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your HOME
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Harvey Grennan has worked in journalism and corporate and political media relations for 40 years. He has bought, sold and developed properties all his life and worked briefly as a real estate agent. He is currently a writer on real estate and local government with The Sydney Morning Herald. Dominic Ogburn is an independent building consultant with Sydney-based firm Access Property Services P/L, and the bane of developers and insurance companies who try to dodge their responsibilities to home owners. He has been a builder and project manager and is an expert witness in building disputes, an adviser on national building standards and the author of an Internet course for owner-builders. Harvey Grennan and Dominic Ogburn are responsible for exposing the serious building defects and certification problems in many new apartment blocks and the failings of the home warranty insurance scheme. The publication of their findings resulted in a parliamentary inquiry in New South Wales and subsequent government action to change the law and establish new authorities and procedures to protect consumers. Harvey Grennan brought the scandal of poor building practices to public attention through a series of articles published in The Sydney Morning Herald. Dominic Ogburn, as a building consultant and consumer advocate, felt consumer’s rights were being eroded and, growing tired of corruption in the industry, hounded Grennan to write the story.
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your HOME Buying, Selling, Renovating, Building
Dominic Ogburn & Harvey Grennan
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First published in 2004 Copyright © Dominic Ogburn and Harvey Grennan 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. Allen & Unwin 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Ogburn, Dominic. Your home : buying, selling, renovating, building. ISBN 1 86508 891 9. 1. House buying. 2. House selling. 3. Dwelling Remodeling. 4. House construction. I. Grennan, Harvey. II. Title. Set in 10/13.75 pt Sabon by Bookhouse, Sydney Printed by Griffin Press, South Australia 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS Your home Contents Acknowledgments Introduction
xi xiii
SECTION 1: BUYING YOUR PROPERTY
1
1 Selecting a home
3
How do you choose the right suburb for your household? 3 What sort of house or unit suits your lifestyle and will give you good capital gain? 4 What should a first home buyer look for—a house or a flat? 5 Location, location, location. Why is this the golden rule of real estate? 6 How do you use the web to find properties? 7 What questions should you ask the agent? 8 Should you us