Mark,
Reading mini’s latest post, does it make you change your mind about anything? Perhaps admitting that what you thought couldn’t be done, in fact, can be? And it is possible to do things to increase the rent, like add air conditioning etc… plenty of people have done it, as I’ve done myself.
cheers
rMini,
What a great read. I agree with every word and would have liked to say it myself but I didn’t want the writer’s cramp you must have. Who is Phil Jones??Spider
Pay now play later
I just saw the photos Mini sent me- Mini- you’ve made the properties very beautiful, I have to say. Those beautiful floorboards etc- why don’t they still make floorboards in houses? They are sooo beautiful!
Marc, Mini bought houses which were, at the beginning, untenantable. With 10k for renovations, she’s fixed the places up and made them eminently tenantable. Sure, these places didn’t have structural problems (restumping etc) but they did have major “cosmetic” problems (holes in walls, rusty baths, dysfunctional fireplae etc). So Mini did them up and fixed *all* of these things- putting in a new fireplace is going to make a house tenantable!
ini- I am wondering though- do you feel the places were undervalued when you bought them? Did you feel ok about giving the vendors such a low amount when you could see the potentional in the places? (I know that it’s been hard work for you and the tradesman etc- but if you thought the places were worth a lot more, did it bother you to give the vendor a lot less?)
kay henry
Hi Kay
I know where you’re coming from… but if you find a place where the vendor is more than willing to take 100k, but you think it’s worth 120k, would you insist they take 20k more? If so, why?
Cheers
rrichmond,
I’ve said this elsewhere, and i know some people feel quite a rage when I discuss ethics, but, here is my situation, and I’m answering it because I was asked it.
I don’t deal with people who don’t know what their property is worth. I don’t “hard bagain’ with vendors at a disadvantage. I don’t look for people in trouble- debt, drought, divorce, “dumb” etc… and yes, I do try to give a vendor what their house is worth- if I can’t afford that, then I look elsewhere.
If some old dude who hadn’t left his house for years and didn’t know what his house was worth was asking some really sad small amount, then I think it would be my duty to give him what his house was *worth* (as opposed to what he was asking) or not deal with him at all- because I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I bought his house at such an undervalued price. I wouldn’t see that giving him extra money is some kind of weird thing to do- it’s just moving his bargaining power up to that of what other people might have- no big deal.
Now, folks… these are *my* ideas- and I know they might not relate to anyone else’s practices… but if I am asked a questoin, i’ll answer it. So please keep your vitriole to a minimum if you feel compelled to slag me off over this.
kay henry
I don’t understand why people get in a rage over ethics… I would have thought it’s a good thing to do… believe it or not, some of us in the media even try to operate ethically… really, we do. I reckon if you say “I’ve got principles I operate by” and you actually stick to them, good on you for doing so. Doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what works for me when I’m buying property, but big deal. Personally, I’d rather try and bargain a bit (because there’s not really THAT many dumb people out there) and keep some cash in my pocket for my wife and kids to enjoy.
Nothing you said deserves slagging off, Kay… it’s the old different strokes for different folks scenario, that’s what makes life interesting I would have thought. Hey, I only just noticed I’ve passed 500 posts. yay for me. [
]cheers
rCongratulations richmond!! 500 posts of your good info for all of us to read! Here’s a party hat for you to wear. [:o)]
kay henry
sorry mini i cant debate you on this one. when i wrote lucky – i didnt mean you were lucky when you found them i just mean that im not sure there are still heaps of 20 pct + properties around even in nz anymore. talk of a housing bubble there also in the news! i could be wrong though!
anyway i thought i was sticking up for all you/me +ve cashflow guys!!!
My whole original argument which you have ignored all the way through is that an investor starting out now would have trouble, not someone like me or you who has had a win or two, but even then you are suppporting a theory which you haven`t even tried.
I never meant to upset you but the heehee etc made me a little annoyed.
You sounded arrogant, there are other ways in which to make IP`s work with good success.
The comment about expert/beginner is plain jibberish.
Why are you now worried about my spelling?, I mean I am a high school dropout who cares, I spell purrrrty good generally.
It is unusual for me to be the negative in the argument regarding IP`s, this is far from my general stance.
Regarding the shed I never said it could not be done I think I inferred that it would not be common that you could make this kind of rental gain from some simple improvement, most tenants live week to week and can have a rough time paying rent on time as it is.
You make it all sound so easy even in the current market for a beginning investor, and that is dangerous info to give imo.
As far as being a landlord, yes I am a landlord but I don`t see that as my be all and end all, if my tenants have problems…fine I buy houses to renovate at present generally a yr or so after I buy.
Who said I was not finding deals?, I am.
I just don`t follow any get rich quick formulas and don`t believe there is a certain way to riches through real estate or that just ANYONE and everyone can be financially free via R/E.
I`m just wondering what the fallout will be in the next few yrs having so many PI`s, is the time approaching where there will be a period of many untenanted properties out there forcing the vast majority into large losses?, maybe interest rates will rise way beyond what we perceive to be “high” by reasonable standards.Originally posted by richmond:Mark,
Reading mini’s latest post, does it make you change your mind about anything? Perhaps admitting that what you thought couldn’t be done, in fact, can be? And it is possible to do things to increase the rent, like add air conditioning etc… plenty of people have done it, as I’ve done myself.
cheers
rYes you can do this of course, but to depend on this to make a property more CF+ would not be a good strategy imo and if you had a hundred houses you may do it with ten, but rents can drop and no matter what research you do some places could be untenanted for long periods which is fine if you have equity/money in reserve. It all sounds great on paper but in reality it could put many in trouble to follow this plan imo.
I have quite a lot of investing experience 15-20 yrs and I`ve had success with everything I ever bought in PI but I would not be terribly confident that this plan would work in reality, but probably more so it`s not really what I want to be doing for a living.
Renovating complete bombs is my thing, by that I mean actually doing 80% of the work.[:o)]Markpatrick, you said on somersoft you’ve been investing for 10 years… now it’s 15-20… what’s the go? Not having a crack at you, just curious.
cheers
rIm 38, and bought my first place in early 20`s, but did take a fair break from it, so in fairness probably ten yrs.
I`ve studied the property market, countless books etc since the beginning but in all honesty really seriously seeking financial independance (didn`t believe I could really do it) for probably only 5 years.[]
Reminds me of one of the first books I ever read regarding success/investing etc, when around 14 yrs old (my dad gave me it), Napoleon Hill the author talking about how long he researched Think and Grow Rich, can`t remember exactly but it was a long, long time, maybe 20 yrs, it may have been double that, in the making lol.
I`m sure he did ponder for many years how the rich and successful got that way but I seriously doubt he set out to write and intensely research the book that long ago.[][]
On a bit of a tangent, something about this book annoyed the heck out of me, it took me many years to figure it out, finally I realised the whole basis of the book was repeated affirmation of orders to the brain, and after he had gone to great lengths to explain how very little is known about the human brain!, meanwhile he was one of the richest men in America primarily from a book where the results totally depend on a central theme he freely admits to not having the foggiest idea about, go figure!.[]wHAT AREAS IN NSW would you find cash flow +ve properties???
hehe bubbles
kay henry
iam currently looking at some properties in between rockhamptom and townsville.
but like you said, looking on the net is one thing and actually inspecting the property 1st hand is another.
ive almost given up looking through the net, i am looking to fly up and spend a week.
cheers,
ozMini I`m very positive with R/E and merely took a negative break[
], but do you believe it`s possible for anyone to lose in R/E?.
Are you the least bit concerned about the greater divide between the rich and poor?.
Do you see how if too many investors bought investment properties it could become a problem and that maybe the lucky few will survive but the vast majority of these investors could have serious problems.
Saying R/E investment and financial freedom is easy is comparable to saying relationships are.
I do believe in being positive in life but just because it`s all gone rosy for you doesn`t mean it will for others, you have an answer for everything, life ain`t like that and neither is R/E and the fact is right now is not a good time for the majority/inexperienced to be getting excited about being financially free in R/E.
You said I ducked a question but then go on to admit it can`t now be done in Aussie, maybe NZ…then where?. You are recommending that inexperienced investors buy overseas?.[][][V]Mini,
Im new to this forum – i was glued to this thread last night. Your comments were inspirational. I thought id come back today and print them off for future reference only to find you have deleted them??
Do you still have a copy?
Bed.
Pisces’ “Housing market” – does that include interest rates?
The impact of the potential for interest rate hikes in the short to medium term on the attractiveness of currently CF+ properties has not been discussed as yet.
I wonder if most CF+ investors have taken out interest only loans…
I am thinking that there may be a strange element of irony in this here strand, as an article I read last year about the rise in property prices in Australia (I think it was a SMH article on property investment statistics, can’t remember, sorry) indicated that property investers heavily influenced recent price hikes due to their presence in the market.
Now here are property investors trying to understand how changing market conditions will affect them when perhaps the changes are actually being created by the same people.
I am probably generalising a bit too much but then again why have all these rural properties increased in price so much recently, as contributors seem to be saying?
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