Around 150 people celebrated the sale of a new luxury home on the market with a sausage sizzle, at the massive Saturday morning auction.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 68 Burn Street, Camp Hill, drew 6 registered bidders for the 604 sqm property.

Named ‘Casa Agape’, the home was built by the vendors as a luxury two-level residence, sitting on a corner block with a Mediterranean design.

68 Burn St, Camp Hill

The house was built by its owners, who were looking to sell it on Saturday morning at auction.

Place Camp Hill agent Antonio Puopolo said the mood for the auction was already energised with the sausage sizzle taking place before the sale.

“We get a good vibe going before the auction,” he said. “You’re filling people’s bellies and having a good time. It’s just something different that no one else does.”

“There was a lot of people walking through, a lot of excitement about the home … people were eager to see where it would end up.”

Families of all ages gathered for the morning sausage sizzle before the wild auction battle.

The crowd totalled to around 150 people at the peak of the excitement.

With 3 active bidders, the starting offer of $3.5 million priced some potential buyers out, already representing the highest sale price on the street.

There was a quick jump to $3.6 million in the bidding process, before offers quickly went back and forth with rising bids of $25,000.

After more than $200,000 offered on top of the starting bid, the auction was paused for negotiation – before selling for a final price of $3.91 million.

The deluxe, Mediterranean home sold for $3.91 million.

The home was bought for a mother moving up from the Gold Coast to be closer to her family.

Mr Puopolo said the vendors, a mum and dad couple of owner-builders, were “over the moon” at the sales result.

Meanwhile, the home was bought by an older couple purchasing on behalf of their adult daughter, who was unable to attend in person.

“She’s moving up from the Gold Coast to be closer to her Mum and Dad, as she’s just had a baby,” Mr Puopolo said.

“They love the home … [and] the parents are very excited for their kids to be closer to them.”

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Whether it’s a leaking faucet or a broken appliance, it’s inevitable—especially if you rent for a long time in New York City—that you will find yourself asking a landlord to make repairs. Fortunately there are laws and regulations that require building and apartment owners to make repairs when you report something is broken, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be done immediately.

Typically a landlord’s responsiveness depends on how efficiently your super or management company runs the building, whether or not you live in a rent-stabilized apartment, and how eager your landlord is to keep you as a tenant. 

Even so, there are ways you can speed up repairs. Putting the request in writing is a good starting point. If you live in a large rental building, tipping the super can help, as can teaming up with other tenants who are dealing with similar problems. If that fails, you can file a complaint, which can trigger a violation.

[Editor’s note: A previous version of this article was published in July 2024. We are presenting it again in case you missed it.]

If you’re having trouble getting repairs made, here are seven tried-and-true tactics to help move the process along.

1) Put a repair request to your landlord in writing

Rule number one of dealing with landlords is that you should always put your requests and complaints in writing, especially for a big repair job. (Ideally by certified mail, so no one can claim they lost your letter or that your email got caught in the spam folder.) This serves to create a paper trail in the event you end up taking them to court. It also has a way of getting their attention, fast. 

If there is a complaint book in the building, log your problem there. However, writing a letter to the super or to the managing agent and copying in the other makes it official and will get a better response. 

Some leases also have provisions for how the landlord prefers to be contacted, so check yours before you reach out, and act accordingly. If you have multiple, documented attempts to get in touch with the landlord to solve a problem, this will work in your favor in any kind of legal dispute down the road.

2) Tip the super to get repairs done faster

It might seem unfair to have to tip someone simply to do their job, but the fact remains that there’s no better way to get a super’s attention than a little cash, even if it just means being moved to the head of the line above the 20 other tenants clamoring for attention. 

A tip can also get your repair done better—inducing, for example, your super to replace your broken fridge with a new one instead of the cast-off in the basement.

Tipping your building staff over the holidays is standard practice in NYC, so don’t be surprised if your super becomes more responsive to your requests during the final months of the year.  

3) Call 311 about dangerous safety violations in your building

If you’ve exhausted your options and are dealing with something arguably dangerous to health, life, and safety (such as vermin, dangerous electrical wires, unreasonable noise, leaks, damaged ceilings, or mold), call or go online to 311.

Here’s what happens when you do: The city will send out an inspector from either Housing Preservation & Development, the Department of Buildings, or even the Department of Health, depending on the type of problem. 

Your landlord may be required to pay a fine or to show up in court to contest the violation. In either case, your landlord will have to certify that the violation has been corrected.

The downside: Your repair may be taken care of, but this will not endear you to your landlord, which can be a problem when it’s time to renew a lease for a market-rate apartment. But take heart: Good Cause eviction law protects many tenants in market-rate rentals from steep rent increases, so it’s important to determine if your apartment is covered by this law.

Tenants in rent-stabilized apartments have additional protections and can only have their rent increased by the percentage set by the Rent Guidelines Board and they also have a right to a lease renewal for a one- or two-year term. 

A slight variation on this theme: If you’re in a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartment, you can file a reduction of services complaint with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

You can use this for services like discontinued amenities, but also problems like heat, hot water, or repairs. If conditions are really bad—like no heat—the rent can be rolled back to $1. But typically the rent will be rolled back to whatever it was before the most recent increase and frozen at that amount until the landlord restores all services.

4) You may have to take your landlord and the city to court 

If you’re taking this route, it’s because your apartment violates the warranty of habitability, the agreement that landlords must provide you with a safe and livable apartment—and you’ve exhausted all of your other options

The city categorizes violations into three groups. Class A is a non-hazardous condition, such as a minor leak or a small area of peeling paint when there are no children under the age of 6. Class B is a hazardous violation, like the absence of a self-closing security door to the building or the presence of roaches or bed bugs; and C is an immediately hazardous condition, including lack of heat, hot water, electricity, or the presence of rodents. 

If the city has already issued a violation, you can look up its classification on the relevant agency’s website. If not, check out the Housing Maintenance Code to see how your problem will likely be classified.

If your problem falls into one of these categories, you can file an HP Proceeding (also known as an HP Action), which will certainly get the landlord’s attention. (“HP” stands for “Housing Part,” which is where tenants can sue their landlords.) An HP Proceeding is a lawsuit that you bring in housing court against your landlord for failing to comply with the law and against the City of New York because it has failed to enforce the law.

Housing court clerks help prepare the necessary papers to start the HP Proceeding. Since you will not need a lawyer, it costs you practically nothing. Taking this route also has the advantage of keeping your name off housing court documents although landlords cannot refuse to rent to you because they see your name on housing court documents. 

When the case appears on the court calendar, the attorneys for the city will prosecute the case for you and force the landlord to make the repairs that the inspector confirms are violations.  

These cases usually get resolved with the landlord either adjourning the case to get more time to make repairs before the judge hears the case or by the parties signing a stipulation of settlement that requires the landlord to make the repairs either immediately for Class C violations, within 30 days for Class B violations, or within 90 days for Class A violations.

Fines can be significant if the landlord does not make the necessary repairs. They typically range from $50 per day after 90 days for Class A violations to $250-$500 per day, imposed immediately, for Class C violations.

The court will enforce fines not only with a money judgment against the landlord, but if the landlord persistently fails to make the repairs, the court may punish the landlord for contempt.

5) When to withhold rent to force a landlord to make repairs

While you risk winding up in housing court, withholding rent is sometimes the best—and perhaps fastest—way to really get a landlord’s attention. 

If you sent the landlord a letter asking for the repair, the city issued the landlord a violation, and you withhold rent, you may succeed on a warranty of habitability claim, which is a defense for non-payment of rent where conditions are dangerous to life, health, or safety. That’s why having good photos to document conditions are important too.

Class C violations stand the best chance of convincing a court that you’re entitled to a significant rent abatement. You don’t need a lawyer to pull this one off, but you will want extensive documentation of the problem to strengthen your case in court. Take pictures of the problem, and keep a calendar on which you track the conditions on a daily basis, and log evidence of your communications or efforts to communicate with the landlord. 

Even with a Class C violation, your case is not a slam dunk.

The landlord can prevail by showing that you created the condition or by claiming that you did not provide access and prevented the landlord from making the repair. Usually what happens is the attorney will try to pressure the landlord to make the repairs and get the parties to agree to an access date in a settlement. 

Keep in mind that your lease probably has a legal fees clause that will allow the landlord to recover his expenses if he wins so save this option for the most extreme cases. If you win, you get to recover your legal fees. 

6) Organize your neighbors to get work done

If the problem you’re facing is building-wide as opposed to something wrong in your individual apartment, remember there’s strength in numbers. Try to get your neighbors to work as a group to get the issue resolved.

Your best bet is to form a tenants association and approach your landlord as a unified group. If the entire building is making a demand and threatening legal action or withholding rent payments, your landlord is much more likely to sit up and pay attention.

7) Do repairs yourself and get reimbursed by your landlord

This option may seem straightforward enough: Get an estimate for repairing the problem, send it to your landlord, and request the repair in writing. If your request is ignored, pay for it yourself, and deduct it from your next rent check. 

This is a risky option, because landlords will likely argue they can get it done for less. If the landlord rejects your attempt at taking the cost of repairs out of your rent check, there’s a chance you wind up in housing court and have to defend your actions. Some courts will allow you to deduct the cost of ordinary repair jobs that you have done yourself. You should be able to show documentation of repeated repair requests to your landlord and their refusal.

Know your DIY limits and don’t try anything blatantly unsafe or illegal.

If you do move forward with this option, copies of the bills and proof of payment are critical to your defense, along with documentation of the condition, notice to the landlord that the condition existed (make copies of any letters and send them certified mail, saving proof of mailing)—and that the landlord failed or refused to correct the condition.

Of course there are certain repairs you should never even attempt, like electrical work, work that requires you to open up the walls, anything structural or involving a gas line. In addition to safety concerns, you risk legal action and eviction.

—Earlier versions of this article contained reporting and writing by Virginia K. Smith, Donna M. Airoldi, and Emily Myers.

Another interest rate cut would make buying cheaper than renting – but only in another four South Australian suburbs or towns, taking the total to 26, new data shows.

According to comparison site Finder, it is currently cheaper to buy than rent either a house or unit in just 22 SA suburbs or towns.

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Tuesday’s announcement by the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.85 per cent effectively unlocked four suburbs for unit buyers hoping to get off the rent roundabout – Lightsview, Tonsley, Mawson Lakes and St Clair, adding to New Port, Whyalla Playford, Whyalla, Walkerville and Adelaide city where it was already cheaper to buy than rent.

WHYALLA – Steelworks, industrial, file shots. 14 March 2025. Picture: Dean Martin

Interestingly, another cut of the same size would not unlock any more suburbs.

The latest cut made no difference to how many suburbs or towns it’s cheaper to buy a house in – that held at 13, with all of them located in regional SA.

ARE YOU BETTER OFF OWNING? FIND YOUR SUBURB HERE

But the good news is, for those looking to buy, a future interest rate would unlock four more towns where you’re better off owning than renting – Woodville Gardens, Whyalla Jenkins, Tumby Bay and Berri.

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Just don’t expect to see huge savings. In these towns mortgage repayments will be just $15, $10, $7 and $6 less than monthly rents respectively.

Finder’s calculations were based on a 30-year mortgage with 20 per cent deposit at the home loan rate of 6.06 per cent per annum.

Tuesday’s 25-basis-point cut brought this down to 5.81 per cent per annum and another 0.25 per cent cut would bring this down to 5.56 per cent per annum.

Taylor Blackburn, personal finance specialist at Finder. Picture: Supplied

Finder personal finance specialist Taylor Blackburn said buyers needed to keep in mind their calculations didn’t include a 20 per cent deposit, stamp duty and other associated purchase costs.

“This research shows the importance of getting your home loan rate lowered,” he said.

“Very few renters are successfully arguing for rent decreases, but homeowners can do this with a rate cut, a phone call or a refi (refinancing).

“Most homeowners jump for joy at a 25-point cut, but the delta between the average market rate and the lowest is about 40 basis points.

“You might be able to give yourself nearly two rate cuts by taking the bull by the horns and switching.”

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Port Pirie West house owners save the most under Tuesday’s cut.

Already $152 a month better off by owning than renting, Tuesday’s cut increased that to $158, while another cut would stretch that to $163.

Unit or apartment owners in New Port were the biggest metropolitan savers after Tuesday’s announcement.

Already $99 a month better off by owning than renting, Tuesday’s cut put another $13 in their pocket, with future cut of the same size putting the same amount in again.

Real estate agent Kate Smith at New Port SA. Picture: Ben Clark

Kate Smith, who is selling an apartment at 208/12 Wirra Dr, said it was important buyers do their research.

“We recommend people work closely with a preferred broker because they can give you peace of mind as to what the best move is for you financially,” she said.

“In my opinion it’s always better to purchase than rent.

“We had some pretty extreme cycles over the past five years but the market isn’t showing any signs of slowing.

“If you own a property, you’re going to see the benefit of any capital appreciation, whereas as a tenant you don’t.

“It’s great that in this market there are suburbs like New Port where you can own for less than rent, and get an excellent lifestlye for your money.”

The post Where this week’s rate cut makes it cheaper to own than rent in SA appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Sales of newly built single-family homes rose in April, pointing to continued buyer engagement during the spring homebuying season, the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suggests. New residential sales increased 10.9 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted rate of 743,000 units. That’s also a 3.3 percent boost over the April 2024 pace of 719,000 units.

Julia and Michael Melles, pictured with daughter Holly, four months, at their Wynnum home. Photo: Steve Pohlner

While this week’s interest rate cut is a welcome relief for Wynnum’s Julia and Mike Melles, the couple will continue paying the same mortgage repayments to reduce their loan term.

Ms Melles, 33, and her husband, 36, bought their first house last year, opting to swap south Brisbane for the Bayside.

“We are so relieved we are finally in the market,” said Mrs Melles, who works in marketing for Virgin Australia.

“We are happy paying what we are paying (with our mortgage), it’s just a lot.

“But with rates coming down we have decided to keep paying the same amount so that over time our loan becomes less.”

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Michael and Julia Melles, pictured with daughter Holly, are enjoying life on the Bayside. Photo: Steve Pohlner

The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Holly, and were desperately trying to get into the market before her arrival.

“We were worried our borrowing capacity would be less and wanted to get in before we had her.”

The couple, who were renting in Mount Gravatt East, wanted to buy where they were living or at nearby Coorparoo or Camp Hill but found houses in those suburbs were too expensive.

The couple were renting in Mount Gravatt East in Brisbane’s south before they bought in the bayside suburb of Wynnum.

“They were just out of our budget,” she said.

“My husband is a wind surfer and was happy to live down on the Bay and when this house in Wynnum came up, it was for the best.

“It may be a little further from the city than I preferred but we are so close to the water it’s like we live at the Coast.”

The couple bought a home in Wynnum.

Place Bulimba agent Karen Chappell handled the sale and said it was all about lifestyle when buying around the $1m mark in the Wynnum-Manly area.

“There’s a lot of buyers who are really keen to get out of their rental properties and into their own homes and they are looking for lifestyle,” Ms Chappell said.

“That’s why a lot of people are coming from outside of the area.

“It’s young families, people looking to have families, and people looking to get into the market and out of the rental cycle.”

PropTrack data shows the median house price in Wynnum is $1.295m, up 17.7 per cent over 12 months.

The post Interest rates: Why we will keep paying the same repayments appeared first on realestate.com.au.