Recent content by Kate Ashmor

Proactively contacting some buyers advocates to spruik the property may help, and may result in some valuable free advice about marketing the property to investors.

Covenants appear on title: you'll need to search the title of the property you're interested in. This costs about $16 per title in Victoria. It then costs a little extra to look up the covenant instrument. More info here: https://www.landata.vic.gov.au/ You can ask the local Council if any...

The plan of subdivision will determine whether an Owners Corporation is created: usually if there is a common driveway or shared services. The OC Act's exemptions only apply to 2-lot subdivisions, so even if you own all 3 lots, you will probably need to comply with the Owners Corporation Act...

Try Miriam at Property Mavens in South Melbourne.

Section 97 is the relevant section of the OC Act: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/oca2006260/s97.html Why don't you ring the OC and ask to speak with the owner/boss of the company, in case there is a problem with an individual manager. If your manager is actually the...

Yes, they can, but you'd be paying extra for those services.

The Transfer of Land is the document you and the vendor signs after your purchase the property. It gets lodged at the Land Titles Office after settlement. Nothing to do with the section 32. There should be a land tax certificate in a complete section 32, yep.

Some certificates will expire after a certain period. The Council certificate is generally valid for 90 days, and an Owners Corporation certificate can quickly become outdated if payments are made quarterly. A title search is generally only acceptable for 120 days. A prospective purchaser...

Alternatively: Title Insurance You could take out title insurance instead, which will cost hundreds less than a surveyor: http://www.stewartau.com/public//PropertyPurchasers.html

Contact the individual local Council responsible for the land/property you are looking at. They can guide you through the town planning nuances of the area. Some Councils (such as Glen Eira) have more conservative density, site coverage and set-back requirements than others.

Knox Council should be able to clarify: http://www.knox.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.aspx?Page_Id=284

Why not just hold your ground, refuse to budge and wait, using your best poker face. It might take a few weeks, but if the vendor has nobody else, they will sell it to you. If you miss out, there will be plenty of other fish in the sea! :)

Hard wired smoke detectors do not have batteries - it's unlikely the tenants would have touched them. What do the rules of the OC say about the smoke detectors: are they part of the common property? Are you obliged to have them monitored as part of the Owners Corporation? Who is legally...

Property Maverns Miriam at Property Mavens is fabulous: http://www.propertymavens.com.au/

Adjustments are usually prepared by the purchaser and then submitted to the vendor for verification. Purchasers will rely on property certificates and updates via phone calls/emails to the local Council / Owners Corp, as relevant. When verifying adjustments (usually a couple of weeks prior...