Actually I enjoy reading about the market. I must admit though that the prospect of using that knowledge is part of what excites me so there was a little disappointment for me realising how much extra effort would be required to get something that works in the declining market. Of course I could just go short some REITs [biggrin].
I really do believe newspapers affect the market and is one of the reasons that the less knowledgable (mom & pop investors) have left the market. Of course you can find bargains in any market and to anaylse individual bargains there is all kind of software and more targeted research readily available. (I have been reading this site for a year and its been fun reading about all the people coming over here even though we too seem to be nearing the end of our boom). I guess my point is that if you aware the world is flat, and if you want to encourage foreign investment, then you should make some attempt at self promotion. I do hear there is lots of land down under.
Well if you have read this far let me redirect the thread to an article I personally found fascinating as it captures some of what is going on here:
Hi Nigel,
I was thinking to wait 3-4 years as then we should be in the middle of the drop and buying then. Timing is tricky. The other option is to buy commercial as there is plenty of stuff returning > 7 %. Its a little trickier researching the commercial cycle as there seems to be less written about it.
Between stamp duty, land tax and where the housing market is heading I am starting to question my decision to buy a number of properties over the last couple of years.
Well I am still thinking about what to do next….hmmm… usana direct marketing [biggrin]?
I live in the US and do all correspondence through email which is promptly attended too. If a repair is needed they send me 3 quotes and I am told their are no kickbacks [wink1]
Bye the way – when I last visited Berwick was booming. Is this still true?
My line of credit here in the US is %3.75 []
What is tricky to play around with is the change in dollar if I use that money to purchase down under.
With the rising dollar its easy as my rent just increases but my cost is fixed. If the dollar starts falling I let it approach the level I bought the house at and then refinance it down under.
A falling dollar is trickier although it can be viewed as a buying opportunity when it gets low enough.
I must say that it was interesting to see that 22 people read this thread in under an hour. It looks like not everyone is Christmas shopping unless people are buying a house for their spouse []
PeterM does make a good point that my biggest risk is change of currency which offsets my good fortune of having low interest rates. it would be interesting to make a computer model of this to see how I might come out.
Hi PeterM,
I am an aussie living in the US and the interest rates are a little lower here. I got mine through http://www.etrade.com as a home equity load (with .25% discount since I have an account with them).
Its fun buying remotely as everything looks so cheap in comaparison to San Francisco. Of course I can’t find anything with the 11second rule as I am not on the spot…
I must say I was impressed that I got 3 replies to my post! Quite a nice welcome – you look like a great set of people.
mcollins / melbear: Australia vs US
I mainly bought in Australia as the quality of house I bought was much better, when you take into account the dollar difference, than what I would get in California. Not a very good reason but I am just starting out[]
By the way the variable interest rate on a line of credit over here is only 3.75%!