https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic/14443.html

I just posted a reply on this link, it should help you.

Essentially partnerships have unlimited liabilities – i.e. – you would be liable for your mate’s actions if he went out and bought himself a new Ferrari in the partnership name. They’re VERY RISKY!

Corporations offer limited liablity and would be a much better alternative. Only thing is that companies are taxed at 30%, which may be higher than you would individually be taxed if you had a partnership structure. Personally, I’d be willing to pay that premium. Everyone can be bought/tempted for a price, and I wouldn’t want to be shafted and paying off my ‘friends’ debt for the rest of my life.

It’s ultimately up to you, I’m not saying your friend isnt trustworthy or honest, but I wouldnt want to find out the expensive way![tongue]

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You might be able to sell the lowest/worst performer of the current 7 properties you own, and use that cash to buy a few CF+ properties, or depending on the current returns, put that money into securities or something that may have a little more growth. Still, Steve knows more than me, so probaly better to follow the millionare’s advice

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Chris, which LJ Hooker office was it? I am basically finished my Real Estate licence, and believe that agents really have to lift their game, and earn the respect of the public. They need to earn a reputation of being reliable and trustworthy, rather than on par with used car salesmen.

You should report the agents to your local (state level) Real Estate Agent watchdog, because that is misleading/deceptive/annoying!

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Hey Joe,

My view is that it’s better to have one agent working for you exclusively. Multilisting is better suited to agencies who:
a) are so small that they are not able to carry on their own business at full capacity without trying to sell other agencies listings; or
b) agencies that are so big, that going halves in the commission is affordable since all they had to really do was deal with interested parties rather than all the usual timewasters.

From a vendor’s point of view, this means that multilisting promotes a slack attitude by agents, since there is no guaranteed commission, and no way to budget for their expenditure, time, etc.

With an exclusive arrangement, the agent knows their potential income (roughly, depending on the sale price obviously), and hence can budget a proper marketing campain, their time etc exclusively for that property.

The agents obviously promote the exclusive authority since the vendor cannot go and list with another agency, so this is where chosing a motivated agent is essential.

In Vic (not sure about other states), we also have the General authority, which is simply an authority that is not exclusive – the vendor may list with as many agents as they like, yet only the agent that ‘introduces a buyer at the reserve price’ gets the commission. Again, this has the same pitfalls as the multilist system.

Coming out of this latest boom will shock agents, since now they will have to actually work and be innovative in selling property, so perhaps in the next couple of years we will see agents fighting more agressively for listings, and perhaps the disadvantages of the multilist & General authority may not be so apparent.

Hope this helps Joe, Best of luck.

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kp got it spot on. As an agents representative, i cop sh!t all the time as soon as you mention that youre a real estate agent due to people like this lazy guy. Thing is, the way the property market has been, agents have been getting their commissions very easily, and those that have only been in the game for a few years have only known the good times, when properties are easy to sell. Once things get hard, a lot of agents have been shocked when it takes ages to sell a proerty as they realise they dont have the ‘sales skills’ they thought they had when the industry was on cruise control.

Hmmm, that was a long drawn-out sentence, but i think you get where im coming from. Basically, legally the agent should be doing a lot of things that he cant be stuffed doing. Remember that investing is business, not emotion, so you’re entitled to go straight to the vendor to negotiate. A lot of vendors (not investors, but vendors such as old people, career people etc) may be offended as they have hired an agent to take care of the sale & dont want people bugging them about it, but im sure their mood will change once you let them know about what the agent hasnt been doing.

Of course, if unable to negotiate with vendor directly, submit offer, in writing, subject to …, and write that you expect a written reply by ___/__/2004, signed by agent and vendor(s). Maybe a nice little clause at the end could be that failure of the vendor to sign by the above date will prompt action by means of a report to the REIA (or state level). Of course being a clearly lazy agent that probably has forged signatures many a time, this may occur and the vendor may not even see the offer, but its got more of a chance of them seeing it than simply submitting an offer $10000 below the asking price.

Cheers – good luck!

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Sounds pretty decent to me… thats 750 a year for that kinda of exposure… one listing would cover their expenses. Spose its up to them though.

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Hey SIS, since Ive got an accounting background, my opinion would be a bit biased (and probably not too realistic… bloody accountants! LOL) but I think it depends on the property, and also whether you have actually sold or not. CG = money in the bank. Might be money that’s ended up having been in a good investment with a total good return.

However, it could have been money better spent. Coming off the biggest boom in history as some are claiming it to be, and with hindsight, I doubt you would’ve put your money anywhere else!

Anyway, what Im getting at is that a lot of people who own property are all happy & smiles, but they only have a paper profit. Who knows whether they could actually sell the place quickly if they needed to! Their liquidity in the property might be really ordinary, but they think they’ve had a big win.

Dont know if this is making sense, or whether it actually applies to what you meant by your question, so Im going to shutup now. LOL, plus you know what you’re doing, and Im sure have had a lot of successful CG, so youd know more about it than I would!

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Hey Starscream, considering its been on the market for over a year, Im assuming
a) you know a bit about the area
b) you know about it’s reputation
c) you know its location relative to amenities & hospital(s)
Also, since no-one has gone to the sign-up stage, you’d be able to negotiate & get it a bit cheaper Im sure… just another advantage which may make the larger deposit not as bad…

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Yeh Rugby, lol, whats with everyone & double replies?! Annoying huh?!
Nathan, I think I see your investment pretty much the way you’re seeing it. Land value is basically what you paid for, so being a corner block is good, and Im assuming you looked into the possibility (hopefully probability) of future growth. Being a -vely geared property Im assuming you want this as well as the tax benefits… Anyway, thats not the point. The point is, that as long as the building is livable, then you should be fine, then like you said, once it appreciates a bit more & building suffers a bit more, you will be able to afford to fix it or start again. Houses from other sites are cheap to buy & reletively cheap to transport, so should turn out ok.
Now if I was in your position, Id be sh!t scared… just coz I think investing with such magnitude at such a young age is daunting (Im about the same age as you), but also excited. One thing I think you want to keep an eye on is your ‘perceived’ savings… You mentioned that you are in a situation where you negotiated $32k off the price… but who said it was going to sell for that higher price. Dont get me wrong, you could be on a winner here, and for your sake I really hope you are, but just be careful with you sums, because it sounds like the contingency with the termites could lead to more trouble in the future, and perhaps high vacancy rates if things turn ugly.
Still, Im sure you know what youre doing (sounds like it anywayz!) and would have factored all of this sort of stuff into your equations and valuations.
Cheers mate, & good luck

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