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I have a Marketing background. My last job was as a Product Manager for a national brand.
I accepted this role, then two weeks before I was due to start the world trade centres collapsed.
So I started the job, and there I was on the 26th floor having a meeting with my new manager. I was seated facing looking out towards window.
I see a large plane flying comming in from one side heading towards a high rise building, it flew behind the building and was then not visible until it came out from the other side.
Meanwhile my manager and I are having a discussion on growing the brand blah blah blah.
It was that moment precicely that I decided I was not going to do this corporte job thing anymore.
I stayed the six months that I had originally committed to and then left. I had my second child and have not worked in a ‘job’ since.
This is what I would do ifI was you:
1. Look around the suburbs that you live in within a 15 minutes drive radius.
2. Identify all 1 or 2 bedroom flats/units that are for sale in the price range you are looking at.
3. Make a list of them.
4. Go and visit every one of them.
5. Pick the ones you like.
6. Start making offers. if you don’t know how much to offer – then just offer less and test the waters – you’ll soon work out what is a reasonable offer.
7. make offers subject to releant building inspections./ check body corporate information/ subject to finance.
8. buy something within the next 2 months.
(if you can get the first home buyers grant – get it – although you’ll need to live in the property for a while – if you can’ get the FHOG then just buy the property anyway – $7,500 in the bigger pictures is no big deal and this should not delay your decision.)
9. Go overseas and have fun.
Time and delay is your biggest enemy right now. If you do not buy now before you go overseas then you run a real risk that you will come back with little or no $ to invest. You will be at an age where you may want to get married – more $ – then you may have kids – more $ and time off work etc etc
So your strongest position could very well be in the next 2-4 months. You’re just in time. Go out and buy something.
Don’t stress too much about where it is, what it looks like – just go with your gut feel – which is to buy an easy to maintain unit. It’s a great start and one I believe you won’t regret.
Just look locally and get the first property bought and under your belt. Worry about the rest when you’ve come back from overseas. It will be the best decision you can make IMO.
Let us know how you go.[exhappy]
Crashy,
… Now if instead you just arranged to get someone out and said, “whats your rates, ok, do this and leave me the bill” you may find the end price is around $800. See that, $1400 down to $800. If he has an apprentice, he may charge $35 an hour for him. So they may be there 3 hours and charge you $65 x 3 + $35 x 3 = $300 in labour, as opposed to $65 x 8 + 25% = $625.
So in response to your question, would I get work done without knowing the price? HELL YES !…
I find this really interesting. It looks like I’ll be organising to have my new home built within the next year (organised by building company), but once the house is built I will be organising things later like extra concreate around the house, shelter area next to the house etc.
I will be using tradies for these things. So from what you are saying instead of asking for an overall quote, ask the tradies for their rates and this should,generally speaking, cost me less for the job??
I’m glad you put forward your point of view because it has provided another perspective on how to get things done through trades people and how to deal with them. Any comments welcome.
Newgen,
for what it’s worth, my favourite question (and I always ask this at the end of all my questioning about issues I’m new to is:
“is there anything I’ve forgotten to ask?”
99% of the time this gives me extra info I had not thought of. It may have helped in this instance and it may not have but it would not have hurt. Hope the end result is worth it for you.
ES
Thanks for responses operator and suzieq.
In the last hour I’ve also done a search on this web site under ‘offers’ and found some great comments posted in the past (for anyone else interested).
thanks again.
ESMy aim is to give my children two things:
1. the right knowledge (including setting a good example)
2. a balanced life.
with these two things they should not need a handout.
Tempting I know to plan to give them a house – and yes it probably seams hard to do – but imo giving them the other two is actually the much more difficult one and I think the one that takes more effort from the parents.
Go ahead give the property by all means, but beware the damage a gift like this can do to the person and be prepared for the risks as well as the good it can do.
try the respective local council web sites for some of the information.
contact the ‘tourist information’ centre amd see of a chin wag with the person on the desk that day will give any helpful insights.
The Wild One,
great thread. Thanks for posting it.As I read your thread I took it to mean that one should do as much DD as they can and then when they feel reasonably confident that you make a move.
Not a reackless one that they can put themselves out of the investment game for years if it goes wrong – just A move forward. Then learn as they go and keep moving and before they know it they have momentum.
that is the point. And I think a great point.
Well done in posting it. I hope many people read it.
Find out all the negative issues regarding this house (as you are doing) and then lower your price accordingly.
The owner my be desperate to sell by now and you may be able to get it with an 11 or 12% return.
I think all property is good at the right price.
So factor in a broken window and termite treatment etc every couple of years into your calculations and then make your offer. The wors they can do is say no.
If you don’t want to go to see the property because of family commitments then just go the next week – it may still be on the market and the owner may be more prepared to negotiate.
I seam to recall some legislation talk a few years ago stating that only plumbers could change the washers on taps. (Or was it that they were trying to introduce this legislation??)
The point being that if the place was flooded by taps that had washers installed incorrectly then the insurance company would not cover for the damage.
Perhaps you might contact the insurance company and ask the question. Maybe the tenant is trying to protect themselves from this.
Although I do agree that changing the washers is easy.
KylesM77,
another way of not mortgaging yourself to the hilt is to buy a plain looking house with subdividable backyard that you can comfortably afford (use the FHOG if you are eligible) and then subdivide the backyard and sell it off to help pay down your mortgage.(care when you negotiate to buy the property you are not paying for the option of subdivision)
Then do some minor cosmetic alterations to the house you are living in yourself to make it mor attractive and plan to sell it in a year or so.
Then do it all over again.
You and the kids don’t miss out because you still have a house to live in. Just be prepared to move house again in a couple of years and see if you can turn it into an adventure – a fianancial freedom adventure![exhappy]
Its one way to fast track your way out of home debt.
Dazzling,
Many years ago I came across an advertisement by Microsoft in a glossy magazine. It showed a young couple having a terrific time doing the waltz (dips and all) and a couple of people in the background sitting on the chairs by the wall.
The caption in the bottom said:
Remember what you missed out on because you thought it was too hard?
I thought this was such a great ad that I cut it out and stuck it on my wall. There it stayed for many years – and I looked up at it every time I was ‘scared’ to take the next step.
So listen to your gut feel and go full time investing sooner rather than later. It will be easier than you think.
As far as the children and future gos, think firstly what life you want for yourself and your girls RIGHT NOW. Then expect your investments to fit in around that.
I wonder what ideas your brain will come up with if come at this problem from the position ‘I want XX and YY in my life now, so what investments will still give me that?’
Today’s choices are impacting on your children. Look carefully at what they NEED. Then give them that and make your investments fit around that.
Your children are being shaped by your decisions now. The consequences of these decisions are going to be evident in years to come and will compound as each year passes.
Be a little selfish as far as your investments go and expect them to ‘give to you’ now as well as in the future.
In other words ‘whip your investments into shape’. It seems to me you may have investments that are ‘negatively geared into your family life’!
I’ve noticed that of those people I’ve seen successful after years of struggle, the one’s that sacrificed their family life are today a little unhappy and effectively needing their wealth to deal with the problems this family time sacrifice created.
You might be surprised how letting go of one way of doing things ie. working off shore for 57% of the time etc. frees up your time and creativity side of your brain to come up with other viable options.
I would suggest that if you look at your family needs and your health needs first – then the answer may be clearer than you think.
** Thanks to the person who posted the story of the child who wanted to play chess. It really hit a cord with me. I am finding myself doing the same with my young son and will be making a point to change that – and fast!. How right you are!!![exhappy]
ES
Redwing,
sounds like you’ve got a great balance between the investment ‘job’ and the family time. It sounds great to me.We will hae a quiet one this weekend because we are unable to get out of the house – unless we walk. No too many properties walking distance to see. Although I am planning next weekend to resemble your current weekend![hair2]
Emdless Summer
My suggestion is to make an appointment to meet every property manager in the area. Ask lots of questions and then you should go with your gut feel on who is the better ‘person’.
Don’t go with the glossiest brochures because after you’ve signed up its is not the glossy brochures that will manage the tenant it is the person – property manager- on the phone.
After your meetings you should get a gut feel of who is the best person for the job. If you are uncomfortable with all of them, then just meet more property managers around your area.
Also remember that if you do get it wrong again, then just go with another property manager again. The decision is yours.
Last time I was not happy with my proerpty manager – she never answered my calls – I just found another property manager – she was terrific- signed some paperwork and the new manager just went the the old property managers office and picked up my file and took it all over from there.
No more never answering my phone calls![biggrin]
Trav, excellent idea. Do that asap.
Dazzling, I think you were spot on. I could not have put it better myself and nobody else did either – unfortunately for Trav.
Trav, you are in a real window of opportunity here at 22 years of age. Get out of home asap. Even though you are saving being at home – it may be costing you more than you realise. I believe a person in their 20’s has an enormous amount of energy that in my oponion is wasted if they stay at home – even if they do not realise it at the time.
Just an opinion, but focusing on (really focusing on) getting out asap with your first purchase will reward you may times over now and later in life.
So look for that house with a subdividable back yard and go for it.
Kitee, do a search on past posts. there are heaps of suggestions
Also, I wonder if they can make payments via Automatic Direct Payments. Either directly from their daily operating accounts on the same day (or next day) that their wages are deposited into that account.
These used to be called periodic payments when I organised them for myself years ago. (This is how I saved for my first house deposit) But the system works just as well for paying off debt as it dose for saving a lump sum.
Or alternatively, could the employer split the wages payments? – a percentage into their everyday operating account and the rest into the credit card account (although I am not sure if they can deposit into a credit card account – even if they can into another savings account).
I worked with a lady once who requested her employer pay her monies directly into her home loan account – her pay slip on one occasion showed $16.00 pay for 2 weeks.
The point is if you do not see the money in the first place then you cannot spend it (especially if the only operating credit card you have is frozen litterally – a good suggestion I thought!)
Either way, if they are $45K in debt on the credit card there is likely to be a huge issue there not likely to be solved quickly.
Has something happened to rack up this debt or is it just the age old ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ scenario without considering their own budget. If it is the later, then no amount of tinkering the with $ will help them.
This is a life issue around accepting the lifestyle that comes with your own salary parameters. If that penny does not drop, then consolidating the loan into a lower rate product may create the situation of having that debt plus additional credit card debt later as other ‘neccessities’ come up.
I think you inherently have learned traits. Wtih these learned traits you are likely to make decisions later in your life. I also believe that the older you are the bigger the consequences of that mistake.
Therefore the sooner you let your kids go the sooner they will make their mistakes and learn from them. So whilst it is really hard to watch, letting your kids go sooner might be the best thing for them and worth considering on balance.
Go or a darker neutral colour.
Brown or grey.
I know they sound drab, but they don’t show up marks and will act as a non offensive backdrop to anyone’s furniture.
If you choose a colour or pattern then that will easily date and more easily clash with many types of furniture.
Depreciator,
great post. I know properties that are inner city which have ‘enjoyed’ the same rental for the last 4 years because of the amount of stock on the market.These ideas to do something different and get a tenant in straight away or maybe even increase the rental in today’s market (or some areas) are great.
Any more ideas anyone?? Has anyone done anything different lately that has worked?
WaySolid,
love that proverb.
ES
