Gazza I'm pretty inexperienced myself so I don't want to tell you something that sounds like wisdom when it's not but as nobody else has answered you yet I may as well get the ball rolling. 

In relation to the FHOG, I looked into this in Tas a few years ago. Back then the rules were that you could buy an IP if it remains as an IP and you don't…[Read more]

Cheers for all your input Emma and everyone else. I've had a lot of listings sent through to me lately and have been trawling through Zillow and Trulia and I'm still seeing a lot of places, 3 or 4 bedrooms, built since about 1990, not too far out (eg Fulton county, College Park etc) for $30k-$50k. The yields look pretty good, $800 – $950 per…[Read more]

Hi Pagey,

Have you spent much time around Strahan? It is a nice area but it's pretty remote and I can't say I've heard of people moving out that way to retire. The main thing going for it is tourism, but that's very seasonal and it does tend to die through winter. The weather out on the west coast can get pretty brutal too so I'm not sure that…[Read more]

Thanks for your input everyone. There’s a lot going on in the US and it doesn’t fill me with confidence. It seems to me the best way forward, if I want to try to find some undervalued gold nuggets in the US, is to hedge my bets by investing in Aus and the US simultaneously. I’d be interested also to hear from anybody who is investing in the US in…[Read more]

Thanks for your advice Nigel. I thought going for simpler cheaper properties was ideal rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. The places I was looking at were between $80,000 and $140,000. Isn't it preferable to buy two places for $100,000 rather than one place for $200,000. In the latter case, if you lose the tenant you lose your…[Read more]

Thanks Duckster, your comment reflects the kinds of suspicions and concerns that I have too

Hi Michael,I'll follow your adventure with a lot of interest. I'm Australian but I'm actually based in Florida at the moment earning USD and am keen to get into the market. Due to my circumstances with work I will not have the chance to physically inspect properties until April, but when that time comes I plan to get stuck into it pretty hard. I'm…[Read more]