I heard Chris speak at a seminar a few months back, and I was very impressed with the information he was able to impart with the timeslot allocated to him.

Hi Chris

What are the pros and cons you've identified for the area?  A couple of important questions to ask are; what is the demand like for rentals?  What is the employment available to residents?  I see it is near Gladstone… is mining the only industry?

I'm wary of the areas around Mernda for instance

I'm a big fan of long settlements on property purchases.  The capital growth you enjoy before you've even stumped up the cash is a bit like earning interest on a bank account you have not yet deposited money into. 

Do this:

1. Speak to the director both on the phone and in writing explaining the situation.  Be clear about when the curtains were purchased.  Be clear about what the instructions say re washing.  Be clear in explaining you expect reimbursement for the curtains.  Explain the amount of money and by when you expect to be paid (2 weeks).  Be clear in explaining if this does not occur the situation will immediately be escalated through Consumer Affairs / VCAT.

2.  If you do not get your money, escalate as mentioned in point 1.

3.  Fire the PM and move on.  Keep a much closer reign on your PM. 

Needless to say, you do not want to pay more than a similar property would sell for, in case you have to offload the property.  You don't want to do so at a loss.  But equally you don't buy a seemingly "cheap" property only to find the rent comes nowhere close to supporting the mortgage.

I don't really care that much about the pricetag.  I care more about the rental yield.  In other words, will the property pay for itself, and if not, how much will I be out of pocket, and for how long, before it does.

Hi propertyboy

I think you'll find that the university has a very long lease on the whole building.  As such it is an IP venture and you would not be able to sell it to an owner occupier.

With regards to strata titling, a couple of things to check would be whether the dwellings are all too small for council to allow the titles to be split.  Banks often don't like to finance things that are below 50m2 and as such your buyer market is reduced to people who can and are prepared to stump up bigger deposits (or in fact cash buyers).

I think you should run the numbers on all the possible scenarios, and go with the one that makes you the most profit. 

Definitely de-clutter.

What colour are the walls and ceiling?  If the answer is not white, then paint them.  White.