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June 22, 2012 - 9:06 am

Freckle wrote:

A bit melodramatic even for you fWord

That's a bold statement, as if you knew me well. Come to think of it, I don't know any trolls.

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June 21, 2012 - 1:29 pm

Freckle wrote:

You take what you can get and be thankful for small mercies.

Of course, or I could wallow in self pity instead. The choice is pretty clear.

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June 21, 2012 - 6:42 am

JacM wrote:

Nice one, fWord!  What suburb are you in at the moment, and what suburb will you be considered to be a part of when they shift the boundaries?

Thanks. I think you might be familiar with this area. A part of North Geelong is proposed to become Rippleside. Some people would probably argue that it's much of a muchness, but IMHO it is a big win if we get the boundary moved. Back in the days when I was buying, a local specifically told me to be careful to actually buy in the area of Rippleside, rather than neighbouring North Geelong.

Still the same postcode ultimately, but Rippleside sounds helluva lot nicer than North Geelong!

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June 21, 2012 - 4:03 am

JacM wrote:

Yes people it is all doom and gloom.  If you own property and you hang onto it you will implode.  You really should get out while you can.  Sell me your houses for 20cents.  I shall then rent them to people who require accommodation (since nobody will own their own home they will have to rent) for whatever price I fancy.  Mwahahahhahhah.

Sell them to me instead, I offer double the price, 40 cents!

Just got a letter from council yesterday about my BAD NEGATIVELY-GEARED property. They're considering to realign locality boundaries. I voted 'yes' immediately!

If that pushes through, it'd turn a property in a lovely location with a B-grade locality to an A-grade on both counts. I have been waiting for this letter for months.

Happy times ahead! There's still good news to be found amid doom and gloom.

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June 21, 2012 - 3:55 am

bardon wrote:

fWord wrote:

Yeah, the world is coming to an end too.

But it's not gonna be 2012! That's my prophecy! LOL

You are most probably right there. So does that mean we should just maintain the fear indefinitely and one day we will be proven right?

No, no. Far from it. What I meant to say was, don't live in eternal fear. Every few years or so, some false prophet comes out and says that the end of the world is near. What rubbish! It will be good to live everyday as if it were our last, and I wish I could do that. But such prophecies should not instill fear and dread into an individual and cripple him/ her from making any real decisions in life.

Each of us will make decisions that will best ensure our happiness, consciously or unconsciously. Currently I really hate having to work.

But someday, I will be free!

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June 20, 2012 - 6:15 am

Currently working in Meadow Heights, not far from Dallas. A lot of folk would consider this area out here to be the rougher side of Melbourne. Not discriminating here, but in general, the demographic here is low socioeconomic. That said, I have met exceptional clients in this neighbourhood (or from surrounding suburbs). You will get a mixture of good and bad people everywhere. Consider the yield and return on your investment before you purchase. The rental yield in Dallas looks reasonably good (as far as Melbourne metro goes), especially given the buy in price. Vacancy rates balanced at 3% (lower of course is better for an investor, but 3% is not shabby).

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June 20, 2012 - 6:06 am

Yeah, the world is coming to an end too.

But it's not gonna be 2012! That's my prophecy! LOL

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June 6, 2012 - 2:24 pm

Very interesting to read about this. I remember Loch Sport vaguely when stopping there for a toilet break on the way down to Venus Bay. There was a well-drawn mural on the outside of those toilets, which I did photograph. It was a quiet and little town.

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June 6, 2012 - 2:20 pm

If this does occur, and that's a big 'if', does that mean that land will eventually be purchased on a lease hold basis? I've seen this happen in another country, except they didn't 'quietly' change a law. It's probably been that way since day one.

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June 5, 2012 - 12:00 pm

That's brilliant. If the banks pass on some, then property owners will get to save some more!

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May 6, 2012 - 12:56 am

ozlat wrote:

fWord – thanks for the great tips… I get paid on the 15th with my first pay check and have already drawn up a budget, opened a savings account, and am ready to roll will be back here to ask more questions and share my progress… oh and started a "to read" list! mattsta – not sure exactly what my credit file looks like, so am ordering one when I get paid on the 15th… then the broker will let me know what's going on… i managed to open an electricity account an account with telstra for cable internet… so hope that helps Danny F – tomorrow is the end of my first week back at work and loving it… so should have the stable income covered as I don't plan to leave that job anytime soon… it's great to see so much support and feedback from the community here that if I didn't save and invest i'd feel like i'm letting you all down! now just myself

Well, your positive attitude is really admirable. Wonderful to see someone take the steps towards improving their financial future. Let us know how you travel. As you've probably found, there's heaps of people here willing to help with advise.

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May 1, 2012 - 7:00 am

There's a lot of things I would like to do but can't do, because of the current habit of save and invest. However yes, I do have a limited life outside of that, and my job. Or should I say that investing is part of my life and one of my hobbies. I enjoy investing.

The other small thing I do is photography. This used to be landscapes and animals only but over the years has progressed into weddings as well, something I do for friends and family. I'm still very much obsessed with the art of it, and also the equipment side of things. It's a pretty costly hobby but it meshes very well with travel. When the two meet, it's real fun.

Another small quirk is collecting. Not bad to the point of hoarding, but I enjoy collecting old/ vintage things. Two of my most unusual finds of late are coastal/ tiki-themed memorabilia: a large 30-year-old turtle shell which I painstakingly repaired with wood putty, stained and varnished (3 coats either side), and a 25-year-old sawfish bill which was originally taken in Darwin (the original owner has sinced passed on).

Sometimes when I look at the old things, it is blatantly obvious to me that 'they don't make things like that anymore', and there's a quality to the old things that I find desirable. Ultimately I plan to have a home of my own that I will decorate in coastal shabby chic and art deco style. When I move out, half my parents' house will be emptied.

Also, I love jazz music and bossa nova, just sitting down on a couch with a glass of wine and listening to music, chilling out, maybe having a talk with my parents, or my brother when he's not on his PC. My mind is a few decades older than my body.

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May 1, 2012 - 6:43 am

Yes, I got happy for about 5 seconds, and then figured, what the heck. The banks wouldn't necessarily cut my loan by 50 basis points. It's pretty frustrating, but this is reality I guess.

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April 29, 2012 - 12:48 am

This might have been mentioned before, but consider drawing up a detailed budget to note down exactly where all your money is spent. Have a good ol' notepad in your pocket and jot down any expenses you make on the spot. Don't count on accumulating receipts and looking at those at the end of the day. Some purchases don't come with receipts, not unless you ask anyway.

Most people are results driven. So if you draw up a budget in this manner and start cutting back on 'non-essentials', you can easily see how much you've saved just because you decided not to buy a packet of cigarettes, or a slab of beer, or that expensive packet of potato crisps at the petrol station. When you see real savings, I assure you that saving and eventually even investing will become extremely addictive.

I understand what JacM has said about property versus shares. Things are volatile at this point. I'll be honest and say that I believe nobody is really qualified to advise you on what to invest in and each person has different views and past experiences. Current economic conditions will also play a major role. Personally, I started with a small amount of savings and jumped straight into shares, which got me some savings to put towards a deposit.

IMO the hardest part is getting started, and it already appears you have done that, so the rest will be easier, and I hope that's an encouragement. Also, hit all your local libraries with that insatiable desire to read everything on investing that you possibly can, and get a reasonable grip on tax either through reading, or better, through a suitable accountant. When you're more comfortable with one investing option over another, investigate further and start putting money in. There is also a wealth of info here, as you've probably discovered by now. Accumulate as much knowledge as you can, and the process doesn't need to be expensive. If you haven't read ANY books yet, start with these two commonly recommended ones: 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki, and 'The Richest Man in Babylon' by George Clason. These were the books my dad gave to me to read when I was around 13 years old, and the very first books I read about the way money works.

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April 28, 2012 - 12:57 pm

2009 Mazda 2 Neo. Fuel efficient, nippy performance (as much as you'd get in a 4 cyl non-turbo 1.5L engine). The great handling is my favourite bit and it takes sharp corners and roundabouts very well. It's an auto, even though I got my license on a manual and could easily drive a manual car. But given the infrastructure issues in some parts of metro Melbourne, and mega jams where you'll be lucky to move at greater than 40 km/hr for long stretches of road, an auto is a life-saver. So easy to drive!

My current dream car would be a Mercedes AMG E63. Forget about all the super-expensive sports cars, I'll rather buy a property with that kind of money.

Being a vet, people think I have a very nice car, own a house in a posh area and take lots of holidays. What complete crackopola. People have no idea how little a vet actually earns. Couple that with 5 years worth of student debt and you'll see most working vets are in the dumps right now.

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April 28, 2012 - 5:30 am

JacM wrote:

Can't say I would aim to buy a 5 bedder anywhere.  Three bedder max.  Little families that can't quite afford a mortgage only need 3 bedrooms.  By the time they can afford rent on a 5 bedder, they can probably afford their own mortgage.

Interesting. Thanks for that.

I've generally avoided 5 bedders for another reason, such as the trend of families becoming smaller, and an increasing proportion of DINKs. It depends however, on the area and the price. I won't necessarily turn up a chance to purchase a 5-bedder at the price of a 3-bedder.

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April 28, 2012 - 1:31 am

Jpcashflow wrote:

Hi,

I have a client who owns a shop in Geelong and she said that their are allot of shops closing down "etc".

Retail is doing it tough at the moment unfortunately, and I get the impression that it's quite general across the board. Things in Australia are pretty expensive compared to the prices I'm seeing overseas and online, so I think it's not so much that people have stopped spending. I think they're spending the money elsewhere.

There was a recent article in The Age which talks about vacancy rates in the shops of Geelong. Apparently, vacancy rates in the larger shopping complexes have increased, whereas those of shopfronts at the street level have reduced. I'm not clued-in enough to say what this trend could represent, just echoing what I remember from that article.

Work has resumed at the Ford factories after the initial 'stand down', however only time will tell how much longer the Ford factories are going to hold up. Surely, in times like these, the number of people buying cars has been greatly reduced. Ford apparently has a Korean-manufactured engine that is going to make its way into local cars. The engine is very fuel efficient and has punchy performance. It'd be something to look out for.

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April 26, 2012 - 2:57 am

Jpcashflow wrote:

Geelong? Will see what happends with ford If ford do let go of workers or cut hours back, will the local economy be impacted by this? I think after July there is going to be allot of opportunity

Johann, good point, recalling that just two days ago there was an article in the newspaper about the Ford plants at Geelong and Broadmeadows being negatively affected when one of their suppliers goes into receivership. I don't have the figures showing how many of Geelong's residents are actually employed in the Ford factory, and there are still other industries in the area (eg. Incitec, a steel mill, Cheetham, CSIRO). Last year there was also an article about a new industrial area coming up to the north of Geelong, which I believe is the Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct (GREP).

Geelong is still an industrial town as some have alluded to. By that, I think they mean it's a 'young' town. Personally I think there is much more to Geelong than just the Ford factory and the place is starting to look like a mini Melbourne, hence I've already parked money there and will just let time work on it. Closure of the Ford factory is a hump that Geelong will have to overcome and I have no doubt that they will.

For Geelong to turn into a ghost town just because of the loss of the factory is unthinkable, and some Melbournians are also wising up to the comparatively good value of property in Geelong. Not saying it is bad for people with a limited budget to be buying in the outer suburbs of Melbourne (I love the houses and the huge suburban backyards), but they should consider Geelong as an alternative.

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April 26, 2012 - 1:43 am

I agree with Fredo's recommendations on those suburbs. It really depends on how much you're looking to spend. If you wish to take a look at property further south, go for something in the inner/ middle suburbs of Geelong, where I think there's good value for money. Proximity to the waterfront (becoming ever more vibrant by the year) is also an attractive thing, and not too difficult to commute to Melbourne.

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April 24, 2012 - 7:34 am

luke86 wrote:

But you want as big a land component as possible, as buildings (generally) depreciate and land appreciates.

Units can have a large land component though- If you own a townhouse in an inner ring subrub in a small low rise complex of say 6 units you would probably find that the land component is worth more than that of a similar value house on the city fringe.

Cheers,
Luke

Yes, and I might have read somewhere that when looking at an investment property, 60% (or above) of the value of the property should be land value, up to a point of course. No use having vacant land (ie. 100% value of the property is land value) that wouldn't rent for squat.

But at the end of the day it does depend. With a new property where the building (or improvements) is a greater proportion of the value of that property, there is also likely to be greater depreciation benefits.