Hi,
The house is being built, admitedly, by a bulk house building company and it works out at $855/sq etre (214 sq metre house).

So there are lots of people agreeing a town house can cost more than double that and I’m not about to disagree. But what is it about town houses that makes them expensive?

In my understanding on a town house it is a…[Read more]

At the moment I have had a great deal of trouble finding anything in Melbourne with a high rental return.

Have a look a bit outside of Melbourne. Around Geelong, Corio maybe or look to the East a bit.

I’m curious to know why you quote $180-$200k for each town house? That sounds like a great deal more than I’d have thought.
I’ve signed a building contract for a large 4 br + study + lounge double garage + quality stainless steel appliances (dishwasher, stove, oven, rangehood, taps and sink) + some basic landscaping and everything I need for…[Read more]

I must say I’ve always been a bit perturbed by the concept of a “drive-by” valuation. I can understand getting a basic ball-park figure for the value of a house through basic observation and similar sales in nearby locations. Unfortunately there could easily be $100,000 difference between a nice facade and a good house.

Would it be possible,…[Read more]

Franked dividends have had the company tax taken out already so you will get a rebate. Unfranked means no tax has been deducted or witheld so you will be taxed at your marginal tax rate (that is the dividends are added to your taxable income directly).
Interest on a loan to buy the shares is a tax deduction. However if you are claiming interest…[Read more]

My two cents:
Always indicate a price.
Always have at least one photo, though you should have at least 3: Kitchen, bathroom, street frontage. If you have a view, include it. When I scan I don’t bother with any ad that doesn’t have these until I’m right at the end of my selection process.
Always include a contact name. If you have a hard name to…[Read more]

Yes men and positive people are two very different things. A positive person is a person who has made their own mind up and decided to be positive, a yes man is someone who follows your opinion despite their own.

I have had to move inter-state to avoid negative nellies and drains on my personal energy. I have intentionally surrounded myself…[Read more]

If you are not satisfied you can use the trade practices act as a bit of a club.

I was sent an invoice for $200 for “major removal fee” as per body corporate rules for the place I moved in to. I looked up the rules and sure enough it said that if you move in or move out of a flat you have to book and pay $200 for administration and…[Read more]

My experiences:
I bought a stack of shares on a margin loan:
“Oh you’ve put all your eggs in one basket, you’ll lose it all”
“I wouldn’t invest in that”

After I made 64%/annum on cash invested:
… (silence)
or “hmmm, my shares are going ok.”

Whenever I mention property:
“I’d keep away from that, it’s at the top it can only go down.” This after…[Read more]

If these other companies can gather the data from government, why not do it as well?

Or buy it from residex then publish it on your own site each week and sell advertising to real estate agents?

Hey, maybe I should keep this to myself and make some money…

Hi,
Like your nick says: nothings impossible. The first step always (not only being the hardest) should be for a plan.

Write it down (actually do it, I mean actually actually do it).
Base your plan on:
You budget (write one down).
Once you know how much you have you can figure out how much you need and what the gap is. Then plan to fill that…[Read more]

I’ve found the only place that offers useful free info is

http://www.allhomes.com.au

It only covers the ACT however. But it provides fairly comprahensive info about each block including past sales data (for the past 10 years), land tax, rates, unimproved value, block plan, block size, nearby amenities and so on.

Great if you want to invest in…[Read more]

6.25% is a good rental return, but mortgages run at 6.5%…

The main problem with these is the value of the unit is based on the value of the lease. That’s the wrong way around in my mind.

I say that because if you didn’t have the university lease, how much could you rent the place for? Generally at a lower value which to me says the lease is…[Read more]

I think my point has been proven by the discussion:

If you’ve got enough clear equity to live off, you’ve either got enough rental income to live off or you could cash in your huge gains and put it in an annuity retirement fund with a diminishing base and live like a king for more than long enough.

Equity cashed in (assuming you’ve held for 12…[Read more]

Rightmove urged sellers and estate agents to drop their prices to help to improve affordability and market conditions

[biggrin]
Yeah the sellers will drop prices to help those who can’t afford them
[biggrin]

That’s one of the funniest and strangely the most left wing solution I’ve heard. How about the government step in and play the sovereign…[Read more]

The biggest problem I have personally with borrowing to live is the psychological effect of carrying possibly millions of dollars in debt. I have lain awake at night worrying about what little debt I have (in comparison to what it would be if I lived off it) even though my income (from all sources) covers it easily with enough to spare for more…[Read more]

I don’t think anyone would be happy trying to squeeze all they did into a 12 hour window.

What can I do in 12 hours to increase value?
1. Mow the lawn, trim the edges (3 hours)
2. Replace a door (2 hours)
3. Re-tile the bathroom (7 hours)

That’s probably about it really. Now if someone asked me to do that while 20 other people were all doing…[Read more]

I think it’s more the case that people are very familiar with and know how to assess cars. We use them every day and know many metrics by which to judge them. There is also little legislation and paperwork involved in buying a car so we feel more “expert”.

What all that means is we can poke and prod and make longer better decisions about cars…[Read more]

I thought it was fairly standard to have a remote control garage door opener and motion activated lights on new props?

Being a long term renter, my preference is for remote garage and lights. I’d easily pay $10 a week more for that. Getting off my motorbike and using a key and physical effort suck too much to not pay extra.

As for a pool……[Read more]

I saw the show and a few things jumped out:
1. The Reno Kings said they would expect this reno would normally take 4 weeks.
2. They used a veritable army of apprentices from the local TAFE.
3. They took over the whole street with trucks everywhere and had to get all the neighbours permission (based on the fact the reno woudl take 12 hours).
4.…[Read more]