WOW!!! I admire your research. Sounds like you have a good idea of where you want to go and that's a BIG thing.

Are the 4 flip properties in addition to the initial 4 plus the 2 houses? What time frame are you talking? That's a lot of property to buy. It takes time to research and then find properties. I've been buying 2 a year (but this year I've already bought my 2 so maybe 3 this year and it takes a lot of hours (plus I reno them). I don't sell. But will later (after Sydney has it's next boom)

Having a mix of CF+ and CF- will balance out so overall you may be CF neutral and in that case your wage would not be affected.

I haven't used LMI but I don't have an equity issue. I have friends that always use it, even if they have a low LVR. Everyone has different opinions. As you said it is tax deductible but my thinking is why pay it if you don't need the extra 10%. In your case I guess the extra 10% on each will add up to extra equity to allow you to build your portfolio quicker. But still there's a limit to your overall borrowing and having all your loans at 90% is outside my risk profile.  

Do you have any areas in mind? West Sydney? Regional?

I'm in Sydney if you want to come along to some meetups. It's great to chat with like minded people. There's one in Parra in 2 weeks if you are interested. Have you heard of Nathan Birch? He's a guest speaker. Google him. His methodology may suit you.

Welcome.

Great work starting so young.

Sounds like you have an ambitious goal. 9 properties paid in full in 9 years. How are you going to achieve that? 

Not saying this is you but many people start out and have a pie in the sky goal with no clue as to how they'll get there. This is VITAL if you really mean to achieve that goal.

eg will you buy 16 and wait for CG then sell half to pay down the other half? Will you pay one off (if you have a high wage) then buy another (I do not recommend this at all). Buy as many as you can quickly in high growth areas and pay down? Buy cheap and renovate to increase equity to then use that equity to buy again?

I'd be interested in your strategy and how you are going to achieve your goal.

This would vary from person to person and how risk averse you are.

When people are in the accumulation phase some are leveraged as high as 90%+. That scares me. A slight negative shift and you may have banks recalling loans. But each to their own. If you are on a high wage and have huge disposable income I guess you could quickly change your situation. But it's not for me. I like to play it safe.

It's also good to have cash reserves as a backup.

Lino in bathroom? Sounds strange.

I only tile bathrooms, floor and walls to ceiling.

I like carpet in the bedrooms (so do lots of renters). I have polished floorboards in some living areas. I am yet to see how they stand up over time. I also have a few with carpet throughout. Staining is a problem.

Polishing is a lot cheaper. I prefer the polished floors now because of cost, except in really cold areas.

And where would that be??

Come on. You're going to buy property because it has had good returns for 2 1/2 years???

Good on you for starting to think about your investment options but read a LOT more before embarking on any investments.
Go to seminars, read, meet people, discuss.

Or is your post just a plug for the link??

No I definitely would not sell. The money you lose selling then buying again is wasted money. Sydney market is moving so you'll lose CG to sell now (my opinion of course + lots of others I have to admit)     Sorry can't help with agents in those areas.
Congrats on the marriage.

I don't believe so. But suburbs vary. Many people will only invest within 10km of CBD as they say this is where CG is highest. For many suburbs that is true but not all. When prices rise it is usually a ripple effect so outer suburbs (I'm talking major cities here) may get their growth a few months behind.

If suburbs near the city go up then the next ones will, etc etc. Of course there are individual suburbs and even streets that won't go up as much.

Personally I need CG + decent cashflow. If CG is great but it costs a fortune to hold then overall it's not that great (and there's only so many of that type of property you can afford to hold. Also if you have great cash flow but no CG are you working toward wealth creation or just holding your own? Depends what your strategy is. Maybe get a balance. The positive CF ones can help you hold the high CG ones. 

If you think that's what investing in property means better try something else.
Yes people do still buy property to reduce their tax. But these are not serious investors. It is usually uninformed mum and dad investors who listen to the "we'll save you tax" spiels. What many fail to realise is to save tax you need to lose money. I prefer making money myself.

There are some great deals out there ATM. Just need to look. Even some CF+ in Sydney. Even slightly CF- in Sydney will bring rewards quickly as rents and CG go up.

Do you mean you are looking at changing Strata management?

I did that with one of mine. The management was HOPELESS. I was very happy with one of my others so rang them and they helped me draft the letters for the EGM etc as I didn't know how to go about it.
 
Look at how big the company is. How many staff they have. How many properties each staff is responsible for. Charges (of course).

I'm in Sydney if you need a recommendation. Conti Property Group are a small company with very individual service. I would highly recommend them. Speak to Joe Conti if interested.