Ok,

So a another friend is buying too…. how many properties do they hold? Are they seeing value because they are knowledgeable or are they new to investing like yourself?

You asked a lot about whether you should get in due to family, you haven't told us the most important part – WHAT IS THE INCOME? (not shouting, just making a point).

I would…[Read more]

I agree with the above points……

And I'd add a few more,

What has the growth been like in the area over the last couple of years? What major infrastructure is going in? What has changed in the area to make apartments happen? What is the likelihood of this project going ahead? Who has offered you the project, how do you know them? What is the…[Read more]

Bad!

See how your solicitor goes, if you can get out with minimal outlay I would.

If you are stuck – maybe explore the option of negotiating some sort of joint ownership with the neighbor (bring wine and maybe cake) so that you have no issue with being kicked out of the access agreement. Maybe some cold hard cash will help them decide that you…[Read more]

Hi JP,

There are two huge threads with book lists, just run a search on 'book list' and you should find them.

I would say that based on suggestions on the site there are 100's of great books to read!

Cheers

D

Hey bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone! lol@JacM

And this forum is full of great people, that's why we all hang out here

D

Aww Cmon man!

You're beating me! And btw good luck, JacM (illions) will beat us all!

D

Hi Richard,

Terry is right, go get some specialized advice (pay for it). If you are planning to develop and keep developing, you may need to register for GST, what if you do decide to retain some, you may need a different entity to hold those.. the list goes on.

Good luck, pay for some advice that is particular to your situation.

Cheers

D

Hi there Mr LasVegas,

Firstly, your assumption that new units will bring down the value of your property is pretty much unfounded, they'd have to stop all development if this was the case.

Once development first starts happening in an area the prices of other existing properties often starts to head upwards. Even if your land is not zoned for…[Read more]

Hi Clint, (and Bardon)

If you do have to sell, maybe auction it and pass it in, to negotiate after. We did this (not in the current market) and it worked well. The highest bid at auction was about $50k less than we got in the week after. One we put up for auction, it never got to auction it sold previous as the buyer didn't like auctions, and…[Read more]

Hi Alfrescodining,

I've even done it on a $200k house just to get a point of difference in an area. It's huge OS especially in USA but their version of staging is that the furniture is sold with the property, whereas here it's just for display.

Well worth it

D

Lol Cheers JacM!

If I could be everywhere at once……

D

Hi Ben

From experience definitely worth it. If you have more than one unit you can move the furniture from one to the next and so on. Probably cost $5k-$10k (depending on standard of finish) upwards to buy all the items, or you can hire furniture etc. Well worth it you will see a better sale price and generally a quicker sale.

Cheers

D

This is what Due Diligence is all about.

If you do your own research and you make sure the property suits your investing needs, then that's the end of it.

Good luck with it all Zahn

Cheers

D

Brilliant! Nice lol to end the day on!

There is also this thread https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/community/heads-up/4344788

and this one https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/general-property/4334320

I'm trying to keep track of the blog threads and book threads in each post, they get lost over time

Cheers

D

http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/south-australia/bhp-s-scrapping-the-olympic-dam-mine-expansion-won-t-affect-sa-property-investors-much-terry-ryder/2012082256193?utm_source=Property+Observer+List&utm_campaign=97e63e3f7e-August_23_20124_10_2012&utm_medium=email

Interesting, but unfortunate for the area.

Cheers

D

Great posts here,

and thanks Steve, your website and your books have been a huge help to me in my investing airplane!

Cheers

Hi,

How many tenants do you have? I'd put them all on separate rental agreement if they are unrelated parties means more paper, but if there is a drama you (and they) know where you stand.

If you have to take anything to court later such as damage, unpaid rent, you may have issues if they are not named on the lease.  Also this negates the…[Read more]

Must have been typing at the same time Shahin!

I found my architect has always kept the construction cost at the back of his mind when designing. They make sure there is no wasted space. Just what I have found in the past.

Cheers

D

Hi Alfrescodining,

While it's important to be a cheap as possible just make sure you are still working with what the end buyer expects.

Building single level is generally cheaper, however you maybe still want to do double storey, if the return is worth it. Think about how many bathrooms etc and how big the actual buildings need to be. If the…[Read more]

Look some of them are 70 – 80 years old but funnily enough they can still be applied today. Think and grow rich was written in 1937 and I still learned a lot.

I haven't seen to many new titles of anything being published unfortunately as ebooks haven't taken off yet, yet paper books are not being printed.

I've also just got my hands on The…[Read more]