"Contrast this (of course) to the baby boomers, who: worked 25 hours a day for 10 years to save a 20% deposit. Once they got a loan, they had to walk 50 miles home from work (through snow) to their new house on the outskirts of town. Once home, they sat around on borrowed milk crates staring at the wall (couldn't afford a TV), and eating…[Read more]

blogs wrote:

L.A Aussie wrote:
. If I have a million tied up in property I can sleep like a baby. Why?Because I know that my properties are totally insured, and they will be there in the morning and still worth what they were last night. I have total control over the investment.

So you think all the people with super in the event of a stock…[Read more]

Nice photo Mike.

Because stock markets crash, and crash massively and suddenly. The market is very high right now, and more than one commentator on the state of the US economy has likened the current conditions to 1929 and 1987.I have a L.O.C at 7.37%, and I am sure there are cheaper. Your figure of 8.07% is not applicable to investing in property; maybe a P&I…[Read more]

O.I.E,The only time I can remember when the Govt caused house prices to be cheaper was when they stopped neg gearing on I.P's as a tax deduction back in the '80's. There was a fairly bad correction of house prices, and as all the investors were off-loading their non-tax deductible neg geared I.P's, there was a massive shortage of rental properties…[Read more]

Yeah, a lot of the reno kings stuff was written during the early '90's boom. They were also high profile during the last boom.They have some great ideas, but remember the types of markets you are dealing with. Adding value in a slump is hard to do, unless you can buy well under market price.

First thing after starting to aquire knowledge (which is a never-ending quest) is to get the finances in order.Start to adopt the mindset of a business owner; run budgets for your personal finances, keep records of expenditure.Banks like to see clients who are in control of their money, have good savings history.Establish what your likely…[Read more]

Good post O.I.E, thanks for that.How many years have you been investing this way for now?Have you ever had a property that didn't perform, i.e it didn't realise any cap growth in the 1-2 years that you hold them before selling? If so, how did it impact your cashflow (assuming it was a neg cashflow)?So, are you a trader, or flipper; or do you do a…[Read more]

DON"T GET ME STARTED!!  oops; you did.I am a Jenman fan also Tarae, have read all his books and read his website info every other day. I have already bought and sold several properties, and was an agent myself for a time. Not everyone likes Neil; he is outspoken and 'takes no prisoners', but someone needs to be doing it, and he has helped many…[Read more]

Hey Chris,A '3 x 2' is a 3 bed, 2 bathroom house.Another good indicator to look at is a '2 x 1'. For me this means a unit, for some it is a 2 bed, 1 bathroom house, but I don't know of many investors buying  this size house unless there is significant 'add value' potential by way of reno or subdivision.For new investors with limited funds, a 2 x 1…[Read more]

kenzel wrote:
Must be built after 1987 (preferrably 5-15 years old), to maximise Tax Returns and cashflow from "on-paper" deductions.Thanks LA Aussie! I did some research and just found that you can actually claim Building Allowance of 2.5% of the construction cost – I never knew that! This property investing jazz is really sucking me in One…[Read more]

Hey Chris,You can either do a lot of driving, or a lot of surfing. With the interenet, you can see an area instantly, and get a thumbnail sketch of the state of the market in that area by firstly looking at the selling prices of the type of properties you would like to buy, then looking at the avarage rent returns for that type of property. You…[Read more]

I agree with F about the cheaper property, but not the 100% financing; many people go for the more expensive, and quite often new, luxury townhouses, apartments etc., thinking it will be a better investment. They are not necessarily so.Staying well within your means (especially for the first one will quite often be just as good an investment; you…[Read more]

Good plan kenzel,Not a lot of people have done what you are planning to do; especially at your age. It's a bit outside the box for many; you will join the 5% and not the 95% if you take action. After you move out of the new property you buy and put in tenants, you will be able to continue renting it for up to 6 years before becoming liable for Cap…[Read more]

DraconisV wrote:
Marc, you have summed it up great there.But i'm a bit confused about this one;

L.A Aussie wrote:
5. Rent return at least 1% higher than current interest rates for better cashflow.

So, what I get from this is that you want a rental yield(return??) 1% better than interest rates. Ok, so say interest rates were 7.5%, you would…[Read more]

To decide where to start; start with what you want to get out of it.Do you want good cashflow, or are you happy to go neg geared and hope for cap growth?Your decision determines what you look for.If you want cashflow, then you must look at things like rent return, outgoings on the property, depreciation for tax returns BEFORE cap growth prospects.…[Read more]

This scenario sounds similar to that of a parcel of shares in the stock market that don't return a great deal of dividend, but keep going up in value. You know there will be a correction at some point in the future, but how long do you hold on while the price keeps going up?I like Warren Buffet's quote: "I made a fortune out of buying too late…[Read more]

Thanks for that Jon, but the sort of thing I was hoping for was the selection process and steps that client of yours used. He obviously has a good plan and sticks to it and has become very successful.His shortfall is quite big; any idea how he funds that? For most people that is half their nett wage or maybe even more.

Good comment from Jon regarding condition as per the age of the property, and worth keeping in mind when making offers.We bought one of our past PPoR's with a building inspection done. The house was built in 1926; an authentic, period Californian Bungalow – beautiful. Even had the plate rails and wood panelling down the hallway, but hadn't been…[Read more]

Every time the Govt gets involved in trying to influence the Property Market either of 2 things happen:1. They try to improve affordability and there is a surge of interest and the boom occurs (F.H.O.G).2. They try to stifle the market to improve affordability or curb the investors and a slump occurs (1987 cancellation of neg gearing…[Read more]