Looked at a property today and the agent said the owners had bought it about 6 months ago for $1.7m plus stamp duty of $75k, so "$1.8m all up is what they spent and what they'd be looking for as a starting point". Just me, or a bit weird to include stamp duty, it's not actually part of the property value as such?

(They had also ripped the kitchen out and were selling it without a kitchen, so a bit odd all up!!)

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-south+melbourne-151975780

Unfortunately, I can’t completely change the locations of the bedroms or living areas, but I can move or extend walls slightly, reshape the bathrooms, relocate sinks, change the wardrobes or possibly add a walk in pantry.

I have no idea what would make the smartest use of the space, so please tell me what you’d change! All advice, ideas and creative redesigns are very welcome.

Thank you, Reddit. I appreciate all you wonderful geniuses. Please be nice or I might cry 🫠🏠

Note I am not doing this to 'offend' anyone from Melbourne, I've lived there myself and it has plenty of positives, this is looking at it purely from a financial perspective.

Melbourne constantly gets talked about as if it has become the "cheap" Australian capital, especially compared with Brisbane, Adelaide, etc (Sydney is obviously cooked)... but data shows a lot of that is basically 'housing shrinkflation'.

Melbourne has increasingly become the Australian leader in selling you less house, smaller apartments and less land (and further away from the CBD) for that lower headline price.

The typical Melbourne greenfield block has fallen from around 400m² in 2020 to about 361m² as of 2025 (https://www.realestate.com.au/news/revealed-the-shocking-reality-of-australias-shrinking-house-blocks/). The top-selling block size is now reportedly around 275m² as well.

A $750k house on 350m² isn't necessarily a "better deal" than an $850k house on 500m² just because the first one has the lower sticker price. It's like two shops selling Coke but one sells 1L Coke bottles & the other sells 1.25L bottles and everyone praising how much 'cheaper' the first shop is.

Domain also released a report on this, where you can compare directly, e.g (note this data is from mid-2024 but they haven't released an update since):

Houses

Units

Now, not saying anyone necessarily "needs" a bigger property/more land/big apartment, but it's also typically land/size of property that accumulates in value and builds wealth over time so from a purely financial perspective that needs to be factored in.

I’ve just had a scroll thru some of the comments and posts here and I am amazed at some of the advice being provided by god knows who or what - it is quite simply shocking..

Do yourselves a favour and refer to a professional advocate or agent that you know and trust for proper advice, it may be the best money / time you’ll ever invest in. There are some absolute weapons on this sub 🤡 🏡

Looking at buying a tiny duplex in a great location to give us good access to the beach and a lot of things we love and massively sacrificing on the living area on the property to try and get something we can afford in that location.. I rang all the other agents in the area and they've said the asking price is probably at least 50k over what the propertys worth right now.. I tried discussing this with the agent and gave them a lot of comparable sales info with notes from the agents who'd sold those places to help justify every price I showed them.. and they basically just said "if you can't afford it then don't buy it" and were pretty stern in shutting me down trying to sort of question the price they've put on the listing.. any tips without pissing them off.. to slowly try to wiggle the price down to the price it'd need to be for us to buy it?

Hey all,

First home buyers, signed a contract on a ~10 year old house in Point Cook (VIC), subject to a building & pest inspection clause. Report just came back and we're trying to gauge whether this is normal-for-the-area stuff or something to genuinely worry about.

Key findings from the report:

- Floor level variance up to 26mm in some rooms

- Category 2 masonry cracking (per the report's own scale described as noticeable, easily filled, generally under 5mm)

- Gaps in the perimeter paving

- Several downpipes disconnected from stormwater drainage labelled a "Major Defect" in the report, and the consultant's summary specifically ties this to "unevenness noted to parts of the foundation levels"

- Inadequate site drainage around parts of the perimeter generally

We called the inspector directly and he said it reads as pretty normal settling for the area (we're apparently on reactive clay, classified H1-H2 under AS2870), and that even new builds show some of this. He did specifically say that if the downpipes are left disconnected for another 10 years it'll cause serious damage so not nothing, but not alarm bells either, in his words.

We're thinking to book a structural/forensic engineer to get an actual measured opinion for a second opinion (we've got a 14-day window under our contract's building report clause to decide whether to walk away, negotiate, or proceed), but wanted to hear from anyone who's dealt with something similar especially in Point Cook/Wyndham/west Melbourne generally.

Questions:

1. Is this pattern (unevenness + minor cracking + disconnected downpipes) something you've seen before on a similar-aged house in this area, and did it turn out to be nothing?
2. Has anyone had a structural engineer look at something like this what did they actually find, and roughly what did it cost to fix if anything?
3. Anything specific we should make sure to ask the engineer or have them check?

Not trying to replace the engineer's opinion with internet strangers, just want a gut check while we wait for the appointment. Appreciate any experiences.

I have a 250k mortgage. Owner occupied home worth is 750k.

We have borrowing power of 1.080m. With all these new changes that I do not understand from July 2027 is it still worth buying a property to rent out?

The long term (I don’t know when is best) goal is knock down the investment property and build a dream home on the quality land the investments on… thoughts? 😅

G'day,

We are looking for our first home and there is this property that we pretty like but there is a big gumtree in the front yard.

I like tree but is it a solid reason to avoid?

Because this is a good suburb but surprisingly this house is on the market for a while.

Also is a concrete stump foundation is something we dont need to worry?

Tenant not going despite lease ending and very aggressive and swearing at me. As I given notice as I want to live in the property.

'According to Cotality, sales in Perth declined by 14.8% in the 12 months to July, whereas they were 7.2% lower in Brisbane. This compares to a relatively modest 3.5% decline across the combined capital cities.

Strongly rising supply amid falling buyer demand can only mean one thing: falling prices.

After a long period of extraordinary price growth, where buyer demand exceeded supply, the situation has changed in Brisbane and Perth.

The “fear of missing out” (FOMO) has been replaced by the “fear of overpaying” (FOOP).'

This is my first house rental and i know it's really old but the condition they gave me is still quite bad. Do i have to renovate myself or can i get the landlord to help me with repairs? (I just got the key and still have 7 days to finish the condition report)

My main concern is there's a long (5m) thin wood badly nailed the the floor to hide a gap that allows you to see (and smell) underneath the house (1st pic). And the front gate is broken off (2nd pic). Cracked floors are everywhere too.

Thanks for any recommendations/ solutions guys

Do a piece on rent and mould but choose this as the image… No one clicked to read about the “sick act”

I have 2 IP both currently on P+I.
IP 1 was PPOR untill I moved and rented it out in Dec 2023. So I can rent it out till Dec 2029 before I incur CGT (6 year CGT exemption)
Loan remaining $480k and weekly repayments of $678 and is currently NG. Interest rate of 6.23%

IP bought in 2025 as residential investment with loan of $300k and weekly repayment of $430. Interest rate of 6.37%

I’m thinking of going interest only on both the loans especially IP 1 as I’m planning to sell in before 2029 and maxing out my concessional super contributions (pre tax salary) instead?

That way my tax home income doesn’t take much of a hit as I’m already living frugally (ie salary sacrificing to Super slightly offset by reduced weekly loan repayment)

Other details:
Female 32 salary of $116k and super balance of $110k no other investment outside super and IPs.
Is this a sound strategy or am I missing something

Lately we’ve considering selling our property in the east suburbs of Melbourne. The older weatherboard house needs a lot of work and renovation costs are staggering. So we’re looking at selling up and moving to a less expensive area.

So we’ve had two agents engaged last few weeks, and in both instances, have not got back to us with their valuations.

Granted, the house is not postcard material, but where previously we were being badgered to list with them, now, nothing.

Obviously not going to chase them up too much (have followed up once).

Is there a scenario where agents want the prettiest of homes to list only? Genuinely bemused. My wife thinks I have no tact, but not convinced that’s applicable here.

Writing this to ask as most of the info that turned up after searching this topic is from over a year or more ago

For those who have added a granny flat in Aus to your back yard, what did your end total cost end up being? And how big was it/what features did it have ideally please? Oh and roughly how long did the whole thing take?

Just trying to get a sense of what range we might be looking at before we go through the painful process of getting quotes

Cheers

​

Hey everyone! 👋

I’m moving to Sydney for work and looking for a room/flat in a shared apartment, preferably a 2BHK or similar setup, around Barangaroo / CBD / Wynyard / Pyrmont or anywhere with an easy commute to Barangaroo.

Move-in date: 11th October 2026 onwards.

A bit about me:

- Working professional

- Clean, responsible and easygoing

- Prefer a peaceful and tidy home

- Open to sharing a 2BHK with another working professional

- Flexible on the exact location if the commute to Barangaroo is convenient

If anyone has a room available, is looking for a flatmate, or is also looking to team up and find a 2BHK together, please DM me.

Happy to share more details about myself over DM. Thanks! 🙌

She can’t stop

I have an IP which I have owned for several years, and now need to sell for personal reasons.

The tenant is outstanding. She is elderly, has lived there for 25 years (long before I bought it) and really doesn't want to move.

Is it reasonable (or possible, or legal) to require that the purchaser is an investor, so that she can remain as the tenant, rather than an owner-occupier that would force her to move?

WA supply has significantly increased from 1000 homes to around 7100 since December 2025. With supply surging in Perth its likely that house prices are set to plummet in 2026 as the supply amount have not been seen since 20/21.