there are books on strategies, books on legal, and motivational books, 0-130 properties and steves other books talk about how to find, purchase and expand your portfolio with positively geared properties. they are good books, motivational with good info.

For developments i like ron forlee’s book called australian residential property development – a step by step guide for investors

for legal and structures/trusts etc, i like how to legally reduce your tax “without losing and money!” by tony melvin and ed chan.

for motivation, i read donald trumps books, its obviously about large developments. but i am in construction and project management, so his books really get me motivated and are really fast paced and well written.

Hey,
i have been renting for the last 8 or 9 years. and have rented in 6-7 properties over that time.

I have learnt a LOT about being a tenant, finding rental properties, and just how good/bad real estate agencies are….

Just in case you were all wondering, If i want a property to rent… i don’t check realestate.com.au… in fact, none of my housemates do either. we all started renting this property either via the university accommodation website, gumtree.com.au and easyroommate.com.

We have a range of people who have lived here, accountants, teachers, students, web designers, and many more. and they all found this place using these websites. there has not been a vacancy in this house for many many years. replacement tenants can normally be found within a day or two.

Hope some of this can help you all with your vacancies.

It takes lots of research. its not just as simple as build it and they will come. the right building in the right area at the right time…. UNLESS you can do something that is always in ok demand, and do it for a great deal.

But, finding great deals is again, research and knowledge.

I have a book which is awesome for a step by step guide to developing in australia, its called
Australian residential property development – a step by step guide for investors. its by ron forlee

really informative book.

Spend some time researching areas, see what other people on here are doing atm, and go from there.
There are some development companies who can handle the entire process for you, but you pay for it… and that often eats up your profits.

I’d start of with what you know, and slowly increase the complexity of your deals as you learn more.

you pay GST on the sale of the building, but during construction you can claim the GST of the materials and services to build the duplex in the first place… so have to work out both and see if it is actually that bad. also take into account the time value of money, 100 dollars saved during construction, is worth more then 100 paid when selling the property, because that 100 saved, can be used to make money during the time between construction, and sale.

“No GST is payable on the sale of existing homes by individuals. It doesn’t have to be a principal place of residence.”

“GST is payable on the sale of new houses and new land and all non-residential land and buildings (new or established) by registered businesses (see exceptions and choice of method of calculation)”

So if you buy it under a registered business, you will have to pay GST. as the business will own it.

This is just from some quick research i just did though, i’m no expert on any of this.

i am looking at 3 bedroom houses in elizabeth ranging from 170 to 200,000. i have friends in tiny 3 bedroom duplexes in that area who are paying 260 a week rent. so a 3 bedroom house for 170 sounds good to me.

The area is considered dodgy, but like i said, i am looking in that area… the reward outweighs the risk i think. Just make sure you have nice tenants and it is fine.
In a little bit closer to the city… much closer.. northfield, etc places are 250-400,000. but are much nicer looking, but rents are similar, or only slightly more. so the returns are much better out further.
HOWEVER, just near northfield a large development has just taken place and the value of those properties will definitely increase over the next 10 years. northfield and nearby areas are right on the rim of the price change…. areas 2-3 minutes closer to the city are 400-500,000. and these prices will continue to move to the suburbs slightly further out as these developments improve the feel of the area.

But these are where i am looking! so dont steal my properties!!

I’m in SA and looking at areas around elizabeth etc….. but you haven’t really mentioned what your after? what sort of things are you looking for?

Elizabeth is pretty cheap, because its about 20-25 mins drive from the city centre and considered one of the “dodgy” areas, Christies Beach is a bit of a drive out of the city too… but in the exact opposite direction from Elizabeth. its a less “dodgy” area then elizabeth, but also a bit more isolated, Elizabeth has 3-5 major shopping centres within a few minutes of it. Christies Beach has 1-2 ok sized ones near it.

Dont know what else to say without knowing what you want more.

Sucks that you are having trouble with the money,  But there are a few questions.
If you are using the property as security, maybe they dont think there is much interest for the land.   If there is sufficient interest in the land out that way, have you thought about separating one of the parcels of land, and selling it?

Options to get money via that banks, there are some really good online lending institutes, but they all tend to have similar lending criteria, if banks are only offering a high rate, then you will probably come across that with them too.

You could wait until your farms books show a good income, and then you might have a bit more to work with.