Hi Dev,

Anywhere within 5-10 minbutes of the CBD is good. Darwin was an experimental city after the Tracy (74) and you will find a mixture of low income households amongst the high income households in most suburbs. Some areas of Nightcliff are very good whilst others are so so. If you look on a map you will find a nice little triangle formed by the University, Hospital and Casuarins shopping centre. Find a good street in this area and you shouldnt have any problems. For the time being try to avoid the outer suburbs of Karama and Malak but eventually this will probably change and other areas will have higher social problems. You can also try the certain areas of Palmerston about 20K out of Darwin and now it’s own little city(15-20K population. Quite afew long term residents are moving out further to rural bloscks of 5 acres that are still within 30-40 minutes of town. Darwin is till expanding with many government projects underway and should keep expanding for the next 5-10 years. I think that as prices in other cities start to gradually drop in or not rise as fast Darwin prices will still maintain the same rate of increase.

Hi Megapass,

If your small business is providing you with a reasonable income then I would suggest you keep your business. You will gain valuable experience by running your own business. As you move across in to property investing you will be able to use the knowledge you have gained from your current business and apply that to your investing. Being your own boss now should give you more freedom later to concentrate on property investing. If you can show a connection between the two (your current business and your need to learn more about property investing), your books, magazines attending seminars or meetings may be tax deductible against your current business( check with your accountant). I think if you can spend 30 minutes-1 hour a day reading the posts here you will gain the knowledge you require very quickly without the needs to buy a lot of books or materials, excepts Steve’s of course.

One of my business asociates(UK) has recently moved into property investing in the US (Texas). The set up is similar to DHA, but with private companies renting the houses and putting their workers in there to live. My understanding is that the US does welcome overseas investors in to the property market but there is a lot of paperwork to get around. Maybe Steve can give a quick run down on some of the differences he faced in the US.

Hi Investor4,

I will be back in Darwin for a couple of weeks at the beginning of August and wouldnt mind catching up with another Darwinite.

Hi Loungeact, it is good to see you are thinking of helping your mum whilst trying to get ahead but be wary of the future. Now you are 20 but what happens in 5 or 10 years time and you decide you want to get married. Does your wife move in and your mum out. What happens if your mum decides to marry? You need to think about the problems that may occur and the effects they may have on your relationship with your mum.

C2

I would probably choose the safe option of putting 50K into a good account returning a reasonable return and use the other 100K as deposits for 2-3 CF+ properties. Upgrade the car without going overboard, definitely give the little lady a nice holiday or a romantic weekend away and finally drop 5% into a nice tax deductible charity. At a later date recheck your situation and then decide what to do with the last 50K. Don’t use all your nest egg / windfall at once.

C2

Hi g7,

One advantage of doing the course is that it allows you to see if you have what it takes to embark on further studies. It is a big jump from a diploma to a degree and if you haven’t done any study for a while then it would be a good way to test the waters.

C2

Hi Kay Henry,

Are you taking into consideration the time it takes to modify the site and constantly update it. I know my time is pretty expensive.

C2
“Is it true the more you owe the more you grow until the bank steps in?”

Hi Lawry73

Depending on the type of retirement villa (sometimes this means aged care hostel or nursing home and just sounds better) there are some unexpected costs that may occur. If the management is claiming a subsidy from the government for nursing care then they come under some very stringent guidelines. An inspector can decide that something needs to be fixed, added or replaced and it must be done within a certain time frame. Funding can be denied to management, who will then try to get the subsidy they have lost from you the investor. When buying off the plan you need to make sure that all government rquirements in regards to nursing care are met before occupancy. These requirements may change and the added cost is then past on to the investor. If the resident is under nursing care and the inspector asks for modification to the unit then this cost may also be past on to the individual investor.

Shaunwalker,

I didn’t quite follow this one question i do have is: the government subsidises alot of it, but you have to “buy the beds” at a cost. since there is only so many beds they sell at a time, and i know for a fact alot of the beds owned are not being used (actually they havent even started building the retirement villages yet) how do these people selling this intend on getting the beds? My understanding is that there is a shortage of beds and accommodation. Which beds are you talking about that are owned and not being used. If it’s private villa’s then the reason there may be the expensive entry fees to get in to these villa’s. Some charge as much as 250K to get in the door.

C2
“Is is true the more you owe the more you grow unti the Bank steps in[/i]?”

Just finished watching the news and it reminded me of this thread that started a little while back. Has this news hit OZ yet.

The contracts issue is starting to hot up and a few countries are starting to complain about not getting enough contracts, especially Canada.

Slum lord

You are right about Lebanon. It probably won’t take more than a few months and then Iraq will be opened up to private foreign investors. Try DFAT for up to date info.

C2
“Is it true the more you owe the more you grow until the Bank steps in?”