In the same area for around the same price you can purchase a 5 acre block…that’s 80 or 90 times as much land as those handkerchief type blocks.

With massive depreciation in the value of the new home, I reckon you’d be lucky to see any ‘growth’ for many years…what with the tiny land component having to overcome the big drop in value of the…[Read more]

Most professions are accountable

Not sure that a massive 5 day course…4 days x 8 hours per day plus an exam on the fifth day…rightly qualifies someone to call themselves a professional.

Maybe – maybe not…depends on your individual opinion.

In the olden days there were only four professions, Medicine, Law, Engineering and Arms. All of…[Read more]

How about make your offer ;

1. Unconditional
2. Full asking price
3. Cash

At the end of the day, that’s what all Sellers are holding out for.

It sounds as if you are in an extremely weak negotiating position due to your keenness for the property. However, if the dirt warrants it, it can still be a bargain.

Doesn’t sound like they looked after your best interests.

I think if you had a frank chat with the Principal of the Agency and push came to shove, I think you’ll find that their number one goal is to look after the agency’s interest first.

The hapless Owner (one of hundreds typically on their books) is not at the top of their list. Maybe about…[Read more]

after all, that is what you are paying a property manager for, so you don’t have to worry.

I think this is where most of the trouble originates from. This is an unrealistic expectation placed on the PM by the Owner…I believe as their title is a complete misnomer, yet the Owner believes with that title the PM actually manages the property.

A…[Read more]

I would of placed the $1miLL on Makaybe Diva at odds of $4.

Invested $1miLL : Returned $4miLL : Profit $3miLL

My mother used to say “woulda coulda shoulda….but didn’t”.

I note that you put your profession down as a professional gambler, although your post is dated 2 days after the big race. This post event gambling must be a lucrative…[Read more]

hey..do we have a few night owls here?

posting around midnight.

Redwing, when it’s midnight on the East coast of Australia it’s not in other parts of the world. I’m 8 hours behind Sydney time at the moment, so midnight posting is the middle of the arvo for me. Just hard to get a convo going ‘cos you guys in Oz all go to bed too early… [biggrin]

You also may want to check the zoning against both the land area and the frontage.

It’s quite common for example, to find older duplexes sitting on blocks that were once zoned duplex, but have since been upgraded to maybe a triplex or even a quadruplex block.

These are usually popular with developers for knock down jobs.

we are never going to agree so I’ll not bore other formumites further since we have detoured from teh original thread. Therefore if you wish to continue I will reply in private.

Excellent idea Milly.

Either the topic gets back on track to something remotely related to property investing or I will truly truly truly lock it up.

Which means that the cost for him to go to the toilet is considerable if you conisder how long it takes to go to the toilet. Lets say 3 minutes?? Then if your bill Gates thats $54000. Now if he goes twice in one day then its really starting to add up.

Bill would be much better of paying someone to make coffee for him as the investment of paying…[Read more]

scullyman,

Surely it’s a big numbers game. Get the numbers up to a level where they dwarf your private consuming level…and viola.

If you have 5 MM in assets with say 4 MM in debt, and over time the assets grow to be 20 MM whilst you are working and the debt level remains constant, surely it would be reasonable to approach the bank and say can…[Read more]

Being the third child…I can attest…you do survive…despite the lack of pampering the first one gets.

Having 3 girls of our own, I think the third one does OK…in fact gets away with murder actually…

All up, kids are pretty robust and don’t need to be namby pambied like we all tend to do in the Western World.

Geoff,

I was looking at an office block a week ago that had no less than four carriers on the rooftop with their repeater thingies.

It got a little crowded up there with all of their antennae (sp?), along with the cooling towers and the roof jiggy’s for hanging the window cleaners off.

They all had 10 year leases in place, from 2000 I believe,…[Read more]

I’ve run this ‘expense occurred whilst running around chasing new opportunities that you don’t own yet’ claim by my accountant. His response was it would be appropriate given the two following conditions ;

1. Your scale of operations justified it.

2. Apportion the business vs private use of the vehicle and claim the business use sector only.…[Read more]

I believe my Mentor could have been in this position but why pull the plug at 30 ?? I think you are refering to being in a job that you don’t like or have a boss to answer to.

He’s now 66 and intends on ‘working’ well into his 80’s. Why not if you are enjoying what you do. Although I note the fishing trips are getting a tad longer and more…[Read more]

Trent,

I reckon this real estate game is simply a numbers game. Very difficult to have a chat about real estate without mentioning numbers.

Do you think at some stage numbers might enter the conversation ??

What are you trying to do exactly ??

Hard to say, one’s looking at it from the human side of things and one is looking at the piece of dirt as a lump of cash ??

When it’s mine, I look at it as a lump of cash. When someone else owns it, everyone has the luxury of thinking, and is happy to go down the “Oh that looks nice, it’d be a shame to demolish that”.

What gets my goat is when…[Read more]

hmmm if time really is money how much does it then cost to

*go to the loo

*make a coffee

*watch your favourite TV show

First one – nothing – good value there.

Second one – nothing – good value there.

Third one – I reckon absolutely millions over the years – and that is probably an understatement.

One goes about it by using either of the following techniques with the owners of the title or titles (much harder if you have more than one) whose land enjoys the benefit of the caveat;

1. Use the ol’ quid pro quo method.
2. Grovel and scrape.
3. Cash inducement.

I’ve found techniques 2 & 3 go nowhere. You need some leverage against the…[Read more]

Why not pop something on the block, rather than ditch it and buy a house & block ??