Find out the hidden costs

Make sure your investment property will work for you by knowing all the costs upfront. A cost that is often overlooked is the strata fees which can range from around $800 a quarter for a standard 2-bedroom apartment up to $2,000 or more for a high maintenance residence.

There’s no point throwing money away on unnecessarily high strata fees. When you add it up, an extra $500 a quarter in this area for example will add up to $20,000 over a decade that you could have invested elsewhere.