EXCLUSIVE: For the first time non-Australian property buyers and investors are able to purchase resale, residential and commercial property, and even agricultural property, in Australia.
Through a legally-patented process that has been offered to high net worth individuals in Singapore since September, and also in other Asian countries, Dominque Grubisa of Global Property Education Pte Ltd in association with Ella Sherman of Singapore real estate firm Premiere Realty, can tailor an Australian property purchases to the needs of the individual investor.
Australian Grubisa, with her background in law as a prominent barrister, has developed the unique method that can allow a foreigner to purchase in the previously off-limits but potentially profitable secondary or resale market in Australia.
Speaking exclusively to PropertyGuru, she said: “We are marketing a legal structure that allows foreigners to purchase in this sector of the market.
“Singapore buyers have never really had a choice before. They have been marketed to by developers who come here with specific projects, while we are able to source from the whole property market.
“I think some developers have come to Singapore because they know they can get a premium compared to selling to Australian buyers.”
Using the example of the prime Sydney location of Point Piper, she explained that foreigners who were previously restricted to buying off-plan new projects would never be able to purchase in that location because of a lack of new developments. Some resale projects come to market and those would be available to foreign buyers and investors under this legal structure.
Grubisa also has access to properties that become the subject of bankruptcies or bank foreclosures, and even those that are never sold on the open market.
“We can take instructions from buyers and go and source properties, including commercial and farmland, specifically tailored to the individual’s requirements,” she added.
Grubisa and her company have been operating in Singapore for three months and recently received what they described as a please response from marketing activities in another Asian country.
Grubisa said: “Few foreigners are aware of the restrictions on foreigners buying Australian property. My patented legal structure allows foreign investors to access the entire Australian resale market and buy their dream property Down Under.
“This is more important than ever now with the government cracking down on foreign investments in Australia.
“The role of the Foreign Investment Review Board in Australia is under scrutiny with a report due out this month, expected to give the government more powers to seize and sell illegally purchased properties and to keep any capital gain,” she added.
Image: Point Piper in Sydney, created by 000012 and used under a Creative Commons License.
www.globalpropertyeducation.com
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
