If you’ve tried to buy a home in Melbourne lately, congratulations — you’ve entered the Hunger Games of real estate. The prize? A 3-bedroom weatherboard with “renovator’s potential” (read: termites with heritage status) and a mortgage large enough to make your unborn grandchildren nervous.

Thinking of buying a home in Melbourne? Avoid becoming a property horror story. Younger Hill Buyers Agents share real-life Melbourne property fails — and how due diligence can save your sanity (and your savings).

If you’ve tried to buy a home in Melbourne lately, congratulations — you’ve entered the Hunger Games of real estate. The prize? A 3-bedroom weatherboard with “renovator’s potential” (read: termites with heritage status) and a mortgage large enough to make your unborn grandchildren nervous.

Melbourne’s rental laws just changed — again! Here’s what they mean for rental providers (formally Landlords) and renters (formally tenants), explained by a property manager who believes harmony beats headaches every time.

Let’s be honest — when new rental laws drop, everyone gets a little twitchy. RP’s start picturing more paperwork. Renters brace for rent hikes. Property managers? We pour a big gin and start translating government-speak into something human.

The good news? Most of these changes are good — they’re designed to make renting fairer, safer, and less confusing for everyone. And as someone who genuinely cares about both sides, I can tell you: this is a step in the right direction.

Despite what you may have heard, there are several shortcuts to getting on the property ladder even in these times of sky-high home prices. A young person just starting out in the world has a range of options available to them:

• Marrying into a wealthy family

• Embezzlement, blackmail, or other so-called ‘white collar’ crime

• Moving to a less expensive region of the world (ideally one with active political unrest, which tends to depress land prices)

• And, of course, my personal favourite — winning Tatts!

Apartment living can be a more affordable first rung on the ladder for savvy first home buyers or first time investors and the returns aren't only in equity, but lifestyle and location. So here our are our Top 8 Questions to ask before you buy.

The genuine love and affection they have is evident in the constant ribbing and teasing they all fling at one another. It is intoxicating. That kind of closeness is something that you rarely see on reality shows, because it’s genuine, not something thrown together by producers. It’ll make you look at your own family with deep disappointment.