4 ways to reduce the risk of investing in property

4 ways to reduce the risk of investing in property

Whether you're buying new or old properties, cash flow or growth, there are ways to further reduce your risk of investing.

1. Get an independent valuation

This is the best tip for buying any property, anywhere in the world. Whilst a $50 online valuation might give you an idea, a full $500-600 valuation, complete with comprehensive property inspection, will almost guarantee you don't overpay. You can also seek independent valuations for properties that have been built. In this case the architecture and building plans are reviewed with corresponding suburb data.

2. Get a building inspection

If you're not in the building trade you need to get a full building inspection for every property before you buy. Just because it's a unit and the maintenance is paid by strata you still need to get one done as you'll share that cost. You may discover expensive concrete cancer that they weren't yet aware of.

3. Conduct a strata inspection for Units

There are many old buildings that have $50k-100k special levies per unit allocated to repair common areas, such as the external building and doors and windows. If you stretch yourself to take up the investment, these costs could make or break your budget given lenders often don't lend for this kind of building work until completed.

4. Choose property managers wisely

A quick over the phone survey of property managers can quickly arm you with the knowledge of what is in demand from tenants and the rents they are willing to pay. Be sure to ring managers that aren't connected to the sales agent of the property you are trying to buy. This knowledge can greatly help you plan income and expenditures if you need to make additions to renovations to assist your asset to perform.