Hi Hinga

Your post is very detailed, but if this is your first dip in to the realms of investing, just a few pointers and yes i sell property but not where you are looking so not fishing.

*An investment should be purely about the numbers, detached from what you like, its just numbers.
*You don’t need to like the look or the color or even the location
*The bigger the budget the more you should get but that doesn’t mean size all the time
*700m2 blocks are not common, you have to think of the maintenance and cost, yes your tenants will deal with the day to day stuff but what about large trees falling more land more trees, looking after a large garden may put some working families off?
*Buying an investment at $400k then ripping out the guts of the place and spending another $50k to make it look like what you think people will want doesn’t make sense!save time save money (& stress)
*using a company that charges $11k for something i do for free is a loss maker, I wouldn’t do it.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED?
*if you buy off plan with your $450k budget, in a fist stage of a large development you will get-
*Equity increase by time its build (22 weeks or so)
*Stage two land will be more expensive so you have saved money and made in equity!
*All the fittings are brand new with warranties and done by experts to tastes that have been researched.
*The tax depreciation you can claim back can put you in a positive geared position from year one
*If you find the right consultant, they may be able to get you investment incentives, like rental guarantees or fixture upgrades, i do for mine.

Just from those few suggestions yoube saved $11k on a buyers agent, may be $30k on buying in stage one of a development, $20 to $30k back on tax in the first few years, and that’s without adding up the equity in the value of the new build by time its built?
*more importantly you saved yourself time and stress.

Its good to have a plan but all the reading and watching others do it wont count as much as ever doing it, good luck and remember it doesn’t matter where you buy infact the less you see the property the better, you will worry less and count profit more.

Disclaimer* these are my opinions and advice based on 15 years in real estate sales management and training.

Hi Valluvan

Investing is all about the reasons you are doing it? is it for your future or is it for an immediate ROI?
A buyers agent will know or be able to find out details of an area if you give them a criteria to work to, but it will cost you a fee, small as it maybe its still an out of pocket expense before you have even started your portfolio.

i don’t cover the areas you are suggesting to invest in i mainly cover QLD and a few locations in NSW, but what i do is work directly with developers to promote and sell their turn key off plan investments, with no fee to the client and all the knowledge and the ability to negotiate on occasion with the developer to obtain an incentive like rental guarantee or property upgrades, this may include tax depreciation reports letting you know how much you can claim back each year, this kind of thing puts you in a positive gearing position, so my advice unless you decide to invest up here where its the sun is always shinning and the prices are generally cheaper but on the up, is to find your local version of me ;-)