Underquoting in South Australian real estate

It has started creeping back into the Adelaide residential real estate market...
UNDERQUOTING.-
I will very brieftly explain the changes that were imposed by REISA on the South Australian real estate industry. The document is about 40 pages. This is a summary on pricing.
Revised regulations came into effect in July 2008. The addtional laws were designed to curb pricing irregularities. In the sales agency agreement the document must specify the agent's genuine estimate of the selling price of the property. The price can be expressed as a single figure (e.g. $400,000), or a price range. A price range must be specified by nominating upper and lower values. The upper value must not exceed the lower value by more than 10%. That is to say, if the lower value is $400,000 then the upper value can not be higher than $440,000. The lowest quoted amount in a price range,represents the lowest amount of money that the vendor (seller) stated that he/she would accept in payment for the property.

Potential home buyers and investors are lured into thinking they have a genuine opportunity of securing the property based on the agent's relatively understated price indication. The purchaser proceeds to expend time, money and emotion, including building & pest inspections, strata inspection reports, architects for renovations, solicitors & conveyancers, council searches and deposit money preparation to finally discover that they never had a chance of being successful & the seller wouldn’t have ever accepted the price that was originally quoted by the agent. The price was simply used to ‘bait’ their interest.
This method of underquoting attracts a lot of buyers to ‘sale by negotiation’ as well as auctions. Mislead purchasers create a sense of excitement in the early stages, while the more astute and well informed buyers attend with a plan, a budget and primary/seconday information required to accurately evaluate the offering.



The majority of agents originally took these regulations quite seriously.
The market has been bouyant in the lower - medium sector. Median home values in South Australia have risen during a very turbulant eighteen months. There has been a lot of confusion about global property values, particularly to those who have listened to the media without the consultation of primary or secondary research.
A real estate agent may make first contact with a vendor years before the property goes to market. The sales process involves the agent keeping in touch and giving updates as to market influences and pricing.- Some do this more effectively than others.
If an agent quotes a price to a vendor a year prior to listiing, then takes a month to start the sales campaign, and another month to sell, then after 14 months, the price will have adjusted, sometimes by 15%, taking into considerations that over 10 suburbs have risen over 38% in the last 2 years.
The vendor and agent may advertise the home a little over the original agreed value as of 14 months prior. The purchasers inevitably flock to an obvioulsy underpriced property and climb over each other to throw offers at the agent. When there are dozens of interested parties, then emotion dominates (even with entry level investors) and the price is driven up above genuine market value. This is known within the industry as "feeding the greed"
There are some agents who, for no reason other than to deceive, deliberately underquote or "lowball" the stated value - Especially in the case of auction.

Have you experienced blatant underquoting?
Have you been influenced to pay a considerable amount of money above the original stated asking price for a property?
We'd like to hear about it...

If you are looking for a well performing residential or commercial investment property, an addition to your existing property portfolio or a home to live in, We guarantee to save you money on your next real estate purchase. Go to http://www.directnegotiations.com.au/ or call the team on +61 (0)8 84631997

A brief history of Adelaide . Part 1/3

Colonel Light’s original plan for the 100 of Adelaide and its belt of parklands became the fundamental benchmark in Adelaide's planning in the post-war years. Work on the plan began in the late 1950’s. By 1959 interim recommendations were being considered and the final printed plan and illustrated report were submitted to State Parliament in 1962.



Adelaide in the late 1950s had a population of just over half a million. There was little urban development north of Gepps Cross, but the first houses were being built at Elizabeth. Tea Tree Gully was still rural and development did not extend south beyond Darlington. Migrants were flooding in. The population was increasing at 18-20,000 a year and metropolitan Adelaide had become the third largest and fastest growing city in Australia.
University students, women’s organisations and others became involved in basic surveys for the Plan and a small enthusiastic staff was engaged. It was thought feasible to plan for 20 to 30 years ahead to assist public utility and transport authorities. Forecasting future population is a hazardous task, but it was estimated that a million was likely by 1981 and many more by 1991.

A sudden downturn in the rate of population growth in 1970s resulted in the million figure not being passed until the turn of the century.



The hills limit Adelaide’s expansion to the east and the sea to the west, forcing expansion north and south. The most suitable land for urban development to the north lies on the plains nearer to the hills. Elizabeth had been planned with a town centre similar to the British new towns being built at that time and this form of development was thought to be adaptable for Adelaide’s expansion.


If you are looking for a well performing residential or commercial investment property, an addition to your existing property portfolio or a home to live in, We guarantee to save you money on your next real estate purchase. Go to http://www.directnegotiations.com.au/ or call the team on +61 (0)8 84631997

A brief history of Adelaide . Part 2/3

Decentralisation, satellite towns, tall blocks and higher densities had little chance of acceptance. Tea Tree Gully and Noarlunga developed later with their own major centres. The opportunity to establish a satellite town came in the early seventies; a site was obtained at Monarto and a development corporation established. Forecasts of reducing population growth caused its demise, giving additional impetus to Adelaide’s future northerly and southerly expansion.

New routes would be required to the north, northeast and south enabling unrestricted movement of people and goods; a system of freeways, major roads and rail extensions were proposed. These proposals needed more detailed investigation, as major land acquisition would be involved. American consultants were engaged and the resulting Metropolitan Adelaide Transportation Study (MATS) took place in the 1960s. Its recommendations included additional freeway routes and a rail subway under King William Street. The study caused widespread concern as individual properties on all the new routes could be identified. Some routes were dropped but others were retained.



The O’Bahn now operates on the original route proposed to Tea Tree Gully. To the north new routes have been established with links to Port Adelaide; to the south the Expressway extends to the Onkaparinga and the railway has been extended to the Noarlunga Centre. Land was being purchased for the important but controversial north-south connecting route through the western suburbs, but the proposal was finally abandoned in the 1980s. This has meant a continuing increase in traffic on the inadequate South Road.

New parks and recreation areas were necessary near where people were to live and secured long before the need arose. The plan recommended a means of financing their purchase. Subsequently the amount of land for open space was increased when land was divided into allotments and money from small divisions and strata titles paid into a special fund. An unexpected source of federal funds enabled almost all the land proposed as open space to be obtained by 1977.

If you are looking for a well performing residential or commercial investment property, an addition to your existing property portfolio or a home to live in, We guarantee to save you money on your next real estate purchase. Go to http://www.directnegotiations.com.au/ or call the team on +61 (0)8 84631997

A brief history of Adelaide . Part 3/3

At the end of the 1950s the State’s economy was evolving from a dependence on primary production towards an economy based on manufacturing and service industries. Port Adelaide and the north-western suburbs were the traditional location of industry and have continued to be so. There was a brief flurry of expectancy in the 1990s when land near the port was selected as the site for Australia’s hi-tech Japanese Multi Function Polis. Industrial sites were being provided in Elizabeth and there was other suitable land in Salisbury. To the south, industry was already located along South Road, an oil refinery was to be built south of Hallett Cove and adjacent land was thought suitable for industry.

Speculative post-war subdivision was resulting in unmade roads and inadequate services. The development of Elizabeth set a new pattern to be followed by developments such as West Lakes, Golden Grove, Seaford and Mawson Lakes; all with landscaped roads, shops, schools and open spaces.




In the 1950s there was strong public attachment to single storey houses on spacious allotments and acceptance of closer living to reduce servicing costs seemed unlikely. Over the following years single person households have increased, smaller lots created and apartment living accepted.
The high costs of servicing the steep land overlooking the city provided a sound economic reason for limiting development and thus preserving its natural beauty. The Hills Face Zone has remained relatively unscathed for several decades, but its retention needs constant vigilance.



The most noteworthy outcome of the 1962 Plan’s recommendations has been that planning has become an integral part of State and local government administration with departments serviced by professional staffs and public appeal rights against adverse decisions. Fifty years is a short time in the life of a city. Others than someone involved with the plan’s preparation will judge whether it maintained Adelaide’s reputation as “a monument to far sighted town planning”.



If you are looking for a well performing residential or commercial investment property, an addition to your existing property portfolio or a home to live in, We guarantee to save you money on your next real estate purchase. Go to http://www.directnegotiations.com.au/ or call the team on +61 (0)8 84631997

Adelaide housing shortage to intensify

ADELAIDE will need almost 30,000 new houses in the next five years to keep up with an escalating population, a new report shows.

The Australia On The Move report, released yesterday, forecasts Adelaide's population to increase by 18 per cent – or 213,823 – by 2027.

The Residential Development Council and Matusik Property Insights report reveals Adelaide will need an extra 5856 houses every year for five years.

The forecast is higher than an 2001 report, conducted by demographer Bernard Salt, which said Adelaide needed 5113 new houses each year between 2001 and 2011 and 3788 every year after that until 2031.



Residential Development Council executive director Caryn Kakas said the Australian population was expected to explode. That will certainly add stress to the Adelaide housing supply and demand deficit.

"Limited supply and rising demand can only lead to one thing: rising prices. And rising prices means less affordable housing," she said.

The report shows Adelaide's current estimated residential population is 1.18 million. That is expected to increase by more than 200,000 by 2027.

South Australia's population is forecast to grow by 17 per cent to 1,898,754. Australia's population is anticipated to increase by almost six million people within 20 years which means at least 155,000 houses per year during that period will be required.

If you are looking for a well performing residential or commercial investment property, an addition to your existing property portfolio or a home to live in, We guarantee to save you money on your next real estate purchase. Go to http://www.directnegotiations.com.au/ or call the team on +61 (0)8 84631997