Singer,

I have a slightly more balanced view than G7, but those pitfalls are all worth taking careful note of.

Assuming all goes according to plan and the railway arrives in 10 years’ time etc., there may be some growth. However, right now the prices are certainly high.

Bellbird Park may be quite interesting (I just bought in there). There’s a…[Read more]

No scam; definitely low risk for a first buy, but these days the returns seem pretty low.

All the details are at http://invest.dha.gov.au

Mick

Definitely less risky to use as much of your own money as possible!

I’d suggest you take a trip or 2 to Brisbane, perhaps on a long weekend or something. Get yourself a Bris street directory, work out where some of the suburbs are along the train lines etc., and drive around them and speak to some agents.

Dunno about buyer’s agents, except that…[Read more]

Hi Tass,

I agree with Nobleone – looks like an OK area, plenty of acreage around, but don’t have first-hand experience of crime rates etc.

I do however have first-hand experience of another acreage area – Karalee/Barellan Point. We love it there; 20km (as the crow flies) from the city, but feels like the country, very low crime etc., great…[Read more]

Christy,

The best cheap data I know of is the API magazine. They regularly publish some basic stats; but if you need more detailed historical data you most likely need to pay for it.

I agree with crj; the CGT implications are the big reason to keep it. It’s not costing you anything in interest, and any capital gains will be untaxed. But only you can weigh that up against your strata dramas!

Mick

Hi Norma,

Selling the unit doesn’t really give you more equity, because you’ll pay Cap Gains Tax and agents’ fees. But what it does allow you to do is to access the cash and pay out some of the PPOR loan.

Doing that reduces your non-deductible debt (“bad debt”), then you can borrow against it for another IP (“good debt”).

But since the equity…[Read more]

zen,

My place is on the beach side of the main road, but I guess still a reasonable way from the beach. I’ve only been to Waikiki once, so my memory of it all is a bit vague

First 2 years it didn’t really go up; last 2 years it has gone up a lot, but the rents haven’t followed yet.

It will be interesting to see how things go in the coming…[Read more]

I’m one of the ones who has a DHA property and am quite happy. If you have any specific questions I would gladly answer them.

Cheers,

Mick

Hi j,

I bought an IP in Waikiki a few years back for all the reasons you listed, so I’m hoping other people think “what a great place” too

Mick

mychelle,

Be very cautious of a product that can supposedly reduce your loan term. It has generally been shown that these kinds of products generally cannot do that, unless you make extra repayments. Banks were forced to take calculators off their websites recently because they deceptively showed this – but in fact relied on increased…[Read more]

Brizza,

Depends a bit on what state you’re in. Usually in NSW you put down the deposit, then get inspections done (at some risk), then exchange contracts.

In QLD you pay the deposit with the contract, and the contract has a standard condition on inspections by a certain date.

Not too sure about other states – but the systems definitely vary.

Mick

To reply to 4. yes, in general brokers are good – although I guess you could get good ones and bad ones. I recently went through one from this forum (brahms, in Brisbane) and my brother went through aussie in Sydney – both were excellent.

I would always use a broker since they should have a wide range of lenders to draw on and you don’t pay any…[Read more]

Hi,

I’m reasonably local to there (Ipswich region), and a few friends have recently bought in Laidley, Minden, etc.

The prices have definitely been moving upward in the region; big new estates going up in all those places. Rental returns look around 6% from memory.

But to count on such a profit from building like that sounds a little risky to…[Read more]

Unfortunately, your plan has no benefit; the tax deductability of the loan is not determined by the property it is secured against, but rather the property for which the funds were used to finance. So drawing against one to pay off another does not help you in this instance. You are just shifting the same loan between security properties.

Cheers,
Mick

Hi Jemm,

Collingwood Park has new estates within an area that has been lower socio-econimic, but it’s definitely changing. For your budget, I reckon it’s a good idea.

As far as being a long way out; I personally disagree, but in Brisbane many people think that more than 10 or 15km out is a long way. But Collingwood Park is near both the train…[Read more]

Why don’t you ride in on Friday to see a broker?

Mick

Hungry,

Nobody on here can tell you what to do – depends on your priorities.

250k opens you up to tons of options in QLD, but I reckon you need to at least decide between houses, units, etc.

Personally, I like to be a low-maintenance investor, so I like new houses on small blocks, returning 5 or 6% and good tax deductions. But my mates put in…[Read more]

emmjay,

Ipswich council have a great flood map on their site, which shows 1 in 20 and 1 in 100 year flood zones, in case you have concerns about that:

http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/planning_development/pdfs/OV05.pdf

Note that in Brisbane there are many “stump” houses, but they’re not getnerally on brick stumps – used be timber, now usually galv…[Read more]

Just don’t do what this guy did – he now owes CBA $165,000 over it!

http://moneymanager.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/10/1078594395323.html

Cheers,
Mick