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I am from Melbourne and currently in Queensland for property related business. I have been staying at a relative's place in Bray Park, which is near Warner. The surrounding suburbs of warner, e.g Bray park, Lawnton have lots of housing commission houses and above-average percentage of working class/unemployed people. There's nothing really exciting around – the area is simply a more affordable area of Brisbane.
You do not mention how much you've been offered the house for! It's all relative, what is your buying goal? to live in or rent? If for investment, what is your investment purpose and strategy? You have to ask these fundamental questions in order to determine whether what's on offer at warner is a good fit for your purpose and strategy?
Prices are generally down in queensland at teh moment and there are an over supply of stock, bad time for sellers.
There are some nice places in warner as well, but you will need to look very closely – either come yourself to hve a look or hire someone here to check it out for you.
Warner is an old farm area, still quite a few large acreage properties.
Other question to consider is if considering buying for investment – what kind of tenants do you foresee as renting this 4b/r property?
hope this helps somehow.
JNMI am not sure if mortgage brokers get better rates! they would however, or should be aware of the best rates out there. But a word of caution, there are other factors to consider in getting the best loan for one’s given situation at the time then just best interest rate – e,g ongoing fees, offset facility, etc.
Also to note that brokers not only get a trail commission for the life of the loan but they also get an upfront commission. Someone has calculated that on a $350,000 loan over 30 years, the broker gets over $13,000 in commission.
Apart from going directly to banks yourself or using a broker, there is a third option. You can hire a borrower’s agent, in the same way you can hire a buyer’s agent to purchase a property. They charge you a fixed fee (usually around $4000) and they then search for the best loan for your situation AND every month they refund you the monthly commission that would have gone to them.
I think this is the kind of situation where the loan person is really impartially working for you to get you the best loan for your situation because they are getting paid by you. Mortgage brokers get paid by the banks, usually through their the aggregator they are working for, so they could be influenced to push one particular lender over another.
If I can afford it, I’d rather hire a borrower’s agent myself. there are not many around but I think this model of doing loan business will increase in the future. A good one that I came across is based on the gold coast – check it out at http://www.vanillaloans.com.au
cheers
JNMMikey,
thanks for the example. however, typically leasing a place to a company will generally have a higher rent. if after the 2 yrs, the company does not renew the lease and the plcae is leased to an ordinary tenant, that's the rent that really needs to be considered for calculating ongoing return. I've seen rents drop by around 20% when going from company to ordinary tenant.
Just something to think about.
JNMI have not put a loan through Investors Direct yet but have had an initial consultation with one of their finance strategist. I found the strategist to be very good in their level of expertise, with suggestions, ideas, etc.
I understand once a loan application is put through with the strategist, it is then handed to the back office which takes over for processing through to settlement. From that point, you deal with a person from the back office managing the application.
personally, I tend to prefer dealing directly with the person who I originally met with and is going to see the loan through all the way.
Investors finance is a busy office that handles lots of loans. so it depends what you are most comfortable with.
something to think about.
good luck
JNMI understand that the Metropole person in sydney works directly with or for Michael yardney. I do not believe it is just a contract agent. While I have also benfited from MY's books, newsletter and seminars but in my mind, it does not necessarily mean that his company's buyer agent service would be the most suitable for one's buying needs at a particular time. What I mean is it depends where you intend to buy in sydney, what kind of property and what your strategy is. Metropole specializes in historically high growth properties in a defined area from the cbd. So if you were looking to buy more of a cash-flow oriented property in the outer western suburbs of sydney, I doubt if Metropole buying service would suit your needs in that case. But on the other hand, if you were looking to buy an IP within their area f speciality, they would be quite sutiable. My point is while Metropole's educational services is of excellent value does not necessarily mean that their buyers agent service is best suited for me at a given point. It's two different services completely.
Good luck.
JNM
Thanks for your comments. While at the time it seemed a good idea but I realise now that it was not a good move. I have approached the vendor to see if I can get out of one since it was relatively recent. haven't heard back from them yet. I guess at the worst, I will have to try to sell one before settlement.
I put it down to a mistake and not a well-informed decision. I intend to learn from this.
JNMHi Allan,
Those points that Steve highlighted regarding OS investing are certainly very true and important.
It is possible for foreigners to invest in the US, many Japanese do, but it will be best if you had an insider there to guide you through the complexities of regulations and taxation, etc.
I am Australian and have owned 6-7 properties in the US. I lived there for 12 years under a work visa and was able to get a SSN (social security number) which is required to open a bank account and do just about any transaction there. it is possible without it but as I said, you will need a good advisor there to work with.
I've sold most of my properties there, I currently have one left, a house in Montana, which is currently for sale on the market there. since the US does not havve negative geraing taxation benefits, most people there buy properties for positive cash flow. M properties there have done well by me in that regard but I now wish to focus my activities here in Australia since being back.
Also, long distance property management through a local agent can be a nightmare when that agent does not do their job properly.
I would not recommend someone get involve in direct property investing there from a distance, I would go there and see and study the market for yourself and find a good person or two you can work with.
best wishes
JNM
I had the lasik correction procedure done on both my eyes around 8 years ago in the USA when I was living there. First of all, the procedure should not be referred to as 'surgery' as there is no surgery involved. I prefer the term eyesight correction. It took a whole 1 minute of sitting in a kind of dentist chair, the laser machine is brought down in front of your face and aligned with your eyes and then a touvh of a button for each eye and bingo, it's done!
I had researched the procedure quite thoroughly before submitting myself to it. and it pays to go an experienced and skillful eye doctor even if they charge a bit more. at teh time in the US, the procedure ranged from $2000us to $5000us. after visiting a few doctors that did it, I decided to go with the one I felt most comfortable with and based on my research seemed most experienced and qualified. I paid $5000us for both eyes.
I have been ompletely happy since, and I had been wearing glasses since 15yo, I was in my 40s when I had it done. the doctor there had also told me that teh correction procedure does not mean that I might not need reading glasses as I get older. he explained to me that is due to the normal weaking of the muscles of the eye and laser does not correct that aspect. it corrects the cornea of the eye that causes short-sightedness.
I think the procedure has now been refined quite well and has been around for a while. but I emphasise that the result is really depended on the skill of the doctor. he has to be very precise with how he aligns the laser to your cornea, that's the key.
if you can afford it and feel confident with the doctor, go for it. it's great not being dependent on glasses.
good luck
JNMHi Elkam,
I have on several occassions transferred US dollars to Aus dollars and the company I used was Afex – http://www.afex.com
they opened up a branch in sydney a few years ago but has been in the US for a long time. I had personally met one of their representatives in the US when I was there and I have been very happy with their service. they deal in all currencies and you don't put your money with them. they just take it from whichever account you nominate overseas and transfer it to your australian account. tehy charge a minimal transfer fee.
good luck
JNMthanks for the suggestions that have been put forward so far on my question. I appreciate your comments. As this is a new area of involvement for me, I want to make sure I approach it in the best possible way. Sounds like there are a few different ways of doing such a deal.
Paul, I'll try to give you a call on Monday for a chat about the situation and to learn about your services.
thanks very uch
JNM
