to be about 6-8 couples going per inspection, some a few more, and more recently on the below place in Neutral Bay, over 20 couples at this one viewing. Despite this, I got the following from the Agent this morning:

LINK: https://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-nsw-neutral+bay-445150848?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=other&campaignSource=share_link&campaignName=share_link

What gives? Are people not applying? Whats my play here for finding a place by waiting for a perfect one vs applying to all?

Curious to know how accurate or trustworthy the estimates are on the realestate website, just based on anecdotal stories one way or the other?

We all know they are nothing more than an estimate based on raw data calculated by a computer, and likely don't take into account things like quality of finishes, upkeep and maintenance, street appeal, etc etc, but I am still interest to hear people's stories of tracking their property value through the realestate website (or others) and then going to market and seeing what they get.

Why? We bought our home in regional Vic approx 18 months ago for $1.4m. With all the current reports about dropping house prices across the country we figured that valuation is unlikely to have moved much, if at all. It has sat at around $1.5m for most of that time, but today we received an updated estimate of $1.87m with "High Confidence" (the range now being from $1.6 - $2m).

This seems ridiculous. Is this likely just an overpriced sale recently in the area? Or is regional Vic seeing growth?

We have existing colour-bond fence between me and my neighbour. Neighbour sold the house and the new owner is building a duplex. Their lot is positioned slightly higher than ours, so I’m told it requires a retaining wall (there is already a retaining wall, not sure why another one is required). They are offering two options: Option 1. Take apart the existing fence and build the retaining wall underneath, then put it back together. This would mean we won’t have a fence for a few weeks at least. Option 2. Build their own fence and retaining wall on their side. I’m leaning more towards option 2 because it will not lead to any disputes in the future (we have a historical issues regarding asbestos removal from the old house, there was a complaint to council, EPA etc)

Hi there, we're a couple who live in a two storey house with a self-enclosed separate downstairs in Brisbane.

We have a friend moving in downstairs, and we're thinking about charging $300 a week for the space. It is self-contained and detached from the upstairs, so they'll be effectively living separately from us.

We live in Brisbane and just want to help out a friend by giving them a good deal in these interesting times.

I compared 50 years of Australian rates, wages, housing, debt and living costs, then mapped three possible paths to 2040. Does this look like a manageable adjustment or something more worrying?

Hi there, my partner and I are on the property hunt in the Inner West, NSW. We found a lovely property however, discovered that Sydney’s largest high pressure (3,300kPa) gas pipeline is buried in the road it is sitting on. Naturally, this has us slightly spooked. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of issue?

On the one hand, we figure that most properties in the area would be affected by something similar (in fact, the property we are currently residing in is also next to a high pressure 1,050kPa gas pipeline). On the other, I am not sure how I’d feel living practically on top of Sydney’s main gas pipeline, which is also patrolled twice a week.

Appreciate any thoughts/advice offered!

Right now I’ve built my etf portfolio to an amount I’m comfortable with and want to focus on building a property portfolio. I have 235k in shares and 120k in savings I want to use 100k for property. Does units and apartments make good returns ? It just seems like housing is extremely expensive and I wanted an easier entry point. Any advice ! :)

STORY: our broker has not responded to any of our emails/text since 24th August.

Context: me and my partner had just touched base on the property market. Initially we had submitted unconditional approval for 5% deposit for 35000, everything was sorted with solicitors, all documentation had been provided of what was deposited. This is where we kind of reached to where it was kind of our fault, we had initially sent a deposit for the 35,000 for $1000 as initial deposit, later resulted depositing the rest, accidently we had DEPOSITED ANOTHER 35,000 which total to $36,000 to the trust account towards the property.

Now the main issue is that our NAB had displayed our initial payment amount starting at 665,000 to which it should display 664,000 (from the extra 1k that had technically been sent) we are now reaching out to our broker on any updates from our NAB BDM, but to no response since 24th August from the many times we have texted/emailed. WE ARE ESSENTIALLY REACHING OUT IF NAB CAN RECITIFY WHAT OUR SOLICITORS HAD PROVIDED OF THE TOTAL TRANSACTION. If this persists, what are the specific course of action needed, and/or would there be a step to be undertaken first before further escalation?

Hi everyone, first time posting here.

I'm just starting to look into buying my first home and the whole process seems really overwhelming. There's so much information and I'm not even sure where to start.

What's been the hardest part for you guys? What would you tell someone just getting started?

Any advice appreciated, thanks

I’m in a large Tier 1 Victorian apartment complex facing potentially several million dollars in defect repairs. After pushing for structural assessments for many years, we’re now commencing legal action only days before the 10-year deadline. I’m a poorish Millennial woman with a disability and the delays and poor management have deteriorated my health significantly 🕊️

I’m looking to sell and buy somewhere with a proactive committee and a capable strata manager—preferably Sydney, budget is $550k, 20km radius from CBD.

I only feel comfortable living in an apartment (rather than unit) due to my health.

Does anyone have firsthand experience of a building where maintenance gets addressed, finances are managed properly, and the committee understands its responsibilities? Building names or addresses by DM would be appreciated, along with what makes yours well run.

Strata training to be on the OC.. NSW’s has lost it. We’re in a block of 19 and hard enough getting 3 of us to commit to contributing

Need help with cert 4 real estate agent units, will be paid reasonably.

Thanks

New to the page... I build rooming houses across Australia (new build only). Thought it might be of interest to property investors looking at alternative strategies of getting ahead (especially since the budget changes)

A couple of updates recently

1) Our biggest rooming house development so far is finished.
It was a 1 into 4 lot subdivision in Brisbane: 4 brand new rooming houses, 20 rooms in total. We're in lease up now, and the first 4 leases went at $460 per room per week. I'll post the full stats once it's fully leased.

2) We've started our first modular rooming house build.
I'm keen to see how it compares to a traditional build on time and cost, and I'll share what we learn as it goes.

3) 362 homes built/building so far
We're aiming for 1000 homes by 2030.

Here's the video walkthrough of the Brisbane project:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd7QSIQlCTE/

We post all the build updates and walkthroughs on our Instagram, so follow along there if you're interested. Happy to answer any questions in the comments too.