Hi Jase and Flic,Loving your blog! Where did you go to get the door furniture? I am in carlton and am doing up 2 houses at the moment – always on the lookout for a bargain.Chris

I agree with Marc, especially with regard to comparing yourself to others on the forum. I'm in a similar position to you, 2 IPs, not a snowballs hope in hell of paying stretching to a third at the moment, but 2 years ago I had 1 IP and thought I could never stretch to 2. In the meantime have bought a PPOR and a second property. The maths is…[Read more]

Hi Pirate,What did you like about IP#1? What did you learn from buying IP#1? Think about those things and that should put you part way to answering your questions.Also, some people like to diverisfy their property portfolio. While Steve is a big fan of all cash flow positive properties, Margaret Lomas, another well respected property investor…[Read more]

Good point, Marc, that's exactly what I was talking about. Unfortunately in the "hot" areas and there are more and more in Melbourne at the moment, particularly inner city, most houses advertised on internet etc are up for auction. You can find private treaty houses, but again, the 'buffer' depends on the area.  As Michael says, if you are in a…[Read more]

Hi PK, Depends where you are looking and what the property is. Houses around inner Melbourne – Carlton, Fitzroy, Elwood – add at least 10%. For example 2 places in North Carlton last weekend  – one asking 590 plus went for 735, one asking 600plus went for 720. Most people looking at desirable properties are paying at least 10% more than…[Read more]

Hi Devo, A couple of warning points – 1) Often these articles are puff pieces written with pretty heavy input from the real estate agents (I think it's John Castran at Mt Hotham/Dinner plain) 2) You need to be careful with the Dinner Plain/Mt Hotham difference – Dinner plain properties are a bus ride away from the slopes and therefore less…[Read more]