I am going through a sale at the moment of a unit in Sydney, although I had in writing that the tenant would agree to vacate, and we would pay him$1500 toward removalist and for relocating, once we had a contract, he dug his heels in and refused to relocate, due to shortage of housing/ rentals of the same quality. It has taken me 8 months to get the tenant out, he went to the tribunal and pleaded he had always been a good tenant,  paid rent on time, and due to shortage of rentals and properties avail to rent, he could not find anything in the area/ zone he wished. Therefore I had a very difficult situation, agent could not remove him, court granted tenant a 90 day extension of stay due to housing crises.

I have been lucky that the buyers have been very patient and supportive of the issues here and have kept them updated with all paperwork.
 
I even offered the tenant an extra $1200 cash to go, and to put toward rent if he has to pay more.

Tenant even refused to allow inspections

He loved the unit and did not wish to move, he was very clean, always 1 month in advance, I did everything correct in writing and through the agency, but we could not shift him.

So I recommend if you really want to sell, and want the option to sell to an owner occupier, then make an agreement legally in writing, get the solicitor to approve it, offer an incentive for them to go, and hope for the best that they do not dig their heels in.

Bye

Yes things are always difficult any time for people starting out, or trying to buy a home, or another property but the key is to start, start small, and affordable and build up along the way, and make sacrifices- I used to ride my bike, walk, take my lunch to work, buy fruit/ veges at wholesalers/ markets, wait til all the sales for clothes/ shoes, go to basic hairdressers for a cut, not have fancy nails- too many people are wasting money on things that their money is better directed elsewhere, or instead of going on fancy holidays, go camping, or stay in cabins. On a daily basis I see people wasting money on extravagence and then saying they cant afford to pay their house or car, but still eating out a few nights a week, getting hair/ nails done, and driving expensive cars.

Yes I am very concerned for the current situation, and especially people that cant afford rents any more that have health issues, mental issues, injuries that prevent them from working, aged. I do a lot of charity work and help the street vans deliver food, clothing, soup, fruit to homeless, and it is impossible for many to escape this vicious cycle as basic rent anywhere is $200 a week for a small flat/ studio, and if someone is only eligible for $200 per week Centrelink- how can they survive?.

Some solutions I guess if our gvt had a correct property strategy for the community would maybe be divert some of the money we pay in capital gains tax, stamp duty, land tax, toward low cost housing, helping homeless, affordable loans for people to start off.

Lately I have been watching a lot of the asian/ greek  communities and what they do and how they get a start- many of the families buy a large home and live together, pooling wages, labour, food, tasks, and as they build up they buy another property and rent it out, and pay it off, and they keep going on this strategy- all working together, helping each other. Kids live with  parents, and even when married live with the family in a large house or with a flat out the back, til the younger ones save up, get ahead.

Someone mentioned GOLD- well Im checking out gold next week, and getting my super out of shares and going toward gold, as dont feel very confident in our banking or sharemarket systems at all for super or savings, and especially as our currency is not really secured against anything,and no gvt guarantees in place for our savings either- so Im following the chinese on this one and going back to basics GOLD.

Area to buy that are affordable- Beenleigh, Eaglby, Mt Warren Park, Central Coast NSW- ( good buying there now/ bargains about), Bega, Glen Innes, Tenterfield, Gympie, Childers, Logan Central, Goodna, Ipswich, Carole Park.
Some ideas- South Australia- Whyalla, Port Pirie
Tasmania – some parts very affordable

Interested in what people have to say about affordable areas, and how to help people survive that are starting out, or not able to work/ earn money that are in a very difficult housing situation now with rents/ living costs

Bye

We all have opportunities and I started from nothing working at Mcs since 14, then starting with a block of land at Blacktown, when I was 18. I came from a very poor Irish dairy family background where both of my grandparents and parents were forced to leave the country for opportunities, and came to OZ, I have watched my family struggle, and my grandparents told me to study and work hard and look for opportunities in the land so I did.

 It has taken me over 15 years of working 6 days per week to get to the level to build homes, split up land, and learn from the ground up.  I employ up to 15 people they are all happy, been with me over 10 years, get decent wages,  flexi time, family time, parent time, free gym membership, cash bonuses, profit share on jobs and I supply breakfast for free, xmas pressies, give a fortune to charities such as RSPCA, Drugarm, city mission, Salvation Army.

So no I dont feel guilty for what I have achieved, if I shut up shop tomorrow and did nothing it effectively puts people out of work, builders, ATO employees, tilers, plasterers, electricians, solicitors, accountants, book keepers, receptionists, gardeners

I dont call people anything, and dont believe in criticising people or their belief, religion, race, age or anything or ideas, so I shall not engage in any kind of comments.

Most of my friends in property we have started from nothing, worked hard, long hours, saved, took risks, struggled with banks, agents, interest, wage increases, battle with ATO to get some clear guidance, stress.

Really I do think many people have opportunities in front of them, but choose to sit back and do nothing, cant make decisions, afraid, dont have family support, have never been really poor and have had to work hard to survive, and many only want to work 9- 5pm and are happy doing this. Each to their own, but our country paved with golden opportunities but many cannot see them.

Every one can start off small in some way and just keep building up and as they build up more they can find different opportunties. I have seen our families and many come to OZ with nothing, minimal $$ or no english, but they have gone in search of opportunity, worked hard and found it.

I know it is still possible to buy houses cheap in certain areas and fix them up a little, so owning a house is not just for the elite- there are many areas where people can still buy something for under $200k but many people today want everything at once instead of building up gradually, or to live in certain zones/ areas.

I see it all the time with houses I build and sell, a young couple or family will come to look and many want the media room, 240 m2, rendered, ducted aircond that they cannot afford, they should be starting off smaller, and more manageable, and a few years down the track getting the larger home they wish for after they earn/ save more. Often I try to show them also the more affordable options we build, but many do not want the nice basic standard home and prefer to get themselves into major debt.

I think opportunities are there for most people, but maybe what is lacking is property education, support, guidance, or peoples ability to work together as a team or family unit to try to get ahead. I see many people working together in a small way on opportunities- a few brothers doing a renovation, or a family with other relatives building a house to sell, or a group of friends getting together to build townhouses, you just have to find the opportunity, seek out knowledge and if you cant do it yourself, then maybe team up with someone to do things together to get a little start.

Thanks

I can highly recommend DKM Accountants Upper Mt Gravatt BRISBANE – http://www.dkm.com.au

They are very specialised in property matters, tax, structures. Get the planning, structure and intention correct before you purchase and also get advice on the gst part of the construction.

Also from my understanding the 50% cgt exemption is a 2 part process- they look at land, and also look at the construction completion date, and also look at the land value after the 12 months.

Speak to Stephen Lennon or Karen- their advice is well worth every cent and they are not cheap but they get it right from Day 1 for you, and this is worth its weight in gold.

Thanks

There is never really a right or wrong time to buy, it depends on the deal, your strategy, goals and financial circumstances. The last few months I have purchased 15 properties, and building a few homes also, and the buying has been very good, and decent margin in all of the purchases. A lot of it comes down to finding the deals, contacts, strategy. There are always good buys in the market, but you must be ready, finance approved or cash, short clauses, quick settlements,and know your market inside out where you are buying.

I have been in property  for nearly 15 years now, and found the last few months has been some fantastic opportunities out there, dont follow the sheep and run for the hills afraid, research, speak to highly specialised people, investors buying up now, speak to buyers agents, advisors, valuers, and switched on agents to gather your info, and facts.

Always make sure you have enough cash to back you up if needed, dont buy others problems if you dont know how to fix then, no matter how cheap and try to learn from others that know or own more than you.

Goodluck- assess each deal on its merits, location, price, value, potential, demand and pain thresh hold – if you can hold in worst case scenario, then it can only get better.

Watch the flow of money, I am fortunate I know a lot of greeks, lebanese, italians and have a lot in my family so I watch and listen to whats going on, where, and try to learn from others that have been doing property nearly 40- 50 years.

Stay positive, and if something doesn't feel right, well don't do it, there are opportunite's out there daily, you just have to get off the phone, net, out of the cafe, unchain yourself from the office desk and pound the streets looking for opportunities and talking to the locals and ask lots of questions to educate yourself whats really going on in the market, and where the deals are.

Bye-

I have heard of him – he seems to put options on a lot of devt sites in South area of Brisbane- I think he has an office in Brisbane

Don't know much else-maybe ring REIQ or LAW society

I do know some friends that have done options on properties and it seemed to work well for them, but they also put up large non refundable deposits to show they are genuine, sometimes they have lost a few deposits but other times they have also made a lot of $$$ also in the long term.

Bye-

Basically if it doesnt feel right for you or ethical then walk away!! or run!!! lots of dodgy scammers out there- I'm on the road 5-6 days a week looking at deals and come across a lot of them, and they are like faulty towers their funny tricks, things they say and do- gives me very good humour sometimes!!

Bit of both in this area- look for decent size land though and a good block, pref brick and tile, or full brick- but not too sure what 300k will get though in this area- as I tend to spend about 310- 325k and buy the solid brick homes that may need a freshen up –

Call me tomorrow if you wish after 9am qld time and I can refer you to a few good agents that I buy from regularly

bye

I went to a free event in Brisbane, from this company- yes I did learn a few things and also made me rethink a few strategies and goals and take the time to really break down a few goals and write it all down. In summary my understanding was NLP was about training your mind, focus, getting rid of negative thoughts, or looking at situations in a few different ways.

I didn't continue through to their training courses as felt I didn't require this- I'm fairly focussed, and motivated and full of energy most days anyway, and Ive been a poor uni student once, busking backpacker and worked jobs Ive hated, this motivates me daily to achieve, work hard, work smart, never give up and have choices. I set a goal by 30 to be a millionaire and I achieved it by 34, but this would not have been achieved if I had not read,learnt, studied, tried, blocked out all negative friends/ family, and so called experts telling me I'm too young, female, should be having kids, what if, not possible, you cant do it.

Lucky I didn't listen to all the negatives! When I'm lazing about watching my foxtel, or zooming about on my wave runner, or hanging out with family whilst all the corporates are locked in their offices putting up with memos, stress, jammed fax machines, messages, email overload.

I think any event or training you can go to even if FREE- even if you learn one thing or meet one person that can assist you progress you mentally, emotionally, intellectually or it leads to financial freedom and allows you more time with your family, friends, community, and saves you from an early heart attack due to over work cannot be ignored.

I met one of my best friends at a free seminar many years ago, and we have had some amazing times investing, building, travelling, and helping each other in life, and there is no money in the world that could buy this friendship.
I wont go into all the analysis paralysis of NLP- just take from it what you can as core teaching fundamentals, all learning no matter what is good learning, as long as you use your judgement, commonsense, morals and ethics to see if for you?
bye

Interesting comment- most of the wealthy accountants, solicitors, and valuers of Brisbane and Gold Coast, plus most agents themselves and very serious investors are holding 30- 40 properties each in these area. Good stock under 300k, sells in less than 1 day.

I have over 30 properties in this area, and have invested heavily here since 1999- with the results, equity, growth, has allowed me to now invest in waterfront property on the Gold Coast, build townhouse developments, buy 3 commercial premises and build, sell 10 house/ land packages in the last 12 months. I have no vested interest to recommend these areas, but if you study the capital growth of these area, rent demand, rent return and projected growth these are the areas that come up winning on all counts for under 300,000. Also you must be up with the councils infrastructure, and beautification programme.

Yes some of these areas were scum a few years ago, but most of this has all changed now.

In any suburbs there are bad streets, there are a few in these areas, but then you keep away from these ones.
I work in these markets daily and here are some of the scenarios that we own and hold, with long term tenants, mainly families long term. My longest tenant has been there 7 years and always a month in advance!!

KINGSTON- Bought 130k in 2006, reno 20k, rent 350 pw, revalue last week at 320k
SLACKS CREEK- Bought 83k in 2004, on 1252m2, reno 25k, rents 330pw, reval last week 340k, and we will build a new spec on the back of the block.
KINGSTON- Bought 2003 for 150k, 1599m2 – just subdivided and registered into 3 blocks and sold each block for 195k
LOGAN CENTRAL- Bought in 2006 for 99k, 4 brm, highset, 850m2, spent 30k in reno, then rented 300 pw, just sold for 335k, settle in 1 week- yahoo!!
BEENLEIGH- Bought $99k, 1100m2, bought 2007 as a mortgagee sale, reno 25k, rented 285k, revalued last week at 320,000, and new tenants in at 335pweek.
EAGLBY- Bought $ 45,000 each unit, bought 7 units in 2003, now worth about 210- 220 each, tenants paying 220 per week each. Block revalued at 1.470 last week by Richard Ellis.

Anyway I think you should not criticise anyone without looking at the facts, evidence, and asking questions.
Im 36 now pretty much retired – dont need to work if I dont wish to through property investing,a nd I got my start and way up to other projects through these areas.

I think it is wrong to advise against anything unless you really know your market, stats, facts, and evidence, rather than  just sitting in some riverfront mansion  speaking against an area or people without facts.

HI

A lot of research needed and also you need to work out are you in the mining town short term or long term.

We have done a fair bit in Biloela, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Chinchilla, and now focusing on Bowen basin areas.

We buy land, subdivide, build houses, and rent some, sell some.

Also buy just individual homes, good location, opportunity to makeover and sell or we furnish and rent out.

I don't go to really small areas, I make sure there is a regional central town, all facilities, strong rent or resale demand, and that there is industry there only than just mining. The areas above we have done really well out of, but now our main focus in
Bowen and Townsville and a little in Chinchilla.

Bye