Geelong.  For all the reasons discussed at great length in a thread some time back.  Avalon airport is going to be expanded to be an international airport, and the rail line will have an extra piece built onto it that goes directly to Avalon Airport.  Since Tullamarine airport has no such thing, doesn't take a genius to work out that it'll be easier for people to fly into Avalon rather than Tulla.  The nearest major centre to Avalon is….. Geelong.  And it has the surf coast as well.  Swallow your pride, put your thinking hat on, and look at Corio and surrounds.

Records stay on your credit file for 5 years.  Keep your noses clean for a couple of years and you'll have a fresh start after that

http://www.mycreditfile.com.au/mcf/faq/#How_to_read_your_credit_file_

With zero savings you won't be buying a place right now, so perhaps focus on how to set yourselves up to make it happen in the future. 

If you fancy some ideas from us all, you might consider providing some or all of the things below to help us understand your position, and what timelines you'll have to work with:

– The suburb you currently live in
– Where you both currently work (ie suburb + state), and what type of jobs you have
– Income
– Debts
– Costs ; ie rent in your area, electricity/gas/water/phone bills, groceries, health insurance, car costs, average annual medical costs etc etc

I have not bothered to do much research into apartment buildings because I am soooo not into body corporates.  No matter what, these fees sound out of control ridiculous.

May I be so rude as to ask what the asking price is for the apartment you are looking at?  If it's worth 2mill, then $4k a year probably doesn't matter.  But I'm guessing it is an apartment in the normal price bracket affordable to most folk… in which case $4k a year is quite breathtaking.  I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.  If it's $4k now, who knows what ridiculous fee changes this mob will bring in next year??

Here is what I think:

In a standalone house, here are some example annual costs:

$500 insurance (building + contents)
$900 council rates
$20 exterior sensor light
$1000 for a gardener if you cannot be bothered to mow your own lawns

Total = $2420.

And that would be for a whole house.

Yes, $4096 seems extravagant to me and the precise reason I refuse to buy property that involves a body corporate.

About that electricity bill.  How many light fixtures are we talking??  An electricity bill for a whole house would come in at perhaps $200 per quarter.  So even if you multiply that area/consumption by 5 to try and equate it to the number of lightfittings in your buliding, you only come up to $1000… not $13000.

What is the "caretaking" covering?  Is it just a gardener?  Or is it a full-time staffperson that is on hand most hours of most days, will receive deliveries for you and so forth?  I doubt it is the latter, and therefore $20k a month is ridiculous.  $20k a month means this caretaker is sitting on a sweet $240k.  Seriously. 

If the lift is costing $10k a quarter to "maintain", then it is time to retire the lift me thinks.

How much extra income do you require per year? 

Doom! Gloom! Doom! Gloom!

Seriously, not sure why this concept keeps coming up.  Property is a supply and demand thing.  Demand continues to go up because we humans continue to increase the population by means of breeding and immigration.  Unless the immigration stops and the breeding reduces such that the population goes backwards, housing is going to be required in an increasing supply.

You definitely need to do  your homework with council.  Call the Wyndham City Council and ask to speak to someone in the planning department.  Don't call first thing in the morning, last thing of the day or around lunchtime.  You're unlikely to get the most helpful service from someone if you caught them when they were about to eat lunch.  Be friendly, introduce yourself, and don't try to sound like you know what you are talking about.  It just wastes everyones time and could put you at risk of someone not mentioning important information because they presumed you already knew the information.  Say plain and simple that you are looking at buying a particular piece of land (give them the address) for development purposes, and that you haven't done such a thing before.  Tell them what you fancy building on it and ask if the zoning would permit that, and if there are any other stumbling blocks they foresee in terms of development, and also in terms of subdivision.  At the end of the conversation, thank the person for their time at the end and sometimes they will happily say that if you would like any further help feel free to call them back.

Also find a land surveyor from the Wyndham area (refer http://www.yellowpages.com.au) about the same topic.  They can usually give you some very high level idea about things to be done, timelines, and costings.  Ask them to explain how they could help you through this process – what they handle, and what you'd have to handle.  Again, be super friendly, thankful, and indicate you look forward to speaking to them again when you have your thoughts in order to proceed with a plan.

Remember for big parcels of land, you might have to put in roads, street lights, electricity pits etc etc.

Step 1: Find out the zoning of the land and whether you could build any more dwellings on it or subdivide it at all.  If it still has a rural zoning, you might find you can't.  Thus you'd perhaps not bother buying it unless you're prepared to sit on the land and wait for a rezoning, or try and ask council to rezone it.

The indefinite rent free period would come to an end if the elderly aunt were to pass away, or if your mum and elderly aunt found that they living together thing wasn't working as well as they thought it would (aka a falling out).  I'd be cautious about making such big decisions based on the assumption that I could get free rent forever.