Hi and welcome to the forum!

Advice:

Knowledge + Action = Success

and

There’s no better time than now to get started.

Cheers,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

Legally you are somewhat in no mans territory as you will need a tribunal order to evict the tenants and in the meantime you rely on their good grace to move on.

Indeed, as the lease is technically still continuing, you have no grounds to knock on the door etc. and if you do so then you risk a fine.

Still, what I’d do is to provide the necessary 24 hours notice to inspect the property, and when you do, speak with the tenants direct and offer them cash to move out asap.

As for recovering damages etc. your best angle is through the r/e agency who left you dangling. They shouldn’t have refunded the bond in the first place, so if you want to take it further, go to the r/e agent’s body in SA.

I have a gut feeling though that in this case the outcome will be that this whole experience will be a lesson about the importance of due diligence.

Sorry I don’t have better news. Let me know how you get on.

Bye,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi Pete,

No offense taken.

You make a good and accurate observation in that once a property exceeds a certain price (relative to its yield) then it will become negative cashflow due to the interest cost (on the basis of an 80% loan).

Sure, you could leave a higher deposit (thus lower interest), but that would drop your return.

So, what can we do?

Well, I don’t buy property for growth so I probably wouldn’t buy in the areas where you are looking under a B&H strategy.

However, I may decide to adopt a wrap, lease-option or reno technique (provided the circumstances were right).

Perhaps you could also look at commercial?

Cheers,

Steve McKnight

**********
Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

Let’s not get too carried away here.

Henry Kaye offered a service to a market of hungry buyers who didn’t necessarily stop to wonder how the system worked or it’s key assumptions (i.e. continued capital growth).

In my opinion it was a big game of musical chairs in that it kept going round and round, but when the music stopped there were going to be people without a seat.

Cynically, I know people who would say that the market is pure and those that lost simply had their wealth redirected to those that won.

This seems shallow to me, but I would say that there are lessons about due diligence that every investor should learn.

I believe that the fall of HK’s NII (which has already reinvested itself through various names and a constant stream of employees) marked the end of the cycle by oviding the psychological push for people to become fearful of the potential of flat and falling property prices.

It will be interesting to see how history records th rise and fall of HK. I’m reasonably confident that it won’t be flattering.

Cheers,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

Interesting points made here.

Re: experience, if you were looking for weaknesses then the length of my time in the marketplace is certainly a point open for debate.

Moving sideways a little, two arguments that have come up recently cause me to chuckle.

The first – my success is a function of being lucky in the market. E.g. “if I had of bought when you did then I could have done it too!” In that case you have to ask – why didn’t you?

The second is – your success is because you are an accountant. Er, perhaps, but show me another accountant who has done what I’ve done and I’ll be more inclined to agree.

I may not know much, but what I do know I know well enough to profit from it.

Truth be told, you can always find a reason not to act. In relation to the seminar – it might be too expensive, or it might be too far away, or who knows how many other reasons.

But spend a moment thinking about reasons why you might come and how you might benefit from the information and the experience.

Now, did someone mention chocolate cake? I might go and find me a piece []

Bye,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

I’d have to agree with you fitness.

For me it is a struggle to mention what I do becuase it places me in a context that a lot of people don’t understand.

Sadly, friends have come and gone along the way and will no doubt continue to do so. Having said that, other friends have been there well before it started, so there is something even more special.

In many ways the friends that pass on are as a result of us losing that ‘something in common’, kind of like when high school ends and people move on.

It’s nothing personal, just a change in interests – like when you have kids and some of your friends remain single… you just gravitate to those friends you have that understand the kidilink issues.

As for the posts here about half truths etc. Nonsense. It displays a lack of understanding by not living in the situation. I tell people I meet I’m an accountant – I need to do this to provide a context that people can understand.

It’s not about money… it’s about the way life is.

Cheers,

Steve McKnight

P.S. What is ‘bsdn’?

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

For more information on this virus and a free utility to clean it visit: http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virus.aspx?ID=38102

Bye,

Steve McKnight

**********
Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi Leigh is right…

Bill it is likely that you have my e-mail address stored in one of your e-mail boxes, in a contact list or something similar.

Or alternatively, someone who has your e-mail address also has my e-mail address and the virus added the two together and tried to replicate itself via e-mail that way.

We are very anal in our office about being vigilent with viruses, so rest assured, it did not come to you via an infection at our end.

Cheers,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

Indeed – welcome back, although I share Del’s interest in knowing why you’ve jumped back in given the incidents of late last year.

Still, it doesn’t really matter. Let’s just get on with helping people with their investing with some useful and thought provoking discussion.

Bye,

Steve McKnight

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Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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Hi,

The rule of thumb is higher debt, bigger risk.

Personally, with things as they are at the moment, I don’t think there’s too much risk of interest rates moving beyond 7.5% in the next few years.

I think the article assumes that investors keep gearing levels high (maybe on an I/O basis) – my advice is that if you have a plan for getting into debt, you also need a plan to get out of debt. Nearly all our loans are P&I.

Cheers,

Steve McKnight

**********
Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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