Ok, provided the $160,000.00 is for both units, I can see your point.
If I was looking in Mt Isa, my first move would be to ring the agent to confirm. Search brings it up under houses, not units or blocks of units.
I would be very careful with this property. It looks too good to be true, and call me a cynic, it often is.
But I guess your point…[Read more]

I think it is a matter of creativity.
If you manage to flip a property, you can do it with $0.00 cash in. Or if you can agree on vendor finance, again you can do it with little cash (you may need the closing costs).
On the other end if you want to go the conventional way, you need whatever % (normally 20% without MI [morgage insurance]) of the…[Read more]

I just set up a trust after talking to my accountant. He gave me a big list of plus and minuses for trusts. Make sure you understand them all before ploughing ahead. Stamp Duty and CGT are certainly involved with existing properties and therefore not practical. The law sees the trust as a separate entity, similar to companies.
I would never do…[Read more]

Interesting thought. Steve is calling it bird dogging. But I do not know how to go about it. If anybody can tell us beginners, that would be great.

f this link works this is the type of deal i would be cosidering.
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=103692250&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=40527609&s=qld&snf=rbs&tm=1166960348

This is one example and their are plenty more if you are willing to wait..

I am not sure I get your point on this property, so please tell me your…[Read more]

Thanks guys,

good food for thought.

Please explain DEF and X collarised.

Cheers & Merry Xmas[xmas]

I think you may be better off doing the subdivision with a surveyor rather than a builder. Get everything in place and then approach several builders for a quote to build a house. Give them specific to work to (eg 3BR 1BR, 110m2, etc) and ask for a fixed quote. Make sure they do not leave any loopholes for extra digging/foundation costs. This…[Read more]

I think you can easily do it without council approval. In my experience when you ask if you need approval they always say yes (more money to them), and then you have long arguments why you do not need approval.
It will also add considerably to your costs as you now need all kind of plans and documentation as well as to your time frame (allow at…[Read more]

There is a lot of hysteria about asbestos these days.
Asbestos is only dangerous if it is airborne. This means only when it is cut, broken or otherwise disturbed. EG it is not dangerous in your rainwater as it affects your lungs, not your stomach.
You should know that there are several types of asbestos. The most common and least dangerous…[Read more]

I am looking into a simelar deal.
However you have to be careful. While the transportables seem cheap, there are a lot of hidden costs, mainly:
– transport; this can be quite substantial, because of road restrictions. In one case the distance from the building site to the property was about 70km, but the transport distance was…[Read more]

Thanks Richard,

let me refine my question a bit more.
We have a PPoR and are starting our investment portfolio. In doing this I am trying to avoid costly traps.
I already talked to my broker about interest loans, LMI’s, lodocs, exit fees, honeymoon rates, fixed rate loans, line of credit.
I guess I am looking for a ckecklist what I things I need…[Read more]

I think it is unfair to hack into somebody that is just trying to understand the basic principle’s involved in property investing.
It would certainly help to understand more about your situation, and I would suggest that you get some expert advise. It would probably be good to set up a family trust that owns all properties.
Check out how much…[Read more]

I suggest that you sell the property and buy 1 outright to live in for your mom. You look for a rental and invest the leftover money into an IP.
This gives you more money to work with, because you can only draw against 80% of your property. And as you do not have a huge emotional attachment to it, you are a lot better off. Read Steve’s book 2…[Read more]

Thanks Guys – Much Appreciated

What are the differences between lodoc and nodoc loans? How do they exactly work?

That’s where a good broker comes in. He/she will advise you beforehand of the pros and cons of certain options. And the more you explain him/her of your future plans, the better he/she can tailor the product.
It also helps to have a checklist of questions to ask before choosing/signing a document.[biggrin]

I agree with most of the above.

One thing about handing low balling offers to the vendors. You as the agent have a reponsibility to submit all offers. That does not mean that you should not tell your clients what you think about the offer and advise them strongly against signing. Alternatively you can send signals to the buyer indicating that…[Read more]

Food for thought:
On each project you both keep a record of time invested (you in looking for the deal, he in renovating), and allocate a nominal hourly rate. You also record what interest you each would have received on the money provided. You deduct all these costs of your net profit and either split it 50/50 or in relation to the money value…[Read more]

I dont know if you have IKEA anywhere close (eg Brisbane), else try the net. They sell reasonable priced kitchens which are really easy to install if you dont have to stuff around with connecting water/gas/electricity[strum][strum]

Try http://www.upmarket.net.au/chart/ChooseChart.asp

This website gives median house prices for suburbs in SA, but the data is 3 years old – you have to pay for newer data