Someone I know bought a 5 bedroom house near the CBD in Sydney and then got council approval for it to be a brothel and rented it out to a brothel for $2900/week!!! Ethics aside it seems great unless the council backflips (and they have been known to do so with such dealings). Has anyone else here found some great outside the square tricks? Please share…
Otto Dargan
Home Loan Manager
Mortgage House Five Dock
0297128988 [email protected]
Otto,
I had thought of this myself, but after advice from some friends who sit on the other side of the ethical fence decided against it, as you are moving in on a totally different market, one which as you mentioned is not ethical, and where the risks from your competitors can be far worse than financial[] Hope this person knows the right people, cause council is the least of their worries[]
Just a thought[]
Firstly, the profession in question, is the oldest profession in the world! While the very thought might turn people’s faces into prunes, it’s a service that is very well utilised, and there is a lot of money in that industry. It is a risk buying the property for that purpose (5 bedrooms?) if the council does a backflip. I remember when the Daily Planet opened up in Elsternwick (Melb), it caused an uproar, but now it still operates and is a thriving business. How many of these establishments go broke? Not many I would think. I reckon the person you know Otto, is laughing all the way to the bank. Money is money, to some at least! At least the person was upfront about what they were going to do with the property.
Anyway, I was very amused reading this post []
Cheers
I agree with Sooshie on this one. I don’t believe a brothel is unethical at all. In fact if there were more brothels that were legal and had good conditions, maybe there would be less street prostitution.
At least in a brothel things like disease can be kept in check and violence to prostitutes is non existent. On the street however it is a totally different story.
Those points aside, as an investor I am here to make money and if I can buy a 5 bedroom house and rent it to a brothel for an enormous yield and cashflow……I say why not, as long as it meets my due dilligence in other areas.
One thing I forgot to mention was that, there is a difference between choosing this profession and having to do it in order to survive. These women/ladies of the night etc are very empowered with who their clientele is and what their pay is etc. A tenant like that, is more likely to make sure your house is a palace and very welcoming.
I totally agree with Mathew about disease, violence and the like. I could think of worse people to have as tenants. I wouldn’t mind having renters like that myself. At least I would know that the women are not on the street, subject to any abuse that may come their way.
5 bedroom house in CBD of Sydney? That would cost 5 million plus. Don’t believe me? look on http://www.realestate.com.au
, I did a search to see what was available, starting with $750,000 and working my way up as i found nothing. There was nothing in the CBD or near with 5 bedrooms for less than that. I think this place would probably be in Pyrmont or Wooloomooloo. There was one in Wooloomooloo listed for 5-6millions.
Anyway, do the maths, and they’d have to be getting 10,000 bucks a week to be not losing money. Hmmm. Imagine being that rich that you could afford to negative gear something to that extent.
Hey, I’d rather stick with my cheap rural NZ rentals returning 29 percent gross and stay right out of their way. Not so much the sexworkers but the pimps/mafia/drug types that tend to bankroll those kind of operations.
*shudder*
Moral of the story is you can find good clean deals better than this!
I thought there was more to property investing than just numbers…
OK I have no intention to make a “flame post” but do want to put another view across.
1) I could never agree with such practices, and feel no sorrow for the workers. They stay on the job because of drugs and fear. They COULD find a better job if they really wanted to. Most of the time they are exploited and treated like animals. Once they start it is very hard for them to get out.
2) Who do you think go to these places? Not only the single but married men as well. A lot of broken marriages and broken hearts because of this.
By renting a place like this you would be implicitly agreeing with what is going on and would have to be held responsible for some of the consecequences.
If I can just dissect this post for a moment, I will address a couple of issues that stand out to me.
quote:
1) I could never agree with such practices, and feel no sorrow for the workers. They stay on the job because of drugs and fear. They COULD find a better job if they really wanted to. Most of the time they are exploited and treated like animals. Once they start it is very hard for them to get out.
While I don’t critsize your moral issue with this, I do find it disturbing that you can say you feel no sorrow for the workers. While some choose this lifestyle, others feel they have to do it out of fear or survival. I do feel sorry for the ones that feel they have no other options in life, but thats just my caring nature I guess.
quote:
2) Who do you think go to these places? Not only the single but married men as well. A lot of broken marriages and broken hearts because of this.
I think you will find that if the statistics are analysed, far more marriages are broken by people having an affair than by someone going to a prostitute.
quote:
By renting a place like this you would be implicitly agreeing with what is going on and would have to be held responsible for some of the consecequences.
By this reckoning, if I owned a pub that sold alcohol, cigarettes and had a TAB, I should be held responsible for some of the consequences of alcohol, nicotine and gambling addiction. Oh and also for the affairs that begin by the married people meeting in my pub.
I hardly think so.
I don’t attack your moral issues as we all have these, but going back to the original idea of investing (I believe that’s what we are here for) I am here to aquire wealth and positive cashflow and if renting a house to a brothel would help me achieve this goal, I would do it.
Ok you asked me to name a ‘suburb’ except it’s not a suburb, it’s a small regional town. so I will, but before i do that I have to tell you that there are zillions all over the place.
I have bought in waverley (wanganui disctrict) for 23 percent (and I might add, lovely house on huge corner section of 1300 Squm which I can subdivide if i so choose)….taumaranui (king country – ruapehu area) for 29 percent (plain ex state house complete with good tenant and agreements)…there are so many good deals in NZ you will freak out….for example in taumaranui there were four flats for 35k, two rented for $60 and $80, two empty needing renovation (missed out, was too slow, also reno’s are a bit harder from a distance! though still do-able of course….)…Foxton there was one I saw, (manawatu district) 29k, rented for 90 to longterm tenant, 1000 sq m of land and subdividable section) –
pick an area such as taranaki, manawatu, wanganui, etc and type in ‘minimum 2 bdr/1 bathroom/max price 50k and you will get over 100 hits.
go for it!
the south island is full of +cashflow properties too, probably even more so,
just have a look!
Oh yeah….milton in the south island….otago area…I heard that there are some industries going in there which will create a demand, and as is it’s a +ve cashflow suburb, you might even get cap gain there as well.
This site will give you the market rent info for each area.
Really they couldn’t make it any easier!
And can I add that I’ve never had such good service from real estate agencies as in NZ. Less population means they have all the time in the world for you.
I have one agent making an appoinment with the tenant to photograph the interior of a rented property listed at 30K who is going to email me the pics.!!
cheers- good luck…may we all win/win and help give renters more beautiful places to live
How did you come across the block of flats? Were they on the website you mentioned (Which property type would they come under?), or did you find them through an agent?
Otto Otto Otto, what have you started []. I think most marriages today fail due to the work hours required or expected of them to do in a week. (My 2 Bobs worth)
Could you tell me more about the 4 flats for 35K. This would be a wonderful case study methinks?
Cheers
Sooshie []
By the Way and For the record: As a women, I don’t judge what other women do, but I still think it’s their choice what they want to do with their lives. I make no comment as to whether it is the right way to make a living, but I merely acknowledge its existence as a very old profession that has lasted the test of time.
I have been out of action for a day.
Not going to make a big deal out of this but do want to put the records straight.
The reason why I like Steve’s approach is becasue he is a peoples person rather than just making money. He says to “invest in the people NOT the property”.
I agree with him that there is a lot more to property than just money. That is what I was trying to say in my last post.
Ok, I did make the post late at night and should have explained myself better. I will try and rectify this now.
I honestly believe that a prostitute could do another job if she wanted to. If worse comes to worse she could go on the dole while she learns another trade or profession. There are other options! (even though I agree with you that they may not always be aware of them.)
I feel no sorrow for the workers as far as their work is concerned. I do feel very sorry for the person. (Some enjoy what they do, but some are miserable; those are the ones I feel sorry for.)
Indeed some are miserable as they are exploited and often on drugs. That is why they continue, not so much to survive but to get their fix! (Yes I am most upset with the pimps too, which are the most to blame …)
quote:
I think you will find that if the statistics are analysed, far more marriages are broken by people having an affair than by someone going to a prostitute.
Yes I agree. But it doesn’t mean that if people are going to do the wrong thing, we should make it any easier for them.
quote:
By this reckoning, if I owned a pub that sold alcohol, cigarettes and had a TAB, I should be held responsible for some of the consequences of alcohol, nicotine and gambling addiction.
Most definitely. Cigarettes and alcohol ARE the most fatal drugs around. If it wasn’t for the big compnaies making so much money out of it, it would have to be illegal. TAB as well. All three have ruined countless lives and families. These are facts, but the sad thing is nobody cares as long as they are making money out of it.
Your last post helps me to see your point of view, and I appologise if it came across that I was attacking you…..I wasn’t.
I too agree with Steve’s idea of helping people, and part of my income goes to charity to do just that.
When investing in property buy wraps, L/O or buy/hold I know I am helping people to either buy their own home or make a home for their family.
But my main personal reason for investing in property is to help 2 other people……my wife and daughter.
I want to provide the very best life for them and for future generations. For this reason, I look at the numbers in a deal more so than who I may be helping…if that makes sense.
Hey, I’d rather stick with my cheap rural NZ rentals returning 29 percent gross and stay right out of their way. Not so much the sexworkers but the pimps/mafia/drug types that tend to bankroll those kind of operations.
*shudder*
Moral of the story is you can find good clean deals better than this!
[/quote]
Hi: you must done the NY property market research. I have to travel NZ twice a year. Had a thought of invest property overthere. But do not know how to start over there. Are there any bank we can apply the loan even if the property is in NZ? Is it ANZ bank? or any others?
OK the block of flats? i saw it when I was searching under 50k on realenz.co.nz. it was in taumaranui. I asked the real estate agent about it and he said ‘it’s aleady gone, it sold straight away.’
!!!
How i found the flats? i just searched for minimum 2 bdr, 1 bath and type of property ‘any’ and it came up. the deals are out there.
Re finance I have absolutely no clue as to what an Aussie investor should do. i am planning to try for finance against mine in about 6 months in NZ, as i am a citizen.