Forum Replies Created
Have to agree with Badgers. Australians are currently paying more for their mortgages (as a percentage of their incomes) than resident of ANY other country. Blind Freddie could see that it's not sustainable.
This is just the thin edge of the wedge. An architect friend of mine told me he knows of many major developments now not going ahead due to credit crunch. His words were "we ain't seen nothing yet". He's been in the game for more than 50 years.A perfect storm indeed, and one which not even a one percent interest rate cut can ward off.
Cash is king.
Hold tight!
Carlin
Found that last post quite inspiring. But with three young kids, I'm afraid to take risks. Still, we've managed to get 3 IPs and doing OK. Lucky to have got in when we did.
Meanwhile there are so many RE promoters continuing to ride the boom wave long after the boom has ended…..but I wonder if the numbers attending those seminars and buying those books are dropping. Surely they've made enough money by now….it's truly pitiful the way some of these gurus are still trying to squeeze out a buck from the ever-optimists or chronic procrastinatators who've well and truly missed the boom boat.But I agree there's money to be made in any market. Finding the time to find that increasingly elusive niche (and then pursue it) is the problem! Good on you Kylie. I hope your success hasn't come at too high a personal price because if you've managed that challenging work/life balance then your achievements really are impressive.
And I agree with you – teamwork is sorely lacking when people complain that they can't get ahead.
thanks for sharing your story.
Carlin
Thanks for those suggestions. With the terrazzo tiles, does the grind and polish mean there are no grout lines identifying them as tiles, and instead it looks like one flat terrazzo surface?
If so, then that sounds like the go.
Unfortunately mags like "Your Investment Property" are not independant commentators on the market and where it's headed. Like real estate agents, they will always be the ones talking the market up.
Bank commentators are also not independant – falling numbers of people taking out loans means they, too, are under pressure to encourage investors back into the market.
As a previous post said, just do your sums ….and most times you'll see that properties are still badly overpriced for the returns you can expect.
cheers,
CarlinYou would need approval of the body corporate before proceeding, if only to notify other tenants/owners of the noise and possible disruption during building. If there were objections, I really am not sure where you stand but can't see how anyone could stop the work if it does not infringe on their property or affect the building's structural integrity.
As far as I'm aware, you would not need to go to council for this work, but I could be wrong so best to check with the corporate manager.
Keen to know how you go with this as planning something similar myself.
cheers,
CarlinPaying interest only means not just leaves more money to buy more IPs but also more money to pay down non-deductible debt on your PPOR. Can't see the benefit off paying down principal on an IP when you still have outstanding debt on your PPOR.
Has anyone ever used Industry Fund Financial Planning (IFFP), which offers commission free financial advice for industry super fund members?
We, too, are wondering whether to fork out the $3000 we've been quoted.
thanks,
CarlinThe most effective gauge for the property market here in SA is The Advertiser, the local rag that derives a huge chunk of its revenue from real estate advertising. When it starts publishing "get rich, buy property now" articles you can be sure the market's either flattened or dropping.
Last Monday's article in the money section really takes the cake. A panel of real estate agents, real estate insurers, real estate developers and real estate lecturers. Guess what?!!! They all think now is a great time to buy. Incredibly, the developer also thought it was a good time to buy land and build. Well, knock me down with a feather!!!
Still no answer to my previous post re-ratio mentors to participants? Anyone able to help?
Apologies if this has already been answered, but what is the ratio of mentors to participants? An approximate figure would do.
thanks.
Just been using commercialrealestate.com.au
Seeking retail outlet.
thanks
I've been following properties in the 'to rent' columns in The Advertiser and some are appearing week after week. I've spoken with a few agents who've admitted their property managers have had to decrease rents quite substantially on some properties to attract tenants, especially in outlying suburbs.
Adelaide has most definitely already "taken off" and is now flattening. Vacancy rates are increasing in some areas, auction clearance rates are decreasing, yields in most areas (for anyone who bought recently) are pitiful. Check for vested interests if someone's telling you there's going to be another big growth spurt because that sure isn't the word on the ground here.
Envy's not an attractive emotion, but I admit to feeling a bit envious as I read some people's upbringing stories. How lucky to be raised by parents who understand investment.
I'm the youngest of 7, born to very loving but financially unsavvy school teacher parents. They were very careful with their money – they had to be, with so many kids and such low incomes. Though I never went without, I do recall that some school camps were missed and new clothes were rare as my parents struggled to put us through private schools.My mother showed some initiative, buying land when single in her early 20s and newly migrated. It's that land that enabled my parents to build a large enough home. But there were no IPs, just a few managed funds with pathetic returns. I was very conscious of money, or lack of it, from a young age which is probably why I set up my own little business as a 10 year old, pet minding, dog walking and garden watering. I was determined to be self sufficient and – being an animal lover – I had acquired a menagerie that needed income for their care.
My initial interest in investing came in my late 20s, largely through a painful separation and subsequent stupid decision in virtually giving away a beachfront (yes, you read correctly) property to my ex. But good comes from bad sometimes, and I started to seek ways to earn income other than my 9-5 job, interesting as it was and still is. I started to read books, articles and anything I could lay my hands on that might educate me.
Unfortunately it took me a long time to act. I bought a PPOR with my now hubby in 1997, but it wasn't until 2004 that we started to buy IPs. Now 42 and – like others in this thread – have set goals and staying focussed in a bid to achieve them. And I am intent on enjoying the journey towards achieving them – investing can be hard work but it should also be challenging and fun AND not all-consuming. Life is over before we know it, for some much sooner than is fair. One saying that I remind myself of often is "You can always make more money but you can't make more time."
Despite being a late comer to investing, I have no regrets about what I did instead in my 20s, which was to travel widely around the world. Those solo experiences in remote lands are what have shaped me and I fully recommend to any young person to experience the world before tying yourself down with mortgages and other responsibilities. You will never have that time again, with the energy that 20-somethings have. Travel does give you a wider perspective on life and priorities, and also builds self confidence.
My wonderful hubby and I still travel, but our journeys are now partly funded by rental income. So we are slowly starting to reap rewards for our efforts. It's good to also have the funds to support my elderly parents, some charities and the occasional friend in need. Without wanting to sound like Pollyanna, it is a privilege and good for the soul to be wealthy enough to help others.
Good luck to all of you on your journeys, and thanks for sharing your stories.
Carlin
Forumites may be interested in watching 4 Corners on the ABC this Monday night at 8.30pm. The program is about increasing mortgagee sales.
Concur with Blogs and others here – too many single income/two+ kid families buying McMansions as their first home and shopping too freely at Harvey Norman = difficult times ahead.
I think you're VERY wise to consider the house's orientation. I've seen some lovely houses with nice big open family rooms at the back, but the windows face west. Stinking hot in summer, very expensive to keep cool.
The right orientation does the right thing by the environment and your wallet. We built with orientation in mind and – combined with extensive insulation – our heating/cooling bills are very low.In terms of an investment property, it doesn't hurt to be able to say "north-facing living areas" – and certainly it's a selling point.
There's plenty of info on the net about where to site the different rooms if you decide to build instead.
There seem to be so many people using this site who think contrarian investing is oh-so-clever. Funny thing is that EVERYONE now knows (and I mean those Mum and Dad investors too) to buy in gloom and sell (if you wish) in boom. It's hardly rocket science.
The irony is, though, that it's because everyone knows this age-old adage that house prices keep going up. The first tinsy winsy sign of house prices stabilising (usually thanks to some well-timed newspaper article, no doubt responding to a request from the real estate industry to give business a boost) and – boom – everyone's off on a spending spree again.
Sure, there are those who've mortgaged themselves to the hilt and can't go shopping. But I bet there's many many more who are just waiting, like so many on this site, for the first hint of blood in the streets, and off into the stratosphere will prices go again. There's still so much hype around property investing, fuelled by a real-estate-industry- friendly media (who make squillions from real estate ads) that the excitement from this latest boom is going to take quite a few more rate rises before reality hits home for many people.
Anyone who questions my views just need look at the latest subscription figures for API mag – yet another publication that's helping to fuel a boom that should have died down long ago. Now, shares in that mag would definitely be a good buy.
CarlinHi All,
Thought you might like to know the sequel to our sorry tale.
As I wrote earlier, we phoned the vendors directly to get their side of the story.
The agent had told us that he had not contacted us (to give us a chance to counter offer) because the vendors had told him they definitely did not want to go with our inferior offer.The vendors told us that they NEVER instructed the agent not to come back to us to give us an opportunity to counter offer. Indeed, they believe we should have been given that opportunity.
Anyway, at the end of my conversation with them I left them with our number and said that if this other guy failed to settle – AGAIN (making it the third time) – to give us a call.
We got that call a couple of weeks later. The other guy had failed to secure finance in time, again. We immediately faxed an offer matching the terms and conditions and price the vendors wanted, and they accepted.
My husband drove down and met the vendors and agent at the vendors' place. The contract was there, ready to be signed, together with a termination notice for the vendors to sign to end the contract with the other guy.
Then the agent called this guy to let him know what was happening and he hit the roof, threatening legal action including a caveat on the place. He apparently did have some legal right to the place.
The end result is that he's had to get bridging finance (to cover him until the place he's selling – to buy this place – settles), which was what he was hoping to avoid by moving the settlement date yet again on these poor, long suffering vendors.
We plan to lodge a formal complaint about all this, though don't have much faith in it achieving anything.
I stick with my original advice – DO NOT sign a contract and just let the agent walk out the door with it while telling you "I'll fax you a copy once they vendors counter sign. I'm just on my way to see them now.' In our case, he was blatantly lying and we were just pawns to get the first guy to commit.My guess is that this scenario is happening all the time and consumer watchdogs should be alerting people to it.
Still angry, but we are moving on now. Not an easy one to get over losing though as it was a rare opportunity that we missed through misleading, unethical and unfair treatment.
cheers,
CarlinHi Everyone,
I appreciate your responses. Yes, we will fax a letter to rescind the contract.
The two things that really irk us are – 1 – we were never given the chance to counter offer and – 2 – since emailing I have spoken directly with the vendors who told me they were put off our contract by one of our conditions. This fact was never relayed to us. Had we known, we would have withdrawn that condition.
The agent says we were just pipped at the post. We say we were never given a fighting chance.
Thanks again for your support and advice. I am still hurting from this because it would have mean a lifestyle change for us that we've been dreaming of for some time. And, no Marc, this not an auction.
regards,
CarlinHi Scott lotsa mates – Thanks for all that info. The house is being let with the shop. Yes, have had estimates from local property managers of expected weekly rent return. I have a copy of SA's RTA.
By "4-5% of the gross" do you mean 4-5% of the gross rental income?
I will have to check where the bond needs to be lodged.
I agree it would be better to have it professionally managed for the first year if I can find the right person.
What does MRR stand for?
Currently ploughing through "How investing in commercial real estate really works" (Roth and Lang) – a steep learning curve indeed!
thanks again, and Happy New Year!
Carlin
