This has been a great thread.

I remember i was in the same boat as you BEAR 09. I was in real estate working 100 hours a week earning big bucks, had a couple of investments etc. But  i was still not happy!! Why??  Because i truly thought that money was the most important thing on this planet.

Then at 25 years old i met this woman who know is my wife, we have bought a bussines in 2010 and it has been hard both financially and emotionally.  Two years later the bussiness  is running at a profit providing a good life style for my wife and i and i also work some where else earning good money too.

But i am very happy with where i am so last year i spent pretty much a whole year planning on what i want.
I can tell you since i wrote all my goals not only am i happier but my dreams and goals are know turning into a reality every day.

In life we some times to feel down in order to feel Up again.

 Hi Qm,

Every one is going to have a different view on this subject. I think the main important thing is what is your overall goal?
Also there are going to be people who make allot of money in these hard times and then there is going to be people who will loose money or "use the same excuse as last year and the year before and do nothing".

For me i think 2012 is going to be a very good year and there will be allot of great opportunities. But like Michael Chan said its all about timing.
1)Term deposit: Its a very safe investment tool and yes you do 5% return but remember you also have to pay tax on that too.
2) Shares: To me very risky and volatile can you risk loosing any money in the short term? they might go up and they might go down no one really knows. But its all about timing.

If i was on your shoes when i first bought my house the first thing i did was keep it simple, just keeping saving.
Ask your self this how much more money would you like to save for your house?
in what time frame?

then start saving and go from there
3)

This year is going to be a great year and it has started very well for me all ready.
One thing i am doing different this year vs last year is my goal setting.

Last year i had to many goals and to be honest i didn't achieve them. But the most important thing was what did i learn?
This year i have simple goals which i look at every day and  i am know to  a path on reaching them.

In terms of investing in property i think this year will provide allot of opportunities. There are many people who are struggling and allot of people are loosing there jobs.

I had a BBQ with 3 other married couples where all around the 26 to 28 age bracket. From what i had seen so many of them have gave up on being wealthy because life is so hard, expensive etc. Even though these factors may but when other people give up you have a more chance of success.

This year i am treating anything that is not family related as a bussiness. My goals are treated like an investment where the more time i work on the goals the more sucess i will get out of it.

Good luck all and remember when things look tough just remember if you work on the problem a soultion will emerge.

Hi Novusprimo,

I would recommend going on  http://www.realestate.com.au.
Look at houses for lease in the area .A good way to gauge if a property manager is on the ball is to call the agent and pretend that you are looking at leasing a home from them and see how they respond and treat you.

Also stagging a home is very important.  Plus is also shows the potential tenant what your standards are.

But you dont need to get to carried away as long as its neat, everything works and the price is good you will have no problem.