Hi wealthyivdIf you want to go down the buy-and-hold, negative geared path, then I don't really have any answers for you, apart from get a job that pays about $100k more than your current one.But if you haven't read Steve McKnights 0-260 properties book yet, then I suggest you go and get it, because he explains quite a bit about the difficulties…[Read more]

If your accountant is unsure of this (ie if they don't handle a lot property developer clients) then do some accountant hunting and grab yourself a more specialized one.

HiOne thing I will add is that after you have got a confident estimate of all costs (don't forget GST), and a very confident estimate of the end sale price (remeber to take off selling fees), take a moment to work out what is your profit on total costs as a %.To do this, subtract total costs from net income to get a gross profit. Divide gross…[Read more]

Good news. The settlement went through as planned on Monday 25th.What a relief – at last.Now on to bigger and better.

Hi billyI can also vouch for the quality of "renovation toolbox". It also comes with DVD's on how to crunch numbers, case studies etc.Good value. It helped me be able to confidently estimate my first reno, with little previous experience. If you are interested you can read about my reno here: https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-invest…[Read more]

Hi JaffaThe reno is supposed to settle tomorrow – 25th Feb. The buyer says everything is in place at their end, and my solicitor says everything is in place from my end. They have done the final inspection too, so this time I can't see any problems, but you never know until the money comes through.I will put up a post tomorrow (if I remember) to…[Read more]

Hi all. Sorry to take so long to answer the question "what are we up to now?".A bit of a saga to tell you…. I will give you the short version.It all started with that lovely 30 day, cash, unconditional offer we were so glad to receive back in Sep '07. The purchaser did not actually pay any deposit when signing the contract, saying that he would…[Read more]

Beeuda full. And quick too. I like it. I like it a lot.

Lots happening. Tell you more on the weekend.

Thanks AndyGood stuff.Good luck with the ceiling.Jase

Hi corhig – Pabs Rental: 1800 201 020Hi chpropdevThose are some absolutely ripper ideas. You have got my head churning all over the place. Thanks a million (maybe 2!!)Re: using percentagesI agree with this too a point. Before doing this deal we worked out all the % returns, did the 3 tests in Steve's book etc. I will keep doing this with all…[Read more]

HiThanks everyone for the encouragement. Much appreciated.Sorry for taking a while to reply – been flat out crunching more deals.Crashy, thank you for your input, and for asking me the hard but important questions. I have been considering your comments for the last couple of days, and here is what I've come up with:

crashy wrote:
you would o…[Read more]

HiFoundation: No, haven't worked out tax yet. Meeting with Accountant next week to sort it all out.Crashy: 1. No, would not have proceeded on a 5k expected profit. The 15k that we expected was a minimum expectation, and also we were very keen to get started. We thought that being our first deal if we came out with any profit at all it would be a…[Read more]

Hi millionsAt the time of buying most homes were about 260-280k for the average ones. The one we bought was probly worth about 250k, so I think we got it about 8k under value. Now the cheapest ones are about 275k, and the average ones290-300k. So about 20k growth.I think our final product would have been worth about 320-330k in the original…[Read more]

Hi allOk, time for the low down on all the numbers.Here they are, as accurate as I can get them for now. The selling and holding costs might vary slightly depending how it pans out at settlement.Item                             Budget                         ActualPurchase Price              $242,000                     $242,000Acquisition Cost    …[Read more]

Cool off period is over. No more backing out. Onward to profit we go.

I just put some more photo's up on the flickr site. Some bathroom shots, and a couple of the house on open day, with driveway painted and carport complete. Sorry it took me so long.

Thanks crashy.It looks like everything will be fine. I think half the problem was a bit of family feuding on the part of the buyer. A brother and 2 sisters buying the house for their parents. Once the agent worked out who was really in charge, it helped to make things smoother.So this time tomorrow we should be out of the woods, and ready for a…[Read more]