Frequently Asked Questions

A building and pest inspection is a detailed examination of the condition of a home by a professional inspector. The purpose of a building and pest inspection is to identify any potential problems with the property before the sale is finalised, so you know exactly what you’re getting and are happy with the condition and relevant price. Having a building and pest inspection helps reduce the risk of unexpected (and often costly) surprises once you have purchased the home. Your building and pest inspection typically looks at the condition of the home, its foundations, roof, plumbing, electrical systems, heating and cooling systems, and other key components. Your inspector will look for any signs of water damage, mould, pests, or other issues that could affect the safety or habitability of the property. You’ll get all the results in a detailed report, alongside a list of issues found. You’ll then be able to negotiate repairs as part of the sale agreement, negotiate a lower sale price with the seller, or to decide whether or not to proceed with the sale.

Once you’ve inspected a home and made the decision to make an offer, you need to decide on a price for your offer. This may involve comparing the property to similar homes in the area, looking at the sale prices of other homes you’ve viewed in the current market, and speaking with your agency if you like. Then, in the first instance, you can make an offer or expression of interest, often through an online form. From here, you can request a Contract of Sale to further negotiate the terms of the offer on paper. The seller will then take your offer under consideration, and may come back to negotiate on price, terms or both, until you either come to a mutually acceptable agreement, or decide that the terms will not be agreeable for you both. Our team is always here to support you through the offer process and any questions you have along the way.

We recommend making a list of ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-haves’ that best suit your family’s needs when inspecting homes, and comparing each home against this list to see how well it ticks your boxes. We have examples of what your must-haves can look like in our home buying checklist here.

We believe the right agency for you will be one that makes the time to get to know you, keeps you supported throughout your entire buying experience, doesn’t leave your questions unanswered - and has the right processes in place to have you backed by their entire team.

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from the current owner (vendor or seller) to a new owner (purchaser or buyer). Hence, a conveyancer (which in Queensland is a solicitor) should be appointed as soon as you are committed to buying or selling your home, as they will complete the due diligence needed to protect you throughout the buying and selling process.

We recommend choosing a conveyancer for many of the same reasons you’d choose us as your real estate team - for their experience, their proven track record of success, and importantly their care of you as a client and helping you get the very best experience and information throughout the process

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Again, this will vary depending on a family’s circumstances. Ideally you want to aim for a 20% deposit as this will remove the need to purchase additional Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI), as well as reducing your interest repayments. Currently, many banks require you to have a minimum of a 10% deposit. There are some guarantees, such as the First Home Guarantee and the Family Home Guarantee, which mean that individuals in very specific circumstances (such as single parents that meet specific eligibility criteria) can have a deposit as low as 2% without mortgage lender’s insurance. Again, you’ll be able to discuss all the options available to you with your bank, mortgage broker or other lending agent.

Start by approaching a bank, mortgage broker or other lending institution. They’ll have a meeting with you to discuss your circumstances, and will require you to fill out comprehensive paperwork that will include everything from your income statements to monthly expenses and much more. That will allow your bank or lender to calculate your maximum borrowing capacity, and get you pre-approved for a maximum amount, which may come with set terms or conditions depending on your circumstances.

The current available mortgage rates may vary slightly from bank to bank, and may vary further depending on how long you fix your mortgage for. All banks are required to display their current mortgage rates on their website. You may also choose to use a home loan rate comparison tool to give you a better idea of what the current rates are. The rate offered to you specifically will be provided in writing by the bank you take out your mortgage through, or rate options at different banks depending on your circumstances can be provided by your mortgage broker if you go through one.

The maximum amount you’ll be able to spend on a home purchase will be based directly on your family’s income, any savings you have, your monthly expenses, your credit score, the deposit you have saved (your loan to value ratio (LVR) will be considered here as it will dictate whether you also need to budget for lender’s mortgage insurance), and any dependents and debts you have, among other factors. Your bank or mortgage broker will take your details and let you know what your borrowing power is. Once you know your maximum borrowing capacity, you’ll be able to look at potential repayment rates depending on different mortgage length (10 years, 20 years, 30 years etc) - and make a decision on what you can afford to spend on a home, and if you want to search for properties at your maximum budget or if it’ll be better for you to aim for a lower purchase price.

The costs you incur to sell your home are split into two categories: marketing fees and commission.

Marketing fees reflect the costs we incur to beautifully and optimally market your property for sale, which include photography, drone aerial shots, 3D virtual tours and premiere+ listings on portals such as realestate.com.au. While some agencies offer 'free marketing', this approach has limited reach and doesn't guarantee you will get the best sale price. Backed by our proven processes and industry knowledge, we’d much rather spend $3000 in marketing fees and achieve another $50,000 more in your home sale price than going 'off market'. Marketing fees generally start from just over $2000 and can go up to $4000, depending on additional services such as targeted social media advertising. We understand this is a notable expense for many, which is why we offer a Sell Now, Pay Later system where through our partnership with RealtyAssist, you can go to market with the best campaign and pay nothing until settlement.

‍Commission is the fee paid to real estate agencies to sell your property, and is only paid upon successful settlement of your property. Commission in the industry can vary from budget 2% flat fees to premium 4% fees. Agencies will generally charge a higher commission based on their expertise and confidence in driving competition to get you the best possible sale price. To learn more about the commission fees associated with your property, check out our Fees & Commissions here.

A property valuation is a formal assessment by a property valuer that provides a comprehensive report about your property, and can provide a definitive property value when required - like by a bank when being approved for a new mortgage.

Property valuations take into consideration aspects including the the size and location of the property, the land size and type of terrain, bedrooms, bathrooms and lounge numbers, garaging options, quality of the building materials, any special zoning restrictions the house is under, features of the home, the condition of the property, any property damage, environmental risks to the property as well as the influence of the market on the sale price of the property. There are many other factors beyond this that are considered in a valuation, including similar property sales in your area.

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A property appraisal is a professional opinion of the value of your property, so you can gain a better idea of the market value of your home as well as what to place as an asking price (or reserve price at auction) before opting to pay for a formal valuation. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to identify any pre-sale work on the house that can go a long way in adding value to your home.

Here at Kindred, we can conduct appraisals in three ways: digitally, virtually with a video call walk through, or an in-person appraisal with one of our agents.

We believe the right agency for you will be one that makes the time to get to know you and your home, is fully transparent about each step of the selling process, maintains excellent communication, has the right tools, technology and processes to do the very best by you and your home, and keeps you fully supported throughout your entire selling experience, backed by their entire team. This is what you get with Kindred.

When we talk about marketing in real estate, we’re talking about those photographic, video-based and content-based elements that create that stunning first impression for someone searching for a new home - and can even make a person visualise their family in your home long before they’ve set foot in the door for a viewing. As such, we do highly recommend budgeting accordingly for marketing, so we can use our proven, best-practice strategies to attract the widest range of qualified buyers and help you get the best sale price for your home - and thereby easily offset any marketing costs.

Your marketing with us specifically includes professional photography including drone aerial shots, 3D virtual tours, email and SMS campaigns, plus publishing on Australia's #1 property portal, realestate.com.au with our Premiere+ partnership.

The cost of marketing is a big consideration for many sellers, which is why we offer a Sell Now, Pay Later system where through our partnership with RealtyAssist, you can go to market with the best campaign and pay nothing until settlement.

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Aside from opening your home up to a range of new buyers due to being able to “access” your home from any national or international location, properties that have virtual tours available get an 80% increase in enquiries, have a 300% higher engagement rate than photography alone, and even sell your home up to 31% faster.

When it comes to getting your home ready for a sale, it can feel like the options are endless and a home is never really ‘finished’ - so this is where you want to invest your time and money into the aspects that will be most worthwhile for you in terms of the return, based on what buyers typically look for. The easiest way to know the best options for your home is by completing an appraisal with us, so we can advise you on the ‘quick wins’ to maximise your home’s appeal and sale price with minimum time, effort and expense, as well as more intensive ways to prepare your home and remedy any issues if that’s something you’re prepared to do.

We’re really good at what we do - and that’s being a real estate agency that genuinely cares for people - not social media models that feel the need to plaster themselves on buses and billboards. You’ll find us investing our time and efforts into our customers instead.

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from the current owner (vendor or seller) to a new owner (purchaser or buyer). Hence, a conveyancer (which in Queensland is a solicitor) should be appointed as soon as you are committed to buying or selling your home, as they will complete the due diligence needed to protect you throughout the buying and selling process.

We recommend choosing a conveyancer for many of the same reasons you’d choose us as your real estate team - for their experience, their proven track record of success, and importantly their care of you as a client and helping you get the very best experience and information throughout the process

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After the tenancy has ended, a final inspection has been completed, and agreement has come to regarding how the bond is to be paid out (accounting for any damages or unpaid fees), a bond refund form is submitted to the RTA, who then refunds the bond. We do not hold bonds personally. It should be noted that legally, a bond refund form cannot be submitted prior to the tenancy end date or handover date. You can read more about bond refunds here.

The tenant is responsible for paying all utility fees unless otherwise agreed upon in writing in the rental agreement.

Within business hours, you’ll be able to speak to your property manager directly, or alternatively lodge a request through our online portal. For after hours maintenance, if the request is not an emergency, please lodge it through the online portal. If it is an emergency, you can refer to the list of Kindred's preferred emergency tradespeople to undertake repairs such as no water or no hot water availability, burst water pipes and power outages.

The lease term is ultimately decided by the homeowner, but usually starts around 6 months with an option to renew.

You must be at least 18 years of age to lodge a rental application. We offer an easy online application process, where you can save your application at any time and then return to it if you need time to gather any additional paperwork or items. General requirements include several forms of identification (like your passport), rental history, bank statements or payslips, and references from previous landlords. These requirements are consistent for any property rentals Australia-wide.

No - we’ll take care of everything on your behalf to make the switch seamlessly and without any issues, fees or hassle. As tenancies are based on an agreement between a tenant and the property owner (not an agency), we simply take over managing the relationship and agreement with our exception service and care.

Not at all - there are no fees associated with switching to us for your property management - think of it like a free upgrade to an exceptional care and service package.

Our average vacancy time for residential properties is less than one week.

Staying on top of our game is a priority - because it’s all about taking the very best care of you and your property. We have a training director dedicated to keeping our people primed up to serve our customers in the best way, regularly conducting both internal and external (such as REIQ) training to ensure we are current with all legislation. We’ve even built and written our own competencies in this field. With Kindred, you’re really getting the best.

Your home is well taken care of with us. Your tenants can contact our property managers to discuss any issues within business hours, or lodge an online maintenance request. We have a property management team dedicated to dealing with every request promptly and efficiently, communicating with both yourself and your tenants. For non-emergency maintenance requests outside of office hours, tenants also submit an online request form that is promptly addressed. In emergency situations, we have a list of approved providers to deal with issues like no water or no hot water availability, burst water pipes and power outages

There’s a good reason that we have such a high satisfaction rate with our landlords and investors. We take ample care to check every aspect of a prospective tenants application to ensure it matches perfectly to what you’re looking for in a high quality tenant, bringing you a short-list of the most suitable candidates to choose from.

Our comprehensive online application process ensures we collect every bit of information so that we feel absolutely confident about your tenant - from the essentials such as 100 points of identification, bank statements, previous rental histories and tenancy checks, to the nice-to-know details about things like what vehicles will be parked on site. This means you get a list of thoroughly vetted applicants to make your decision from.

We manage properties across the entire North Brisbane and Moreton Bay region. Learn more about the locations we work in here

We recommend making a list of ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-haves’ that best suit your family’s needs when inspecting homes, and comparing each home against this list to see how well it ticks your boxes. We have examples of what your must-haves can look like in our home buying checklist here.

We believe the right agency for you will be one that makes the time to get to know you, keeps you supported throughout your entire buying experience, doesn’t leave your questions unanswered - and has the right processes in place to have you backed by their entire team.

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from the current owner (vendor or seller) to a new owner (purchaser or buyer). Hence, a conveyancer (which in Queensland is a solicitor) should be appointed as soon as you are committed to buying or selling your home, as they will complete the due diligence needed to protect you throughout the buying and selling process.

We recommend choosing a conveyancer for many of the same reasons you’d choose us as your real estate team - for their experience, their proven track record of success, and importantly their care of you as a client and helping you get the very best experience and information throughout the process

‍

Again, this will vary depending on a family’s circumstances. Ideally you want to aim for a 20% deposit as this will remove the need to purchase additional Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI), as well as reducing your interest repayments. Currently, many banks require you to have a minimum of a 10% deposit. There are some guarantees, such as the First Home Guarantee and the Family Home Guarantee, which mean that individuals in very specific circumstances (such as single parents that meet specific eligibility criteria) can have a deposit as low as 2% without mortgage lender’s insurance. Again, you’ll be able to discuss all the options available to you with your bank, mortgage broker or other lending agent.

Start by approaching a bank, mortgage broker or other lending institution. They’ll have a meeting with you to discuss your circumstances, and will require you to fill out comprehensive paperwork that will include everything from your income statements to monthly expenses and much more. That will allow your bank or lender to calculate your maximum borrowing capacity, and get you pre-approved for a maximum amount, which may come with set terms or conditions depending on your circumstances.

The current available mortgage rates may vary slightly from bank to bank, and may vary further depending on how long you fix your mortgage for. All banks are required to display their current mortgage rates on their website. You may also choose to use a home loan rate comparison tool to give you a better idea of what the current rates are. The rate offered to you specifically will be provided in writing by the bank you take out your mortgage through, or rate options at different banks depending on your circumstances can be provided by your mortgage broker if you go through one.

The maximum amount you’ll be able to spend on a home purchase will be based directly on your family’s income, any savings you have, your monthly expenses, your credit score, the deposit you have saved (your loan to value ratio (LVR) will be considered here as it will dictate whether you also need to budget for lender’s mortgage insurance), and any dependents and debts you have, among other factors. Your bank or mortgage broker will take your details and let you know what your borrowing power is. Once you know your maximum borrowing capacity, you’ll be able to look at potential repayment rates depending on different mortgage length (10 years, 20 years, 30 years etc) - and make a decision on what you can afford to spend on a home, and if you want to search for properties at your maximum budget or if it’ll be better for you to aim for a lower purchase price.