well, what size of portfolio do you need to earn say $50,000 per year in dividends?

Hi foundation,You've won the debate hands down as far as I am concerned.I do have one question, what are the other investments that you are talking about?If assets do go down with a recession, it will affect shares as well.share dividends, even with a large portfolio, don't really give you enough income to live on, unless you are heavily leveraged…[Read more]

Still doubtful?Check this link, all I can say is "wow". http://www.investingintelligently.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/a_history_of_home_values.png

couldn't agree more, there are some very misguided people out there putting it mildly!Property prices have grown way beyond wages increase, something has to give.Rental income has no where near kept up with the cost of borrowing and PROPERTY Maintenance costs.The cost of a $400,000 property in terms of interest, management, repairs,council etc…[Read more]

high interest rates, financial market concerns, what's wrong with debt reduction?Play it safe, reduce debt, this will increase your cashflow, less interest to pay.

Hi, Great, can we have a job like that?Why not go for something likely to provide good CG, rather than cash positive.Cash pos. is unlikely to produce good capital gain.Do you need to be cash positive on that sort of income?From my experience, the capital gain out performs the cash positive by a long shot.Buy a quality duaL occ. site and get…[Read more]

I was very fortunate to buy into safety beach a few months ago and prices are continuing to increase.See my development post contribution.I have looked at Frankston but continue to be put off by the poor standard of the houses on offer.I t still gives me the impression of little wealth and/ or ability to maintain a home.Theres is an awful lot of…[Read more]

agree, with all of the above.My next project will be in safety Beach, no experience with that council yet but with the Marina,  a lot of development happening.I've found a builder who will build a 3 bedroom unit at reasonable cost.he is building some of the marina townhouses.in this case, I hope to build and hold for the longterm, as I can only…[Read more]

Knox was quite reasonable, City of Maroondah were complete bureaucratic B………'s.they charged me a 35,000 bond, no interest provided for holding it.Knox charged around $10,000.I wrote Maroondah a very lengthy letter about many issues, well, their response was "who cares?".they fined me $2000 for doing landscaping without authority, basically I…[Read more]

I may look at selling a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in Canungra, which has had excellent growth and never any tenant vacancies.Current rental return $320, but that is a little low (should be around $350).Please contact me if interested.

totally agree with Marc above, scary stuff!!!consider buying one or two dual occ. potential homes for that money and get plans and permit for a second dwelling, this gives a big buffer against any down turn and adds instant value.

Hi, great user friendly tool!Good on you Steve!so far: 2870, financial survival until 2015.It should have been much better, except for some very silly investment mistakes.so, there is hope for everyone yet.it means that I should triple that score in the next 10 years and spend it all the next 20, providing I avoid too many mistakes and continue to…[Read more]

Rental income is  not keeping up with the rise in property prices and the cost of holding property such as interest rates. In addition council rates are increasing by more than the cost of inflation.That's why it's impossible to find a cash positive property these days.

if you are renting out the unit, and don't want to spoil aesthetics with a built in WR, get some cheap but modern looking metal type units from freedom or ikea.They are easy to assemble, easy to take from house to house and lightweight.

I brought a hoiuse and adjoining block of land on coochiemudlo island one year ago, both together for under $400,000.I've probably made a paper capital  gain of around $60,000 in one year.The reason for buying: sewerage now on the island, not many blocks of land left, lovely beaches and beautiful peaceful, non-commercial setting, baby boomers,…[Read more]

It probably takes 3 to 4 years for a neg geared average price property to become cash neutral and then slowly it starts to become positive as rents starts to increase beyond loan repayments.The negative cash flow is offset against your income, so approx. half ends up tax deductible.I therefore expect capital gain every year to outstrip my…[Read more]

Perhaps we are expecting too much too soon?I didn't even think to buy my first home until i turned 30.We should stop blaming governments, baby boomers, anyone and anything.We all have to do the hard work and try to save for our first deposit (no home owners grant in my time).By the way, there are stacks of homes/units in the outer east of…[Read more]

Thanks for all the good replies.Just spent five weeks overseas and so couldn't control the situation.She reports no negative feedback from those inspecting it.We went there today to cut the grass and tidy up and she hasn't even got a board up, I've asked her to do that.It can't really be split into two because of the layout.Since it's vacant, we…[Read more]

yes, I've considered as a possibility, but the market has been in a strong uptrend and often there is more to be made by the rise in the warrant.Covered calls tend to limit the upside.Unless you have other experience, I would be interested to hear.

It's been with the local real estate agent and is certainly on the internet and she holds open for inspections.