Forum Replies Created
There are several buyers agents in here so dont be afraid to ask for help if you need it.
Dont think we are only touting business, we also are investors too and are always willing to help noobs to reach their goals.
Good luck and always look outside the area you live in. It got me going after my first ‘local’ investment.
Paid off my ppor selling my first ppor after 14 months. Then remortgaged(good debt not bad debt) the same amount and bought 3 small places in Qld for the same money with $365/wk rent instead of $220/wk for the same mortgage in sydney.
Anyway good luck and take the plunge.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Cashflow cashflow, if you dont get this right and cant access your equity for a year its useless as you have to sell early and loose all of your cap gain in tax anyway.
Do it right so its at lease neutral(rates and BC out of your pocket worst case), and with incresing rents it becomes positive over time.
Out in the sticks, yes please, I always feel that the only way for properties in the entry level suburbs to go is up. So get the cashflow right and you will always sell higher in the long run.
Maintainance is not really a major issue, allow $1k per property on average and you shopuld be right if you have done your building and pest right to start with.
I usually do a reno for $5-6k to start with and this alleviates a lot of maintainance and interupting tenants. I have a couple who, even though they have been broken into twice in the last few months, will happily stay on as we do maintainance straight away and add the odd security screen and rangehood to the property from time to time.
Your cashflow OR cap gains isnt true either as all of the low priced houses/townhouses have all had good cap gains even after good cashflow has occurred. Entry level properties are just that, the place where all of the new buyers start so the re is always some upward pressure on pricing.
Or did I just get bloody lucky with my 22 IP choices?? Im now selling a few to more accurately balance the portfolio and pay down bad debt first.
Great topic, good discussions
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Yack your theory that mummy’s boy returns to his suburb in a big city doent hold true with me. I have moved to Coffs from Sytdbey and would never go there unless it was to catch a flight. We have more visits from our old friends and our new ones too to keep us very busy, and as for missing the family, not in this life.
Happy to be close to the water and in easy drive to brizzy for the odd reno to up the rent. Baby boomers selling down, good. All that means is there will be bargains which may again be cashflow positive too.
Lets see what happens, and no matter what, smile and move on.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Devil the west coast of tassie is so remote and desolate that even real estate agents dont go there.
Most that sell properties there are based over in Burnie and have a roving rep to handle it. There isnt the volume to warrant an office and you cannot find a good property manager. I heard one town was renting properties through a milkbar as it was the only semi professional person in the town.
Its cheap but its also cheap for a reason. Beware.
But its great as a tourist one day drive through. Have fun.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
i teke it you are now in Australia and have no funds here?? All you need is to peel out some pounds and convert them at 2.5/1 into aussie dollars, then go get a loan.
This seems to basic, have I missed something??
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
HI Mini good to see you on.
Cashflow is king because without the right cash you will be forced to sell when the market isnt favourable. For me to be happy I need to have the property earning 7.5% which currently pays the mortgage and management rates only and not the council/water rates and maintainance.
I usually do a reno in the first year so it means my maintainance is minor if any. So all Im up for is about $1200-1300 rates and body corp fees of $800 yr if a townhouse/unit. So by the general definition what I find or seek for others is 7.5% return or better.
Over time as rents rise this leads to better returns and true break even or better for thes, but in todays market you will be hard pressed to find anything near 7.5% in the major capitals.Happy hunting, and if you do look NZ, Minimogul gets em hot there so you really couldnt do better.
Good Luck
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Hi Marsden, can you hint as to your contry region??? I am currently selling houses to pay off my ppor. By Jan 23rd(my birthday) I will have it down to $250k. House is worth $900k and we moved in in June so Im pretty pleased.
A very important point is that I am also divesting myself of the less performing houses and moving on. Admittedly when the house or bad debt is paid off, I will be very happy with a $500k line of credit as deposits and reno money to play seriously again.
A high sentiment of gloom and doom is creeping into this forum in general and the scepticism some show to the market at the moment makes me smile and look forward to happy investing times ahead.
Sure Im buying another 2 bdroom townhouse in december but its only because it is in the same complex I own 4 of 8 already and its a private purchase so it just sneaks into my 7.5% rule.
This is in brizzy so I am very curious to find your country zone( i dont want specific towns as this would be unfair to your research) I do however need to look regional for the first time.
If you could help then thanks.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Try needing 15 valuations on different properties all at the same time and with three different banks.
That was us last year in May when we were buying 6 houses all at once. Fighting with the banks is silly, they are all useless and think they are gods so never be afraid of getting a valuers name and number and doing as much research as possible yourself. They only go on what is unconditional and actually sold so if contracts at those prices are just signed they wont be considered.I have the name and number of Rams, homeside, Suncorp, ANZ, PCU and Integris Valuers and contact them when I need to nudge figures a bit.
Recently, in liason with the Suncorp valuer and the local soncorp manager I got them to value 2 properties 10K higher each. This meant that for the particular deal I needed $16k less to get it all through. Persevere and good luck.
DD1
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Sorry, forgot to add that one of my close friends kept calling me a slumlord and that I was building “an evil empire”. Funny thing was, after we had 1.6mil in property under the belt he looked more closely and lent me $170k for three months to get me through a delay in financing my next big deal. So no more evil empire, and yes I have helped him get into investing as well now.
Hehe, let them jibber and jibe at you, smile and agree, then do the exact opposite to what they say and you will most likely be rich beyond your dreams.
DD[biggrin]
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Ali, the family and friends are only voicing their inbuilt fears and doubts, and a big glob of jealousy comes into play as well. Isnt it amazing though they will all say “werent you lucky” when you become wealthy, as if your decision to actually do something had nothing to do with the outcome.
They are living the lives we all could have had if we were unable to make decisions, take chances, see the big picture and smile occasionally at the great potential we all have.
Go for it Ali G, and maybe tell noone in your immediate family/friends circle until you have had your investments a year or so and have good cap gains on the board to shrug off the neigh sayers and grumble bums who moan because they themselves cannot see beyond this weeks paypacket for a boss they dont like anyway.
DD[buz2]
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Buyers Agent is the other term for “birddogging”, and the way each structures their approach to finding properties is different and unique.
The bigger the project the more risky for each party concerned,so maybe start small with a few basic units or townhouses as the on cost for each is smaller.
The principles are the same and if you are honest and deal with people with utmost integrity, you will end up with the same great name in the industry as Minimogul has.
Her expertise is mainly offshore, and her skills are paramount in getting those elusive gems. Whatever transpires, most people feel more comfortable dealing with a BA or birddog if they have several IP’s themselves and are successful investors.
Do you have your own IP’s yet? Good idea to see what those you aspire to become like actually have as their background and experience, and model your actions to emulate these.
Good Luck in what you hope to do.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
If you get the $150/wk you are getting a tad under 8% return. This covers the mortgage and management rates but not maintainance and council rates.
I say thats good enough because if as in most cases you have $1300 rates and maintainance allow $1000 per year it will average out for you.
As rent increases your costs reduce so before to long this will be positive with a few rent hikes.
Good luck and go for it.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
A professional agent that does the job well, arranges quotes for repairs and always does what she says, thats my agent Angie from Ipswich rentals and sales.
Yes we nmanaged a nightmare tenant ourselves and finally flicked it after 6 months back to our agent as we didnt want to have to deal with the tenant winging about non payment anymore.
Since then it has been trouble free and we are finally able to remove this tenant from the property cleanly and safely without the direct emotional baggage.
I’m totally for agents and especially good ones.
DD[biggrin][angel]
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
You will now be flooded with private messages from brokers and they will all give you great yet conservative views on investing. Maybe if your home is worth $250k you can borrow $200k. Some may say dont do that, but if you can find and buy 10 x $200k investment properties and use $20k for deposits on each, your portfolio and your future expectations will change dramaically.
Think outside the square most live in.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Gee isnt it nice to have information available to make choices. Porridge with soy milk is disgusting, tea with soy milk is foul. So even though it and several other things are supposed to kill me in various degrees my choice is just tha, mine to make.
Worry more about Sodium Laurel Sulfate and Propelyne Glycol, these are known carcenogens used in your toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo and handwash. They are incremental in their absorbsion into your system. Very few products we all use every day do not have these aweful products in them. Why do you think they only have ingredients on the cardboard box of your toothpaste and not the tube. Coz you look at the tube every day and might just notice that you are adding a bit more cancer causing agent into your system. Then gargle with Listerine, woops there you go again, thats after the shower with a bit from here a bit from there.
No wonder 100 years ago it was 1 in 80 that got cancer and now it is 1 in 3. I’ll drink milk thanks. There are bigger fish to fry.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
We paid a flat fee for our NSW house of $790 to our solicitor, we pay nothing more. We are about to take the house off the market in Sydney, replace carpets and jazz up the kitchen then put it back on the market. So far as I know you got stung. The fee only applies to a contract thats going through and I have been told that I get a refund if we take it off the market completely.
Maybe Im on a good deal but maybe you just got stung.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
We are all in here for the same reasons, to ask questions and share opinions. Isnt it great we all come from slightly differing perspectives and backgrounds. Nothing better than a bit of healthy discussion.
Personally I want to just pay off this house and have 20 fully owned houses, the rest can take care of itself.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Usually if they are old or ex housing commision houses then the mix of renters to owners is higher and accordingly not so bad for crime and trashing. So for example a house we bought in Launceston in November was ex housing commision which had been sold to owners and investors.
This house had a retired couple on rental assistance. Not only have they been dream tenants, the lawns and gardens are immaculate.
Bought for $105k with a $160/wk rent which just cracks the 7.5% return mark. Admittedly this doesnt cover rates and maintainance, but we have spent $60.00 for the house so far to re glue and grout some tiles for a splash back in the bathroom. No biggie.
So the house is costing us $1300/yr. It has already increased to $130k in value so Im not too fussed. Look into other states before you go regional one industry towns. Thats asking for trouble if you ask me.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
We tried to get council approval first before organising a house and they hit us with the 100 year floodline cutting through where we wanted to have the house, so that was the end of that. Some councils are quite pedantic about what and where houses sit too so do your research first.
Good luck.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
Derek on point 13 rental guarantees, dont know where you invest but the are very common and popular in Tassie and in Launceston I have done 5 deals for investors with guarantees in place this year.
Very happy people.
All are only $5 or $10 above actual rents in the area now, with full research done to validate with other agents. Just another carrot a vendor sometimes applies to offer piece of mind to new investors.
I agree that for off the plan properties it is something to be cautious of.
DD
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!
