5 Ways To Jump Ahead Of The Pack During The Post-Covid-19 Recovery

You can definitely sense a much more positive mood filtering through at the moment and today I noticed a lot more traffic on the road as well as more people out at Rouse Hill Town Centre.

Over the next few weeks, it looks like there could be a bounce of activity in the acreage lifestyle sector as I previously predicted and as John McGrath announced in his article earlier this week.

There were only 4 people diagnosed with COVID-19 within a 24 hour period and Australia ended up having just 12 new cases of Coronavirus recorded overall on Wednesday despite increased testing, (with cases down from 460 at its peak in late March), Alicia Rouse from The Daily Mail shared the latest insight that…

Australia CRUSHES coronavirus: Just FOUR people are diagnosed with COVID-19 in 24 hours as curve 'heads south' and country is told we could be eased back to normal in three weeks

And with beaches having been re-opened for swimming on Tuesday, a sense of normality is starting to come back into ‘The Australian Way of Life’, but we can’t be too relaxed and we still need to stay the course.

Source: Daily Mail

Source: Daily Mail

It’s sooo good to see how Australian’s have pulled together during this Coronavirus crisis. Well done everyone and HUGE THANKS to all of our amazing Frontline Heroes. This mural in Melbourne says it all.

Moving Today & Beyond Covid-19

Behind-the-scenes we have been taking this opportunity to innovate, improve and refine our marketing strategy during this lock-down period in preparation for the Post-Covid19 recovery, and I am about to hit the ‘Go-Button’ on a new campaign designed to help promote acreage properties more extensively.

If you’d like to find out more about how it works and would like to have your acreage property included in this brand new, innovative, highly cost-effective initiative, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me

Here’s 5 Ways To Jump Ahead During The Post-Covid-19

1: Download a copy of the McGrath Selling Guide: We have updated our information rich Selling a Property guide to include our 11 most popular FAQ’s on selling during COVID-19.

Get your FREE Copy Here

2: Book Appointments with Photographer & Property Stylists : Understand that availability for furniture and bookings for these services will fill up quickly as more listings come onto the market. We can help provide you with guidance and helpful tips throughout this process.

3: Request A Copy Of Contract Be Prepared By Your Conveyancer/Solicitor: Any delay in the preparation of the contract will delay the launch of your property and could mean that there’s more competition in the market. Also, if you have a swimming pool and/or a spa make sure to arrange an inspection for the Pool Compliance or Non-Compliance Certificate which is required to be in the contract.

4: Request A FREE Acreage Appraisal: When selling your greatest asset it’s important that you appoint the best agent possible to ensure that you Maximise The Value Of Your Property.

If you’d like to schedule an Obligation FREE Acreage Appraisal, Click Here

5: Consider The NEW Ways Of Buying Or Selling Acres: There are a number of different options available when buying or selling acreage nowadays. For just one example, see… www.OffMarketAcres.com.au

During this Post-Covid19 period it’s going to be to your advantage to consider ways to get the edge over the rest of the market.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about your property or would like to know ‘How’s The Acreage Market?’

I hope you’ve found this information helpful.

Regards

Greg Vincent

John McGrath Affirms Acreage Lifestyle In Post-Covid 19 Investment Choices

I’ve seen a significant increase to the number of enquiries for acreage lifestyle properties from people thinking about making a move away from the city, which I mentioned in this week’s Acreage Market Wrap…

“As we start to come out the other side of this crisis, a lot of people will be re-assessing their current lifestyle and this week I noticed a large percentage of acreage enquiries were coming from people living in the city who realise that they can work remotely very effectively from a home office.

Many are already starting to look into moving away from the crowded city life as they would much prefer to live and work amongst a more spacious, peaceful, natural surroundings of an acreage or tree-change lifestyle, especially on the outer fringes of the city so they can still commute on the odd-day if required.”

…and earlier today, property expert John McGrath also affirmed acreage lifestyle in Post-Covid 19 investment choices.

As we all spend more time at home due to social distancing and working remotely, there is the opportunity to ponder what is truly important to us and the type of lives we want to lead.  Our homes are a reflection of this, so I see a wave of seachanging and treechanging in our near future. 

Historically, social and economic events of this nature have also been a catalyst for people to reassess their investments. Typically, we see people surge back to property in times of uncertainty. I expect the same will happen again when the dust settles on Covid-19.  

I anticipate a surge in demand for rural and regional luxury homes within two hours of the big cities, like they did post 9/11 as many people reassessed their priorities and lifestyle became top of mind. 

I was out showing the property at 209 Greens Road, Lower Portland which overlooks the Hawkesbury River, where I recorded this Facebook Live video.

I currently have a number of great acreage lifestyle properties available at present and now that ‘the cat is well & truly out of the bag’ about what looks set to happen in the acreage sector Post-Covid 19, now is a good time to get a jump on securing the right escape away from the city life before the large wave of acreage lifestyle buyers begin to flood the market once the isolation restrictions become more relaxed.

Acreage has become very affordable now with interest rates at historically low levels as well as enjoying the additional space, the outdoors home entertainment options like relaxing around a firepit, horse riding, motorbiking and in many cases, you’ll get to enjoy privacy, tranquility plus resort-style living.

As John McGrath also said…

I think the main difference between this period and previous similar events is that everyone is better prepared to withstand the pressures. We are blessed to have some of the best banks in the world presiding over our lending and this has placed us in a stronger position to recover more quickly.  

The government response and stimulus packages have been swift and robust. This should allow most people to move through this with far less pain than they would have otherwise had to endure.

Around the globe, Australian residential property is considered one of the safest assets and now, our weaker currency is providing a 30%-40% discount for many buyers purchasing in other currencies.

When you consider the national measures introduced to limit the spread of the Coronavirus with measures shown starting from the date they were introduced to ten days later, which is a rough estimate of time that researchers from the University of Melbourne believe that they might see the effect of the actions taken on case numbers.

Plus, with NSW having 6 cases of Coronavirus recorded yesterday, when compared to the peak of 212 cases on March 27th, (which was almost double the highest case numbers recorded in Vic of 111 on Mar 28), it looks like NSW has pulled together and have done a brilliant job of flattening the curve. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will see a number of the imposed restrictions reduced. Source: The Guardian

Source: The Guardian

Here at McGrath it’s been business as usual but in an unusual way. There are still a number of buyers out in the market currently taking this opportunity to transact.

Whilst there’s currently fewer buyers in the market, many buyers are taking this opportunity to purchase because they have less competition at the moment, which could change very quickly once the strict COVID-19 restrictions start to become more relaxed.

Whilst sales in the acreage market haven’t been as active as they have been within the housing sector, I anticipate that there will be a lot more buyers in the market Post-Covid 19 looking for an acreage lifestyle.

if you’re thinking of buying or selling acres and would like any additional information about the current trajectory and the future of the acreage market, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.

Regards

Greg Vincent

PS: Make sure you check out the full article from John McGrath about Post-Covid 19 investment choices.

Acreage Market Wrap - 18th April 2020

Hi, my name is Greg Vincent and welcome to this week’s Acreage Market Wrap where I share an insight into How’s The Acreage Market?

This week I shared an update from Realestate.com.au Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee who explained Why Australia Won’t See House Prices In “Freefall”.

You see, there are always several micro-markets within each property market which means that suburbs throughout the different states & cities will experience differing, independent outcomes off the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you haven’t seen it as yet, her article and short video are definitely worth checking out. Here’s a link to it..

If you’re currently going through a difficult time of embracing the pace of change which has been taking place, you may find the message I shared earlier this week about Embracing Change really helpful. It includes a short video featuring a motivational business fable about understanding how some people embrace change quickly and how others refuse to accept change or get stuck in a rut literally paralysed by fear. Here’s the link to that as well.

Something to be very careful of during this pandemic is that as a society there’s now so much talk about Social Distancing, but, actually I think they’ve got that phrasing incorrect.

You see, it’s actually Physical Distancing that we need to do to continue to stop the spread of Coronavirus, but, distancing yourself away socially can cause much deeper issues.

Fortunately, this crisis has happened in an era where we have social connection tools at our fingertips with technology like Zoom meetings, FaceTime, Skype, Google Hangouts and apps like House Party which allow us to stay connected during these unprecedented times.

Make sure you reach out to others if you’re feeling a bit isolated or get in contact with friends or family who you may feel could be a bit overwhelmed and are distancing themselves at present. Just a suggestion.

What’s Ahead

It’s been really encouraging to see that exactly a month after the SMH headlines said ‘Australia prepares for 50,000 to 150,000 coronavirus deaths’ that we are now seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, especially after Thursday’s headline promoted that ‘Australia on course to eliminate COVID-19, modelling shows’

…and Prime Minister, Scott Morrison shared an insight into Charting Our Way Out Of The Crisis which included some hopeful signs that if we keep flattening the curve, restrictions may get a bit more relaxed within the next four to five weeks, as well as a roll-out of infrastructure projects to help move the Australian economy forward. Here’s a link to that article too.

Also, over the Easter weekend, as predicted the NSW State Government announced a Rent Relief package which provided more certainty for Landlords and reinforced that tenants still have an obligation to pay their rent, which should help to instil more confidence back into the acreage market for property investors in search of land banking opportunities and solid rental yields.

How’s The Acreage Market?

As we start to come out the other side of this crisis, a lot of people will be re-assessing their current lifestyle and this week I noticed a large percentage of acreage enquiries were coming from people living in the city who realise that they can work remotely very effectively from a home office.

Many are already starting to look into moving away from the crowded city life as they would much prefer to live and work amongst a more spacious, peaceful, natural surroundings of an acreage or tree-change lifestyle, especially on the outer fringes of the city so they can still commute on the odd-day if required.

Currently there a total of 440 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region. This overall total includes 243 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 136 in The Hills and another 61 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

This week, 9 new acreage listings came on the market, but, there were 7 properties withdrawn which means there was only a net increase of 2 properties added to the available stock levels. For those who are currently on the market, there was only the one acreage property Sold this week which means that the market is become more and more competitive. The positive news is that there’s 15 acreage properties currently ‘Under Contract’ across the region, however a large percentage of those appear to be ‘Under Option’ which means that they’re likely to take quite a while to appear in the Sold data.

Out in the field, this week, it’s been business as usual but in an unusual way. I’ve had a number of private inspections on properties and we’ve had over 200 people join in to receive updates about ‘Off-Market Acres’ where Secret Places are Revealed so far since I launched this brand new service at the beginning of April. The response has been much greater than I’d ever anticipated. The whole system works automatically. I receive notifications on my phone and it just keeps ticking over continuously adding more and more leads to my acreage database every single day.

If you’d like to know more information about how to get early access to any of our ‘Off-Market Acres’ listings simply click on the link to register now at www.offmarketacres.com.au

When registering for 'Off-Market Acres’ you’ll also receive a bonus copy of The Acreage Report 2020 (Autumn edition) which features an insight into ‘The Future For Acreage This Decade' as well as gaining Early-Access to any of the 'Off-Market' acreage listings that we have ‘Coming Soon’.

The Acreage Report features statistics about what's happening in the Hawkesbury, Hills & Sydney’s North West acreage market. Plus you also get instant access to a copy of The McGrath Report 2020 which features exclusive insights from one of Australia’s leading property experts, John McGrath.

Lastly, if you’re thinking of selling your acreage property, there’s never been a more important time to make sure that your real estate agent is working very closely with their buyer database as well as being fully in-tune with exactly what’s happening in the acreage market, especially during this COVID-19 period.

Someone said to me earlier this week…“

it’s hard to pump up a tyre that has a whole in it”

which is a pretty good analogy of where the market currently sits at the moment, however, it’s important to remember that when you’re buying acreage you should be making your decision based on your life, not based upon the current market.

You see, once the puncture in a tyre gets fixed the vehicle gets back up to speed very quickly and you should take a long term view of the acreage market because there’s a lot of positives that will come out of this current changing landscape which makes the lifestyle of living on acreage more appealing than ever before.

I’ve been in this industry for over 30 years and I’ve experienced enough tough markets to know what happens on the other side of a crisis ...and hopefully there’s still plenty of miles left on my tyres to be able to see what plays out throughout this next decade, because, I can see that there’s definitely some light at the end of this Coronavirus tunnel and there’s a lot on the horizon that we have to look forward to.

So, that’s it for this week’s Acreage Market Wrap.

If you’ve got any questions about anything I’ve shared this week or would like to discuss any of your acreage plans with me, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Thanks for watching, stay safe, and bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Positive Signs That Australia Is Charting Our Way Out Of Strict Covid-19 Restrictions

It’s very encouraging to see the that exactly a month after the SMH headlines said ‘Australia prepares for 50,000 to 150,000 coronavirus deaths’ that we are now seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, especially after yesterday’s headline which stated that ‘Australia on course to eliminate COVID-19, modelling shows’.

Our Country Looks To Be In Good Hands

During these unprecedented times, the way people show up and how they react under immense pressure really sorts out the men from the boys (or ladies from the girls), and at this point in time, I think our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has really stepped up and has been an inspirational leader (regardless of which side of politics you vote for) during one of the most uncertain times in our lives.

Whilst we are still a while away from getting through this crisis and we may never actually go back to how things previously were, the bounce in the economy as people begin getting their freedoms back, start going back to work and as infrastructure projects get fast-tracked there will be a positive impact on the current Australian economy.

Last night, Scott Morrison appeared on the 7.30 report and shared an insight into ‘Charting our way out’ which includes some really practical options and an indication that it’s likely we will start to see a relaxing of the restrictions within the next month as well as a roll-out of infrastructure projects to help move the Australian economy forward so that we won’t have to wait for the global economy to recover before we can start reducing our unemployment levels.

Also, when you look at the latest Coronavirus stats across the globe the impact that it’s having on other countries and with many seeing Australia standing out as a safer place to work, trade and live, I anticipate that we will see a lot of foreign investment in the short-medium term as we work our way through this global crisis a lot better than many other countries have to date.

As a friend of mine, Glenn Batten said the other day…

“Australia really has no idea what we avoided. What our health system was spared. Spain has a critical care (ie.. ICU beds) rate 45 times that of Australia and a death rate 175 times that of Australia as their health system was over run. France is 35 times the critical rate and 145 times the death rate. Even the UK has a death rate 80 times higher than Australia. Think about that... It’s not 80 times the number of deaths (they have over 700 deaths per day and we have 60 total) as the UK has a larger population but its death RATE is 80 times higher and still climbing whilst we are declining. The facts are clear, we avoided this because our government acted swiftly and proportionately.“

Additionally, as we come out the other side of this crisis, a lot of people will be re-assessing their current lifestyle and I am already getting a number of enquiries from people living in the city who realise that they can now work remotely very effectively from a home office and they’re looking at moving away from the city and into the more peaceful, natural surroundings of an acreage or tree-change lifestyle on the outer fringes of the city.

It looks like there will be an influx of property coming onto the market as the COVID-19 restrictions are reduced and now could be a good time to try to get in ahead of this influx of listings if you’re thinking of selling.

Also, if you’re looking to buy acreage, there possibly hasn’t been a more affordable time to do so than in the present market due to the historically low interest rates and the current level of acreage stock that is available to purchase at similar prices to pre-election market of 208/2019.

If you have any questions about buying acres or selling your acreage property, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Realestate.com.au Chief Economist explains Why Australia won’t see house prices in “freefall”

Chief Economist for property website Realestate.com.au, Nerida Conisbee shared a valuable insight into how the Coronavirus appears to be impacting the Australian market as well as potential price growth areas.

As Nerida says,

It’s understandable that many Australians expect to see the market behave as it did during previous economic downturns such as the Global Financial Crisis in 2007, which was a financial and demand shock.

Unlike now, previous downturns in Australia have primarily been financially-led, which is the significant differentiating factor. In light of that, there are a number of reasons why Australians shouldn’t expect to see house prices in freefall.

There are always several markets within markets which means that different suburbs across our different states & cities will experience independent, differing outcomes from the Covid-19 pandemic.

For example, it’s likely that many of the people who are currently stuck isolating in confined spaces like in city apartments with no yard or in small homes on very small blocks. Also, top it off with lots of people now working from home, kids stuck at home during the school holidays and a feeling of being overcrowded, once the Coronavirus restrictions are lifted many families will be reconsidering their options and may consider a lifestyle change which has the potential to increase activity in the acreage & tree-change sector.

There are several factors that Nerida Conisbee says will have an impact on the market…

1. The banks are a pillar of support

2. Unemployment will only hit some sectors

3. Some sectors will experience growth

To read the full article click here

Keeping an eye on what’s actually happening behind the scenes, especially from people with access to the data & invaluable insights into online consumer behaviour on a site like realestate.com.au is important to take into consideration when deciding whether to buy or sell at the moment.

I hope you find this article helpful.

Regards

Greg Vincent

A Fitting Message About Embracing Change

I was talking with a mate of mine today, we were discussing how quickly things have changed over these past few weeks and how some people are really struggling with adapting to change, especially changes in the workplace. It reminded me of a book that I read years ago written by Dr Spencer Johnson titled Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

A New York Times business bestseller upon release, Who Moved My Cheese? remained on the list for almost five years and spent over 200 weeks on Publishers Weekly's hardcover nonfiction list.[1] It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide in 37 languages and remains one of the best-selling business books.

Below is an animated video which provides a great insight into the storyline of the book. It’s a motivational business fable about understanding how some people embrace change quickly and how others refuse to accept change or get stuck in a rut (playing the blame game change) literally paralysed by fear.

The book ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ takes very little time to read, and even though it was published back in 1998 it is definitely worth reading and revisiting over these coming months to help you get through the challenges ahead.

Below is also an excerpt from an article by Nick Ray about Workplace change – the dangers of not embracing how people adapt which I also found insightful.

Changing the workplace can deliver significant benefits for an organisation and its people, but it takes awareness, conscious effort and commitment to help people work in new ways. Get it wrong and people will be unhappy and will counter the change with adaptive behaviours to gain back control.

When organisations’ change their work environments, people move from a comfortable predicable environment to one with new ‘risks’ and uncertainties. This disruption can result in lower happiness levels and research from BI Worldwide indicates that a lower level of happiness relates to a reduction in people feeling obliged to work hard – something no leader wants.

Change also means teams and individuals will evolve and adapt their behaviour. This response is partly instinctive as we seek to control the ‘risks’ we might be exposed to, but in the office environment this is also about setting ourselves up to effectively and efficiently deliver our work.

The key is making sure your implementation and change management plans identify adaptive behavior, and work with it to deliver a happy, productive team.

There are a lot of changes currently taking place within the workplace and out in the marketplace, and it’s important to adapt quickly and become service focussed as well as solution focus.

Adopting a role model mindset, facing your fears and seeing the Chance within Change is an important

I hope you find this information helpful

Regards

Greg Vincent

SouRce: travelweek.ca

Acreage Market Wrap - 11th April 2020

Hi, and Happy Easter everyone. I hope you and your family are making the most of your Easter Break even though we’re currently in Lockdown.

For those who may not know me, my name is Greg Vincent and welcome to this week’s Acreage Market Wrap where I share an insight into How’s The Acreage Market?

Earlier this week I shared an update about What Impact The Coronavirus Is Having On The Housing Market? Which included some interesting insights into the possible scenarios and some expert forecasting by Louis Christopher of SQM Research. If you haven’t seen this update as yet and you’re wondering whether you should buy, sell or hold-off from doing anything in this current market, then this article is an absolute must to tune into. I’ll put a link to it underneath this video.

It's been encouraging to see some positive changes announced recently like the NRL announcing that they will be kicking there season off again in about 6 weeks time and figures showing that we are flattening the curve as we continue to do what we can to stop the spread. We all have to stay the course, stay vigilant and ride this thing out as best we can.

There’s been an enormous amount of changes occurring over these past few weeks, with so many new Government announcements, initiatives and restrictions that have direct and indirect impacts on the housing sector along with new Covid-19 operating guidelines which have changed the way that real estate agents are now doing business... and I’ve been busy Re-Imagining, Re-Inventing and Re-Positioning our business so that we can best serve our customers and clients throughout this pandemic and beyond.

You see, during these times it’s important to remember that in business it’s no longer the big who beats the small, it’s the fast that beats the slow and it’s critical to try to stay a step ahead and anticipate changes that could change how we do business today, tomorrow and over these next few weeks and months.

For example, here in NSW, real estate agents can no longer do Open Homes but we can still conduct private inspections. However in the past 48 hours there’s been a restriction imposed on other states which may also potentially come into effect here which will have a big impact on those agents who aren’t prepared for further imposed restrictions.

You see, late on Thursday evening Victorian real estate agents were instructed that they could no longer do private inspections on owner occupied or tenant occupied properties as it forces both the occupants as well as the prospective buyers or prospective tenants to leave home for trips that aren’t within the guidelines that are deemed to be a necessary reason not to remain at home.

Currently the agents in Victoria can only show homes that have been vacated, which has caused a lot of frustration and inspection cancellations throughout the real estate industry down there today and across this Easter weekend.

This new restriction is currently only in place up until the 13th of April, but it may be extended further and it has the potential to eventually become enforced in other states.

The good news is that, property is still being transacted, for example, our team here at McGrath have sold 190 properties in the last week valued at $185 million, which makes our company amongst one the safest options in the market as we have access to more qualified, finance approved buyers

...and after a highly anticipated announcement expected by the NSW Government over the Easter break or early next week regarding a new Rent Relief package, it looks like Property Investors Will Once Again Be Poised To Jump Back Into The Acreage Market.

Also, this week I started putting together a New Acreage Handbook Featuring Important Tips For Buying Acres - (Coming Soon). To assist me in compiling the best information I possibly can, please let me know if you have any questions about buying acres that you would like to see answered in the booklet (and for current acreage owners, even if you’d like to cast your mind back and share some of the questions that perhaps you would've liked answered before you bought you acres). Simply comment below, get in contact with me or send me a message.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Again this week we’ve seen more new acreage listings coming onto the market and only a small number of sales occurring. If the Covid-19 lockdown remains exactly the same it looks like this trend is set to continue, however, if access to properties is restricted then I anticipate that we will see a lot more acreages going up For Sale ‘Off-Market’ and the number of new listings being uploaded onto the property websites like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au may level off over the coming months purely due to accessibility.

Currently there a total of 438 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region. This overall total includes 235 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 139 in The Hills and another 64 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

This week, another 17 new acreage listings went onto the market but there were only 2 acreage properties Sold this week plus there’s 15 acreage properties currently ‘Under Contract’ across the region, with a percentage of those being ‘Under Option’ which means that they could take quite a long time to appear in the Sold data.

Whilst none of these statistics factor in any acreages that may have been Sold ‘Off-Market’, but when I researched through realestate.com.au it was very interesting to see that the property we sold at 7 Everett Place, Annangrove is the only acreage property that has Sold in The Hills during these past 4 weeks, which indicates that acreage sales appear to have stalled within that area at present.

Out in the field, this week, we launched another property as part of our new ‘Off-Market Acres’ platform where Secret Places Are Revealed. The property is at 309 Fairey Road, South Windsor on over 5 acres of mostly cleared land and has a comfortable 3 BR home plus large workshop, separate studio/office and horse facilities. It’s positioned is in a very convenient location as it backs onto the residential area of Bligh Park as well as the Windsor Park Public School which means that there’s access to public transport right at your back door. The price guide is $1.35m - $1.4m and is a great opportunity for anyone with trucks, equipment, horses, etc and are currently looking to move onto an affordable 5 acres.

If you’d like more information about this property or get early access to any of our ‘Off-Market Acres’ listings simply click on the link below or register now at www.offmarketacres.com.au to access the site plan, watch the extensive Video Walkthrough and download a copy of the contract of sale.

Once you register for 'Off-Market Acres’ you also get instant access to The Acreage Report 2020 (Autumn edition) which features an insight into ‘The Future For Acreage This Decade' and outlines the Two Biggest Factors Set To Impact Acreage over the next 10 years and at the same time you'll get Early-Access to any of the 'Off-Market' acreages coming up.

The Acreage Report also includes statistics about exactly what's happening within the Hawkesbury, Hills & Sydney’s North West acreage market.

Plus you get a bonus copy of The McGrath Report 2020 which features some great insights from property expert, John McGrath.

Lastly, if you’re thinking of selling your acreage, promoting your property’Off-Market’ could be a good way to do a soft-launch to test the level of interest during this Covid-19 period before investing thousands of dollars in a traditional marketing campaign. If you’d like to find out more about how selling ‘Off-Market’ works, take a few moments to look at, www.OffMarketAcres.com.au.

I’ve had a lot of people register to receive updates about ‘Off-Market Acres’ during this past week and our database of qualified acreage buyers keeps increasing each day, which means that I may already be working with just the right buyer for your place and chances are that you could become another one of our clients who get to sell their property ‘stress-free’, without all the usual preparation, worry and added expense that can happen when putting your acreage property on the market. It’s definitely worth looking into!

So, that’s it for this week’s Acreage Market Wrap.

If you’ve got any questions about anything I’ve shared this week or would like to discuss any of your acreage plans with me, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Thanks for watching, stay safe, Happy Easter everyone, bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Property Investors Poised To Jump Back Into The Acreage Market

As I mentioned in this week’s Acreage Market Wrap, “there were a lot of changes announced during this past week which caused a few concerns for property investors, many of whom were looking to move their money across to property on the back of the low interest rates and the falling stock market.

There was some confusion for Landlords around the Rent Relief package released by the Federal Government this week and whilst some tenants thought that because they couldn’t be evicted for 6 months that they no longer had to pay their rent, but that’s certainly not the case.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that Tenants have to pay their rent unless they can demonstrate a reason not to. The lease is a contract and the obligations within that contract need to be fulfilled.

The plight of the landlord was completely overlooked in the early stages of the Government's announcement but via some good work done by the REINSW and other industry stakeholders, the difficulties for landlords has been highlighted and more should be announced to resolve this issue early next week.”

As predicted, last night the REINSW President, Leanne Pilkington announced that the State Government have made a decision and the NSW Premier or NSW Treasurer will be making an announcement in the next few days to remove the Moratorium for Residential Tenants in NSW, which means that rents still need to be paid, unless the tenant can show hardship and the State Government plans to release a Rent Relief program for tenants who can’t pay their rent.

Real Estate Coach, Tom Panos caught up with Leanne Pilkington about this decision regarding the rental situation.

This is positive news for existing Landlords, especially Mum & Dad investors who may have bought an investment to help with their future retirement plans (who have investment loan repayment commitments which they rely on the rental income for) along with those who are now looking to invest in bricks and mortar as a safer option compared to the current volatility and unpredictability of the stock market.

There are some excellent opportunities amongst the acreage market for investors at the moment and whilst we are currently experiencing a slight reduction in volume of enquiry, I’m finding that the quality of the buyer enquiry that is filtering through has been of greater quality and are more qualified to purchase.

As I mentioned in a previous article, Investors Appear To Be backing The Property Market In 2020 with interest rates even lower than they ever were and now with the market slowing down over these past few weeks, there’s now a large selection of acreage properties available and overall buying acreage has now become a lot more affordable.

Property is still being transacted, for example, our team here at McGrath have sold 190 properties in the last week valued at $185 million, which makes our company amongst one the safest options in the market as we have access to more qualified,  finance approved buyers.

The way that Australia appears to be reducing the spread of the Coronavirus at present appears that there may not be the need to go into a Stage #4 LockDown like New Zealand did, which would certainly help our economy during this pandemic, but we definitely can’t get too comfortable or complacent.

Over the Easter Break whilst we’d all love to be heading off on a holiday, it’s important that we all pull together and continue to stop the spread.

We have cancelled our planned trip away and I will be available across the Easter weekend to arrange private inspections if you’re on the look out for an acreage property.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling acreage and would like to know more about the numerous options available to you in the current market, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Source: Coulters

New Acreage Handbook Featuring Important Tips For Buying Acres - (Coming Soon)

Buying Acreage: What Would You Like To Know?

:: Hello to All Acreage Buyers as well as Current Acreage Owners :: I'm currently in the process of completing this booklet featuring IMPORTANT TIPS FOR BUYING ACRES. Let me know if you have any questions about buying acres that you would like answered in the booklet (and for current acreage owners, what you would've liked to have been told before you bought)

…anyone who comments will be among the first to receive a copy of the final draft of the booklet before it goes to print.

You can either comment below, or email your questions, thoughts or ideas to me here

Thank You in advance.

Regards

Greg Vincent

What Impact Is The Coronavirus Having On The Housing Market?

Back at the end of January, Louis Christopher from SQM Research shared in-depth Australian Real Estate Market Predictions for 2020 when he caught up with Real Estate Coach, Tom Panos and during this report Louis Christopher mentioned that COVID-19 could impact the market but at the time he was referring to it more from the viewpoint of what impact it was having on the Chinese economy, not so much from a global pandemic perspective nor with the hindsight of what impact the Coronavirus was going to have on the Australian economy.

This was the first time that I had heard any of the real estate forecasters mention Coronavirus. Louis Christopher’s previous forecast included 4 different scenarios within his 2020 Boom & Bust Report Forecasts.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a 5th scenario factored into that 2020 Boom & Bust Report. The real impact that the Coronavirus was going to have on the global economy was impossible to predict. To see the previous report, click here

Markets are fluid and one of the quotes that I heard about how to adapt during this pandemic is…

You can’t stop the waves but you can learn how to surf.

As Tom Panos said towards the end of their previous interview… “A lot of things can happen in 12 weeks, who knows we may have been sprung a surprise - something has happened or some sort of crash that no-one expected”.

So now with COVID-19 LockDowns in effect and the Federal Government providing Financial Relief packages almost daily plus with 2 drops in interest rates by the Reserve Bank along with a significant drop in both the Stock Market and the Australian Dollar since the Australian Real Estate Market Predictions 2020 was originally recorded, I feel that tonight’s interview between Tom Panos and Louis Christopher is a must watch for anyone wanting to gain a greater insight into… What Impact Is The Coronavirus Having On The Housing Market?

Louis Christopher from SQM Research is one of Australia's most recognised and respected property analysts, and also one of the most conservative and accurate analysts that Tom Panos knows. 

In this video interview Tom & Louis talk about the much-anticipated topic: How the Australian real estate market will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the short term and long term impacts?   

11:44 – Is it a buyer’s market or a seller’s market right now?  

12:34 – What type of clearance rates are we seeing with digital auctions?   

18:40 – The two possible scenarios following COVID-19. Should we be hopeful? Or could we be entering into a depression?  

19:50 – When we can expect lockdown restrictions to be lifted?  

23:13 – Has Australia done a good job responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?  

25:05 – What’s the difference between a recession and a depression? Where does this fit in?  

30:36 – What is the situation with rentals right now?  

36:19 – What type of agents will survive this period of uncertainty? Will there be casualties?   

39:44 – What changes can we expect in the global supply network? 

44:35 – What are the opportunities, and why we should be optimistic.  

47:30 – What is the outlook post-Coronavirus? 

So What’s Happening In The Acreage Market?

Back on the 25th January when I shared the Australian Real Estate Market Predictions for 2020 here, I reported that there were…

“360 acreage properties for sale across all suburbs within the Hawkesbury, Hills and North-West Sydney region that I outline within The Acreage Report and in this past week there have been 3 acreages Sold, 13 are Under Offer and there were 11 New Listings, which shows that the number of sales will need to increase significantly to reduce the amount of available supply before we’ll start to see prices increasing as much as they have been in the Sydney housing market.”

When you compare the above figures from January against those that I shared in yesterday’s Acreage Market Wrap - 4th April 2020 below, it’s clear that the oversupply of acreage stock has been increasing.

Currently there a total of 426 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region. This overall total includes 231 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 133 in The Hills and another 62 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

This week, there’s been an additional 21 new acreage listings come onto the market but again there were only 3 acreage properties Sold this week plus there’s been a slight decrease to the number of acreages that are ‘Under Contract’, but, even so it's good to see that there are still 14 acreage properties currently ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

In March, there were a total of 86 new acreage listings come onto the market and 25 acreage properties were sold. The Hawkesbury had 12 sold, The Hills had 8 sold and 5 sales occurred in the Penrith & Blacktown Acreage suburbs we cover.

The current oversupply of acreage stock looks set to increase even further over the coming weeks or at least up until we go into a COVID-19 LockDown Stage #4 (if we do), which may slow down the number of New Listings being uploaded onto Realestate.com.au.

However, there’s likely to be an increase in the number of acreage properties listed ‘Off-Market’ during the LockDown period. Which is where ‘Off-Market Acres’ will be able to provide an excellent solution for acreage owners.

If you’d like to find out more about How’s The Acreage Market? or What Buying Or Selling ‘Off-Market’ Actually Means, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me or alternatively you can register here

I hope you find this information helpful

Regards

Greg Vincent

Acreage Market Wrap - 4th April 2020

Hi, my name is Greg Vincent and welcome to this week’s Acreage Market Wrap where I share an insight into How’s The Acreage Market?

This week I launched a brand system which I believe will become The NEW WAY to buy & sell acres, it will be especially effective during this Coronavirus period and I’ll share more about this new innovation shortly...

But first, there were a lot of changes announced during this past week which caused a few concerns for property investors, many of whom were looking to move their money across to property on the back of the low interest rates and the falling stock market.

There was some confusion for Landlords around the Rent Relief package released by the Federal Government this week and whilst some tenants thought that because they couldn’t be evicted for 6 months that they no longer had to pay their rent, but that’s certainly not the case.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that Tenants have to pay their rent unless they can demonstrate a reason not to. The lease is a contract and the obligations within that contract need to be fulfilled.

The plight of the landlord was completely overlooked in the early stages of the Government's announcement but via some good work done by the REINSW and other industry stakeholders, the difficulties for landlords has been highlighted and more should be announced to resolve this issue early next week.

In the meantime, if you're a Landlord then your Tenants should be referred to the relevant Government websites to see what initiatives and assistance the Government is providing to help them through this pandemic.

Landlords need to be careful not to panic too quickly.

In an article in today’s Australian Financial Review titled 'The Landlords Guide To Surviving The Pandemic' by Nila Sweeney, the Property Investment Council of Australia Chairman. Ben Kingsley said

Landlords should hold off reducing or foregoing any rent until the government releases more details on rental relief. We’re telling any Landlord who decides to reduce rent is potentially impacting their claim if rent is unpaid in the first instance. And also potentially putting at risk how much they will receive if there is a tenancy relief package announced by the Federal Government in the coming days or weeks or months.

In the article, they suggest that while Landlords wait for further guidance from the Government it is a good idea to do a budget to see how much it will cost you to hold the property with reduced or no rent over 6 months.

And also Cathy Bakos, the President of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association says…

Investors need to realise the moratorium does not allow tenants to walk away from their obligations.

This is something that so far hasn’t been explained properly by Prime Minister, Scott Morrison and I expect that there will be more clarification on this from the Government in the coming days.

As you can see, it’s really important that you get the facts right before you start making any impulsive decisions.

Also, in other news, apparently there’s been a change to the Material Facts regulations regarding agent disclosure and an agent must now declare if an occupant of a property has tested positive for COVID-19. This is very new legislation and we’ll hear more about how this works in the coming weeks.

Additionally, with a lot of properties having been sold recently and many that are still due to settle some may experience unexpected complications. If it’s an owner occupier leaving then that’s okay, however, if it’s a tenant vacating then with these new laws regarding tenant protection against evictions there may be some potential issues which could now arise which could leave owners without a sale and leave owners liable to be sued if they can’t give vacant possession. However, apparently new laws are being drafted to fix this situation very quickly.

The speed at which everything is moving there are so many unintended consequences when the government makes broad brush decisions and the REINSW and the Law Society have been actively involved in liaising with the State Government to find suitable solutions.

So as you can see, there’s a lot going on behind-the-scenes that we are all having to adapt to very quickly.

Speaking of adapting to change, This pandemic is a life-changing time for so many where we really need to be Strategic, Pragmatic & Innovative.

We need to ‘Re-Imagine & Re-Emerge'.

...Here at McGrath we have Re-Imagined and anticipated what some of the changes will be within our real estate business ahead of if or when we do go into a COVID-19 Stage #4 LockDown. We have pivoted and implemented extremely quickly and are now embracing Online Auctions, Private Inspections By Appointment and Digital Inspections.

Here’s an article which goes into more detail about what we're doing here at McGrath to Re-Imagine and Re-Emerge.

Plus, on top of all that, I'm excited to announce that this week I officially launched a brand new innovative strategy called ‘Off-Market Acres’ where Secret Places Are Revealed as well launching a brand new 'Off-Market Acres' Facebook Page and with registrations climbing daily, both the website and the Facebook page have already been well received.

'Off-Market Acres' is a brand new system that may end up becoming The NEW WAY To Buy Or Sell Acres. (especially for anyone looking to sell their acreage property during the COVID-19 LockDown period). If you want to find out more about’Off-Market Acres’ and how it all works, visit... www.offmarketacres.com.au

Okay, So How’s The Acreage Market?

The increased number of new acreage listings coming onto the market versus the reduction in the number of acreage sales occurring is continuing to fuel the current oversupply of acreage properties that are now on the market.

Currently there a total of 426 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region. This overall total includes 231 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 133 in The Hills and another 62 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

This week, there’s been an additional 21 new acreage listings come onto the market but again there were only 3 acreage properties Sold this week plus there’s been a slight decrease to the number of acreages that are ‘Under Contract’, but, even so it's good to see that there are still 14 acreage properties currently ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

In March, there were a total of 86 new acreage listings come onto the market and 25 acreage properties were sold. The Hawkesbury had 12 sold, The Hills had 8 sold and 5 sales occurred in the Penrith & Blacktown Acreage suburbs we cover.

Out in the field, this week, we officially launched a spectacular couple of ‘Off-Market Acres’ at 26 Wavehill Avenue, Windsor Downs and 14 Lamrock Avenue, Glossodia. These are both incredible properties and here’s some information about these stunning homes below….

Also, I have another acreage property which should become available via 'Off-Market Acres’ later this week. If you’re looking for an excellent land bank acres investment or an acreage property with a comfortable home, a large workshop and good paddocks to suit horses for under $1.5m then keep an eye out for the email notifications that will be sent out about this one. You can register to receive the email updates at... www.offmarketacres.com.au

Once you register to be notified about any of the 'Off-Market' properties you’ll also receive instant access to The Acreage Report 2020 (Autumn edition) which features an insight into ‘The Future For Acreage This Decade' and outlines the Two Biggest Factors Set To Impact Acreage over the next decade and at the same time you'll be amongst the first to know about any of the 'Off-Market' acreages that I have coming up.

The Acreage Report also includes statistics about exactly what's happening within the Hawkesbury, Hills & Sydney’s North West acreage market.

Plus, you’ll also get instant access to The McGrath Report 2020 which features some great insights from property expert, John McGrath.

Now finally, if you’re thinking of selling your acreage property, I am currently working with a number of buyers who are still very keen to settle on an acreage property during this current market.

For example: One family are looking for an acreage property with dual accommodation for around the $1.5m price range and another qualified buyer who is looking for a larger acreage parcel with river frontage along the Hawkesbury River for around $2.3m and they would prefer either vacant land or something with an older house on it so that they can build a large home, but even if there's a larger home on the property it may also suit.

if you feel that your property maybe suitable and you’re considering making a move, get in touch here

So there you have it, that’s it for another week’s Acreage Market Wrap.

If you’ve got any questions about anything I’ve shared this week or would like to discuss any of your acreage plans with me, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Thanks for watching, stay safe and bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent

www.OffMarketAcres.com.au - The NEW WAY To Buy Or Sell Acres Launches

Over the past couple of weeks I have been developing The NEW WAY To Buy Or Sell Acres and this new system is called ‘Off-Market Acres’ - Where Secret Places Are Revealed
…and I had the pleasure this evening to launch the www.OffMarketAcres.com.au website was via the brand new ‘Off-Market Acres’ Facebook Page.

The ‘Off-Market Acres’ system has already started gaining traction, with numerous subscribers registering during the Pre-Launch phase over these past few days, PLUS there are already a number of ‘Off-Market’ Acreage properties which are about to be promoted out to our registered acreage buyers.

If you’d like to Register for FREE, visit www.OffMarketAcres.com.au now to Gain Early Access.

If you’re curious but don’t quite know what all the fuss is about ‘Off-Market’ properties is all about, then here’s an article I shared last week which may help you to understand a bit more about the concept…

What Does Buying Or Selling A Property ‘Off-Market Actually Mean?

Also, it’s important to note that promoting an acreage property ‘Off-Market’ should be seen as Plan ‘A’ of the marketing strategy and if your property needs to be promoted via Plan ‘B’ (using the traditional marketing methods to find the right buyer) then adopting that approach is an option that is available at any stage of the campaign, but it may not be required.

It’s important to look at the best approach as well as investigate NEW WAYS to do things differently with minimal outlay as well as adopt proven ways to tackle the shifting landscape of today’s rapidly changing world, especially during the Coronavirus pandemic crisis, and the ‘Off-Market Acres’ system isn’t simply part of a future plan, it’s already available to implement right now.

THE FUTURE FOR REAL ESTATE

In a very timely post by Lee Woodward, CEO of The Real Estate Academy, he said earlier today that real estate agents need to Accept & Adapt if they’re going to not only survive but thrive over these coming months.

If you’ve got any questions about ‘Off-Market Acres’ and how it could potentially work for you, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.

Regards

Greg Vincent