Hi guys,

My rental lease just ended. Rental agent sent through a quote for $1,210 to repair the benchtop burn mark. Is this price reasonable? It appears to be engineered benchtop.

They said it would take 6 hours to complete. The repair info provided by the repair company is attached as well.

Thanks.

I'm looking for some opinions on my situation.

My wife and I have been trying to sell the house we've lived in for the last 10 years so we can upgrade to a home in the low-$1 million range. Our current house has been on the market for over 5 weeks and hasn't sold. It's currently listed at $849,000, which is already $50,000 lower than our original asking price.

We haven't had a huge amount of interest, and looking at other properties coming onto the market nearby, it feels like we may need to reduce the price even further to stay competitive.

Because of that, we're starting to wonder whether it makes more sense to keep the house as an investment property and rent it out instead of selling at a price we're unhappy with. We could then buy another home, even if it means moving a bit further away.

Our financial situation is roughly:

* Remaining mortgage on current home: about $130,000

* Available redraw: about $210,000

* Maximum budget for a new home would probably be around $850,000 if we really stretched ourselves

* Current home would likely rent for around $650-$700 per week

One thing is that we're planning to have children soon. There's a good chance my wife will stop working for a period of time after having a baby, which makes me a bit nervous about taking on too much debt.

I've also never been a landlord before, so the idea of managing a rental property comes with a lot of uncertainty and risk in my mind.

If you were in my position, would you keep the current property as a rental and buy another home, or would you play it safe, sell the current house, and then move into the new place?

I'd be interested to hear from people who have faced a similar decision.

I have just rented an apartment that comes with a covered car space. While this is nice, I do not drive and I do not have a car. I asked the agent if I could forgo the car space for a reduction in rent, and was told that the car space came with the apartment, but that I could try to lease it out to other tenants if I wanted.

Thus far in my life I have lived in high-rise apartment complexes with no parking so I am a little out of my depth trying to figure out what to do with this. To make it even worse, I am one of those dirty New Zealanders and arrived here last week so I am unfamiliar with Aus/NSW laws regarding this kind of thing.

Has anyone had experience with this? Are there any risks with trying to lease the space out to someone else (e.g. if they smash their car into the building while using the parking space am I liable?)? Are there differences if it is someone from the same apartment complex versus someone outside the apartment complex? And, how much would be a reasonable price to set per week/month (this is in Newtown, Sydney)?

As far as I can tell there is no fob or anything needed to access the parking space, so needing to arrange extra fobs shouldn't be a problem.

I've seen people list parking spaces on real estate websites, but I'm not sure if that would be too heavy handed an approach for something like this.

Hi everyone,

My partner and I recently migrated to Melbourne, and we're looking to buy our first home. Since we're still new to Victoria, we'd really appreciate advice from people who know these areas well.

Our main priorities are:

- A safe and secure neighbourhood.

- A reasonable commute to the Melbourne CBD (I'll be travelling to the city 4 days a week).

- Good amenities nearby, such as supermarkets, cafés, gyms, parks, and other everyday conveniences.

- A welcoming community where newcomers can feel comfortable.

This weekend, we have house inspections in:

- Macleod

- Ringwood East

- Ringwood North

- Forest Hill

- Mitcham

- Oak Park

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these suburbs, especially regarding:

1. Safety and overall neighbourhood feel.

2. Any challenges or things migrants should be aware of.

3. Peak-hour traffic and commuting to the CBD (both driving and public transport).

4. Access to shops, cafés, gyms, and other facilities.

5. Any other pros and cons you think are important for first-home buyers.

If you had to rate these suburbs overall for a recently migrated couple, how would you rank them, and why?

Our current rental lease ends in the first week of September, so we're hoping to make a decision before then. This is a big step for us, and your local knowledge and honest opinions would really help us make the right choice.

Thank you so much in advance!

A friend and I are currently in NZ and everyone we know is moving to Aus after graduating. I was interested in Sydney but keep seeing mixed comments about finding housing and rentals in Sydney, what is the actual market like at different times of the year? If I have NZ bank statements and some payslips from work here, what type of paperwork should I begin preparing?

Hi all,
I am relocating to Sydney in a couple of months and just want to know about the process & what to prepare for in terms of finding a rental.
I’m a mid 30s single female with a job lined up in Macquarie park and will be looking in areas easily commutable (ideally cycleable!) with a budget of around $800pw.
Some things about me:
- kiwi citizen but lived in UK for the last decade
- extensive rental experience in London & Edinburgh with great refs
- after a 2 bedroom/1 bath/ 1 car park ideally and some kind of outdoor area
- I have a small dog who was raised in apartments. Do people disclose their dogs in Sydney or just sneak them in? In London especially most dog owners I knew never told their landlords and just hid them. I don’t mind doing this but would prefer to be honest - is having a dog going to make my search harder? He has great references too! And I’ll be working hybrid so he will rarely be left.

Any words of wisdom (or misery - lbh this is reddit) let me know.

Anybody have any experience with this company?

https://i-build.com.au/

Seems like they push out a lot of homes but very little online reviews from buyers beyond ibuilds published testimonies.

All cities in Australia have now entered negative territory according to the Cotality data. Perth showing the biggest downturn for the past 12 months followed by Adelaide and Brisbane. Following Sydney,these capitals have only started in what could be a significant downturn.

I have an investment property that is currently rented out. I live overseas (bought the property 10 years ago and moved overseas 3). With the new CGT rules coming into play next july is now a good time to sell or should i just ride the wave and hope that eventual equity growth will out perform the tax implications?

The lease is up for renewal now and the tenant has asked for another 12 months. There are some drainage issues at the property which will cost thousands to repair (tenant putting oils and fats down the drain for the last 4 years causing major plumbing issues) which has prompted the question.

The media keeps talking about the mortgage cliff, but I'm more interested in real numbers.

I've seen examples ranging from a few hundred dollars a month to well over $1,000.

If you've rolled off a fixed rate:

What was your old rate?

What did it reset to?

How much did your monthly repayment increase?

I went down a rabbit hole researching it and some of the numbers were honestly pretty brutal.

Put the breakdown together here if anyone wants to compare their situation:

https://youtu.be/BjyEP__0evQ

I'm hoping this is the right sub!

Location: Cairns

Budget: 20-30k

My wife runs a home based beauty salon and we have recently purchased a property in Cairns. What we would like to do is have a separate building on our property that she can work out of. These are by appointment only, and parking etc is not an issue.

We're looking at these "office pods" that are classed as relocatable buildings and it's my understanding that these can be used but I'm getting conflicting answers. I've spoken with council and they haven't been very helpful.

Or are we better off building an structure and getting Class 1A certification?

Does anyone have any experience with this?