These figures are a concern to me;Traditionally, Banks wouldn't let you borrow more money than was going to use more than 30% of your nett income. Now they have gone a little higher with standard loans – 35% in most cases; and that was for ALL loans (car etc).This means they don't believe you can live a decent lifestyle if more of your wages are…[Read more]

I don't think you should ever compare Sydney to Melb or Brissy. I know it's done all the time, but I'm not going to invest in Melb because someone says Sydney is more expensive and vice versa. I will look at it on an absolutely local level.Totally different locations.As we all know, real estate functions both on a macro level and a minor level.Is…[Read more]

yes, his response might have been appropriate, but the spirit and the wording of the response has some history.he could have worded it in a manner such as yours; but didn't.Good post by the way.

 As usual crashy; a compassionate response (not). Good of you to 'help'. A few questions come to mind Rowester, and please forgive me if I am asking questions that you have already answered for yourself, but I want to make sure you have considered all the numbers.1. Have you allowed for 6% for purchase costs.2. Have you allowed for up to 20% of…[Read more]

Me,that's exactly the attitude that so many  tradies display that many people are referring to in this thread, and recently in others.Very disappointing, and just confirms the perception.The preception is that tradies are generally;Arrogant,Aggressive,Have a "fu*k you'" mentality (chip on the shoulder),Unreliable,Crooks who will scam you if g…[Read more]

First thing; have you actually seen a property that you can buy for $200k that rents for $300 p/w, or are you assuming you can buy one with those rent returns. It is rather difficult to find one with that good a return at the moment; especially in areas that have any hope of cap growth in the near future.Ok; now to the other figures;Allow approx…[Read more]

My 2c;In the USA all everyone talks about is going to college (uni), it a badge that everyone wears. Total wanking. It's like which car do you drive. The pressure here is immense to do College, and to drop out is considered failure.So, people who are tradies are therefore anyone who didn't go to uni, hence the stigma about tradies and lower IQ's…[Read more]

You may need to be more creative to find a better return; especially in larger towns and cities – buy something that is run down a bit, do a basic reno and improve the rent return that way.This requires knowing the rents for the selected property in that area and so you can quickly see whether there is room for rent increases after renos.Try to…[Read more]

That's a 5.2% return approx.Some people call that a good return. It isn't.The more you borrow, the more neg cashflow you will have, so if you can absolutely guarantee at least a 10% cap growth per year to offset the horrible neg cashflow, then it might be an allright investment.

Assuming you are still very young from your post, to sell the second I.P and leave you debt free would be a fantastic result for your age. There may be cap gains tax to pay, but even so; well done.You can then use the equity in your PPoR for more investments, and the interest on those loans will be tax deductible.Of course, in the long run it…[Read more]

Badgers,Why would we give you advice out of self interest? We are not developers trying to flog over-priced properties. There are some here who have websites and products to sell, and advertise the site on their signature, but no-one directly tries to sell anything; simply we are here to offer advice, have a chat with like-minded people who are…[Read more]

Take the average of all 3

The area of a circle from memory is;A= pi x R squared or; area equals pi x radius squared.Then, multiply this by the depth of the cylinder to get the volume –  I think.It's been a hundred years since I was in school.

Don't you love it?I am always amazed to see that successful people are positive and focus on what they want to have happen.Expect the best, but prepare for the worst.

There are still a number of places around where you can buy 'off the shelf' pos cashflow properties, but do lots of really thorough due diligence on the area; especially the local economy and the population flow (Central Victoria with the drought comes to mind – dying).You may find that the cap growth is minimal, so you would need an awful lot of…[Read more]

I agree Hallg,and another thing; people need to live somewhere. So while there is a basic demand for housing from a necessity standpoint by average people, for the average house, in the average street, housing will never go down in value by much (if at all).The biggest fluctuations in house prices seems to be after an hysterical buying spree/boom…[Read more]

Very interesting point raised there Jon;I agree with you that there are more buyers at the bottom end than there are at the top, so it is more likely that a lower end property will have more interest, and probably a quicker sale than something more expensive. This is also an important thing to consider when selecting properties for investment; the…[Read more]

PPoR – Principle Place of Residence (your home that you live in).Is not liable for any cap gains tax if you sell it, unless you use it as an Investment Property (I.P) for longer than 6 years before you sell. After 6 years as an I.P it then becomes liable for cap gains tax (CGT) but is pro-rated; you only pay CGT on the amount of years as an I.P…[Read more]

First, establish your budget, your investment strategy (buy and hold, wrap etc), whether you want cap gain or cashflow, or both.Then, start studying investing, read lots of books, read this forum and the Jan Somers one, study real estate markets to get  feel for jargon, prices, trends in an area, values.I want to get all the factors maximised in e…[Read more]

If it is a rental property, and you have around $5k to spend (or even less) you can get a perfectly ok brand-new kitchen from IKEA or Bunnings.It is a deprecaible item and they look great, and are very customised.