Property guru’s one simple tip in 2024

It comes following after a Macquarie Park development which was found to be at “threat of collapse”.

Greenland Australia, the Fortune 500-listed developer of a 900-home apartment development in western Sydney, was ordered to immediately fix a number of serious defects.

The issues, which the order says were caused “by defective workmanship” could cause the entire building, or parts of the building, to topple, the order states.

The apartments were billed as luxury living opportunities, with one, two and three-bedroom units on offer priced up to $1 million dollars last year.

In the wake of the mess, one property expert says prospective buyers advice should potentially bypass shiny new buildings with greater value found in red brick units built in the 60s and 70s on smaller blocks in quiet residential streets.

”Those shiny new high-rise properties which might look like a good purchase in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney are no longer viewed as value for money, in the long-term and could have serious defects,” Jarrod McCabe, associate director with Wakelin Property Advisory told news.com.au.

Mr McCabe added there was “always a risk with buying off the plan” too.

“If you have an apartment with 100-year-old quality of construction with double if not triple brick there is a lot more stability,” he said.

“Some of these modern apartments the question to ask is what could come up in 3-5 years?

“That is when they can cause issues, when people start residing in them are the facilities up to scratch?”

He said smaller blocks are also better value for money too.

“You have a larger notional land component because it is smaller block, better potentially for growth,” he said.

Mr McCabe said another benefit is these properties are “relatively low maintenance type of properties”.

“You don’t have the owners corporation expenses. There is no need to maintain lifts or pools or gyms,” he said.

“Depending on how active the owners corporation are you need to find out what is going on, how much do they have in a sinking fund, just to get a bit of an understanding of what you are buying into.”

He noted in Victoria it is part of the contract that the minutes of the last AGM is included in the exchange of contract of sale.

The advice comes as the property market is expected to continue to surge with data researchers and economists at the big four banks all tipping continued growth in defiance of a range of negative factors.

Last year, home prices nationally rose by more than five per cent, while in capital cities, the cost of real estate…