Hi Robo, they may drive old bombs and look like ferrals, but the house looks big and nice with all the mods and cons and those three 2-4 weeks overseas holidays every year is what they prefer. People spend their wealth in many different ways and some people don’t spend a long time in their cars so an expensive car is really a waste for that 10 minute drive to go shopping or pick up the rent.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

Hi Clones,

I assumed that you were asking if its time to sell (Is time to sell?) because of a decrease in rental returns.

Current IP’s are the IP’s that investors own now.

(Don’t the tenants change overtime and you need to find new ones?) Yes, but some of my tenants have been there for between 15-20 Yrs.

(if they find a place across the road in the same condition and 5% or 10% less rent, well my friend I think you can figure out where they are moving to!.) I’m not sure about this one either, moving doesn’t just involve walking across the road either. How many things do they have to change for that 5-10%, electricity, postal, driving licence, insurances. I think most people wouldn’t move across the road to save somewhere between $20-$50/ month. Also, how often do you find places that similar to each other unless there in the same complex. Most of my IPs have something that makes them a little unique/different to other surrounding properties and my PMs never have a problem finding new tenants. To the best of my memory the longest any of my IPs has been vacant is less than 14 days.

Nevertheless there will always be some people like you say that will take the 5-10% cheaper property.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

Hi Terry, thanks for the info. Some of the articles came up scrambled on my computer. I’m assuming there in Japanese script. Did you post them in Japanese?

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

You can count me out. I’ve already donated one. Is this what we call thinking outside the square. You only need 1 kidney to have a happy healthy life. His body, his choice. Would we think any different if he was working, owned his own home but wanted some extra funds? How much would you pay to buy a kidney and save your loved ones life?

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

Hi Calvin,
this is not my area of expertise but I’m always surprised when someone says they could’ve got a better deal elsewhere. how many times have you seen an item cheaper in a shop elsewhere after you just bought that item. Mortgage brokers are only human and will try to find the best deal for you but not everyone will always agree on what is the best deal. If you gave the same info to 10 different MB you wont get all of them agreeing on the same lender what you will get is good advice and what they think suits your needs best.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

Hi Nazzy,

Congratulations on getting in to the mentoring cause. It may be worth while to contact the university and find out what books they use for the course you were thinking of doing. Try to borrow some books and when you want a break from the investing side read one of the books or even allocate 1-2 hours a week to reading these books. This way you are covering both areas at the same time and still keeping your options open.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

Hi Dr X

‘If my partner and I ever broke up (which is unlikely), the last thing I would be thinking about is how the stupid assets are divided, deciding what will happen to kids etc is more important than money!

who cares????

Just split the money in half and move on.’

This sounds easy in theory but even if you decide to split it 50/50 the family court and CSA can change that.

This has been covered in a previous post where a friend of mine and his wife both had properties before they got married. When they separated they sold the house they bought together and he gave her all the money $90000 because she was going to raise the children and his half could be declared as child support prepayments. 2 Years later in steps the family law court and CSA and guess what? They disregard the money given and ask him to pay nearly a third of his wages to her. This sounds fair enough until you find out that she now earns $80000 and he now earns $30000, has remarried and has a 3 months old baby. Her defactor earns in excess of $100000 (lawyer).

In regards to prenuptials they are just about useless unless you keep track of all finaces after the relationship start and draw up new finacial contracts everytime your assests change. All your defacto may need to prove is that the contracts or prenuptials were signed under duress to possibly have them made not worth the paper their written on.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

It would be interesting to see how many people on this forum who invest in property are actually working in the discipline they studied at university. I chose my discipline because it was something I was interested and could be undertaken part time. It doesn’t matter whether you choose steve’s mentoring course or study at university, neither of them have guarantees that you will pass or succeed. Nazzy have a really good look at which one you want and remember there will most likely be an opportunity to do one or the other at a later time.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.

I’m with gross on this one. I get lost with all the figures and stats and don’t really think there is one perfect way to always maximise your investing. Too many people are out their trying to squeeze the last little dollar out of their investments. Sometimes its better to take a little less of a return and have more freedom and time to do other things. Does it really matter if you’re getting 1-3% less return than the absolute best method. It may take longer to make that fortune but at least I’m enjoying it whilst I’m making it. Investing should be something you enjoy rather than something you always worry about Don’t get greedy and try to rush towards those millions of dollars or hundreds of properties. Look at what you really want and need to make you happy and go for it carefully. The market always has ups and down and some people can always make money in these markets, but not everyone, and those who normally make it are making because someone else either made a mistake or didn’t realise the potential that was there to be taken.

C2

Rich in happiness and money is better than rich in money with no happiness.