Morning Terry,

just woke up and read your first reply and had a little freak-out moment!  Each of the businesses will be Pty Ltd with the shares owned by the trust so I'm happy with that amount of risk.  I had considered setting up two trusts, one with businesses and the other with property but it made it just a little bit too inflexible with moving profits and getting taxed.

Thanks for your comments though, really appreciate them as I'm just a young(ish) self-made guy and there's only so much you can research and teach yourself!

Cheers,
Andy

I'll probably be shot by my friends for saying this but a good broker is worth their weight in gold (that is a GOOD broker, a BAD broker will see you want to recreate a scene from American Psycho!). 

I was a big bank lender for 3 years and can say that in the branch network where I started there were 16 lenders of which only 8 had ever owned property!  The other 8 lenders had never even gone through the stress and headaches that is half of the property purchases that happen. 

No matter who you use though (and I still use my bank lender friends) please, please, please ask them "so how many properties do you own?"  If they say none politely thank them for their time and walk out, it's not worth the risk of your settlement being totally bollacksed up and/or given a totally inappropriate loan.

Good luck,

Andy

PS. There are some situations a good bank lender can really pay for themselves though.  I've had unconditional finance approval with signed mortgage docs just 3 hrs after signing the property contract once because I knew who to talk to and the lender knew what they were doing.

Hi Karen,

I used to live in Edens Landing which is a suburb just beside Beenleigh and can give you a little bit of insight (but I warn you I'm a bit of a snob!).  The suburb is half way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast which agents talk up but residents say it just means you're too far from either to be convenient.   Another common joke is Beenleigh is right where the highway goes from 100km/hr to 110km/hr and there's a reason!  It can be a rough place but it is certainly full of working class families and things aren't as packed as inner-city suburbs.  There are some nicer estates and areas for sure (although I can't think of the bloody street names at the moment) and generally it is better to go west from Beenleigh (Bethania and Edens Landing) and not east (Eagleby) to get away from some of the bad elements.

As far as investments and price ranges go I'm sorry but I've been out of it a bit too long to give any advice although I know API magazine constantly talks it up as a diamond in the rough.

Sorry I couldn't give any firm details for you and for the downward tone but I'll be honest and say I'm biased (got harrassed and beaten up a few too many times).  Hopefully there are some current owners and residents who can give you some of the good points.

Best of luck to your sister,

Andy

Would love to come but not able to at the moment, will have to be content with following online.  Post lots and post often!

I think marina berths can be a lot of fun but that's a personal opinion instead of a professional one

In the past I have been involved in two marina purchases; one was bought by a friend who just used a line of credit secured by his PPOR so was 100% leveraged.  The second was a business client who went through with a business loan that the CBA had arranged specifically with this marina development.  The LVR was only 60% and obviously at a higher rate.  Both of the purchases are cashflow positive but I must say my friend got a much better deal which he found himself from a local boatie.

Hope that helps a little and I would love to hear from other peoples experiences as this is one luxury I would happily spend money on!

Cheers,
Andy

I'm at the same stage aaabbbccc and the only advice I can give is be careful as some banks won't allow trusts/trustees to use the normal personal accounts, only business accounts.  I've been looking at BankWest although I still haven't decided and would love some advice as well

Never heard of them being for sale or as an investment although it sounds logical.  I know I've thought about putting up billboards along the highway of our family farm but haven't investigated it at all.

First step I think would be to call some of the advertising companies directly (they all have their names at the bottom of the billboards).  Might not get past the receptionist at most but is worth a shot…

Not sure about specialised agents as I did my property searching a bit differently.  I went looking for uni's that had big growth plans then just did a search for properties available nearby.

I've heard mixed reports about unilodge from other investors and students so do your research and this sort of property you need to bargain HARD to make the most money.

Good luck

Warning: my reply is based on generalisations from what I have experienced.  No offence intended to you or other owner-builders!

There are many reason that banks avoid them, at least the one I worked for.  In 2.5 years I saw all of the following; builds constantly going over-budget; the construction plans being changed without the banks consent (as the clients think they only need to convince their wives to any change!); the clients income dropping significantly while they focus on the build; increased risk of the completed build still needing modifications and repairs for certificate of occupancy; and lastly that some clients only know just enough to get their OB certificate and give up after 3 months.

In the end my office starting referring ob inquiries to our competitors as they weren't worth the time and hassle.

The only recommendation I can make is adding a big safety margin to your construction budget and timeframes.  There is nothing sadder then being $20k short of final occupancy and the bank telling you no more.

Good luck with it,
Andy

I'm sure the other lenders on the forum will have experienced this even more than I have but, without knowing the specifics, this is quite common at the moment.  There are a couple reasons behind this (at least with my former employer), the banks have been getting much tighter on their lending criteria for the last 12 months and one way to tighten up is to be much less optimistic on valuations.  Also the information the banks and valuers compare against is completed sale prices and so there can be a bit of lag if the market has moved recently. 

Lastly I wouldn't recommend getting your own valuation as I would be surprised if your lender even looked at the report (in my job we would be instantly dismissed if we used an external valuation on any basis).  This may be different with your bank but anecdotally it is getting harder to use externals.

Sorry I can't be of more help with this one but hopefully some of the other peeps can help.

Cheers,
Andy