What to look for and what to look out for when investing

“Let's talk about Brisbane because it's a capital city which I had no idea about. I look at relative value, so I start off in suburbs near the city, then go further out,” Mr Sum said.

Looking into these suburbs, Mr Sum then researches on why one suburb may be cheaper than another.

“For example, Springfield and Redbank Plains, it's just like five, 10 minutes’ drive. Why is Redbank Plains much cheaper than Springfield? Yes, Springfield has a lot of infrastructure, but when you're talking about a 10 minutes’ drive, it doesn't really matter,” he said.

“I just look for relative value.”

After determining a suburb, Mr Sum then looks for houses located within the suburb and tries to determine why cheaper houses are priced the way they are.

“Is it just because it's run down? If it's run down, you can fix it up. Or is it because of small land? Small land, then forget about it because you can't increase the land size,” Mr Sum said

Another “forget about it” is if the property is close to easements, described by Mr Sum as “if there are some restrictions to doing anything to the property”.

Examples Mr Sum gives include sewer and rain water drains, gas pipes and restrictions on height.

In order to avoid these easements, Mr Sum recommends going to the council website of the area investors plan to invest in to find out.

“Just go to the council website, property enquiry, and it will tell you if there's any restrictions on that property,” he said.

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