Hi Bex,Any reason you're fixed on Sydney? If it's because you live here why not look a little further north? The Hunter region is, in my humble opinion, ripe for investment pickings. There are some suburbs with consistent 10%+pa 10-year average growth, affordable prices and decent rental returns. Jump onto a couple real estate websites, do a…[Read more]

Hi,I've had a look and can't find my spreadsheet but it may be on the old computer so I'll have a look.Basically what I did was to put the various companies at the top and then features in the left hand column. The way I built it was to go through the first PDS and list all the features it offered. I then repeated for the second PDS, adding any…[Read more]

Hi Mall,When looking for Landlord Insurance I went over the PDS of maybe 6 or 7 companies. On a spreadsheet I wrote in what each company offered for each service (if at all) and the total cost of each. It was a pretty long list and took a bit of time but in the end the choice was clear for us. Setting everything out on a spreadsheet was a bit time…[Read more]

No worries Frohike,While it's true that properties like this may have sat for a long time because they're duds, it may also be true that they sit for a long time because people can't be bothered finding a worthwhile angle for them. I'm not saying that this particular property is going to be a winner for you, just that it's often worth having a p…[Read more]

Hey Frohike,How does the cost compare with similar blocks in the suburb? If you have access to a service like RPData or the like you could check land value against similar sized developed blocks if there aren't any vacant in the area. I would also give the council a call and see if there are any plans in place for modifications to the rail…[Read more]

Hey Blogs,You say the paperwork has been sent out but have you signed anything? Has any money changed hands? If your broker told you one thing and the paperwork says another do you have anything in writing from your broker stating the original terms and conditions?I guess what I'm angling at is that your broker may have a legal case to answer.Art

Yep, that one worked.Without seeing the space it's a bit hard to offer suggestions but I guess the biggest thing to think about is the plumbing (ie. don't touch it!). The minute you start moving showers and basins your costs go through the roof.My suggestions would be to check out a couple new vanity cabinets from big hardware barns, reno stores…[Read more]

Hiyya Nats,What a drag! There was a good feature on fences in the API mag a couple issues back. I think I've got a copy I could scan and email to you if you're interested. Send me a PM if you want me to. Cheers,Art

Hey grazy, want to try your post again?Art

Daryl wrote:
We intend to subdivide now and keep the block for 12 – 18months before selling.What can we do to / on the land to derive some cashflow in the interim?Any sugestions would be appreciated…

Hi Daryl,I'm a bit unclear on what you're asking here. Do you mean cashflow aside from the rental income from the existing house?Once you have…[Read more]

Hi Lei,We had a building inspection come up positive (given the age of the place we were buying) but discovered in our own inspection that the bath was almost totally blocked. A quick look under the house revealed that the plumbing was rusted through and had to be replaced.Bear in mind that building inspectors are just that…building inspectors.…[Read more]

Hiyya Dan,Geez, you don't mess around dropping the big bomb questions do you? I guess the question for you is: What do you want from an investment property? Getting your head around this question will help you to begin to focus on how to go about looking for and buying one. For instance, for our first IP we wanted a property that could be…[Read more]

Hi Elkam,Yes, this is the case. Should we proceed we will insert a clause whereby we can unconditionally terminate the lease with 6 months notice. Given our development time frame there is no way we want to be locked into a potential 6 year lease. However, under our subdivision plans the existing house will remain after subdivision so there may be…[Read more]

Hey noclue,One thing to watch when you're asking around for a quote in NSW is that you make very clear (as you have done in this post) that you want a price per SQUARE METRE and not a price per SQUARE (which is, from memory, 10 square feet).Cheers,Art

Hiyya,My understanding is that painting and repairs done while a tenant is in place do count as deductions in the current financial year (rather than being treated as capital costs). Perhaps there's a tax buff out there who could confirm this?However, painting with tenants in place can be a real pain. It's difficult for the painter because of all…[Read more]

Hello Nathan,NSW real estate law bites. I'm no expert but from conversations I myself have had with the Office of Fair Trading it sounds to me as though the seller is entirely in their rights (legally, not necessarily morally).By all means follow up with REINSW and the Office of Fair Trading and also check out this NSW Office of Fair Trading info…[Read more]

Hello all,Thanks for your comments. Truth be told we are leaning towards taking up the DoH lease provided they agree to a couple tweaks in the contract (more or less like those suggested here already). Our current tenant is a DoH client with part of her rent being paid every month by the DoH and I have to say that she's been great. Cheers,Art

Hello,

Thanks for the info you two. I’ll have a poke around the ‘Net tonight.

I’m interested in SA as a possible target for our next investment and I’m trying to follow a couple lifestyle/infrastructure leads. If either of you are from SA and are interested in chatting about the place please feel free to PM me. I’ve driven across the state a…[Read more]

Hey Marc,

That’s some sound, hardball advice for a difficult situation. I’m going to bookmark this thread just for that bit of info. Hopefully I won’t need to act on the info but it’s good to have in the knowledge bank.

Cheers,
Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

No worries. I haven’t used Residex personally but from what I can tell they have a pretty strong reputation. I’ve heard their CEO, John Edwards, speak a couple times (and interpret data) and I have to say that if I was looking to narrow down suburbs within a certain State I would give serious consideration to purchasing their data. I think a State…[Read more]