Forum Replies Created
Excellent situation if the kids are supervised.
Where I work, the child street cleaners are the only cleaners…cannot afford machines. Their pay is about 200 riyals per day ($1.10) for a 10 hour day. Ages range from ~ 6 up to about 12.
There is no supervision and because they work so close to and on the road, on average about 400 kids die a year from getting hit. They simply import more in…mafi mushkala…no problem.
Don’t think the kids I see take it as a ‘learning opportunity’…more a case of…if I don’t sweep I starve.
Life in the Western World is so good…we have absolutely no idea – not even an inkling – of what it is really like for the majority of the population.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
I was reliably informed years ago from the rig pigs out in Quilpie and Eromanga that it’s a bit like a “handful of wet sand at the bottom of an old footy sock”. Couldn’t really comment myself.
Yep,
I’ve done it 4 times in the past, 1 about 6 years ago and 3 in the last 3 months. First one was a house. The 3 most recent ones there was no houses and no household goods involved. All industrial sheds. Residential situations and people’s personal ‘stuff’ is way too difficult.
When we cleared out the house, cleaned up after 3 boys who were into drugs and behind 3 months in rent…despite chasing them for the past 18 months. You know the story, 7 weeks behind…take time out of your personal life to go around and plead with them to pay. They hand over 4 weeks worth of cash and go “great”, as soon as I walk out the door they are only 3 weeks behind and the whole cycle starts again. My father and I got a big rash on our sides and under our arms where we carried the flea infested carpets out.
The best bit was when I was out on the front verandah cleaning a path to the front door with a shovel and wheelbarrow. A real heavy looking character pulled up in a 70’s V8 and demanded to know where the tenant was. I informed him that I was the Landlord and obviously didn’t know, but if he finds him, tell him I’m looking for him. He turned around and said if he catches up with him he won’t be saying anything to him, simply taking an iron bar to this guys spine. I gathered I wasn’t the only one he owed money to. It seemed I was also down the priority scale somewhat.
How people live with the stress of everyone chasing them for money is beyond me. Doesn’t stop them spending though. When cleaning up there was letters of demand for multiple mobile phones, multiple credit cards, video store rentals, Myer cards, and still banks and other financial institutions were trying to feed these guys more credit…amazing…that’s half the trouble right there.
Six weeks after the disgusting clean up, the tenant unexpectedly turned up on our PPoR doorstep and handed us all of the back rent he owed in cash. He apologised for the mess he made and parted with a cheerio. After I picked myself off the floor, went back inside and had a celebratory cup of tea.
We’ve never cleaned up residential messes again and don’t anticipate we’ll have to any time soon.
The 3 industrial incidents were minor in comparison. A forklift, truck and locksmith do wonders. We sought advice from lawyers before doing it. With all of their hand wringing and “rights, rights, rights of the tenants”. Their advice was pretty much the same as what your daughter received. No way Hose A.
Within two weeks the clowns were out, place was cleaned up and advertised and new lessee’s have moved in. You wouldn’t know they were there. They try it on of course, but you call their bluff and they fold like a pack of cards. It helps being big though. It also helps the tenants not ever being able to find out where your PPoR is. Lesson learnt and applied since the residential place 6 years ago.
I honestly believe there is a very big untapped market out there for services to quickly evict tenants who are a joke. This is where you get into the murky waters of screaming mothers and children with residential props….no way Hose A. The police would be round there quick as a flash and that’s you done for months.
I remember replying to your original thread Marc…the only true solution to avoiding this drama is don’t get involved with people’s personal lives…whatever that entails.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
A: If I was the tenant, absolutely to protect my “stuff” from thievery during the inspection. If I was the Vendor, try scheduling the inspection when at least one of the tenants is at work or Uni.
Q : How do you best get elderly folks to open up and begin discussing their real estate experiences ??
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Great question bmj…What exactly do you intend doing with the data if and when you do ever find / verify / assimilate and correlate it ??
How will that generalist data help you buy that great little 3×2 fibro house on 739 sqm in a great location at # 17 Particular Street Somecity ??
I don’t see the connection myself between the median normalised averaged cross referenced against some average wage earner across the other side of the country and official statistics on previous sales across “the market”…vs…that individual property on a title.
Have a chat to Foundation, he’s a whizz at stats and will definitely have some data that you can crunch and flip and sort and play with ’til the cows come home.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
I reckon if you have to ask that question to obtain guidance from a general lay public forum, you aren’t in a position to receive approval.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Excellent reply Terryw. Spitfire, your question has been very elegantly answered.
We’ve been in this situation twice before. We chose the first alternative of selling to the wife, paying the stamp duty, and it worked really well. Depending on which state you live, you may even be exempted or receive a discount on the duty payable.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
We moved into our PPoR last November after kicking the useless student tenants out. They’d promised to rectify the pool for certain rental favours, but as usual with tenants, took the good side from the Landlord and dumped the responsibility….another story for another time.
Pool experts said it’d cost 15K to refurbish, or 5K to pull out and another 25K to put another one in. As usual, we ignored their inflated advice.
We mucked in and gave the area a birthday. Hauled 6 tonnes of skanky swampy water out with a bucket…fantastic leg and bum workout.
Gave it a scrub and pure chlorine wash and she came up trumps…it’s a 45 yr old concrete saltwater pool. 109 cubic metres of volume. An army could get in there without bumping shoulders. Cost to this stage was $ 300.
Got rid of the rusty old pump and filter and put in brand new ones. Got jipped again by experts, they sold us a pump that has the capacity to turn over the pool’s capacity 4 times per day (the recommended minimum) but it takes 22 hours to do it. Big tip…if in doubt, go the bigger pump. Costs about $ 1-10 per day in electricity to keep it running.
All up refurbishment cost was $ 2.5K great value for money. It’s added about 20K to the value of our place. We don’t think they are an imposition cost wise at all.
We have 3 young girls and they absolutely love it. Swimming lessons are a joke now…they learn more in one day out in the pool than in a whole season prancing around singing songs and carrying on like pork chops with instructors.
Best thing is that they are getting great exercise, and at the end of the day they are absolutely knackered, which means early to bed and no carrying on when they get in there. There appetite improves as well. It’s all good.
In the winter, the ducks use it as a pond. Duck poo is not so great, so we fully encourage our crabby ol’ Jack Russell to get after them…great entertainment for the whole family.
There’s an old springboard that came with the pool, and the challenge before summer arrives is to fix up the old 20″ casing that has rusted off 30 years ago and sheared in the ground that acts as the base of the springboard. Apparently I’ll be the best Dad in the whole wide world when that gets rectified. Welding and me don’t mix though…need someone who’s not such a great big Nancy. That’s firmly in the ‘to learn’ pile…must add that to the skill set.
And another thing – what is it with kids in pools and screaming their heads off ?? Why is it, that when water touches their body, they have this primeval urge to scream their lungs out…constantly…for hours on end….every time ?? Why can’t kids play in pools without shouting ??
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Hmmm,
I was thinking the same thing.
As far as I know, as a non-resident for Australian taxation purposes, one can build up income losses through the ownership of negative cashflow assets when out of the country…and then “chew down” the losses when back in Oz earning a taxable income. No problem. But that’s on the income side of things.
In terms of cap. gains and cap. losses, I haven’t heard of that.
I was under the impression that income losses could be carried forward, but losses and gains needed to be accounted for in the fin. yr in which they were incurred ??
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Good on you Capt.
Congratulations and welcome to the exciting world of investing.
How does that weight feel on your shoulders ?? It gets comfy after a while….I’m told.
Well done.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Ah…the same ol’ chestnut appearing again…whinging residential tenants causing you grief as they go about their domestic affairs whilst you are trying to concentrate on the cashflows and CG’s. Your fundamental aims are well and truly misaligned.
You sound like you are seeking a solution that will wipe their snivelling noses and at the same time not affect your cashflows….this won’t happen. You can also forget about them paying extra rent to rectify every little complaint they come up with. That stuff is from seminar fantasy land. Coming from the renters perspective, they want everything perfect for absolute minimum cost. They’ll be asking you for rent reduction next.
My only suggestion is to try and rent out places that don’t have kitchen’s, don’t have laundry’s, don’t have women complaining to their husbands and aren’t suitable for children. We find that alot of the whinging and safety issues just simply disappear.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Yeah Jan it always is with the properties we usually buy…but then the people we buy it off are usually so lazy and disgusting they never clean it up. Arguing about that stuff just hurts your negotiating stance, so we just buy really low and then muck in after settlement. Saves a whole lot of heartache and stress. You never win an argument with messy people about cleaning up their mess.
Bobcats and trucks are cheap as chips compared to negotiating hard for blocks of dirt.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Block of Dirt
Any site encroachment ??
Do you have the right site ??
Are the dimension lengths as per the title, or have the neighbours sneaked a metre 40 years ago with their fence and no-one’s picked it up yet ??
How’s the soil ?? Lead, oil, asbestos, fuel.
Where’s the nearest mobile phone tower ??
Truck access and turning circle restrictions ??
Hardstand concrete / bitumen….what’s it rated for…how many tonnes ??
Any caveats / warrants / liens / easements / encumbrances ??
Harsh sloping ??
Limitations on views if any ??
Any obstructive trees, trees listed on title deed that cannot be chopped down without council permission…this one bit us ??
What services are connected….gas/water/power (1 or 3 phase)/deep sewerage
Any double or triple frontages to the block ??
What’s the size and position of the permitted building envelope ??Building
Doesn’t matter…I usually spend less than 20 minutes checking this out, don’t take much notice to tell you the truth. See Redwings tips.
Actually, on review, the above is probably more DD work, not Final Inspection stuff. Forget what I wrote. Oh well, it’s typed in now…will leave it.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
I’m thinking a heavy wooded island off the coast of Qld, so perhaps a SeaTree Change…if that’s what you were getting at.
Have you ever met a decamillionaire, and if so, did you glean anything useful from them ??
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
There’s absolutely no money on the Industrial side of things. Residential is definitely the way to go…the tenants pay so much more.
But seriously…these concrete tilt panels have been a god send over the past couple of years…except of course if you are the poor sod standing under them when they fall, as has happened recently.
Yep – your wrong Giulio…there are oodles of factories to purchase, and lots of buyers as well.
The hardest challenge is acquiring as much land as possible (of late we have limited ourselves to greater than 85% land content vs purchase price) and still have the prop pay for itself..i.e. nuetral CF or better.
This has been our fundamental strategy for the past 18 months and has worked well for us.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Well said Quiggles.
Surfing on the internet doesn’t cut it. If that is your primary tool….oh dear.
Our last two acquisitions this year were both basket cases.
One was advertised in the local rag, with a 2 line advert. No internet listing. Poor description, no details, hard to talk to old agent, grumpy old Vendor, leases running out and non-existent, bugger all rent, big tenant being dragged thru Supreme Court, 18 tonnes of rubbish on site. Talk about have the prop to ourselves. No-one else interested…too hard and yukky.
Bought it for less than land value. Now fully cleaned up and tenanted – signed up leases for 5 years…more nett cash than we expected, place is exactly nuetral CF. Landbanking nuetral CF…it doesn’t get any better than that. 4km from CBD on 8000sqm.
The other one was on the net, but it was hard to spot, and looked mightily unattractive. Was grossing 4.3%, with awful illiterate non-paying tenants and 55 tonnes of garbage. Cleaned it up and now doing 15.5% all fully signed up on secure leases. 7km from CBD on 7000sqm.
If you are seriously thinking of simply sitting there surfing away, looking for that elusive click where +CF deals simply fall into your lap, then happy clicking away…you are going to be there a while.
The +CF deals are everywhere in all of the big Ozzy cities…but you won’t find any of them staring into that computer screen of yours. It’s nice and safe and easy and comfortable sitting there behind your anonymous screen, but it doesn’t pay very well.
What pays well is getting out there and doing some hard nosed negotiating…face to face…and then roll up the sleeves and muck in to clean the place up. Sometimes you actually break out into a sweat and it stinks. That’s when I know I’m in the money. [biggrin]
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
With a tough, no nonsense, “show me the money” type of principal, that type of attitude wouldn’t last 5 minutes in the cut throat REA game.
If you thought it was OK to lose money, then you’d definitely be run off and be looking for another job. They (successful REA’a) simply won’t put up with that.
Ethics don’t even get a look in. Just look at the REI’s farcical charter, which isn’t legally enforceable. Ethics may cut it in your particular industry, but in the REA world, cash is king, ethics are for unemployed philosophers.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
If I was a REA, I would be “dilly dallying” with every bum on the street if I thought that I could get a better price for the property- that is part of acting in an ethical and professional manner.Yeah right Munjy…right up until the point that the principal or the senior agent you were working for immediately told you to “Pull your finger out and close the deal or you can find yourself another job.” Bosses don’t pay their workers to ‘dilly-dally’…and ethics and mannerisms go right out the window when cash is on the table. This is the reality of being a REA.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Hiya Wild One,
I’ve been down a few avenues with these guys. Check your contract very carefully. Usually these guys are very willing to hand you the cash owed to you (who determines that !!!) straight away and then chase the bad risk, as they usually secure the debt with a caveat over your title if they don’t get it back from the tenant.
Call me cynical, but I’d rather chase the debtor myself or walk away from the money than have some heavies placing caveats and warrants on my title deed.
Pure business sense dictates that for a measly $ 198 you ain’t gonna get much bang for your buck. You have one bad tenant who is behind $ 2K in rent and leaves $ 10K damage, that’s worth 60 policies….and that doesn’t include any wages, insurances, profits or running costs….nope…there is way more to it than that.
Each to his own though. You may be happy with caveats placed on your title deed.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
How much are people prepared to pay ??
I’ve asked this question before, and the answers range from anywhere between nothing and $ 5,000 a day – or was it hour ?? The rate depends very much I’m told on whether you mention that the male students are handsome and suave and the female students have a pretty face.
Supposedly with the massive increases in net worth everyone is going to make, the cost of the program is not relevant and always worth it, regardless of cost.
I’ve also started a mentoring programme. It’s a snitch at a low low low investment educational price of only $ 10,000-00 per day. There’s nothing in it for me of course, I just love seeing the satisfaction on my students faces. I couldn’t think of a better way of sacrificing my time to help others increase their wealth. All proceeds to my mezzanine levelled wrapped and flipped trust fund charity which dedicates itself to furthering the cause of struggling humanity offshore in some Barbados tax shelter….by chance of course.
To teach the students frugality I’m also encouraging everyone to bring their own pads, pencils, calculators and lunches.
Students would also be more comfortable if they also bring along their thermos with preferred beverage…make sure it’s one with a lid that also serves as a cup. We have relented and will provide spoons. If you sign up for more than a week they’ll be upgraded from plastic to metal ones, but only for the first 50 callers.
To ensure commitment to the course, a small inconsequential form borrowed from a very respectable law firm has been obtained, which gently places a caveat on all property titles you own in case the low low low fee causes any slight trouble.
Come along and find out…what have you got to lose ?? We offer a full 100% money back guarantee
to any participant who leaves within the first 2 minutes of me talking. I take 4 minutes to go through the safety briefing – for your comfort and safety of course.Hope to see you all there.
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
