All Topics / Help Needed! / Starting out from scratch

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Profile photo of freetodreamfreetodream
    Member
    @freetodream
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 2

    Greetings to everyone in this forum!!

    I’m new to this forum and am very pleased with the content I’ve read so far and feel there’s an abundance of information on this website…

    I’ve decided to stop devoting my time to online car forums and start spending my time online on something more productive between calls during my part-time call centre job… if there’s anyone out there doing call centre work i’m sure they’d know what I mean.

    I’ve been interested in property investing for some time now and have read various books on the topic.

    I’m currently a full-time uni student studying to become a property valuer, and also work part time as you already know..

    Anyway, I was hoping to get any handy words of advice on how to start preparing for buying my first investment property, mind you, i’m not expecting to be in a position to be considered for a mortgage for quite a few years because of the following reasons:

    – I currently only have $150 savings
    – My family and I have no assets to borrow against so I have no guarantors
    – I will only be on a part-time wage until i graduate and secure a job which may take upto a further two years from now.

    My question is: ” is there anything i can I do in the next few years to help increase my chances of being approved for a mortgage for my first property in the future?”

    Any tips from past experiences would be greatly appreciated!!!

    p.s. sorry about the long post.. [blush2]

    Profile photo of SilverghostSilverghost
    Member
    @silverghost
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 1

    I just signed up myself and am looking forward to learning more about creating positive cash flow.

    I am 25 and I currently own a property with my sister clean and clear, and would like to start buying more places with my partner and fill them with tennants. I know there can be a million different pitfalls, not the least of which would be unruly tennants that leave your property in a worse state then when they found it (a big fear of mine)

    Obviously I would need to build a deposit (im not willing to finance my current home, would prefer to leave it untouched) once my gf and I save a deposit, we were thinking of starting with units, as they have a lower start up cost. Is this viable, or should we move straight into conventional homes?

    I guess I would like to know what is the fastest way to pay off a property, and is it prudent to pay off the first property completely before purchasing another, or should we continue to buy places once enough equity is generated?

    Heaps of questions I know yes, and i hope I havent hijacked this thread, but these would seem to be valid questions for anyone starting out. Thanks for your time.

    Profile photo of paulmeesepaulmeese
    Member
    @paulmeese
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 26

    Hi Guys

    As a Finance consultant and investor in both property and the share market myself you could talk to 20 people and get 20 answers.
    For anyone who is starting in this game i beleive you should spend sometime attending a few wealth creation seminars that currently do the circuit, these seminars have created the foundation for many succesful investors over the years, myself included.
    The initial seminar is usaully free and they are enticing you to purchase a 2 or 3 day course generally for a cost of around $3000
    These courses if applied as taught will give you a platform to start your wealth creation and will help develope the mindset you will need to make this happen.

    Do your home work if you plan to select a broker as the majority can get you going but generally only a small portion can keep you going

    It is always worth asking them how many investments they have themselves.

    Do you home work and ask lots of questions

    cheers

    Paul

    Paul Meese
    Onyx Finance
    [email protected]
    0412 850 820

    Profile photo of Richard TaylorRichard Taylor
    Participant
    @qlds007
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 12,024

    Sorry Paul I hate to say i totally disagree.

    IMHO Wealth Creation seminars are just for one thing and one thing only and that is to make the presenters a fortune.

    Whilst i dont cast this blanket over every seminar doing the circuit i believe in essence you can spend your money a lot better in doing research and due diligence and talking to fellow investors.

    As a Director of a Company called First Home Owners Group Pty Ltd we have built up a portfolio over 180+ properties all of which have been wrapped and used these funds to purchase quality capital growth properties.

    I have been asked many times to do the seminar circuit but believe in sharing ideas freely with others rather than profiting at the expense of the inexperienced investor. I myself have been to a couple of free seminars but never found anything new in any of them.

    In response to Silverghost question remember many lenders offer 100% financing on investment properties especially if you own your PPOR and all you would need to find is the acquisition costs.

    Also certainly do not wait until you have repaid one loan in its entirity before you buy again otherwise your wealth creation path will take forever. Utilise the equity in your properties to leverage off and purchase more.

    Simple rules are structure correctly from day 1 and if you can help it never x collaralise. Many inexperienced brokers and bankers have little or no idea about loan structuring.

    Cheers

    Richard Taylor
    Residential & Commercial Finance Broker.
    Licensed Financial Planner. Ph: 07 3720 1888
    [email protected]
    Looking for life cover – We Guarantee to beat any quote you have in writing.

    Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender

    Profile photo of freetodreamfreetodream
    Member
    @freetodream
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 2

    Hi silverghost,

    I’m happy that we can share this thread togther, do you mind if I have a try at answering your problem? I guess the credibility of my answers are questionable due to my lack of experience and time spend on this forum, but i’m sure there’s heaps of people to prove me wrong and i guess we can call is a learning experience for both of us – the beauty of these forums :)

    Can I ask why you’re reluctant to use your current house to finance future investment properties? theres hundreds of thousands of dollars of usable equity you could tap into… I would love to be in ur position!!!

    If its because you’re afraid of losing your current home to the repo man due to vacancy concerns of your investment property, i’m sure it would be very unlikely you’d encounter this situation, provided that you’ve done your research regarding vacancy rates in the area you wish to buy before you purchase ur property, and that you have enough funds put aside to cover for this From what i’ve read the possibility of vacancy is always accounted for in the initial outlay of costs when assessing whether a property is considered a good investment or not.

    Regarding your question whether you should pay off your first investment property before buying the next, or whether you should keep buying more properties as more equity becomes available, as you mentioned you are interested in creating positive cashflow, i think the latter strategy better serves this purpose, as the positive cashflow you want to achieve is the accumulation of many separate, smaller cashflows from many different investment properties.

    Profile photo of paulmeesepaulmeese
    Member
    @paulmeese
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 26

    Thats understandable you might disagree and promote your own company, i am merley offering some insight to the readers in to what many of my current clients have acheived and have a proven track record doing and increased their wealth significantly over the past few years
    I to have a healthy client list of whom 80% are active investors and as a rule Financial planners don’t rate highly on their list of recommendations.
    But each to their own Richard i don’t beleive this is the place to compete for business i’m sure the readers will make up their own mind

    Paul Meese
    Onyx Finance
    [email protected]
    0412 850 820

    Profile photo of Richard TaylorRichard Taylor
    Participant
    @qlds007
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 12,024

    Paul

    Sorry i think you misunderstood my thread.

    I have no intension or need to want to promote my Company or my services i was replying to your post about spending money to attend seminars.

    I merely was stating that i managed to build up a personal portfolio of IP’s without ever attending a paid seminar and dont think that new investors need to take that route alone.

    There is plenty of free information readily available to new investors and forums such as these enable people to share view and ideas without having to charge for them.

    Cheers

    Richard Taylor
    Residential & Commercial Finance Broker.
    Licensed Financial Planner. Ph: 07 3720 1888
    [email protected]
    Looking for life cover – We Guarantee to beat any quote you have in writing.

    Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender

    Profile photo of BeckBeck
    Participant
    @beck
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 24

    Hi To all,

    I don’t have a vast portfolio of properties (2 in total) and i have done several wealth creation seminars. I find the seminars great if you have the money to spend but the cheapest way I have found to educate myself is to read book, lot of books, did I mention lots of books. Oh and also join forums like this…… there is a saying that I like “Learn-Do-Teach”. Most important, sometimes difficult, ACT.

    Happy Days

    Beck[biggrin]

    Profile photo of AmandaBSAmandaBS
    Participant
    @amandabs
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 549

    Hi Freetodream & Silverghost,

    Its often very overwhelming when you first start out so my advice would be to follow our 7 step program:

    Step 1 Set your personal & financial goals
    Step 2 Prepare a budget & savings plan
    Step 3 Determine your investment strategy
    Step 4 Build your team
    Step 5 Research areas
    Step 6 Prepare a feasibility study
    Step 7 Negotiate the deal and repeat!

    By putting a good system in place first will ensure your success later on down the track. You should be able to complete Steps 1 to 5 without very little financial outlay.

    Oh and keep reading as knowledge is power!!

    AmandaBS
    http://www.propertydivas.com.au
    FREE online Property Resources

    “It is better to be inconspicuously wealthy, than to be ostentatiously poor…”

    Profile photo of pmcdpmcd
    Member
    @pmcd
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 7

    Hi all,
    I am new to this and need some advice as to where to start…how much money do I need,how do select the best area to buy,should I buy land and build or buy established homes ?
    Looking forward to your replies.

    PMcD

    Profile photo of The ContrarianThe Contrarian
    Member
    @the-contrarian
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 97

    Hi guys…

    I think what is trying to be said is that there is nothing lost from learning.

    Basically… if you are not sure what to do… read, read and read until you can formulate some of your own ideas…
    Once you’ve read and understand say 10 books (to start with)…
    Then you will know yourself if you are ready to invest or not.

    The “secret” that you are looking for are in the books….
    The secret is in education.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

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