With our head office in Queensland Austrlia, the recent Queensland floods have been at the forefront of our minds
I thought I'd open the discussion on what the Queensland floods mean to you as a property investor.
First off as an investor, no matter where you're buying it is essential that you understand the risks of flooding within a given area. Do your investment research. As an example, my 89 Point Due Diligence Checklist covers flood risk – our sourcing team will always investigate the potential risk of flooding with each development. Local council websites as well as land developers in the area are a great resource for flood research. Do your research before you buy and if you find the property is in a flood area then its up to you whether you accept the risk.
The next consideration is property insurance. To add to the devastation of loss of homes and life is the realisation that many of those homeowners in flood affected areas will not be covered by their insurance. A little known fact is that in most cases there is only one insurer in Queensland floods that will cover you for flooding and storm damage. Many of the “budget” providers won't cover you so it's important that if you are at risk of flooding that you know what your insurance covers you for.
I personally don't insure my properties, I self insure. How this works is each week I set aside a certain amount for each property into my “provision account” which accumulates over time and if something goes wrong I can fund repairs myself as a property investor. If you have questions on insurance give your Property Consultant a call and they'll be able to point you in the right direction.
Finally, what do these Queensland Floods mean for the future? With the destruction and damage caused by the floods, interest rates are likely to stay put for at least 6 months to give everyone a chance to get back on their feet. So I guess that's the silver lining in one hell of a storm cloud.
In the meantime we wish all the best to friends, family and all those in Queensland Floods affected areas, our thoughts are with you. And as always if you have any questions on any of this give the team a call on +44 (0)207 923 6100 or www.ezytrac.co.uk.
Live with passion,
Brett Alegre-Wood
