From helping you with researching an area for finding out what’s been sold to designing your own kitchen, there are some great websites and apps to help with investing in property.

Here are a few of our favourites:

Help with background research

• propertyvalue.com.au

Property Value is a new product from CoreLogic (formerly RP Data), the largest provider of property information, analytics and property-related risk management services in the world. The database covers 98% of residential properties in Australia. At a basic level it provides prices, auction results and details about the neighbourhood. More data is available, such as areas earmarked for development if you chose to subscribe to the service.

• thepropertycalculator.com.au

This website is ideal for those who don’t like maths! Simply input put the figures in and the website will give the estimated return for any residential investment property in Australia.

• ato.gov.au

The Australian Tax Office website will outline what the tax consequences are of owning an investment property. Plus it has a clear and detailed list of terms and conditions and some examples of costs.

• fairtrading.nsw.gov.au

The NSW office of fair trading lists latest state and national legislation plus more on renting, buying, selling and renovating a property.

Check your specialist

• alwayscheckyourbuilder.com.au

We’ve also seen the ‘cowboy’ builders news stories on TV…. This is why Always Check Your Builder is ideal for those wanting major repairs/renovations or rebuilds. a service that provides information to Australian building consumers and cannot recommend or refer builders.

This site provides essential independent reports on prior disputes, business background and licence status to enable the consumer to minimise unnecessary risk exposure and to protect the consumer against rogues. It’s free to use, and stresses that whilst it can tell you whether the building is legal or not – it points out it cannot confirm which builders are better than others.

• findaconveyancer.com.au/

Find a Conveyancing Business in NSW’ is a free service provided by the Australian Institute of Conveyancers NSW Division for people to find a local conveyancing business. All businesses listed on this site are members of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers NSW Division (AICNSW.) This means only qualified professionals who specialises in conveyancing are listed.

Renovations

• ikea.com

No need to get graph paper out, take the measurements and to try to visualise the outcome, the IKEA Home and Kitchen Planner will help you plan the kitchen, bathroom or office. You will need create an account on the IKEA website, but you don’t have to purchase any of the items and use it to give you an idea of what the kitchen or bathroom will look like.

• dulux.com.au

The app on this website helps you choose colours by seeing your room in any colour and save as a video or photo. All you have to do is take a picture of the space and select the colour you’d like to experiment with.

We like to think we do more than manage properties – we help make your life easier so you can realised your dreams through property. If you want some more tips on how to be a great landlord and/or our property management services, our experienced team would love to help.

Simply give us a ring on 02 4954 8833, send us an email to mail@apnewcastle.com.au or pop into our Cardiff office for a chat.