a lot of the problems with the property market stem back to the whole negative gearing situation.

Finally we agree on something. This outrageous rort should be abolished immediately!

What are your thoughts on personal income tax rates, company tax rates, capital gains tax rates, depreciation etc etc?

I wish that there was an ignore facility on this forum because the amount of negativity coming through is disheartening.
But, but … you love it when “the US stock market is in a downward trend”. Well I love it when the Austrlian property market is in a downward trend! It means those poor first home buyers will finally be able to buy something,…[Read more]

In hindsight (and isn’t hindsight wonderful) the time to buy real estate (pretty much anywhere in the world) was after the tech wreck in 2000. Central banks around the world were lowering interest rates rapidly and a lot of money was coming out of the stockmarket and looking for a “safe haven”.

really?? wouldn’t be a very successful agent -…[Read more]

I have never had a time when someone has told me “now is the time to buy”.

Funny, because I’ve never met a real estate agent who hasn’t told me “now is the time to buy”.

Seriously dmichie, how many doom and gloom threads do you want to start?
There are so many gloomy news stories ATM, I reckon I could post 2 or 3 a day [biggrin]

So if you’d bought Microsoft, Intel and Cisco (all blue chip companies) every month from say April 2000 until April 2003 you’d be ahead?

If you want negative equity in your property for a decade buy now! Better still, borrow 110% and get an interest-only loan. No-one needs to repay debt anymore, its a “new paradigm”

There is a strategy commonly used by medium to long-term share traders called ‘dollar cost averaging’.
Would dollar cost averaging have worked with Nasdaq stocks if you’d started at the top of bubble? Of course not. Standard investment strategies break down in a bubble because the market is behaving irrationally.

All the fundamentals (rental…[Read more]

Poor didums, did you miss the boat? Never mind, better luck next century.

No didums, I didn’t miss any boats. I bought in 1993.

Bring on the doom
Indeed, bring on the doom. We need a good old-fashioned recession to cleanse the economy of excesses of the real estate mania.

There should be some good buying opportunities a few years from now when everyone is talking about tech stocks again, or resources, or whatever the next fad is.

cmon – that’s hardly weak….
What planet are you on exactly? Have you looked at a chart of the USD vs any major currency over the past three years? Downhill all the way baby. That’s what happens when you have stupendous CAD and a horrendous budget deficit.

benefits of a strong currency:
weeds out the exporters that can produce commoditites the world wants rather than just what the world can afford
I hope you meant products rather than commodities, because one of Australia’s big economic problems is we only export commodities rather than more sophisticated products and services. This is the main…[Read more]

can you think of a leading OECD country that has a weak currency?
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Come on mate!!! Things are very different now. It is a global economy. I strongly believe Australia’s debt levels are easily sustainable.
That’s just babble. You haven’t provided any reason or evidence that our debt levels are sustainable, apart from your “strong belief” and “its a global economy”. In fact, as global interest rates rise, our…[Read more]

It’s a tragedy when a supplier’s products are so unattractive to buyers that the only reason someone would purchase them were if they were cheap. I belive a storng currency and a good product are a better outcome.
Tell that to a farmer then run!

Look mate, a strong currency might be great for the consumer, the Harvey Norman’s of this world, and…[Read more]

I would like to see results if the property only grew at a rate of 4% per annum
I would like to see these figures if the value of the property fell at a rate of 5% per annum over five years.

(Yes, I know this cannot possibly happen)

Not wanting to be too pedantic, but “north shore” and “northern beaches” are two completely different places.

I’m not looking on the north shore no. Why the fascination with who I am, what I do, and what I’m looking for?

As I said, contact me at the address I posted and we’ll continue the conversation there.

dmichie, is your name David from the North Shore?
Nice try, but no. If you want to contact me, email the address I posted above.

I suppose if people just voted for Howard over and over things would be ok? Even the most die-hard conservatives would admit Howard has lost his way on economic reform. He ran out of ideas after the GST, and its time for the likes Costello and Turnbull to take over.

Democracy is the best system we have. It gives the people a chance to kick out…[Read more]