[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

April 11, 2011 - 4:14 am

Hey Be_rich,

I've had a bit of luck buying student accommodation in QLD and getting positive cashflow from them.  Last one I bought was a 4brm townhouse for $188k and it's positively geared with a 105% lend (admittedly I locked in a VERY good rate).  Just search online for Sippy Downs and Sunshine Coast Uni. 

It's certainly not as glamorous as a townhouse development or subdivisions but another 4 of these and I retire

Good luck,
Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 25, 2010 - 2:12 am

Thanks Duckster,

useful link to have!

PS and anyone that's interested, it's 10 years

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 21, 2010 - 2:55 am

Don't worry banker, got lender friends coming out of my ears!  Just always feel bad getting them to run loan scenarios whilst I'm standing in front of a property

It's been a while since I fit inside the standard criteria anyway and it's just getting more complicated by the day.  Almost feel sorry for my bankers… almost

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 20, 2010 - 11:07 pm

Thanks guys, the QBE one is the type I was after.

Now to get that NSR under 90%

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 13, 2010 - 12:54 am

I was thinking the same as rudra_r.

I look after holiday properties in QLD and have thought about investigating solar panels for my clients.  Since they pay the power bill anyway and the properties might only be let 30-70% of the year then the excess can just be fed back into the grid.

Might not recommend it for permanent lets but certainly for holiday lets.

Just my 2c +GST.

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 5, 2010 - 6:38 am

Hey Grimnar,

Let me quickly share my viewpoints on them…

Poor capital growth; very true, even negative growth!  But that's great when someone paid $235k for that unit 5-7yrs ago and I just bought it from them for $188k!  Essentially, someone else can wear that expensive lesson and I'll happily take it off their hands.

Rented part of the year; again very true.  This complex used to only rent for 40wks of the year so think of having a constant 23% vacancy rate!  That's fine as long as you budget for it and calculate your returns on an annual basis and not some inflated weekly figure.  Also, the managers here are in the process of changing from 40wks a year to 48wks.  Not many other places have their rental returns jumped 20% although this is a once off gain.

Lastly, the banks don't like them.  I mean they really don't like them!  Be prepared to shop around to find someone willing to take them as security.

Ok, now the upside.  Stupidly high cashflow.  Low entry price-point.  Can be fantastically hands off if you have a good manager (same as anywhere).  Lots of similar properties to compare against so lots of fun running around making insanely low offers and seeing where they go.  Well that's just in my not-so-humble opinion.

Anyway, not something to dominate a property portfolio but can be a nice balance to those -ve cashflow high growth properties elsewhere.

Hope that helps,
Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 5, 2010 - 1:31 am

Try these…

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-qld-sippy+downs-106666048

Yes, I know they're student accommodation.  Yes, I know not all banks like them.  Yes, I know I'm biased because I own one AND YES I WANT TO BUY MORE!

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 3, 2010 - 11:36 pm

Hi,

I'm in Rainbow Beach (on the coast from Gympie) and know only a little bit about Gympie.  TBH most of what I know has come from small sub-division developers asking me to try and sell their land.  Can't advise on which are the good parts of town unfortunately but interested to hear what others have to say.

Good luck,

Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

August 2, 2010 - 12:21 am

What's the worst they can say? ummmm…. no!

That's not a bad offer, since I know I've offered a hell of a lot less before and been accepted.

Best of luck!

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 31, 2010 - 11:28 pm

When I was with the CBA (over 12mths ago now) it was procedure that you had to apply to Genworth directly, about all we could do was look up their website and give you the phone number!

Sorry I can't on whether CBA have a separate agreement with Genworth now though.  Good luck!

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 29, 2010 - 4:34 am

Oh God now this is an open ended question!

Start here though… http://www.propertybooks.com.au/  or http://www.apimagazine.com.au/

I was told once that the best recommendation this guy received was to buy 2yrs of back issues of Australian Property Investor and read them cover to cover.

It's a start

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 28, 2010 - 4:03 am

Ditto what Daniel said.  Education defeats fear and ignorance every time, so spend a bit of time and money reading like mad and you'll find that when everyone else is ducking for cover, there will always be a few out there smelling the roses

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 23, 2010 - 12:28 am

Saving a house deposit four times and losing them before finally buying a property!

1st time – 17yo and had been working and saving for yrs and saw a 4brm QLDer on 1200m2 in my town for $65k and rented for $200pwk!  Worked out even at that age that I could buy through a trust with my folks.  Dads answer… "No, it's obviously too good to be true".  So I used the money instead to get a pilots licence.

2nd time – Saved a heap of money again and at 19yo but it ALL into tech stocks.  12mths later, no savings, no stocks!

3rd time – Bit older at 21 and thought I was a bit smarter.  Pooled my money with two mates and bought a unit off the plan from a developer mate in Auckland.  28 months later, no unit, no developer and we were lucky to get our cash back.

4th time – 24yr old and squirreled and saved but then got adventurous and started my own business.  Within months those savings had been poured into the business and wouldn't be seen again for three years.

So my mistakes were;
1 – listening to other people's "helpful advice".
2 – Investing in something I knew nothing about.
3 – Investing in something we had no 'control' of.
4 – Thinking a new business would throw off cash AND grow at the same time.

So many regrets, but so many good hard lessons that have all paid off now.

Anyways, that's me,
Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 22, 2010 - 5:40 am

I'm in between the "rah rah" crowd and Banker I think. 

Being given a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad when I was 21 was a turning point for me and I devoured the book in a couple hours.  Between the first three books I can honestly say that there are some fantastic pearls of wisdom there that I use in every business transaction or investment.  However…

…after those first three books I found he went off the deep end and is trying to sound too much like a guru or prophet.  I got almost nothing of value from the other books and haven't even bothered with the last couple.

As others have said, fantastic start to a prosperous financial journey, but definitely not enough to get you there on their own.

Cheers,
Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 22, 2010 - 5:00 am

Those rates are quite high I believe, I charge the same as Shane above and would seriously question anything higher.

Hope that helps,
Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 21, 2010 - 5:29 am

Ditto, use the money as a nice big deposit on another place (or two or three!)

Whether you target high-growth and low-cashflow, or pos-cashflow and low-growth is another discussion entirely.  I was in the same boat as you though and thanked my lucky stars that I focused on good cashflow property from the beginning.  It just made things so much easier and less stressful when I changed jobs, etc.

Failing that, feel free to lend me the money!

Hope that helps a bit,
Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 19, 2010 - 11:07 pm

Just wanted to say, nice response Evolve!  Answered a heap of my queries before I even had a chance to post a thread

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 16, 2010 - 5:41 am

Hey chellie,

I'm actually a property manager at Rainbow Beach in QLD and holiday letting is about 80% of my day.

We take 12% +GST but you must also consider that after every stay the cleaners go through (avg $85 per house) and you will also be running water and power all the time so your holding costs do increase.  Having said that the properties almost always net more than in the permanent let pool and like Invest2surf said you can also take bookings yourself and some of my owners do that as well.

Hope that helps a little bit, afraid I don't have enough time to give you the full spiel! :-o

Cheers,

Andy

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 7, 2010 - 6:15 am

Exactly right Banker,

usually I'm buying them after 3 to 7yrs where the owners just can't make the numbers work and these 'great cashflow properties' are costing them still every month.  So far been sticking with larger properties (4 brm) but hoping to have a contract soon on a nice 2brm that I couldn't walk past (assuming the bank will play ball for the $20k I need!).

I honestly can't imagine buying them new unless I was to develop them myself.

Cheers,
Andy
(ex-Banker)

[BrisbaneAndyParticipant@brisbaneandyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 45]

July 7, 2010 - 4:53 am

Common problem on the financing side and I've encountered it with CBA too. 

However the reasons Banker was giving about why not to buy them is also the reason I am jumping on as many as I can get.  ie Hard to sell on the secondary market so you can negotiate VERY hard and pick up bargains and (so far) always be positive cashflow.  I just always avoid any of the super small student units, I have no end of bad stories about them (I'm looking at you Unilodge!)

Hope that helps,

Andy