[AceyduceyParticipant@aceyduceyJoin Date: 2003Post Count: 651]

July 16, 2004 - 4:36 am

Also if a bank forecloses on a property and then sells for below market value (as determined through the use of an approproiate sales campaign) the owner can sue the bank, as has happened several times already in Australia.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 16, 2004 - 4:32 am

Go out with a building inspector for a few days & learn what they look at.

You’ll pick up enough info to know what to look for yourself & maybe cross out some properties before paying for an inspector (which you should still do if a property is on your buy list).

My partner did this a few years back.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:11 pm

Well Salacious sometimes the best way to learn is to get burnt.

Keep in mind after the fact that most property is best suited for investing in longer timeframes

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:09 pm

This sounds rather dangerous to me.

Targetting teenagers – who are less experienced & in many cases more financially vulnerable.

I suggest that if you feel uncomfortable about their program at the free evening that you report them to ASIC & the state Fair Trading Commission for investigation.

If they’re sincere – great, an investigation will come up clean.

If not….best they be caught before they can do too much damage.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:05 pm

I’m not the best networker around. In fact I don’t think I’m a particularly good natural networker. Because of that I’ve had to learn to do it the hard way (and still are).

Everyone can become better at networking.

IMHO the essence of networking is conscious (or active) communication. Communication where you are conscious of what the other person is saying and what they are meaning. Where your brain is engaged & you are choosing your words and actions in a free-flowing & natural way. Many people don’t think about what they are saying, their minds are elsewhere thinking about other things.

There are a couple of ways to train yourself to be a better networker.

Look into the network marketing organisations. They often have very well developed networking tools & systems…after all their business is really training people to network, not selling products. See what you can use. The investment in some products is worth it for what it teaches you.

Read some books on body language, effective communication and how to dress. Then APPLY the principles in your conversations.

To get networks started, join community groups, actually talk to people at your work, don’t simply interact with them. Ditto with your friends – it’s often amazing how much peoples’friends actually know and who they know but is not ever discussed. Speak to people at conferences, on the bus, wherever.

And make sure that you’re spending most of the time listening & asking open questions (ones that require more than a yes/no answer).

To get real estate agents to come to you you need to basically build up your credibility as an investor. The best way to do that is to know what you’re talking about & be actively investing so they see you’re for real. Then it just takes time.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:13 am

MadInvestor,

You are doing nothing wrong. You’re simply still on the (endless) learning curve.

However keep in mind what ‘budget properties’ actually means.

In future if you buy cheaper properties be prepared for significant maintenance costs. Ensure you get those building inspections done & ensure you have a maintenance budget factored into your calculations.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:10 am

Given we’ve done both, even a good PM is no match for a ‘good’ bad tenant.

Doing it yourself is no more risky because if need be you can ask an agent to locate the tenant for you, for a small fee (a week’s rent or so).

Best of both worlds…..that said, we’re locating our own tenants – just replaced two sets of ‘bad’ tenants located by a very good PM when the properties were under 3rd party management. We’ve had no trouble finding good ones, though time will tell

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:08 am

Gatsby,

I’m not advocating using buyers’ agents.

It’s the REAs, neighbours & friends who come & offer us the deals before they hit the market.

Frankly I see extremely limited value in buyers’ agents. Most people using them would be far better off making the time investment in their own future financial success, not trying to employ another type of consultant to succeed for them.

I also feed myself & wipe my own backside on the toilet rather than employing consultants to do those things for me as well.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:04 am

Salacious,

I suggest you try to track down many of the people who bought off-the-plan in areas like Melbourne Docklands.

They’d certainly have a story to tell you about the huge capital gains you can make through buying off-the-plan.

Make sure you know the market VERY well when making this type of speculative investment. You’re not buying a property, you’re buying a future property with the all the additional risks inherent in predicting what the market will be like when the property is finished.

Of course you could flip it before building finishes – but that comes with some risks as well….If the people who buy from you can’t settle, the developer may have recourse to go back to you & demand that YOU pay for it.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 15, 2004 - 12:00 am

In a couple of our recent renos we looked at driveway replacement due to cracked & subsided concrete slabs.

On balance we left them as they were.

In manyc cases there is no additional value in replacing a driveway.

Of course, your situation may differ

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 11:59 pm

kaiah,

Are you the type of person who gets very excited about new things but looks for fast results or doesn’t carry through? Or are you prepared to roll up your sleeves & work extremely hard to get what you want?

If you’re the first type then property investing will be a challenge for you. Property investing is slow, boring, dirty work.

It can take months, particularly when starting out, to find the right purchase, years before you see whether your investment was a good or mediocre one – particularly when you’re not in a boom market, and a decade or more before you could think of retiring on the cashflow from your investments.

This isn’t to be negative about property investing. A decade is a LOT better than 40 years in the workforce to retire in poverty. The work really isn’t that hard or unpalatial & good planning and research can significantly reduce your chance of buying underperforming properties.

However is it to say that you need to be prepared to make a substantial commitment. The decision to invest is only a first step. You have to take action to see real results.

Keep in mind that every dollar you spend on seminars & books & other aids to investing is reducing the funds you have to invest in your pocket right now – but is increasing your store of knowledge & ability to invest successfully.

Look to strike a balance. You MUST get significant value from every dollar you invest in your education towards investing, or you’re better off saving it for an actual investment property. Hence, beware of big price tags on seminars unless you can verify for yourself that the value will be there for you.

Your first task as an investor is to discover ways to procure knowledge at low cost. Start with forums such as this one & Somersoft, libraries & investor networking events. From those you will both learn a great deal AND be able to discuss with others the relative merits of other educational products.

Good luck with your investing journey. You can get whatever you want if you are prepared to commit to staying the course.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 10:37 am

Frankly I’m finding now that I’m getting to the point where the deals come looking for me.

Get the networks & knowledge in place.

Looking through papers & sites for property is what the other 90% do.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 10:34 am

Well if there is a shortage of rental properties you may be able to ‘corner’ the market.

However what actual value are you adding?

You’re simply leeching in the middle.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 10:33 am

Those ethical agents – give all the other Real Estate agents a bad name!

I alway enjoy seeing people rail about unethical agents, then discuss ways of wriggling out of legitimite agreements or coming up with unethical methods to bypass agents.

If we, as property buyers, expect ethical agents we have to behave ethically ourselves.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 10:30 am

Weeds grow through anything

So long as you lay it deep enough you shouldn’t have weed issues.

Plus a bit of weed killer now and then if any grab hold on the top.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 5:10 am

Here’s the most important secret about property investing…..

It’s not about the property. It’s not even about the type of property.

It’s about knowledge & networks.

Find an area you like. Get to know the agents & locals. Understand the market’s movements, history and prospects.

Then pick up the bargains as they appear.

Once you have the knowledge & networks in place you’ll be able to identify the bargains and may even be offered some before people who simply surf the property pages even know whether the property is good value.

In some areas you’ll find the best value with houses, in others it will be units. The most important thing is that you KNOW what is and isn’t a bargain and can NETWORK yourself into appropriate deals.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 14, 2004 - 5:07 am

Blue metal is fine.

Ensure you build a proper base & pack it down solid so you don’t get too much movement or sinkage.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 13, 2004 - 3:40 pm

Try Cosmos by Carl Sagan and Chaos by James Gleick, and The Last Three Minutes by Paul Davies for a sense of perspective.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is very good, as is Everything I needed to Know I learnt in Kindergarten.

THick Face, Black Heart is also good reading for all investors.

The Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet are also excellent reads.

Plus everything everyone else said (though personally Mission Earth didn’t change my view on life).

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 13, 2004 - 3:34 pm

Originally posted by lifeX:

I had a tenant who was doing extra garden work and free painting in my property, so i bought him a slab of beer. (bottle shop had a deal on 30packs at the time)

Anyway, tenant got real boozey and violent. Attacked, abused and threatened other tenants and was given an immediate notice to vacate a week later.[huh]

lifexperience

LifeX,

That’s an incredibly tragic, yet in hindsite very amusing story

The moral of the story: don’t let them drink or feed them after midnight….

Cheers,

Aceyducey

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July 13, 2004 - 8:41 am

Aussie,

The book sounds quite logical to me.

And yes the trick is in being able to fit yourself in consciously.

It’s what very very good sales people do. They are chameleons.

Cheers,

Aceyducey