James,

What was your main goal when you started investing?

Were you looking for quick returns and  quick profit or more of the buy and hold for a few years.

If you don't sell you do not lose any money on the actual situation.
If you keep then it may take a few years before the light shines but it will shine.

You mentioned you have an IP but what about the house you live in now?
Would it rent out for more than your IP?  What other options do you have for alternative incomes?

It appears your mainly worrying about prices dropping but that wont affect you if you don't sell.

Investing is not easy and sometimes it can look as if you are going nowhere fast.  Many investors felt this way in the late 80's when rates were up around 18% and again in the 90's when property moved slowly but most of those who managed to hold on have benefited by doing so.

You are doing the right thing as an investor and thinking about your situation over the next 6-12 months but are you giving yourself unnecessary worry?  No property is worth sleepless nights and stress and if the only way for you to feel comfortable is to sell then go with that option.

Times are tight at the moment and have you checked other alternatives to raising some extra cash.  It could be as easy as down sizing your car or cutting your spending budget by 10-15%. 

Also if you are locked in on your loan what penalties apply if you break and sell now rather than waiting?

If you do decide to sell then set a price that sees you at least break even and hold for that.

Sole ownership B

Shared C

But as some have mentioned it is not the numbers but the returns you are getting.

I've written on this forum before an example of one portfolio that started with borrowing 2K in 86 to help buy the first property worth 75k to now having multiple properties worth over 2 million combined in value but debt of only 800k in 2006.

One key is to make sure the properties are CF+ enough to cover any unexpected costs like 2% interest hikes or no tenant for 2 months.  Second key is to look after your tenants as they will most likely look after you but then again I've also had the tenant from hell which I've also written a post about.  3rd key (just a personally favorite) which I consider to be very important is the LVR and I like to keep this at levels that can cope with a 10-30% drop in prices just in case the crunch comes and something needs to be sold. 

My investing style is purely buy and hold for long term growth.  May not get rich as quick as other methods but has certainly worked for me so far.

Terry,

Becareful.

There have been a few scams like this doing the rounds lately but there are also a few legit ones and normally a lot more $ to buy into than you mentioned. 

I know some people who were/are heavily involved in this for a few years. 

Pm me for more info.

Be very careful about these developments in Japan.

Quite a few investors have been burnt.

The early stages when theses areas first went off were quite good.

Investing in Japan is a totally different to just about anywhere else and the same rules of CGG and RA don't apply.

Many OZ investors have gone in blind expecting CGG and RA and then find that is virtually non existent.

Those that have made money appear to have made it by fleecing quite a few investors in the early stages.

If you are looking for a holiday home then these places are okay especially if you do a lot of skiing but don't expect to make money from RR or CGG later down the track.

I've previously included rent rises after 3 months in contracts as the first 3 months was considered a honey moon period.

M888,

Agree with you 100%.  6 post from the same person and each one is just spruiking.

Takashi,

Have you tried visiting real estate companies or developers personally?
Are you eligible for any grants or schemes that would be of benefit for them to hire you as a trainee etc?
Do you have some other talent that might be of use?  For example, your name Takashi (Japanese) makes me wonder if you may speak Japanese and there are companies that target Japanese investors for developments etc.

Don,

Excellent write up.

It is possible for the RBA to do another .5 cut before xmas maybe even a second cut and help stimulate the economy further over the xmas period. 

crashy,

Living in both countries I follow the exchange between AUD & YEN very carefully.  Especially as I receive incomes in both currencies.  The exchange rate at one time was 58 and for 500000 yen I sent to OZ I received around $8500.   Once the currency rose to around 75 I stopped and just kept the incomes in both countries separate.  The AUD went to 105 and I transferred 50K over as I believed at the time the AUD was ready to go down in a big way.   Just transferred that money back and the rate I got was 65.  Nice little 30K profit in a few months.

Although the idea of borrowing money at low interest is appealing I have never done due to sudden currency fluctuations.  Also you might find that being a foreigner you may be borrowing at 2 or 3% and not under 1%.  The same situation can be applied to borrowing Yen through NAB etc to buy OZ properties but it is better if your income is also in Yen.

SCAMP,

For what it is worth be careful quoting Wikipedia as a source of information unless it has been verified elsewhere as a lot of misinformation is on the site.  In regards to Japan I have had to update numerous articles on Wikipedia as the information provided has been far from the truth.  In regards to your example it doesn't support what you say but more what  I mentioned about houses depreciating from just over 200K to about 125K.  What it doesn't show is that for the last 15 years the price of a new house to be built on a vacant piece of land has been 300K.  That rents have been the same for nearly 15 years.  The graph shows property going from about 200K to 180K only a drop of 10% between 1990-92 but this was really a 60% drop in asset prices across the board and real estate was one of the least affected compared to others such as stocks, shares and commodities.  During the years of all this turmoil and from as early as 1974 Japans inflation rate was a whopping 2% and astounded many economic observers.  The down fall of Japans economy was from borrowing for shares, stocks, commodities and overseas expansion of banking operations, not from real estate borrowings.  Real estate was over valued but not through investors of real estate but by banks lending money to people to buy shares etc against the value of their properties which the banks themselves had valued.

You appear to be very good at trying to twist what you read. 

Everything I wrote was in reference to Japan as you cited Japan.
I made no references to goods or markets in other countries so why bring that up when talking about Japan.

Japans real estate market is driven by entirely different forces to Australia so your comment about Sydney prices and sea side doesn't apply.  If you lived here and invested in realestate here you would know this. A large percentage of Japanese will tell you not to buy a place near the beach as the salt destroys the houses or the property may be destroyed by a tsunami, but a small dingy apartment with no parking but within 2 minutes of a train station is the way to go and worth more.  There are exceptions to this rule but very far and few between.

Remember you were the one that made comments and quoted Japan as the an example.  All I have done is explained the differences between Japan and OZ and why your comments about Japan are totally irrelevant to Australia.  My comments about cars and TV's was to indicate to you the example of Jones Effect in Japan not a specific 10 year time frame.  It is a phenomenon that far exceeds the normal time frame of products in other countries.

The Jones Effect when applied to TV's etc occurs after 12-18 months not 10 years as you have mentioned in other countries.  You have tried to apply the 10 years right across the board to all material items as an example which indicates you haven't got a clue how Japan as an economy works.  

I never said the Jones Effect applies in OZ so need for you to try and bring that up. 

I fully understand the differences between OZ and Japan and how ridiculous it is to try and connect the two as you have done.

My understanding of basic economist must be very poor to turn 2K into 2 million of assets over 20 years although the equity is only around the 1.3 million.  2K to 1.3 for someone with no understanding of basic economics.

What have you done to make you such an expert on OZ or Japan economies apart from reading Wikipedia?