The Block Auction Results

What is the main lesson from the failure to sell three of those four properties at auction? Surely it is that sensible people won't buy a property that's been renovated at the rush by a group of amateurs!
One problem with auction is that you have no cooling off period, so you need to inspect the property thoroughly before bidding. How can you do that when the renovations are still in progress under the watchful eye of the attendant television crew?
This blogger recently had a major home renovation done by a professional company with excellent results. A side benefit was that they brought to my attention significant, and clearly verifiable, problems in my old house of which I had been unaware. They offered solutions with no obligation to use them for rectification. I am sure that when, in some distant time in the future, I come to sell the property, my renovation money will have been well spent.

House Price Trends

Mathew Quinn, the Managing Director of Stocklands, advised yesterday that the average size of a four-bedroom house has dropped 20 per cent since 2007 while three-bedroom houses have shrunk by 26 per cent over the same period, as living areas, media rooms and hallways disappeared in more compact designs.
Before this change, Sydney houses were amongst the most expensive in the world, and this was in part because they were the biggest in the world. According to Mr Quinn the average new home grew 10 per cent to a world record 215 square metres in the decade to 2009. Clearly this must have contributed to the sky high cost of Sydney housing!
The concrete used in housebuilding gives off a lot of carbon dioxide as it sets, so the trend to smaller houses will bring environmental benefits both during building and later, with lower energy consumption for heating and cooling the smaller houses.