Norlane – originally back in the 60s and 70s was a housing commission suburb but since then many home owners/investors bought out the housing commission houses and have cleaned up the suburb mostly. There are still bad areas in Norlane though.

I’d rather put my…[Read more]

We cater mostly to non-students/working singles. Some of these people can’t budget and love that one single payment a week pays for everything – rent and utilities and they only have to pay for their food.

One idea for student accom would be to include cable internet as part of…[Read more]

You don’t necessarily have to charge a higher interest rate for the risk. They charged slightly less than the banks AAPR for a business loan but was able to sell at full price. A slightly higher interest rate may mean that the buyers will try to discount the price.

Just a thought…[Read more]

Would you be renting this out on a room by room basis or a student holding the tenancy agreement? If on a room by room basis you may need to increase the rent to cover utilities.

One option to make it more appealing is to add cable internet to each room. Set it up on a unlimited download plan and include that price…[Read more]

Ideas such as vendor financing. I could see this being of value to say retirees who are worried that taking a large lump sum now may affect the assets test for their pension. So these people may be amenable…[Read more]

When should you be charged with insider trading. I mean are you charged with it if you got a hot tip and invested in a company and lost money?

If someone from inside a company rings a mate that’s a…[Read more]

Maggie – yes that property was a Frankston North property.

Every time there’s negative press about Frankston North I cheer. Less competition for houses []

The last property we bought, in Mar 03, was a 4br concrete ex housing commission home for $165k that we have rented out for $450 per week.

I think in Frankston who your managing agent is important as they can handle problems quickly and…[Read more]

Probably the top quartile price of properties will fall by 30%+. The bottom quartile will probably plateau or gain…[Read more]

They are called Strata Storage Investments and their website is http://www.stratastorage.com.au

They have the numbers including for analysing the deal. Interestingly enough the management fees is almost 25% of gross return so the…[Read more]

Just a quick question – Is this your first Investment Property?

Many of the strategies mentioned are if you happen to have a few IPs already and the pressure is off to get the runs on the board.

I sometimes encounter pressure tactics by agents such as putting an offer in immediately but I always state that I have to do my due…[Read more]

They were also saying that when rates hit this level there will be blood in the streets for the housing market as people will be selling due to drawing down equity in this low interest rate…[Read more]

I recently read a property report on Tasmania which was interesting. The gist was that prices in the state cannot be sustained as there is still 8% unemployment and the net migration is from the state to the mainland. The article made some…[Read more]

The uncertainty you have as to whether you are moving or not creates some difficulties. There are some options available.

Option 1 Hold both properties in your own/you and wife’s name. The advantage with that is if you sell your principle place of residence (PPOR) its exempt from CGT and the IP is at 50% CGT. This way one property…[Read more]

I don’t believe that when starting out initially, properties should be bought in a trust as statistics show most people only buy 1 or 2 properties and the fees and time maintaing such structures…[Read more]

I did last years seminar. For $2195 you can take a friend and also it is a tax deduction.

If $1100 is written off in tax then really the seminar only costs $550 per person.

The next deal that I did after the seminar using what I learnt in the seminar I got 14% yield on a property and its not a wrap. The net cash flow $5500 per year.…[Read more]

Unlisted property trusts – I’m not sure about.

Twice now when dealing with distressed vendors we have had to release the deposit early. Once was so their bank would release the mortgage and the other time was so the vendors wife could get an…[Read more]

Other areas will definitely see a slowdown or stagnation of prices.

I don’t hold to Hillary’s view that a lot of…[Read more]

When I hear you talk, you often state that property investing is a people business. The assumption is that this new book may contain a lot of that wisdom.

People and Property Problems
How I solved 130 problems to financial freedom.
By Steve McKnight
Melbourne’s property king

I put the tag line after the author because I checked my various…[Read more]