Smart buyers set to start spending

WHEN it comes to doing well from investing in real estate, it is more important when you buy than when you sell.

If you buy at the peak of a property cycle, when competition is greatest, you will no doubt pay top dollar and may have to wait quite some time to at least recoup what you paid.

Conversely, when you buy at or near the bottom of the market, there will be less competition, you will pay less for the property, but there is the risk that prices may fall even further.

We are currently starting to see a number of educated, seasoned buyers and investors on the Gold Coast positioning themselves for the future.

They are buying commercial premises, as well as residential, because they believe that prices are unlikely to reduce much further.

Not everyone has the experience in real estate to hedge their bets so early in what is potentially the start of our market recovering.

However, it is usually those early buyers, who have done their research and are in the position to buy, that will do well over the long term because they are not so dependent on the market when it comes time to sell.

We are also starting to see a tightening in stock levels in some pockets as sellers take their properties off the market because their asking price may be unrealistic or they have decided to wait until the market has significantly improved.

There is an increase in activity in the affordable end of the market and there have been some instances of multiple offers on the same property -- which generally hasn't happened for a while.

And Tuesday's interest rate cut will assist the Gold Coast property market as we move towards our busy holiday season so we can look forward to more good news ahead.

- by Real Estate Institute of Australia Gold Coast zone chairman John Newlands