Talking Real Estate with John Gibson and 3x Olympian & CEO of Hoyts Group Damian Keogh

HOYTS Invested $300M and then #COVID!

“We have invested 300M over the past five or six years renovating premises growing market share and profitability. I was meant to be in Wuhan China in January, by late March every one of our cinemas were shut. We lost about 70% of our group revenue last year” – Damian Keogh

To listen to the full podcast click here.

MY PREDICTIONS AND COMMENTS FOR 2021

Demand to purchase real estate will remain at very high
Banks are keen to do business, so that shows they are seeing blue sky’s ahead
Interest rates to remain low for a number of years
People with bank deferrals have fallen considerable-so there is little chance of the market being flooded with excess stock levels
There will be a big focus on getting major cities CBD’S back on track, return of the office worker. Probably more so in the 2^nd half of the year. Office and retail have been hit hard during COVID-19.
Investment in commercial property to continue despite rising vacancy. Values don’t appear to be affected. Plenty of people chasing a return which the banks can’t offer with record low interest rates.
Suburban office spaces will see a boost in interest this year as more people prefer to stay closer to home. However, offices do play an important role as talent attractors and keepers of workplace culture. People like to interact and career progression for young people can be tough when you are stuck at home.
Commercial real estate in regional areas to see continued high demand. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the biggest movement out of capital cities and into regional areas ever recorded. There is a good chance for growth in rents and property worth in many of these regional areas.

ST GEORGE AREA

We recently worked with a client who had an ageing block of apartments. After working with our team, our client was happy with the $2 million increase in the estimated worth of the property with minimal costs.

THE BRIEF

The Brief was simple: investigate possible improvement options for the property. With our experience, we could identify unrealised potential and we advised our client to consider converting the property to strata title apartments and adding additional apartments to the existing structure.

DISOVERY PHASE

Using the services of an independent Town Planner, Structural Engineer, Surveyor and Architect, we established that the property could be strata titled and code compliant stories could be added to the existing building (subject to development approval). This meant (if approved) that the property’s value would increase dramatically with minimal expenditure.

OUTCOME

Six months earlier, the managing agent appraised the property at $2.5 million with no consideration given to the property’s potential. By investigating and getting experienced professionals involved, we estimated that the property will be worth circa $4 to $4.5million if development approval is granted.

ENGAGING THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Successful property investors know that it’s vital to surround themselves with talented people who can help them make an informed decision and maximise investment returns. At Locate Negotiate, we are there to help our clients realise the potential of their property investment.

Testimonial:

GROWING BUSINESS FINDS THE RIGHT PROPERTY

I would like to thank Locate Negotiate for their proficient help in finding a new location for our growing business in Seven Hills NSW.

As anyone in business realises time is hard to come by, Locate Negotiate searched for potential properties, short listed, undertook the necessary due-diligence and then negotiated the right outcome on the property which was perfectly suited for my business.

Locate Negotiate, completely understood the brief and got to work. Their skill set, market knowledge and experience really shined through.

I have no hesitation in recommending Locate Negotiate. – Mark Burns (Managing Director)