Steve,

I congratulate you on your success and I will tell you now that I have found your book as a useful tool for buying property. If you are prepared to do the hard yards as suggested, you can find these properties. I have found them by using the tactics you mentioned in your post. Going to places and investigating. Sometimes not so easy with a young family.

It’s unfortunate that lately on this forum there seems to be more people believing it can’t be done rather than believing in themselves that it can be done. But at the same time I’m glad that they don’t believe they can find them because that leaves more for me. []

There was a saying on my desk calender last year that I won’t forget and I believe some people on this forum can/should apply: Wisdom is not knowing what to do now, but what to do next.[^]

C Ya

Carl

martinw,

You are right in saying that there are alot of people on this site that say they cannot buy properties according to the 11ss. Just remember that Steve only uses this as a guide and not the be all and end all of investing (that has also been repeated many times on this forum).

The fact is, Steve worked this solution out and where to buy properties many years ago and not in the last 3 months that everyone seems to think. It really pisses me off when some people post “where can I find an 11ss property” and then get cranky because no one replies to them. Where is the thrill of finding a place that does suit it when it has been handed to you.

I agree it is hard to find these places but if you are prepared to do some of your own work instead of expecting people to tell you where they are you will find them. I recently purchased a property (1 month ago) that didn’t fit the 11ss but came pretty darn close. It didn’t mean that I gave up on it because it didn’t fit Steve’s formula. I knew that the town it was in was going to get some capital growth as well as a high rent demand. How, the same as Steve and, I dare say, alot of people on this forum – RESEARCH.

If you want to be as wealthy as Steve but don’t want to do any of the work involved then perhaps you should look at buying lotto tickets every week. Steves book has great information in it that people can use, so I suggest you use it to your advantage and to start and get serious about investing instead of being like all the other masses and whinging that it’s not laid at your feet.

Carl

Steve,

I have 2 IP in Labrador which is the suburb next to Arundel. I live in Canberra and have been going to the GC every year since 91 to go and see the Indycar race. We (my wife and I) decided to take the plunge 4 years a go and buy an IP. We bought another one in April this year. Both are located in the same street. To give you an indication of the growth of the GC even over the last four months read on.

We bought our first property for just under $60k in Dec-99. This was about 2 years after the Asian market crisis hit. It was also before the gains we see in market now. The second one we purchased for $135k in mid April 03. As I recently bought another IP in NSW (last week) we had to get valuations done on the properties. The first one was valued at $145k (very happy) and the second was valued at $165k (even more happy).

When I was there in Feb I read an article that noted Arundel as being the second fastest growth area on the GC. That part of the coast (North of Surfers Paradise) has great appeal because it is so close to the University, Major shopping centres, and about a 5 min drive to Helensvale to catch the train to Brisbane. It also only 5 mins to Surfers Paradise and Sea World and only about 10 mins to Movie-World, Dreamworld and Wet n Wild.

That’s my 2 bobs worth. I will be heading up there again at the end of October to see the race, uh I mean to check on my IP’s. I hope you get to enjoy your IP in Arundel. I think it is the best part of the coast but maybe I am biased.

Carl

Kooringal,

I would reccomend getting another valuation done. I bought an investment property in april this year and the guy who done my valuation was totally un-professional. He thought he was there do sign off the final payment to our builder for our extension that we had just done. After I highlighted the fact he was there for a valuation he said he would return to do it properly. He didn’t and the Valuation was well below what it should have been.

I was a little upset as in the end I had to pay mortgage insurance due to the fact I was over 80% LVR. Even when I explained the situation to the bank they were more prepared to go with his valuation than hear my story even though I felt I was far more accurate.

Well 3 months later I am buying another investment property and the valaution on my house with nothing being done to it since the last valuation 3 months ago has risen by $45,000. This valuation was done by a different Valuation company but with the same bank – that is why I would go for a second opinion.

Carl