Australian Investment Properties: Website Review

A new website is promoting Australian property to UK investors. Australian Investment Property is a UK based operation which acts as brokers for Brits looking to invest in the great sunburnt country - down under.

According to their press release Australian Investment Property:

offers visitors a portfolio of luxury properties spread throughout Australia’s property hotspots. The site features off-plan and new-build investment opportunities in all the most popular areas including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast.
Investors will find a broad range of opportunities on the site, ranging from AU$300,000 Melbourne city-centre apartments to AU$ 5,000,000 cutting-edge developments amid the palm trees of Queensland’s coveted Sunshine Coast. The portfolio even includes prestige developments from well-known architects such as Arkhefield, Gabriel Poole, and Owen and Vokes.

(OK I am not a professional architect but I’ve never heard of those four either). Apparently:

The team behind Australian Investment Property researched the market extensively before going live. They discovered that buyers of overseas property prefer a service that takes the leg-work out of finding their dream investment. So the company does all the preliminary sifting. They make sure that previews match the buyer’s criteria in terms of style, location, and price range. Thereafter, the company offers a full turnkey service for trouble-free purchasing. They even offer finance to help buyers seal the deal they want.

Hmm - they discovered that people are lazy and want a one-stop shop - yes that bit I can believe. However in general I think the website really is close to being very misleading as far as the details of investing in Australia Here’s why.

The site pushes new build, off-plan and land properties only. They appear not to cover existing property at all. That is probably because foreign investor’s are not allowed to buy existing residential property. However the site does point out that the Australia is “Australian Government encourages and supports foreign investment” - which they do - just not if you want to buy existing residential property.

Apparently according to Australian Property Investment “robust property market - low supply and high demand”. Really tell that to sellers who can’t sell their homes in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane or the investors taking losses on Gold Coast apartments. Oddly enough to its the Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coasts that the Australian Property Investment team are pushing to their potential investors. Australia isn’t a single property market: every major city has multiple markets. In general though markets such as Sydney and Melbourne have gone through some very hard times. Buying off-plan with settlement years in advance is very,very risky in a depressed market. It can may off very well, or … it may not.

If you are planning investing overseas - take the time and do your own research: sure use local knowledge, hire your own lawyers and valuers so that they work for you. Beware the one stop shop: it may look easier up front but Australian property developers have an appalling record for jacking up deals for out of towners (sell Melbourne to Queenslanders, sell Queensland to the Kiwis) all this looks like is that they have expanded a few more time zones!