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March 26, 2013 - 1:14 am

Wow, ok, good advice.

I was worried about all the things you mentioned. I wonder if it'd be better to get a steady tennant through a PM and then drop the PM once I see that the tennants are doing the right thing…

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March 4, 2013 - 9:21 pm

Hi Connolly,

I live in Toowoomba (Highfields) and we have an investment property in Inner-North Toowoomba.

I can provide you with a lot of information regarding Wilsonton, simply because I lived there for a large chunk of my life. Wilsonton has a large housing commission estate right in the centre of the suburb. People of Toowoomba tend to stay clear of the area as it tends to be a higher crime suburb. In saying that, investing in Wilsonton may be fine providing you stay on the western side of the suburb and you are not chasing capital gains. While Wilsonton may experience some capital gains in the future due to its close proximity to the airport, I would suggest that there's better suburbs for similar $$$ such as North Toowoomba, South Toowoomba or Mt Lofty. Consider this – North Toowoomba and Mt Lofty are both up and coming suburbs with new infrastructure currently being built such as a Coles shopping Centre. It is 5 minutes from the CBD and is building quite a good reputation as the boundaries of Toowoomba expand.

My wife and I currently have our spec home in Highfields on the market. When it sells we plan to buy some more investment properties in Toowoomba. We will be buying in North and South Toowoomba due to their close proximity to the CBD. Wilsonton and Harlaxton will be far from our list of future choices. Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and assumptions. I'm sure others have had better experiences in Wilsonton. 

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December 21, 2012 - 5:19 am

Thanks for comments guys. Some really useful information and food for thought.

I want to sell the newly constructed property as I want the equity out of the property so that's the reason I don't want to keep both. I also feel that if I was to keep both then it'd slow me down as cash flow would take a hit.

PLC – your info has made me look twice at the loan on the older property… You're right, I will eventually change this to an IP if I go down the duplex path so thanks for your comment and I will keep that loan as I/O. It was something I didn't give enough thought to but understand why you mentioned it.

This property will hit the market on the 1st Jan 2013. I'm excited because I see so much potential out there. For example: The next stage is due to open in my estate mid next year. My name is top of the list for land and if prices are anything like what they were when I bought this a couple months ago then I toy with the possibility of buying two blocks this time and building again… LOL too many ideas and need to finalise current deal before I let my mind go there LOL. I know I know… CRAWL BEFORE YOU WALK.

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December 20, 2012 - 4:08 am

Catalyst – Yes first house was built as a PPOR but then we bought the older property to live in for after the sale of newly constructed property. We bought the older property so that we could live mortgage free and then direct our attention to our first real investment.

So how did I come up with $250000 cash equity? Newly built property is worth $440000 and we have a loan on it of $200000. I subtracted that away from $410000( Approximate amount after sale and commission is paid). We then have a few thousand in an offset account. All up, after the sale of newly constructed property we'll have around $250000.

We will then use the $250000 to completely pay off the older property that we bought. This will be the property that we reside in once the sale has gone through.

What will I use for deposits and legals if I sell newly built property and pay off second one? Great question… We are self acting and leave my sister-in-law to take care of again. She works for movie gifts cars well that's what we've paid her in the past for legals  The deposit for IP is our next problem. I guess by owning our home outright it won't take much to get one together…

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October 18, 2012 - 10:00 pm

Ok. Yes I have a second property that will be vacant ready for when I move in… The tenants in there will be moved on approximately 2 weeks before I am due to transition from house A to house B. What do you think?

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October 18, 2012 - 9:41 am

Thanks for the comments guys.

Since posting this question we have made a few changes in our investment strategy. One change has seen up buying a second property that we plan to live in once our PPOR has sold. We are doing this to free up some more cash as we'll only owe $30000-$40000 on it.

The duplex is still high on my list, however, I am forced to wait until a property has sold and we have moved into the newly acquired property.

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October 18, 2012 - 9:40 am

Thanks for the comments guys.

Since posting this question we have made a few changes in our investment strategy. One change has seen up buying a second property that we plan to live in once our PPOR has sold. We are doing this to free up some more cash as we'll only owe $30000-$40000 on it.

The duplex is still high on my list, however, I am forced to wait until a property has sold and we have moved into the newly acquired property.

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October 2, 2012 - 10:55 pm

TheFinanceShop wrote:

Which area are you looking at?

Due to our employment (Teacher and Purchasing Officer) we must stay in Toowoomba. We currently live in Highfields which is very close to Toowoomba itself.

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October 2, 2012 - 10:39 pm

Thanks JamieM.

My wife keeps saying to me "lets have kids at age 27" but believe me when I say that I am pushing it back as far as possible at the moment. As close to 30 suits me fine. The loss of income is of concern, but I guess like a lot of people out there, we are trying to time it in around her long service leave. See what happens I guess.

At this stage I guess I am trying to explore as many options as I can. My goal isn't really to become rich, but more to live a comfortable lifestyle where I don't have to do it as tough as my parents have done. I do want to generate an income other than exchanging my time for coin so that's really why I am out looking for ideas/options.

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October 2, 2012 - 10:18 pm

Great info guys! THANKS!

I don't think I'd be too concerned with seeking approval for a duplex as my wife is pretty good with things like that. We could get the land while still in our PPOR and start the whole process. Just faced with a whole heap of 'what if' type questions… How long will it take? What if we can't build a duplex on that block? etc.

The one thing my wife and I are pretty is good at is extra repayments. Because we don't have kids or big outgoings, we find that it is easy for us to pay an extra $700-$800 per week on top of our home loan. By saving at the rate we are then we'll own our current home by age 30. BUT… and here is where my mind starts racing haha.

We could buy a PPOR (220k) and have no home loan. Buy an investment property on P&I and own it along with PPOR by age 30. We could then use our incomes, plus income from IP.1, to attain IP.2…Then keep the process going…

All this is fine and dandy to say while we don't have kids, but I see it as an easy plan considering my income is set to raise by 30k over the next 9 years.

There's so many possibilities and that is why I am here asking you guys. You have a lot more experience than i do and I know you won't feed me crap to make a few $$$. Please keep the replies coming as I value each response. If you think my idea/s are rediculous, tell me, I'd rather know now

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April 16, 2012 - 10:30 am

Interested to see the replies as we are in a similar situation.

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July 31, 2011 - 11:45 pm

Hello JacM

Thanks for your reply.

Yes we have received the first home owners grant back when it was $21000 to buy or build a new property. The $21000 assisted us to build our first PPOR.

Im not wanting to build another house with a 250k debt however my wife likes the idea of a new house. My thinking is to save really hard and own a cheaper house. We would then have more free cash to pour into other properties. I also thought that having a P & I loan we would be able to build equity faster rather than waiting for capital gains with an I/O loan on a negative geared property…?

James