[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

November 5, 2010 - 6:55 am

QLDpropertybuyer wrote:

We used Hot Property Specialists Buyers Agency, after being referred to them by one of their clients. We have purchased 3 properties with them now and we highly recommend them. I was speaking with the owner (Liz) the other day and they are moving into a new office in Coorparoo as they were at Springwood. They can help you to purchase anywhere from Gladstone down to the Gold Coast and all areas in between. We have purchased with their help in Cannon Hill, Meadowbrook and more recently Gladstone. Earlier next year we are hoping to use Liz again for a property in and around Wavell Heights. I wish you well with your property investing.http://www.hotpropertyspecialists.com.au

are they expensive?  Do you think they saved you money or just time or both?

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 27, 2010 - 10:57 pm

matt_decat wrote:

I know that the answers to these questions may be quite in depth so feel free to have a crack at just one the the questions because im sure you have better things to do than sit at your computer for an hour answering these questions.

you hit the nail on the head there.

 The answers to a lot of your (good) questions have already been answered on this forum in many places.  I suggest you search this forum first (use the search box top right), then rather than ask lots of very verbose open-ended questions on the one thread, break it up into small bits and ask bite sized questions as separate threads.  A lot easier to respond to.

Otherwise welcome to the forum.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 27, 2010 - 10:10 am

agree with all the above.  My 2 bobs worth is find out from the pest inspector what species the termites are.  Some of them eat houses to dust, others just make little trails and seldom go very far above ground level.  They are everywhere (except Tassie) and so finding them is not neccessarily terrible, it all depends on the degree of damage they have caused, and sometimes knowing the species helps.  However on that house you should get a pest/building inspection then if they are present but have not damaged it too much, get a couple of quotes to fix the problem and either insist on them being pretreated by vendor or make an offer at reduced price. given that you will have to spend to treat and repair damaged bits.  Personally I would get as much off the price as possible and use it as a bargaining tool.(so long as your inspection doesn't say it is about to fall down)

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 27, 2010 - 10:01 am

kong71286 wrote:

• There's no reason why you can't have be financially independent and still have all of the above
• Having money and time is likely to enrich your relationships, expand your opportunities, and improve your lifestyle

Good call kong71286.  When I started this thread it was intrigued by the recurrent theme that seems to run through many investment/financial planning books and magazine articles that ask the question "how much do you want to live on when you retire?". 

Everything in the financial planning arguments seems to revolve around retirement. Attached to that are the arguments about how bad the pension is and how many retirees there will be in the next 20-30years.  It then fascinates me that running alongside the doom and gloom of those statistics (eg one taxpayer supporting 3 retired pensioners in the future) is the concept of not only NOT needing the pension because of good financial planning enabling financial independance, but in fact AIMING at retiring early as well.  That is a paradigm shift from the era of our forefathers, for whom a hard work ethic and retiring at 65 in a blaze of glory was the expectation and the norm.

And it is that theme of aiming to retire early that motivated this thread.  But I think you are dead right in your summarisation of the discussion.  It is the ability to choose to work (or not) that is the essence of financial independance, which is really what many people who have contributed to this thread are describing as the major motivation, rather than retirement (which implies the complete cessation of ones usual paid employment.)

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 20, 2010 - 6:37 am

Thanks catalyst.  That's what I have been doing without realising that is what everyone called it.  I made up an excel  cashflow flowchart that I can plug in interest rates, price, rent, and then it calculates everything else.  (Using guesstimates for rates, land tax, and set percentages for managment fees.) 

What about RPdata, residex etc?  How do you use these properly?

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 19, 2010 - 9:26 pm

States vary in their laws.  In QLD, for example they have recently made annual council safety compliance  inspections mandatory (at $250/yr).  In NSW there are no compulsory laws like that but they will probably come in after the next negligent drowning, in my guess.  Some tenants will look after a pool, others see it as the owners job and then you end up paying a pool company to do it because even though the actual work is quick, it is several days/week ideally (to net out leaves, test chemicals etc etc) unblock filter.

My suggestion is look up state laws on pools for landlords (eg type in "landlord pool tenants" into google for your state and see what is there.  Other really good resource is just ask a property manager in the area what normal protocol is.  Some places are so hot and there are a lot of families that a pool jacks up the rent enough to justify it.

At a minimum, fencing should be compliant and make sure you have good public liability insurance.  I'd also suggest writing into a lease that it is tenants job to care for the pool, and you provide a quarterly pool expert visit or something like that.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 15, 2010 - 3:01 am

wender wrote:

House call-Glad you got that out!! There is so much to learn and I love it. I am so excited to be able to be in charge of my future and not have to be a slave to the 9 to 5 (or in my case 6.30 am to 11.30 pm) ethos. Stamp duty- what can you do- the government has to have their share, no use worrying about it, just look for bigger and better opportunities. Why did you take the opportunity in Tas?

Tassie-partly because like the place and it gave an excuse to visit, but mainly due to high rental return (8%) and continuing with the concept of diversification by buying in different states (as experts like margaret lomas et al suggest)

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 14, 2010 - 9:59 am

wender wrote:

Thanks JacM,
Good info, I will certainly do the ground work. I have found a bank that will lend to me without touching my super. I agree with you that  now is a really good time to be in the market. Its easier to get another loan if you have already one, much like getting another job is easier because you've already got one! I live in Qld but am looking at North West NSW or will even look at property in Tas. Does it matter where I live?

Hi, I live in north west NSW and have recently bought an IP  in TAS .  Main sting in interstate IPs seems to be that stamp duty is different % in diff states and land tax rules are all over the place.  What a waste of money they both are!  Unfortunately stamp duty effectively increases your purchase cost and land tax eats into your annual profit if you are positively geared. ( I'm sure you knew that but an occasional vent is therapeutic! )

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 12, 2010 - 10:47 am

This is the best site I have found for all your information/calculations/discussions relating to anything green.

http://www.energymatters.com.au/

I have put solar panels and a solar HWS up on our house in a similar climate to what you describe (central NSW).  Would recommend the evacuated tube option for HWS.  Sorry never heard of your "gas fired power station type of setup for households to provide electricity" unless you meant gas boosted solar HWS.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 12, 2010 - 10:32 am

scha9799 wrote:

Hi all,

Does any one know what the minimum land size requires in Tamworth ?

go to Tamworth Regional council website page:

http://www.tamworth.nsw.gov.au/Planning-and-Development/Plans-and-Strategies/Development-Control-Plans/default.aspx 

then scroll down to "Tamworth" and click on Development Control Plan No. 5 – Residential Housing Guidelines.

The last page of this has a map of zoning in Tamworth and mentions size of dwellings.

This may help.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 8, 2010 - 7:32 am

That's good.  Learned something.  Trouble is none of my doors rattle.  All they do is get stuck every time it rains too much.  But there'll be a drought for sure, and then they'll be good again.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 8, 2010 - 7:24 am

scha9799 wrote:

Thank you House call : )

how's the rental demand in the West Tamworth area ? I am looking for the CF+, I just concern about the rental demand and vacancy rate.

Rental vacancy rate is 2.3%

Gross rental yield for West Tamworth is 6.64%,  (Both numbers sourced from October edition of YIP magazine).

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 7, 2010 - 6:11 am

Taminda stands for TAMworth INDustrial Area.  There are a few houses there but they would be zoned commercial/industrial I would think (would have to check with Tamworth Regional Council)-67555555. 

West Tamworth is a very old established area, v nice place to buy/live.  There is an area there that is being planned to be zoned as a "Heritage Area", meaning that to preserve the 'feel' of the area, certain developments would not be permitted.  What effect that has on what you can do to existing properties I don't know, and also what effect that has on prices is anyone's guess.  West Tamworth also has a very good rental yield, if you look up a recent table of rental yields (around 6.5%), and so it is more likely to be CF+.

"Best" areas in terms of where you would want to live are East Tamworth (oldest) and some parts of South near the Longyard golfcourse (newest up-market area).  Worst place to live would be Coledale.  How this translates to investments is anyone's guess, because a lower priced IP in a "bad area" may do much better long term than an expensive place in a "nice" bit of town, or vice versa.  Personally I'd suggest West becuase it is neutral as an area and certainly has a very established pleasant feel to it, without the higher prices of East or the break-ins and vandalism of Coledale.

Good luck.  Let me know if you find something and I'll do a drive-by for you or take some photos. 
Where are you?  Perhaps we can exchange area information?  PM me if you like.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 6, 2010 - 11:15 am

scha9799 wrote:

Thank for the above comment, do you personally or knew some people investing in there ?

you sound like you know the area.

I live there and own some property there.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 6, 2010 - 4:00 am

champy1 wrote:

Hi Guys

i've just been present with the oppurtunity to buy myself a second property off my mum. As i'll be buying it at a 20% reduced priced this seemed like a no brainer!

Having bought from my parents all I would say is make sure you get a valuation done to prevent any angst/conflict  this may cause with your siblings, if you have any, down the track when the subject of inheritance comes up.  Your relationship with family is worth more than houses, in my view, but both are completely possible with forward planning to keep things clear with siblings.

Other than that, all we did was use a common solicitor to keep legal expenses down (and bargained with him beforehand) but we still had all the searches/valuation done.  Parents assisted with financial arrangements to keep banks out of it.  We still had to pay stamp duty. 

Good ;luck, sounds like a good deal.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

October 6, 2010 - 3:53 am

scha9799 wrote:

Thank you Jamie : )

Is anyone got more comment or sugguestion than there's a massive guitar in Tamworth ?

Yes, the massive guitar and (associated coffee shop) was recently up for sale.

Seriously, though.  Tamworth is forging ahead with surrounding coalmines (nearer to other satellite towns, but Tamworth is much bigger and they are a commutable distance and I would expect some people would rather live Tamworth for schools, shops etc than furhter away in smaller towns), recently finished equine centre, chook and meat processing plants, RAAF-associated air training school, major regional hospital etc etc.  New developments going on in all directions. 

Good place to buy, I would say.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

September 21, 2010 - 10:18 am

I'm glad I read this thread.

 Suddenly yesterday there were heaps more displayed threads than I was used to and I thought there must have been something on the news that I missed regarding property investing, or perhaps closure/collapse of another property investing forum website to get this apparent sudden influx of more people and their questions. 

This will be a challenge to try and keep up with so many concurrent threads!  Good questions, thought provoking and a bit addictive.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

September 17, 2010 - 8:09 am

wisepearl wrote:

last question – tips on finding a good QS, other than just thumbing thru yellow pages? ask on here for recommendations for perth based surveyors?

given my situation, i woudl assume i shoudl pay extra and meet the QS on site rather than do a remote one via photos or other budget alternative… i want this one done properly!

I have used BMT and they were excellent. (Got their name from reading one of Margaret Lomas'books.  She recommended them.)  They also have a good calculator at:

 http://www.bmtqs.com.au/TaxDepreciationCalculator.aspx

to get a rough idea.

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

September 16, 2010 - 1:48 am

We have since bought an IP in the same suburb which will have an income.  Would that change things?

[House CallMember@house-callJoin Date: 2010Post Count: 165]

September 16, 2010 - 12:06 am

roxie.springs wrote:

LOL!  I'm wondering if he will progress on his career with that kind of attitude.

Sales speak.