It pays to do your research

You know that penthouse I was bedazzled by over the weekend .. well … DD urged me to cough up $29 to access the strata report and I am so glad I did.

It turns out the building needs to have $1.8 million in fire order work done by next year.

Ouch!

Special levies are on their way, which is a bit confronting as they were already over $3000 a quarter.

Mind you, I was having trouble getting the real estate agent to return my calls, so my interest in the place was cooling anyway.

So, what’s next? Time is running out – the final settlement date on the sale of my house is November 4.

I have been given a lot of advice on what I should and shouldn’t buy and whether I should rent a place instead.

It is making my head spin.

But it is my own fault for telling everyone my business in the first place!

When it comes to buying, the pickings remain slim. The market has pretty much frozen. The only people selling are the ones with no choice – everyone else is sitting tight in the shadow of a predicted 20 per cent fall in property prices.

The rental market in my neck of the woods is equally skinny, especially on properties that allow dogs.

So I am going to take a third look today at a place that has been on my radar for a while. I mentioned it yesterday – the one up a few flights of stairs on a busy road.

Those are its cons. But its pro are that it is spacious and light and the location is awesome, a block from amazing cafes and restaurants and shops. Oh and the fact its price has been reduced to meet the market. It’s now $80,000 cheaper than the agent was quoting before it passed in at auction.

DD’s mate the remedial apartment block builder has poked around and reckons it looks OK.

No promises though and he is recommending a proper building inspection to be on the safe side.

I figure the stamp duty on the place is the same as what rent would cost me for a year and it means I can get on with my life, complete with a new car and a bit of money left over for furniture and a holiday.

Then I can flip it or rent it out in five years time and move to a beachside locale, sans kids and dogs.

But who knows what the next few days of wheeling and dealing will bring.

Stay tuned …

Song of the day: Kenny Rogers “The Gambler”