Don't know any estate agents – but maybe you could also take a look at the corporate rentals sector.  Not sure how you'd go about this other than through estate agents – it is a bit tricky to expect to march into big corporates and ask if they fancy renting your flat from you such that their business people can use it when necessary.

These links should be usefulhttp://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=calc&jar=StampDutyhttp://www.ownyourfirsthome.com.au/Do-your-financial-homework

5) Page 1 of the following document says of the First Home Owner Grant: "The grant applies to residential dwellings only and does not apply to vacant land."  http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/lib/doc/factsheets/fs_fhb1.pdf  Have a read of the "First Home Plus" scheme on page 2 which talk about alternative assistance you can get for vacant land.  Basical…[Read more]

If you  are going to live in one and rent the other for a while, keep in mind you might find it painful observing your tenants each day.  They might not treat the property as you would like, and you'll have to see it happening each day   Just get in the right mindset in advance if following this path.

Just to state the obvious – the presence of a caravan at the rear of a property can give it a "poor" feel, and this could influence the quality of individual that stays at the boarding house. 

Start here; http://www.myrp.com.au and click on BUY.  There are free reports there that can give you a bit of a start.

Firstly, speak to your own accountant about your own situation.My understanding is that once you are outside of Oz for 6mths or more, your income earned overseas is not touched (if there is a suitable tax agreement in place with Canada).  The investment property income will be taxed in Australia at 30c in every dollar.  You cannot rescue your c…[Read more]

re my above comment, you might as well ask about vacancy rates in the area as well, then you can consider  the properties from the perspective of build and sell, and also build and rent

Sounds like you plan to sink a fair bit of money into this one basket – I'd suggest talking to several estate agents to get an understanding of how long properties are taking to sell in the area (on average), and how many have remained on the books for ages…

Hi Brad, I am interested to hear your thoughts on townhouses and units (villas) as opposed to apartments…

Ah sorry I misunderstood.  Rereading, it does indicate that you meant you wanted to sell a few of them.Seriously tho – why sell them?  Why not try a few different things towards renting them?

Also refer to bradhorton's suggestion of advertising "free rent" (1 week free rent) as per here;https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/help-needed/4330013

Are any of the properties within reasonable commutes to a defence base?  If so, maybe you could try and rent directly to the defence force?  The Aussie equivalent is http://www.dha.gov.au .  Are any of them close to universities?  If so, contact the uni housing department.  They might be able to get you a tennant for the next academic year.Have you taken…[Read more]

I cannot speak generically, though I had my PPOR reviewed by an estate agent once, from the perspective of both selling and renting it out.  I recall them nodding and saying something to the effect of "covered outdoor entertainment area, yes, good, like that".In terms of functionality, a patio is useful for sheltering stuff from the rain that you…[Read more]

I can't comment on the Craigieburn area.  What I will say about Point Cook is this:I do not have property there.  I have property down the road in Hoppers Crossing.  Last time I bothered to look at Point Cook as an investment possibility, the roads linking the area to the freeway troubled me.  It looked like a huge bottleneck with more houses bei…[Read more]

try listing on http://www.stayz.com.au

Maybe try renting as a holiday rental while waiting for more permanent tenants?

So don't manage it yourself.  Outsource.  One option is to get a local realestate agent to manage it.  The other is to operate thru the stayz website, hire a local cleaner and put a combination lock on the front door she changes for each new tenant.  Take payments on credit card and people are unlikely to trash the place (since you have their cre…[Read more]

Hi againThose seem like great numbers to me.  I have been taking a look at a model of :IP property price = $250kDeposit = 10% ($25k)Interest only mortgageNomatter how I look at this, it seems to me that I would need to contribute $300 towards the mortgage per month.The exception to this rule is should I be negative gearing against my day job i…[Read more]

Let me get this straight.  You have property worth 500k, and you want to swap it for property worth 400k?  This is a no brainer.  Unless this guys is emotionally attached to the house, he is the winner.I would certainly go for such a deal!