BeforeTheWeekend

Episode 25 · Before the Weekend · 1h 25m

136,000 Ghost Homes and the Sick Vendor Who Can't Drop His Price

This week on Before the Weekend, Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade work through episode 25 - a quarter century of Fridays - fresh from the First National PMC on the Gold Coast, with Kasey calling in from New Zealand's PMC. After listener feedback, the show is now split in two: property management first, then sales. The warm-up: another rate rise expected next week, Cotality's latest numbers (new listings down 9.2 per cent, stock up 23 per cent, days on market out from 23 to 39), NAB's warning to directors on rent roll valuations, a Victorian suspension for six years of unlodged trust audits, NSW's 21-day pet approval by silence, and a Swinburne case for fixing sharehouse tenancies. On the property management desk, Ray White's 136,000 "ghost homes" landed the same week Perth and Hobart sit at 0.9 per cent vacancy. Peter defends the right to a second home but argues unrenovated and below-standard stock could be brought back with finance for minimum-standards upgrades; Kasey on compliance costs and tax changes. Then REIWA's Suzanne Brown on WA's new application rules, which bar PMs from asking about tribunal history, bond claims and credit - turning tenant selection into a race of income. And Airbnb's checkout chore ban: why Peter quit the platform, and Kasey's case for BDMs to start prospecting fed-up short-stay owners now. On the sales desk, an investor note on Real Brokerage's US$880 million takeover of RE/MAX - an 85/15 cloud model inside the same group as a traditional franchise, shares down from $24 to $15 - and why Peter thinks agency software is about to change irrevocably regardless. Then Leanne Pilkington and Sam Dalby on NSW's proposed underquoting rules, where a vendor who rejected an early offer and then fell seriously ill can't advertise below that figure. Peter's fix: give the rejected buyer first right of refusal. Plus AI contract review tools with no legal PI cover, three in four Brisbane auctions failing, a former banker's own email brag sinking his bid to walk away from a $7.5 million Gold Coast penthouse over a $171-a-week strata rise, and six half-built Brighton homes in receivership. From the courts: Gold Coast veteran Greg Bell's licence cancelled after he failed to disclose his bankruptcy - neither host is celebrating the end of a 49-year career. QCAT's appeal decision in Burlington Realty v Farmer and Farmer holds PMs to a professional standard at tribunal, and both hosts take apart the "tenant should have had contents insurance" argument. And a former Lake Macquarie principal facing a six-week trial over alleged sexual assaults of staff - allegations only - and the case for independent people-and-culture reporting lines in agencies. To finish: Cunninghams making two long-serving agents partners, and Kartavya Thakkar turning around a stale Tarneit listing to sell prior to auction. Before the Weekend is a weekly podcast for Australian property professionals, hosted by Kasey McDonald and Peter Schravemade. New episodes every Friday.