[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 26, 2012 - 4:10 am

There's a mob that does it for about 60k – I'll try to remember who they are. The quotes above wouldn't include approvals from council and connection to drains etc I'd imagine.

Is your site suitable for the 10 day approval? Otherwise it can be a bit of a headache.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 23, 2012 - 7:00 am

A number of my highly sought after friends who are fitters have just had their hours drastically reduced / let go in the hunter valley due to lowering demand from China.

They say they have too much coal as is and don't know what to do with it.

Thoughts on property due to lowering demand of resources?

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 18, 2012 - 7:07 am

Where's the 'like' button…

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 13, 2012 - 4:37 am

When you say you put the extra cash into your investment, did you place it into an offset account or pay down the actual mortgage via principal and interest?

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 10, 2012 - 6:40 am

Hey,
Is it not IO already? Yes the idea is to have it set up as IO with an O/S account from the start.

Placing your extra cash in an O/S account functions the same way paying down principal would, and as stated above, reduces your interest repayments in the meantime, leaves you with less hassles when you want to invest in IP#2 etc down the track. (It's easier to pull out, all principal is left as tax deductible debt etc.)

Living off CC and paying them off by DD to maximise funds in O/S is good, not spending the money in the first place is better

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 7, 2012 - 11:10 pm

Ditto – I've spoken with TerryW on that exact matter previously, most clear and helpful advice I have received to date.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 6, 2012 - 12:29 am

Personally not a fan of OTP or Apartments in general, yet my friend who only buys apartments is currently ahead of me in equity growth so there you go.

I have looked at it, and would personally stick to boutique apartments maximum of 10 per unit block, ensure there are no mega complexes being built around the corner driving prices way down as is the case in Lane Cove/North Sydney, and close to transport, with a garage. Also no pools, elevators, gyms etc, as it usually means high strata.

If it's in a busy area, it is possible to rent the parking space and apartment seperately for an increase in income.
Out west in Sydney apartments are providing great returns for really low entry price, actually have watched them go up in value by 10-20k (10%) in a very short period of time.

As for OTP, would work I suppose in a growing market, tho I prefer to buy into a 'known' market as opposed to speculating personally.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 5, 2012 - 1:43 am

I think the states in either Think and Grow Rich or The Millionaire Next Door was, every billionaire goes bankrupt on average 3.1 times.

I think we've all made 'horrible mistakes' financial and personal, what I find to be the dividing line between those that succeed and those who don't is their attitude and perseverance. I meet so many people that are burnt once and rain hail and thunder on those who try it after them.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

July 2, 2012 - 10:39 pm

My parents have just come back from China yesterday, and after hearing what they had to say (I was in China earlier in the year and was seeing the same thing to a lesser extent), I would have to (for once ) agree with the Freckle. China's economy has slipped significantly, not that we didn't see this coming i'm sure, since if everyone's broke, who's buying.

I still don't believe it's a big deal if the economy goes backwards, as stated before, if you sell in a bad economy your buying in a bad economy, so no problems unless  your leveraged to the teeth, if house prices go down, so will interest rates, and I doubt rents will budge with everyone trying to buy out. So better cashflow all around…

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 27, 2012 - 3:11 am

b.free2live wrote:

Hi MACQ

If it was my name I would post, hopefully somebody will tell me how to PM?

Click on the persons name eg. where it says b.free2live [41 posts] right above your comment.
Takes you to members profile, should then show in bold SEND PRIVATE MESSAGE.

If you don't see that, then you have to activate it, and that my friend, I do not know, I guess check your settings.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 24, 2012 - 11:05 pm

renel wrote:

Does anyone else agree with wren10 { unless the rental return (pw) is equal to the purchase price (minus the zeros) }?
That would be 5.2% gross. Is that a good figure to aim for? What about net %?

I'd say that's any standard run of the mill property. Your aim if possible is more than that. Steve Mcknight says to aim for 10.2%. My own target is not shy from that mark.

Just starting myself, yet personally I look for 7% from first looks, then will negotiate/get creative to see how I can increase it to at least 9%, otherwise I have no interest. I'm sure others on this forum would not even look twice at that sort of return and aim for much higher.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 24, 2012 - 10:59 pm

Scott No Mates wrote:

You will need to determine if this is the Board's sewer or your drainage. There should be few issues if it is your service. what does sewer diagram indicate? Where is your boundary trap?

Hey, have the same issue.

If it is my drainage and not the boards, and runs directly down the middle of the backyard front to back. Will I need to concrete encase it? Doesn't look like there will an impact from the zone of influence, however it runs directly underneath the building itself.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 21, 2012 - 5:16 am

Click around on that site…
http://home.id.com.au/id-community/public-resources

Tho the information is yet to include the 2011 census data.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 20, 2012 - 6:17 am

Matthew_W wrote:

NHG wrote:

First property, I felt I was being rude offering such a 'low' price. My dad who always has an opinion told me off for not negotionating hard enough.

Fast forward 6 months, purchased property number 2. This time dad was uncomfortable as I was putting in 'low ball' offers. I stuck to what I felt was the right price for me in order for said property to meet my cash-flow criteria, amusingly all offers have come back with a yes (some 2-3 months later). I took the one that I felt was a great buy.

Lesson learnt, now working on improving research and negotiating skills.

I don't really want to go OT, but just a quick question in regards to offers/negotiating:

Say the agent is asking $140k-$150k for the property – you know it's a bargain already. However, you offer $110k-$120k to try and get it that extra bit cheaper for your returns, yet someone else offers $135k. Even though you expressed interest, but your offer is lower, would they come back to you, or take the $135k offer?

I can't recall who told me this, yet I felt it was a valid point…

If it's a good buy already, and it meets all your criteria, why loose it over 5-10k. I haven't had the most experience, tho I feel I would I would only negotiate further if there were multiple offers on the table which met my criteria.

I saw a place and put an offer in 20 mins later, about 8% lower asking price, as I felt that even at asking price it was a great buy, and I had a nagging feeling the vendor had a reason to sell cheap (I was right). A month later a friend placed an offer on a house a street away and lowballed by 10k, he missed out on what would have been a great purchase already.

Spend a good deal of time getting to know an area, and you will quickly assess what property stock is worth.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 19, 2012 - 5:32 am

Wow,

Great effort. I purchased my first place when I was 17, however didn't have a clue why or what next till I was 23 :p

Have a plan, read lots of investment books, learn to live frugaly and network network network. Learn from those that have walked the path before you, your only limited by what you see possible.

Remember some of the best lessons learnt come from mistakes, doesn't mean they have to be your mistakes, starting so early means you'll be full of wisdom by the time you get started in the near future.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 19, 2012 - 12:01 am

Hey Emma,

Would you be able to email that to me? I'll send you a PM.

Thanks

NHG

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 14, 2012 - 12:15 am

As sad as it sounds, I undertook most of my overseas flights, purchased a couple of new ‘used’ cars and saved more during the 2008 recession than any year prior.

Made a little bit of spending money on the stock market too, never seen so much movement in a day before.

You can pick things up very cheap when everyone yells out doom and gloom.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 7, 2012 - 6:23 am

PISTORE wrote:

In summary, do what your parents did and you'll end up like them.

Haha,

Tried explaining that concept to my dad, he was understandably very upset.

He struggled to understand why I talked to my accountant for accounting advice, the lawyer for legal advice and the friend who owns 50+ properties for property investing advice instead of asking him.

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 7, 2012 - 12:34 am

Kristin Simondson PBRE wrote:

Australia Post (<<was shocked that this one worked).

Would love to hear updates from time to time how it's working for you.

How'd you manage that?

[NHGMember@nhgJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 198]

June 7, 2012 - 12:32 am

Terryw wrote:

Wow, have you added up all the savings???

Hey Terry,

Sadly battling to break even on the first purchase 6 months back, I had a lot of unknowns that keep blowing out, so everytime I save I spend. Eg. Found a 2 bedroom granny flat for $28k, then realised I needed to purchase an easement of council, negotiated down easment, found out I need to double-handle the placement of granny flat cause builder stuffed up, etc. Lessons learnt, second one is going much much smoother.

Speaking of engagement rings:
http://www.goldenet.com.au/
I think that's the site… my money sauvy colleague sitting to my left found it last year. They have a store in Melbourne. Super cheap compared to anywhere else.