[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 9, 2004 - 1:19 pm

Cheers everybody []
I don’t think the property managers could do much if I changed the locks.. 5 of the units in this block were broken into a couple of months ago (my brother staying at my place so I was lucky!). The strata changed the locks on those 5 properties to deadlocks, mine’s still a crappy lock which would be more suited to a bedroom or bathroom (keyhole on outside, switch type latch on the inside). They’re really weak.. I’m going to call fair trading tomorrow and see what I can do about the locksmith fees.. []

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 9, 2004 - 12:23 pm

If it’s a newly bought property, maybe you can negotiate with the agents that handled the sale. The agents that sold me my property in Glenelg North in SA also had a property management branch so I negotiated almost 2% off the property management fees. I’m a bit weary of paying 5% or lower because ‘you get what you pay for’ in most cases. When you look at the big picture 1% or 2% in fees doesn’t work out to a lot of money in most cases. Also, finding a PM whose office is close to your IP would be a good idea too. It’ll make visits for inspections/emergencies which may arise a lot easier.

Cheers

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 8, 2004 - 10:54 am

Originally posted by Need2Succeed:

Their charges seem a little high (7-8%) or is it me ?

I believe 7-8% is the going rate in most states. A good PM is hard to find, unfortunately I don’t know of any that I can recommend in that area. Goodluck in your search []

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 8, 2004 - 10:13 am

Take my significant other out to dinner again to make up for all the stress we’ve been through the past 2 months while purchasing my latest investment property.. lol.

Seriously though, I’d probably whack it into my first loan repayment for this property. Maybe in 3 months I’d have a better idea on how to invest it.. but at the moment ‘settling’ into the new mortgage repayments is my main priority.

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 8, 2004 - 10:08 am

Hi guys!
My girlfriend and I are interested in attending one of these info/catch up evenings. We’re quite young (22 and 24) but we’re eager to learn.. is there another one planned for the near future?

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 8, 2004 - 7:24 am

Ahh sorry! I should have made it clearer. I was aware that they were trying to sell the property, but I wasn’t aware that the agent had my keys as they always have to call me to arrange inspections. This is what boggled me [8]

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 8, 2004 - 7:05 am

Thanks for the replies everybody! Heaps of useful info there There’s another twist to the story! I just spoke to the owner and he advised me that the property manager handed over their set of keys to another AGENT who are trying to sell this property!! [!] This is a worry for me as I have quite a lot of things in my house Is there anything I can do about this? I’m not too familiar with the legalities of this.. thanks again for all the help everybody.

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 6, 2004 - 7:41 am

hehe I know what you mean.. my place is full of electronics gear so I thought that’s what the thieves would go for first.. I was wrong I have a feeling it was one of the people who came to look @ a computer I advertised in the paper.. [!] Ahh well, the place settled today!! I got the same agent to manage the property too and they’ve already found a tenant [] I guess there was a bright side to this after all. [^]

[NEWGENParticipant@newgenJoin Date: 2004Post Count: 151]

February 5, 2004 - 2:06 pm

Thanks so much for the replies everybody. Yes, the $5,300 was stolen from my unit.. I had it inside my sunglass case in my bedside draw. Unfortunately I don’t have home/contents insurance, the funny thing is I had pamphlets from the CBA and was ready to sign up for their home and contents insurance plan this week (I have my mortgage and every bank account I have with them too).
I’m not too familiar with how home loans work etc so it got the better of me this time I found out on Tuesday from my land broker that I had to pay just under a thousand dollars in interest on the deposit [8] So that made things a bit worse. I spoke to my mortage broker to arrange the finance and was going to defer settlement til the 20th but then I found out that I’d be charged another $1200 or so in interest on the deposit which would put me into more debt and more strife. I’ve done what I didn’t want to do and asked my parents for help [] I wanted this to be something I did on my own to show them that I was getting somewhere and that I was responsible.. oh well [] I’ve decided to sell my car to re-pay the loan and use public transport more often now! I’ve gone through so many emotions in the past two months, ranging from happy and excited, to stressed and depressed.. but I’m happy to say that with the loan I got from my parents the property will be settling tomorrow! [^] Thanks guys!