SYDNEY FIRST HOME BUYER ALERT! Stamp Duty or Land Tax Choice – Take advantage while it lasts!

The option for First Home Buyers in NSW to choose between paying upfront stamp duty on their new home or pay a significantly less annual Land Tax is now up and running under the current Liberal Government. This scheme makes buying your first home much more feasible as it removes the huge up-front additional expense of Stamp Duty if paying annual land tax is the option you choose to take.

So long as the property you purchase is under or including $1.5 million and it is your first home, you get to decide which option works best for you. With stamp duty, you pay upfront the highest amount between a percentage of the purchase price of your property or its current market valuation. This mean a substantial out of pocket additional expense to what you will pay for your property.



On the other hand, if you choose to pay annual tax payments, the out of pocket is a radically reduced amount. You pay instalments of the land value of your property, which for the financial years of 2023 and 2024 will be calculated at $400 + 0.3% of the land value of your property if you live in it. Even if your first property is purchased as an investment, instead of significant stamp duty cost you will pay $1,500 per annum + 1.1% of the land value. For the 2024-25 financial year, property tax will be indexed annually, with year to year growth of land tax capped at 4%.



However, the land tax option could become obsolete if Labor is selected for NSW Government at the next election, as they plan to revert to Stamp Duty only. With the election only just around the corner on Saturday the 25th of March 2023, there is no time like the present to take advantage of this option. So long as you have purchased your property prior to its removal, you will not be forced back into the old Stamp Duty only system.

Cramer have a number of outstanding properties that will allow First Home Buyers to take advantage of this initiative while it is still available. Wicks Place by the Park is a new master planned project offering exceptionally designed apartments in the Inner West’s most iconic new development.

Read More Here

Read More Here

Read More Here

Presenting the Surry Hills Village Courtyard and Garden Apartment Collection

Representing the ultimate in apartment living, discover the exquisite Courtyard and Garden Apartments of Surry Hills Village, Toga’s extraordinary landmark development. 

With only a few oversized outdoor courtyard properties available, don’t delay discovering these sublimely beautiful homes. 

• Located within an iconic development that is selling out fast 

• House-like garden apartments with expansive courtyard space 

• Offering entertainer’s dream living - great for those with children and/or pets 

• Only 3 x Two Bedroom Courtyard Apartments available 

• Final One Bedroom Garden Gate Apartment with direct access to the Residents Only Garden 

• Featuring a multi-award-winning team of architects and designers 

• Impeccably landscaped by internationally awarded Aspect Studios 

• Exceptional finishes featuring Bohemian scheme with European timber floors and Corian kitchen island or Showgirl with Terrazzo stone floors and kitchen island 

• Development features European-style laneways, outstanding restaurants, Coles flagship store, artisan providores, boutiques and workspaces 

Surry Hills Village is a totally new development right at the beginning of Surry Hills’ Crown Street on the perimeter of the edgy suburb of Redfern, creating a gateway to these two historic suburbs and an iconic addition to Sydney’s most exciting place to live and play. 

Surry Hills Village is developed by TOGA, a renowned developer and builder who have been family-owned since 1963 and recently awarded an impressive 4.5/5 star iCIRT Rating. 

These prime properties are well under construction and on-track for completion Q3 2023, allowing you to move in well before next Christmas. Discover below the three exclusive Two Bedroom Courtyard Apartments (two of which also have prized scullery) and the final One Bedroom Garden Gate Apartment:

See Full Details Here

See Full Details Here

See Full Details Here

See Full Details Here

Happy Holiday Homemaking - Seasons Greetings from the Cramer Team

Whether celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, the holidays or long summer days, it is a great time to give your home a touch (or a grand flourish) of festive season accessorising in the lead up to the silly season. Christmas decorations come in all incarnations, from the ridiculous to the sublime, so with some spare change or a full wallet, you can dress up your home in style.



There is nothing like the pine smell of a real Christmas tree so for setting the scene, nothing will beat it. The tree doesn’t have to be Times Square size, you can even get miniature versions of the real thing, so no matter how much space you have to work with, you can have your home smelling like Christmas in an instant. In the age of reusing and recycling, a small tree can be popped in a larger pot and placed on the balcony for use next year in a slightly taller form.



You don’t have to feel guilty if you opt for a faux Christmas tree. The range is extensive nowadays, so you will find the perfect faux tree to complement your style and existing home décor. Many faux trees are incredibly realistic, but keep in mind you that need to store them during the non-Christmas months if you want to look after the planet by reusing them each Christmas.

For a hark back to the old school days, crepe paper makes nostalgic decorative chains. Mix it up by using your favourite colours to complement the rest of your home. Get creative with a little water-colour on some card and transform them into a gorgeous string of cut-out angels or stars.



Tree ornaments can be gorgeous or garish. A great tradition to start is buying a few beautifully crafted new ornaments every year. They accumulate fast and if you have children, they will look forward to this and appreciate them much more than if you buy a whole house-full at once - quality over quantity at work!

 

Wreaths can be home made and are easier than you’d think. Since we have a hot Christmas, collect bits of driftwood, shells and leaves and glue them onto a hallow round circle of wood or wire (Bunnings will have something.) If you are time poor, wreaths are easily available to buy at all major stores and the choice is extensive.

For Hanukkah, blue, silver and gold are the colours to go with and candles for the menorah can go either in the family heirloom candelabra or be lined up in individual holders. You can create your own star of David or Hamsa shapes with the age-old art of stencilling. You'll need a cutting mat,  scalpel or craft knife, stencil paper and flat ended stencil brush which can be purchased from a craft store. Get your gelt (gold) in the form of chocolate coins, Australian coins or if you are as rich as Rockefeller, the real thing.



And if you just want to celebrate summer, create decorative displays using shells, driftwood and flowers galore. A few sculptural pieces of driftwood wrapped delicately in ivy, jasmine or bougainvillea will look glorious. And with so many flowers in season at the moment - even the Queen of all flowers, the Peony, is affordable now - uplift your home with floral displays.

Then top it all off with gorgeously scented candles to evoke holiday season vibes and further set the scene – Try Glasshouse’s Night Before Christmas or White Christmas. Now sit back, crack open a decent bottle of wine or your favourite craft beer and enjoy!

Wishing you the happiest and healthiest holidays from the Team @ Cramer.

ONCE IN A GENERATION ECONOMIC WINDFALL FOR NSW PROPERTY BUYERS

For decades, NSW stamp duty has been the bane of every property buyers’ existence, adding an unwelcome and excessive excess to the price of the property they are purchasing. This has especially affected would-be First Home Buyers, where stamp duty can be the factor that prevents them from getting on the property ladder. 

A new once-in-a-generation change to stamp duty and land tax laws mean people purchasing a home in NSW up to the value of $1,500,000 are able to opt for a radically smaller annual land tax payment instead of the crippling upfront lump-sum stamp duty. Although the legislation has not been completely signed off on, as of this weekend, if you purchase a property for $1,500,000 or less, you are eligible to get a stamp duty refund and pay the annual tax if you prefer. 

The NSW Treasury has projected that under the new program, if you purchase a property for $1,500,000, you would have a period of 63 years to reach the upfront stamp duty cost. The economic benefits are substantial when taking into consideration the average 7 years someone owns their property. It would take a further 58 years to reach the equivalent initial stamp duty figure of the existing payment system. 

Cramer Property have a number of outstanding properties for sale at $1,500,000 and under. And they have the additional benefit of being off-the plan, allowing you to better plan for your future. They are all impeccably designed by highly regarded developers with excellent track records and located within master planned developments in sought-after suburbs with great infrastructure and public transport systems.

see more here

see more here

Spring fever – Time for giving your home a domestic detail!

There’s nothing like spring to motivate us to clean up our act on the domestic front. Depending on the state of your winter housekeeping, this will either seem like a very doable weekend activity or a task of monumental (and non-achievable) proportions. Either way, you can nail this. No matter how daunting, you can stay positive by thinking in baby steps.



However, if you feel like tackling this head on, get out your pen and paper and do a home-wide reconnaissance. Go from room to room, and take note of dusty shelves, desktops etc; grimy marks on walls, doors and cupboards; any mould on walls and ceilings; cluttered drawers, wardrobes and cupboards that need tidying; old dusty, fraying cushions and any sheets or towels that need replacing.



Don’t forget to look up high if you want to do an excellent job of this – think tops of doorframes and paintings, ceiling smears and don’t miss any wall and ceiling cobwebs or the upper areas of your kitchen. Seems like this is taking it just a tad too far? Well, wait until you get up there and see the build-up of grime on top of the cupboards and rangehood. You’ll want it gone, believe me. And don’t forget windows… clean windows make your house look so much better and have the added benefit of letting in more light.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Don’t panic, just do things methodically, in bite sized tasks to make it all more doable amid your busy schedule. And once you actually start to tick off this list, you will find that not only does your house begin to feel miraculously cleaner and clearer, but so does your head. So just tackle what you can, when you can.




If you don’t like to work alone, get help. Enlist the help of a friend by trading a yummy home cooked dinner for some elbow grease. Pump up the music and think of it as a workout. It’s amazing how much muscle you can build with hard labour around the house. Then if you can afford it, have your carpet steam cleaned and if you live high up, have professional cleaners come and clean the outside of your windows. You won’t believe the difference.



Finally have a reward in mind for the day you have your house spick and span again. Maybe an hour massage, movie and dinner, deluxe mani-pedi – or for those with higher expectations and a bigger budget – a day spa or weekend away. Whatever it is, after your hard work you’ll be able to look forward to some well-deserved R&R and then return to your pristine home to greet spring head on.

And if your home is looking so good that you think it may finally be time to sell, don’t hesitate to contact us for an obligation-free appraisal of your home’s worth. With our decade’s of experience and highly competitive sales outcomes, Cramer will market and sell your home with the utmost of creativity and professionalism.

Contact Emma Chappell today:

Emma Chappell

Head of Sales & Marketing

Tel 02 8302 1500
Mob: 0404 769 509

INVESTOR ALERT! There's no time like the present to invest in an apartment

Whether you are considering purchasing your first property, or increasing your existing property portfolio, now could be the perfect time to take action. Sydney’s apartment market is remaining strong and outperforming houses for the first time in three years. And return on investment is soaring with rental prices rising fast.

Putting your money into apartment projects is smart thinking according to many renowned commentators. Murray Katz of LogiX Financial Services reports “There are certainly opportunities in this market for apartment investors. Rental yields are slowly coming back after being depressed for quite a while, and the tax benefits are more advantageous. As an asset class, they’ll probably be more on the rise than before and, of course, they’ve always been more affordable than houses.”



Additionally, demand is vastly outweighing supply in the Sydney rental market. According to a recent article from ABC news, “Sydney has become a landlord’s market and renters are paying the price.” With demand being so high and supply being so low, it is not uncommon to have 30 applications for the same property. Interested renters who are able are regularly offering above the listing price to secure a property. And with a 1% vacancy rate, the only properties on the market are snapped up almost as fast as they hit the books, as we are experiencing firsthand in Cramer's Property Management division.

There is a housing crisis predicted for Australia in the very near future, with immigration resuming next year and more and more international students already coming onto our shores. Additionally, many people who made a regional move with the covid-induced rise in working from home, are finding that their workplaces want them back in situ or the regional lifestyle is not what they have hoped for. We predict these people will be returning to Sydney in droves. 

In terms of asset value, there is still a big gap between apartments and houses, so apartments still offer better value for investors with far less investment outlay on purchase. And if you look for the property fundamentals of great location, excellent project facilities, great access to transport and a developer with a stellar track record, you will have a blue chip property that will ensure continuing demand and great long term capital gain. 

Cramer have a number of outstanding apartments for sale that fit the bill. Call the Cramer team today to find out more.

Why Redfern is fast becoming Sydney’s place to be

 

With its chequered past, Redfern can easily be overlooked in terms of Sydney’s places to explore. But come for a day and you will quickly become a Redfern convert, won over by this eclectic suburb’s individuality, thriving culture, bespoke boutiques and outstanding bar, restaurant and café scene.



Feel like a delectable bite to eat? Try Three Williams, Scouts Honour, Little Evie, Henry Lees and Bean and Berry for the quintessential café experience; indigenous-owned Tin Humpy for house-made pastries and hearty breaky bowls; Flyover Fritterie - Sydney’s first vegan fritterie and chai bar; and vibrant Vietnamese at Yellow Fever.

 

  

Explore the globe at these unforgettable restaurants - remarkable ramen at RaRa, La Grillade and Bistro St Jacques for French, Ron’s Upstairs for cool Mediterranean, La Coppola for pizza, Kepos & Co for marvellous Middle Eastern and Juan Bowl and Tea for Japanese. Then wrap it up with a sensational sweet treat head to Ciccone And Sons, where you can step back into the 50s and enjoy exquisite homemade fresh gelato.



For the best bar scene outside of London, go on the ultimate pub crawl from Bart Jnr, Arcadia Liquors, the eccentrically names Bearded Tit, Atomic Beer Project Brewery, The Dock, Hustle and Flow Bar, Noble Hops Bar, Misfits and the super cool DD’s cocktail and dining room out the back of The Sunshine Inn. And if you have a taste for gin, don’t miss Moya’s Juniper Lounge.

Stock up on gorgeous homewares at the DEA store, where you will find Japanese influenced earthenware to beautify your table and ceramics from Tom Dixon.

 

And if you are a fan of mid-century furniture, head to Rudi Rocket for super cool vintage pieces, then make your way to the gargantuan Mitchell Road Antiques for the best antique store in Sydney. Or for something utterly different, head to Redfern Convenience Store – “The Greatest Convenience Store on Earth.”

 

For exemplary art, check out the Vandal Gallery, showcasing some of the best emerging contemporary artists in Australia. 

Then pop across to 107 Projects, a cool not-for-profit community art space that’s home to loads of events, exhibitions and workshops. Then be blown away at Carriageworks, a multi arts precinct that offers weekly farmers’ markets, festivals, fashion shows and global art exhibitions. Finally head to the Aboriginal and Pacific Art Gallery for glorious indigenous paintings and sculpture.

 

Want some quality threads at a fraction of the cost, pop over to nearby Assembly Label Surplus Store. Then for an old school barber experience, visit Tommy J Barber. For all things Zen, head to Humming Puppy, a New York loft-style yoga studio. For the place that was voted Best New Independent Gym, get fit at Lift Performance Centre. Follow up with a dip at the outdoor heated Prince Alfred Park Pool, where you’ll also find basketball and tennis courts and outdoor fitness equipment.

And if you are so impressed you’d like to make the move on a permanent basis, check out our exquisite apartments on the verge of Redfern at Surry Hills Village.