I would probably go with an architect first and look at the financial feasibility of a project while also discussing local authority requirements. Architects will probably be able to cover that aspect as well but I would still do the in person thing with council. Someone on this board wrote a not too bad article on this process I believe. Think they were in Melbourne though. 

You're stepping into the realms of property development now so this may require a whole other skill set if you don't already have it.

I think what gng is talking about is when you run multiple tabs. If you go to another tab and then come back to a tab with PI.com the tab has stalled. It takes around 20 -30sec to become active again. I noticed it started this behavior when you installed message updates in the right (now left) column. My guess is that Chrome stops elements in a page updating in non facing (nonactive) tabs. When you come back to the tab the page has to re-establish a link with the server and restart the updatable elements within a page. I doubt there is a fix for this.

I think the exec thing has been done to death in Syd (and other cities) over the last decade or so. I wouldn't describe $1k/wk  for 4 bedders in inner Syd as particularly good. A friends partner was a PM in this market mainly Nth Shore stuff. Returns were triple that 10 years ago with lower entry costs than today.

I don't think the corporate rental has much mileage left in it at the moment. I expect to see corporate balance sheets take a hit this year and for several years following. The exec market could get a lot tighter fairly quickly.

An investment area you might like to think about is 55's plus retirees, aged care, gated communities etc. The shear number of retirees hitting the retirement market is growing at a phenomenal rate and not projected to peak until around 2030. 

See this graph

and this ABS  java applet that you can manipulate (pretty whizzy)

The thing I like about this market is that it's; growing, predictable, and because of those things comparatively low risk.

People make money out of other people because every  one works on the principle they have to find a bigger mug than them to sell successfully.

Reality check. If your assumptions are correct re pricing then $450k may be too high if one expects value for money. The whole successful investor mantra is based around buying BELOW market value not above or at MV. From what you're saying about comparative properties $450k is probably at MV for now. Personally I'd look at the market in that area and prices over the last 18 months to see if you're in a falling, stationary or rising market

Get past liking places for their sex appeal. If it doesn't pass the financial test and stack up as an investment then it doesn't get past go.

It's a buyers market and all the pressure is on them. 

Talk about 6 degrees of separation. My youngest son moves into Lovell in the next few weeks (company house). Four years ago an elderly friend had a 2×1 for sale there. At the time things were much slower than they are now but by all accounts still booming. He had difficulty selling it and it took around 6 -8 months I believe. In the following 4 years that property probably doubled in value and rent.

I definitely don't see that happening now primarily because you have 3 major miners all trying to double production capacity simultaneously. That's created enormous pressure on services and accommodation in Hedland. That kind of growth has never happened before that I'm aware of. This rapid growth phase has a defined life cycle and it's being shortened by global economic events. The logical assumption an investor should make is that within 2 -3 years things should wind back down to a more sustainable pace. That means all the drivers that push asset prices and rentals will vanish fairly quickly. I would expect to see prices and rents gradually move back to levels seen 4 years ago.

The major problem I see with PI's in todays market is that the new guys (& gals) look at historic performance and because of naturally inclined bias try to project that kind of performance forward. Most of us prefer to assume positive outcomes and often reject downside risks because that's seen by peers and industry to be negative instead of realistic. It doesn't fit well with an entrepreneurial culture. The experienced PI on the other hand has been well and truly indoctrinated and that's been reinforced by a continuously growing property market over the last 60 years. The experienced PI often has a strong portfolio of performing assets with healthy debt to equity ratios and rental yields that can take some downside pressures without too much damage to the bottom line. That engenders a sense of confidence and coupled with anecdotal advise persuades new PI's it's a relatively simple exercise to embark on a fortune making adventure.

The reality is that past performance doesn't guarantee success and few understand we may be on the eve of a new economic super cycle or are simply not prepared to accept it as a possibility. I suspect that we are and that it will parallel the 1890 – 1950 super cycle where property depreciated on average over that time. The drivers of this next cycle will see a deleveraging world trying get balance sheets back in order. Given the size and growth of debt this cycle could be as long as the 1890 – 1950 cycle.

From Wikipedia..deleveraging

• …..it is found that almost every major financial crisis during the period of study has been followed by a period of deleveraging.

Studying that particular cycle and current global debt issues should give PI's some insite in how to play this evolving market. Even a deleveraging market offers opportunities however it would be problematic to apply past/current property cycle strategies in the hope of achieving the same result.

There are plenty who see the current economic crises as little more than a hiccup in global financial markets and that somehow politicians and the corporate banking sector will find solutions or muddle through. My personal take is that things are far more serious than most are willing to admit or the powers that be are willing to tell us. As I say to friends if you prepare for rain and rain comes then you'll do all right but if you prepare for rain and a hurricane comes will you survive. 

I lived there for the last 4 years. Like I said wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.  1×1's are the most expensive RE there is up there.

You're buying at full retail at the top of the cycle. If you think accommodation pressure will be sustained past the next 2 years you're in for a shock I think. 7/8 major projects in WA complete by the end of next year. All the demand is construction so watch the Pilbara empty out once they finish. 

The big miners are starting to drop support staff around the country in their droves. Same with many of the big project companies. Some estimates suggest the project pipeline will halve over the next 12 months. I think it'll be more than that.

So what is on the "To-Do-List"

I imagine it's longer than a piece of string.

Now here's an idea. Why don't you guys establish a new forum, Site Upgrade or something. Throw in a couple of threads like, Notifications Plans and Progress, Beta testing (if you guys do any that is), PC issues, Mac issues, Mobile issues with sub threads for Android, iPhone and Windows, etc etc etc.

Now we might have a structured way that everyone can follow to get this mess sorted out instead of everyone posting their "wish lists" on every other thread.

You can then start to establish some sort  of development plan (that hopefully won't another take 5 years to complete) and we can all feel like we're making some sort of progress (even if we aren't as yet).

Yep know it. One of my favourite areas in Oz. 

Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. 

Hold off for a while. There's a whole lot of things happening at the moment with regard to mining and resources and none of it looks too good. I'm getting anecdotal information of large numbers of layoffs at some sites and particularly in Perth (support/admin). The East Coast is having similar difficulties but mainly in coal. 

I see that on the thread "recovery from 2012" Nooob has inquired about your investment strategy. I'm also curious what that might be.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lost track of that post for some reason – shaking out the wrinkles in this new site might be the cause.

My investment strategy….

PM miners (silver) although that's taken a battering over the last 6 months  and business. I too like the control factor.

I don't really chase wealth anymore. Maybe I'm getting old but I hope to die in debt. The thought of going to all that trouble to earn it only to leave it behind irks me. Besides I want to one-up the banks and those corporate knuckleheads with their snouts in the trough before I turn my toes up.

I think we're too obsessed with wealth these days. I was reading this on ZeroHedge the other day. I think I need to re-examine my motives and philosophies in life..

• “Living here as a boy, I wasn’t any different than anybody else. First time I knew I was poor was when I went to Cleveland and went to school They taught me I was poor. I traded all this for a strip of green I saw when I walking the street. And I was poor? How ya gonna get a piece of green grass between the sidewalk and the street, and they gonna tell me I’m poor. I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world, with nature. I could walk through the forest. I could hear the animals. I could hear the woods talk to me. Everywhere I looked there was life. I could pick my own apples or cucumbers. I could eat the berries and pawpaws. I love pawpaws. And they gooseberries. Now there is no life there. Only dust. I had a pigeon and when I’d come out of the house, no matter where I went, he flew over my head or sat on my shoulder. I had a hawk I named Fred, I had a bobcat and a three-legged fox that got caught in a trap. I wouldn’t trade that childhood for all the fancy fire trucks and toys the other kids had.

​The book might well be worth the read I'm thinking.

I enjoyed your posts Moxi. Goodluck.