A general framework for what overseas buyers should research before choosing an area in Brisbane, including current foreign investment rules.
Property Research
The difference between a title boundary and a fence line in Queensland, and how to find the official survey plan for a property.
A plain description of what happens once a property goes under contract in Queensland, including the statutory cooling-off period.
How Brisbane City Council's Flood Awareness Online tool and FloodWise Property Report work, and what they actually cover.
How to look up a property's zoning in Brisbane using Council's City Plan online tool, and why the process differs outside Brisbane.
A practical look at what actually needs checking before you make an offer in Queensland, including the seller disclosure changes that started in August 2025.
A school catchment is a defined geographic area that determines which local state school a property is zoned for. In Queensland, catchment enrolment generally guarantees a place at your local state school, which is a significant factor for many family buyers. The tricky part is that catchment boundaries do not follow suburb lines, and they can change over time as school capacity and population shift. Two...
A planning overlay is a layer of extra rules that applies to a property in addition to its normal zoning, usually because of a specific risk or feature associated with the land, such as flooding, bushfire risk, heritage significance, or proximity to infrastructure. Overlays do not necessarily mean a property is unsafe or a poor choice. Large parts of South East Queensland sit within some form of flood or...
Choosing a suburb before choosing a property can feel backwards if you are used to browsing listings first, but for a lot of buyers it is the more useful order to work in. Start with the things that will not change: how far you need to be from work, family or school, and what kind of commute you are actually willing to do regularly, not just in theory. From there, housing type and land size start to narrow...
A listing is a piece of marketing. That does not make it dishonest, but it does mean it is written to present a property in its best light, not to give you a balanced view of everything worth knowing. A few things worth checking beyond the listing itself: the property's planning and zoning status, any registered easements or covenants on the title, flood or bushfire overlay information where it applies,...