Property guru John McGrath shares his real estate secrets

Two bedrooms over three, buy into areas that are ‘fringey’ and don’t be afraid of research. These are the top tips for property hunters from Australian real estate authority John McGrath.

McGrath is the visionary behind the McGrath Estate Agents brand (now spanning 85 offices and more than 900 staff nationally) and one of Australia’s leading property minds.

John McGrath began his property empire in 1988.

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Check out his hot tips for people buying and selling.

1. Should you buy a unit or a house?

“If you’re looking for capital growth go for a house,” says McGrath.

“If you’re looking for a low maintenance investment and a low maintenance lifestyle – unit.”

Investing: Units vs houses

2. Should you go for two bedrooms or three?

For McGrath the answer is easy.

Two bedrooms.

“As an investor, you need to go where the tenants are and there’s more demand for two bedrooms than three,” he says.

3. What’s the best room to highlight when selling?

Living areas may be the most important area of the home.

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“The typical answer would be ‘kitchens and bathrooms sell properties’ but I think it’s about family areas, where people actually envisage or visualise their family being,” says McGrath.

“Formal dining and lounge rooms have collapsed into casual living spaces and I think the casual living area’s really important.”

2016: The big trends for living spaces

4. What’s the one aspect of a property you’d pay more for?

For McGrath it’s all about a lifestyle on the water and he’d put his money toward getting access to water.

“It’s a unique feature that very few properties have,” he says.

“Lots of properties boast nice views, a beautiful house, a nice block of land, but access to water – especially in a country like Australia where water is such an important aspect of our culture – that’s rare and truly unique.”

McGrath favours properties with water access.

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5. What should you do with $20,000?

Another simple answer, but for McGrath it’s pretty clear – buy property.

“Start with ‘what’s the outcome I want to achieve from the investment?’ If you’re retiring, you’ll be looking for strong cash flow to live on. If you’re young you’ll be looking for capital growth – something that’ll be worth double in 10 years,” he says.

Take some calculated risks – buy into areas that are fringey.

McGrath says the importance of research cannot be overstated when buying property.

“Work out the up-and-coming areas. Take some calculated risks – buy into areas that are fringey and not as fashionable at the moment and you’ll get stronger growth in the medium term.

“Look for the hallmarks of an up-and-coming area – close to the city, interesting architectural homes, high turnover, maybe an artistic community within it.

“Treat buying your property like a business degree. If you make the right decision buying a property you’ll make more money from that than from your actual job.”

Careful: Costly property research mistakes you need to avoid