Meri I cannot PM (Private Message) you. Please enable PM's or PM me and I will return!

Good in theory, but definately have to do your own due diligence. I was so close to signing a deal that was very attractively cashflow positive. Apartment had a deal with taiwanese govt to provide accomos for uni students. 6 month lease renewed every 6 months along with rent review and so on. Discovered that apartment was one of many owned by a person in this complex who I suspect was selling each one off with this deal in place (to make it more attractive than the rest on the market) then in 6 months time, no lease renewal… student gets moved into another apartment in this complex,  though… owned by same owner! . . hmm?

Too risky for me, and I my strategy not apartments anyway… good research though.

Great thread! Though it has taken me some time to read through it!

Of all my siblings I was the only one to get my first car myself, each of them (3) were given decent cars bought FOR them. 

My first car was a 1980 Nissan Pulsar Hatch ($700 and hardly road worthy), then a 1997 Ford Laser Hatch (good car, got it cheap, ran well, but no aircon) that Hubby and I shared. Hubby bought a Jeep Wrangler new in 2006 through salary sacrafice.

My dream car had always been a '98 MX-5 convertable. I got that model in the colour I wanted approx 1.5yrs ago and I love it. So fuel efficient and prevents me from buying too much when I go shopping (as the boot is TINY!). Was the car I had to have before we start a family. Funny thing worth a mention is that someone stopped me in a car park last week and made an offer to buy it from me for the same price I paid for it!

Had hubby and I been interested/educated in Property Investing earlier on we probably would still have the Laser only, and have more properties – lesson learned!

But we get good use out of the cars and they give us no trouble so we are not gonna loose sleep over it.

Ok, I cannot private message you, so can you private message me and I will return your message with the details you asked! thanks

Option fee is what you negotiate. Generally approx 1-5k or higher if you need to sweeten the deal. If you negotiate the option fee to be part of the purchase price then that is a bonus as option fee is generally extra and is non refundable if you do not go ahead with a Contract of Sale (as apposed to a deposit on a Contract of Sale).

No formula, option fee is just what you negotiate, though some people will insist 10 – 20% but that is not true!

Have you bought yet?

I am in Perth and I too was faced with the exact same situation you have right now. Do I buy land close to the city and subdivide down the track or do I buy new but far away? I had found a great block in Bayswater that was a triplex potential land with a free house on it. But dispite a thorough due diligence and due to the fact I would HAVE to live in it (cos of using the first home buyers grant) I gave this one a miss. It would offer no holding money as no one in their right mind would pay rent to live there after I had done the minimum home buyer live-in-it time.

Another thing worth mentioning was that a friend of a friend had also bought in Bayswater and was currently undergoing subdivision, but he was having TREMENDOUS problems to the point where he is now living with my Best friends currently whilst he is getting it all sorted out. I dare say there was a lack of due diligence and research that contributed to this occurring but who knows – I have never had a conversation with him to find out exactly.

I did have the option of purchasing in some of the newer estates throughout Perth (I work for a large land developer) but in the end chose a 2 bed, 1 bath newly renovated villa closer to my current home, in a suburb that has shown good performance, close to my family, 5 mins to city and close to work. It has been an investment property for the agent who is selling it to me, and it is in a good location so I feel I have taken a conservative and comfortable decision and feel happier to take a more aggressive approach in my next property purchase (perhaps something like the triplex block I found in Bayswater) that I wont necessarily have to live in.

At the moment I personally have my eye on a couple properties that my boss is keen to handover possession of before June 30. In another post I have detailed that these are close to the beach, close to transport, in a new estate, qualify to use the $21k grant and include front landscaping and fence rebate. Per my calculations these are cashflow positive/neutral and I would have loved to have purchased this instead as it is green titled, alot bigger plus new and easier to maintain. But I have already signed on my new home and am due to settle next week. Also, personally, I would have had a problem with travelling further to work.

Lastly, One thing that was brought to my attention by my boss was that if I wanted to buy and build thus using the 21k grant, I needed to sign up by the end of May because plans needed to be approved before the grant expires. You may want to keep that in mind, and if you have left it too late this may sway your decision to getting something closer to the City, using the 14k grant.

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant, but I am just trying to share my thoughts and ideas of how I came to my decision. I am keen to hear what you decide! Good luck!

I have heard of this before, normally with a $1 rent, there is a clause that it is in place for 99years and includes that the tenants are fully responsible for all the upkeep and maintenance of the property.

In the case I am aware of, it was for a government building in Perth city and it was severely in need of repair and renovation. It had to be restored to the heritage listing requirements. It may still be available (Old Treasury Buildingoverlooking Supreme Court Gardens).

I would read the small print very carefully