In response to Matt, part time uni isn’t an option. You can’t teach without a licence and to do that, you need a 4 year degree, although im doing it slightly differently by completing a bachelor of arts and then getting a diploma of education. Takes the same time but leaves more room.

Most uni related expenses probably wouldn’t be tax deductable, such as transport. I can delay the fees (not preferable, but it leaves more money to play with) until i can afford to pay off the debt. A car would set me back a couple of grand and it may be hard investing without one (as you need to travel to the properties, real estate agents, etc.) Tax is definitely something I’m going to need to educate myself on though, both in the long and short term. Any book/website recommendations? (keeping in mind I’ve never had to do a tax return) I’ll definitely be doing more research on this done the track but currently i’m research generalised property books so I understand things before i read the complicated ones.

I’ve also thought about buying and subletting. I have enough furniture to deck out a house and one of the areas I’ve been focusing on during my research is right near the uni, which I believe has the potential to appreciate a lot. It would be pretty easy to find tenants willing to sublet as the area is in high demand.

It would be smarter, but wouldn’t the income earnt by subletting be considered as income, despite going to pay off the mortgage? Again, can affect centrelink (unless i can find some passive income streams, relying on them is inevitable) and also there would be some difficulties in raising the deposit and getting the loan. My parents wouldn’t go guarantor and banks wouldn’t lend money to me. I’ve done the research, trust me!

In going along with the subletting, I can do minor renovations (as I learn more about it) to increase the price and the equity I can access if i chose to sell. Also, after reading Steves book, I’m slightly hesitant about buying a property to live in as it limits the amount of equity you can access… although in the short term, that probably isn’t that much of a problem

On a side note, I don’t fully understand the structure of uni. Hypothetically, despite majoring in an arts subject can i do a unit or several from a different faculty? I just finished ‘rich dad, poor dad’ and was thinking that taking a few units from the commerce faculty couldn’t go astray taxes/accounting is something i know little about. In going along with the subletting, I can do minor renovations (as I learn more about it) to increase the price and the equity I can access if i chose to sell. Also, after reading Steves book, I’m slightly hesitant about buying a property to live in as it limits the amount of equity you can access… although in the short term, that probably isn’t that much of a problem. Renting is cheaper and would probably give you more money to work with. Also after sharehousing for 8 months, its not something i’m overly fond of doing again (im social phobic)

For number crunching purposes, the area i’m looking at is grovedale/belmont in Victoria. A house is around 220’000 but talking down and finding good deals, you could probably reduce the price to $180’000. This is typical 3 bedroom home, not the most prettiest but with potential for renovation. I could get cheaper by going slightly further away but I’m looking at the infrastructure: those areas have plenty of shops and buses to get to uni. As I live in the area I’m able to suss out the minor things A one befroom unit can be bought for $120’000 if your lucky and a two bedroom for $160’000. While realestate.com.au mightn’t have these prices, when looking for a place to rent i always checked out the places for sale.

Page 4 of this document has information about calculating the rates: http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/library/pdf/5146/09.pdf . My apologies in not being able to understand it. However, I asked my parents (who have bought 4 properties in my area) and they said to expect $700-800 in rates. With insurance, I could probably go through a mortgage broker and my dad pays $350ish for home AND contents.

I know the numbers aren’t good but they let you know the average for the area. It would be possible to find cheaper homes (i’ve heard of doing it through deceased estates and such) but that information wouldn’t be able to be obtained online.

Thanks for the recommendations, while they might not apply now they could come in handy later.

I see where your coming from but I’m on centrelink benefits and, with part-time work, the maximum amount I could earn is $15’000 a year – probably the lowest I could offer as a deposit. I understand taking risks is an element of investing however financially, I have a lot to risk. It might not be a loss of money but I’d have to sell what limited possessions I have if something went wrong.

Also I’m not sure how the income earned would affect my centrelink benefits, but its difficult enough living on what I’m earning now (without work, less than $10’000 a year) without it being impacted. I rely on this to cover living and education costs and sacrificing any of the money could really affect uni life.

I’ve thought about an investment partner but I’ve read posts on this forum and they’d definite prefer someone with proven success and prior experience as opposed to someone who has read a few books.

Due to my financial position, it might take some time to educate myself as seminars with the information I’m after can cost upwards of $500 which can take months to save. Its hard to put what you’ve learnt into action when you don’t have the funds to pay for the learning, lol. I see the 4 years as enough time to save for, and attend possibly 2 seminars a year as well as stock up on household items that would mean I could live in reasonable comfort while renting, as steve mentioned making sacrifices in the short term to help the long term. I’m hoping that in buying hobby items now, when i don’t really have any debts, might make those sacrifices easier to bear in the long term.

In response to learn&share, there aren’t many income streams that would be made available to me over the next few years other than earnings from part time work and centrelink benefits. I’m thinking of trying my hand at getting some of my work (photography and writing) published once I’ve improved my skills to try and get a passive income stream, but it might take some time and money to learn about both industries.

Thank you both for your advice. Reading books can only take you so far as you need experience and not many people I know have investing experience.