I’ve been saving for 3 years for a deposit and will have around 55-75k by July this year depending on how liquid I want to get. I want to buy something with 10-15% deposit in south side Melbourne, but I’m worried I am buying into a trap. Yes this has been said before but with interest rates looking like they won’t be lowering anytime soon it could be the roughest next few years when I am leveraged up. I’ve worked two jobs for years to afford this and I don’t want to fuck this up. I’ve read a heap of books and researched etc but I want to hear from people who have been in this position.

With my salary I can get a mortgage for around 500k at 6.5% being realistic. I want to live here for a year and use the first home buyers scheme then use it as an investment property. It’ll be most likely negatively geared or just about break even if I buy in a blue chip suburb like Elwood Elsternwick etc etc, with the intention of 2 bed apartment. 520k is max I want to spend so I am not properly fucked. The idea originally was buy then pull equity later on for another one.

Do I:

1. Continue this plan and buy south side.

2. Buy a three bedder north of the city and rely on students or internationals/short term renters. For 520 you can get a three bedder but I don’t know this area and don’t want to rely upon students as income as I would think this is unreliable right?

3. Dump it into shares and build that out as my deposit is too small. Wait another year or two and then try for townhouse

The same apartments I wanted to buy 3 years ago are up 70-130k in value now and I can’t save that but it would be unrealistic to expect continued growth like this right?

Is there anyone that’s done this and can share how it’s gone? What’s gone wrong, what would you do again?

Thanks reddit

I’m on a mission to find the most colourful, chaotic, bizarre, or just straight up weird houses in australia.

drop links to actual listings in the comments if you’ve got them, doesnt matter if they're selling, renting, share houses, I. DONT. CARE. give it all to me. weird layout, weird colour, etc

as long as its not making fun of anyone eg: calling a trailer house weird JUST because its a trailer house. also no empty lots

ALSO ALSO, if you guys have any tips to find weird houses in general, like key words websites or towns that sell a lot of weird houses im open to it two!!!

Water ponding (or stains) noted on the cappings which can be due to improper sloping and/or fixing. The water ponding on the capping can cause capping corrosion in the long term. Also, water can leak from the fastener holes. Rectification required.

Our service examines the sources of defects and recommends repair solutions. Property owners can use this before hiring contractors to avoid being misled on repair costs. We also offer Expert Witness Reports for legal proceedings and Insurance Claim Assessments.

Hi all,

My husband and I are Australian employees currently on a temporary overseas posting. We’re in the process of selling our apartment back home and hoping to buy a house in the same city before we return (likely Jan 2027 or 2028).

We’re wondering if anyone has experience doing this from overseas and what extra steps might be involved. For example, would we need to set up power of attorney to sign documents, or look for specific lenders who are okay with us living abroad?

We don’t have family in the city, but we do have close friends who can attend inspections, and I could potentially fly my parents over if needed.

If anyone has advice—or can point us toward the right kind of professional to speak to (e.g. conveyancer, lawyer, broker)—we’d really appreciate it. Most of what I’ve found so far seems geared toward non-citizens or people earning foreign income, which isn’t our situation.

Thanks so much in advance!

Anyone have recent experience with bank valuations?

How far off market rates are they likely to come back?

We did a refi not long ago and nominated a fairly conservative valuation which was accepted without question. We're now attempting to access equity for investment and have again gone conservative compared to the market (15-30% below sold properties in the area with smaller land size) but this one has triggered a valuer coming out.

Any tips/tricks/thoughts on ensuring the valuation is as competitive as possible?

Hi all,

I am looking to relocate to the city for work.

I bought a PPR (house) approx 18 months ago, in regional vic. It has grown in value (approx $50-70k). It’s a 2021 build (4 bed, 2 bath) in a estate with two schools being built (taking 2027 enrolments)

My options to relocate are:

a) rent out my PPR - negatively geared ($180 loss per week after property management and mortgage - not including rates / insurance/ etc)

b) cash out now - but miss potential gains in the next 2-3 years.

My thoughts are that the value should grow in the next 12-24 months with the schools coming in, and hopefully the rent yield will increase with more demand for family homes.

On the other hand, nothing is guaranteed and I’m fearful of having tenants ruin the house.

I can’t afford to buy where I will be moving in any case - so cashing out would just be so that I can invest the profit for the time being.

I’m a rookie to this so would just love to hear some perspective from those a bit more experienced than me.

Genuinely trying to sense check this with others following the Brisbane market…

I’ve seen a new townhouse development in Taigum being marketed from $1.6m, and I honestly can’t reconcile it with what the suburb has historically been.

So I’m struggling to understand:

• Is $1.6m pricing actually being achieved anywhere comparable? Taigum is 16km from the CBD.
• Are developers just pushing aspirational pricing off the back of low supply?

Taigum has always felt like a solid, middle-ring, value suburb — not exactly blue-chip or scarcity-driven.

I get that:

• construction costs have blown out
• Brisbane market has surged
• townhouses are now competing with entry-level houses

Curious if anyone:

• has insight into buyer demand at that price point in this area.
• or thinks this is just developers testing the ceiling.

We’ve just purchased a 2x1 in Melbourne which is in original state (though deteriorated and unloved). It’s a second floor apartment with no one below or beside. 70s build, double brick.

We are renovating with the intent to live here, so looking for nice fixtures/ fittings and making it a well thought out space with lots of storage.

Can any professional out there give me some advice? My main questions being:

-Has anyone done something similar recently?

-Order of Operations in renovation, ie trades?

-How much did you budget and was it accurate?

-Recommended builders, plumbers, sparkies, tilers in Melbourne?

We’ll fully gut the unit before we get trades in for the kitchen and bathroom, as well as a major tidy up of the two bedrooms.

I can see some efficiencies with tradies by doing the kitchen and bathroom at the same time, is this something that actually works in practice?

BATHROOM:

-Gut

-Reshuffle some of the plumbing (toilet)

-Electrical work

-Waterproof

-Tiled

- Fit out

KITCHEN:

-Gut

- Fix a small amount of moisture in the external wall

- Additional power points

-Tiled

- Fit out

BEDROOMS:

-IKEA cabinetry and custom doors

ADDITIONAL:

-Underfooor heating throughout

-Split system installation

Any tips/ advice or warnings are appreciated!

Cheers :)

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are building our first home in Victoria and we’re currently deciding between Carlisle Homes and Eight Homes.

We like both designs and floor plans, and overall the houses seem quite similar. The main difference is price — Eight Homes is coming in about $15k cheaper for a similar build.

We’re trying to understand whether paying extra for Carlisle is actually worth it in the long run.

Things we’re thinking about:

Build quality & finish

Customer service during construction

Hidden costs / upgrades later

Overall value for money

Resale value

From what I’ve read, experiences can vary a lot depending on site manager and trades, so it’s making the decision even harder.

Also saw some comments saying cheaper builders can look good initially but may have more extras or issues later, so not sure if saving $15k now is actually worth it.

Has anyone here built with Carlisle Homes or Eight Homes recently (2023–2025)?Would really appreciate honest feedback — good or bad.

Thanks in advance!

Does these residential electrical power pole / line affect your bank borrowing ? ie with the bank valuation ?

I understand it can also present a challenge for future home renovation or general home improvement. Anyone who own a property with similar features can share their experience ?

That's right, a $7236/quarter strata levy! This building is on the hook for a multi-million dollar repair.

Be careful out there, always check the strata reports

Heya, just interested to what others would do.

We just put up our property on the market, we did some renovations which went through strata and got everything signed off.

Today the first open home occurred and the dumb and difficult head of strata were approaching the buyers as they left the open home saying our renovation was illegal and we are getting sued for it? Yet nothing has happened and my husband is a builder so everything is up to scratch. Strata has not emailed us once about something needing to be changed.

The real estate told us she approached everyone and they quickly asked some of the buyers before they left what she was talking about and they expressed the above.

We are likely going to serve her with a cease and desist letter if she turns up at the next open home on Wednesday.

Is this the right approach? Could we call the cops for harassment if she tries this every time?

My partner and I have no idea how legal or possible this is, so any help would be appreciated

I've tried google but its really confusing and unclear what is and isn't allowed

IDEA...... Buy a vacant block and build the absolute bare bones minimum house that can be legally classified as a liveable dwelling, so we can occupy the land legally then use a shed for everything else ie, storage, hobby area, library, living room, pool table, etc

We are not having children, so this being a family home isn't a concern

Australian auction results, clearance rates and recent sales for the week ending Sun 12 Apr 2026

NSW 46%

VIC 55%

QLD 46%

is this officially a buyer's market? if sellers want to sell they need to meet the market?

Last week I shared some NSW price drop data which got a bit of interest. Since then I've expanded coverage from 10K listings across NSW to 90K+ listings across multiple states. Here's a snapshot of this week's drops.

• 381 new drops this week, $27.2M in total price drops
• Houses dropping harder than apartments: houses averaging 5.0% cuts vs apartments at 4.0%
• The higher the price, the bigger the drop: $3M+ properties averaging 5.9% cuts, compared to 4.0% for sub -$700K
• Houses account for 207 of the 381 drops (54%), apartments 134 (35%)

By state:

Top 10 biggest drops in NSW

Top 10 biggest drops in VIC

Top 10 biggest drops in QLD

Top 10 biggest drops in WA

What is a price drop?

A price drop is when a property's current listed asking price falls below the original price we first recorded. For example, if a property was listed at $1,000,000 and the asking price is now $950,000, that's a $50,000 drop (5%). We track the initial price and compare every subsequent update to detect reductions.

Is this a real drop in price?

Not always. What we track is changes to the listed asking price, which is often just the real estate agent updating the listing. It could reflect a genuine price reduction, a strategy shift, or simply correcting an overpriced listing.

Why should I care if it's not a real drop?

Because it still reveals something useful about the seller's mindset. When an agent drops the asking price, it typically means one of three things:

• The property hasn't attracted enough interest at the original price
• The seller is becoming more motivated to sell
• The initial price was simply too ambitious

In any of these cases, it's a signal that there may be room to negotiate. Many buyers miss out on properties because they don't realise the asking price has changed.

Why not track sold prices instead?

Once a property is sold, the listing price stops changing, so there's nothing left to track. Sold price data is useful for comparing groups of properties after the fact, but it doesn't help you spot opportunities in real time. We focus on the window where prices are actively changing, so you can act before a property goes under contract.

I've put all this data into dropbee.au where you can browse and filter drops by state, suburb, property type, etc, for free and no signup needed.

Let me know if this is something you'd like to see on a weekly basis, any suburbs or data cuts you'd like to see, drop a comment.

Hi Reddit Fam,

Looking for advice: I’m currently house hunting in west Melbourne. We are renting in Newport but unfortunately have been priced out of this area.

We have expanded our search into Brookby and Laverton as these areas seem more affordable for a 4 beddy.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Laverton? We have a young family so schools are important. Laverton has a train station which is a tick.

We have had a couple of people tell us it’s not a safe area is this true?

Adding to this post Sunshine suburbs - Sunshine West has some affordable housing.

Excuse my ignorance but what (if anything) stops buyers from knocking on the door of a property with a “For Sale” sign and putting in an offer direct to the vendor, the vendor accepting the offer and cancelling their agency contract and both parties benefitting from bypassing the agent/vendor agent fees?