Forum Replies Created
Have you considered improving/renovating you own house? could you squeeze a bit more out it? Your own home has the added advantage of being tax free. Otherwise, becareful at the moment,it is easy to buy a house spend heaps on the reno and actually make a loss. With a low income you may feel the financial squeeze if you try to buy another property too soon. Having started where you started I know how hard it is. Real estate investing is long term, a million dollars is only $50 k per year over 20 years!!! Oh, and don’t worry about seminars. Most times you will get more valuable and tailored advice on this forum. Reading books is better value. This might be your best starting point.
JTW
Karl & Rita
I am just in the process of subdividing a block (3) in an area near you. There isn’t and way that anyone can give you a firm figure. It depends on so many factors.In my instance I have spent $2500 on townplanner for initial work and application, $1500 for engineer, $900 for council fees, $300 for public advertising & signage. I have still more to spend, headworks contribution $7000, solicitor $1200, stamp duty $?, Title Reg$?, GST at the end. In the meantime I have about $75000 to spend on water connection,roadworks,power & phone.
Make sure you do your sums, but go see a town planner/surveyor first and get a heads up. Professional advice is cheap really.
JTW
Greenhorn,
Hang in there. From experience I know how tough it is now, but in years to come you will look back and see that holding is the right move. As you can see from other forum contributors, the asset looked as if it would never improve, then suddenly takes off like a rocket. Rents are increasing, building costs continue to rise………
At this point in time, selling at a massive loss could create a dead weight of a debt ($100k ?) that could hold you back in the future.
What could you possibly gain by selling at a loss and retaining a debt?Perhaps the greatest profit you could possibly make is the learning/experience/knowledge from this investment.(I bet you know how to spot the peak of a property boom now !!)I know from my experience buying my 1st property, today I look back at it with great merriment. At the time it was bleak, but I learnt and I now know how to make every deal a winner and know how to look before I leap.
JTWronsab,
I am a great fan of sub division/developing, however the time delays are enormous. The frustration at times unbelievable, but it definitely worth it if you pick the right property. Have you considered your holding costs and it is possible to offset with rent etc.jtw
Hi there,
Another option maybe to buy a house and sub-let the other rooms to other Uni students. Let them pay your house off while you study. A combination of Fist home owners grant, parents supporting you by way of a guarantee perhaps, maybe an equity partner etc.
There are some pretty sharp minds on this forum that could point you in the right direction. If you do some home work and get prices of a cheap house, rates, insurance etc the super number crunchers that contribute here might show you how to get into an investment by way of PPOR started. Hopefully by the time you finish uni you will have some equity to start your future in property investment. Another option?JTW
Gidday Redwing,
I had a look at the forum frolic link and that article about goal setting was great.I know 6 pages sounds a lot , my first plan was only 1page. Now I get into the detail of budgets, how I am going to achieve things, timings, resources required, financing arrangments, different options,specific taskings etc. before you know it there are 6 pages.
Like I said, better the plan the better the result.I’ll e mail you a copy, I just have to cull the personal detail, as I don’t store it as a template. I will get back to you in a day or 2.
JTW
Hi Redwing,
I might have missed something because I am almost computer illiterate. Where is the rest of it? Or is it just one page only.AmandaBS, you don’t really need any template,the magic of it is in the appreciation process (planning your plan) and the fact you write down what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it and commit to a time frame. The better the plan the better the result. Just start typing
If you would like a copy of the template/format I use , let me know.
Welcome Matt,
The forum is great place to obtain the most important asset in real estate investing, knowledge. I am in awe of the experienced people sharing on this forum. Hope you will be too. JTWWell I’ll be having a quite Christmas at home with just the wife and kids. Most of our relatives are heading off on overseas trips etc. Peace in our time hey? Dazzling little story about last Christmas probably strike a chord with most of us who have had the in laws over for Chistmas, They where the in laws weren’t they Dazzling???
U2ra,
I have sent you a private message via this web site. check your mail box. I’d think twice about this area.JTW
What about the Minimum sale price after Reno(Worst case scenario). The Max price may be misleading in this market, but still necessary to have on you sheet. I really like the idea, surely there is an existing on floating around.
JTW
Goodrum,
No I hadn’t heard that ‘Wanker’ interpretation, I though it was supposed to mean a panther or something. I might change the badges on the car, in north america they call them Montero.ours is a diesel Auto and goes great, I think it forgets to drink fuel every now and then. Ideal RE investor car.I take back what I said about the car telling you something about the person.
JTW
Dazzling,
I to have a real soft spot for the old “FUN 100”, especially an old classic. I am jealous. However you probably only have this as a toy , right?Alternatively, perhaps you are trying to tell us you are a middle aged, sluggish, overweight, tired and slightly balding. (Just joking, the thing about the car telling you about the person)
JTW
Thanks Dereck, I wasn’t familiar with B>I>G>.
I Checked out thier website and looks like what I am after. Appreciate the tipJTW
Very interesting subject. I think that you can tell a lot about a person from thier car.
Personally, I drive a new Mitsubishi Pajero 4WD, I traded a 2003 Holden SS commodore. We live in a rural area and I was sick of the limited ground clearance and traction. I travel about 30-35,000 kms per year. I find it best to lease a vehicle, run all expenses on the fleetcard. I also dispose of the vehicle before the manufacturers warranty expires.
My wife has a Nissan Navarra 4wd t/diesel ute for towing a horse float. Beside this I also have 4 M/Cycles, a quad bike, a tractor and 2 trailers.
The tractor allows me to boast that I drive a red Lamborgihi 2 door coupe (Yes, they mainly make tractors)I think that for me Reliability,economy (fuel/Maint) and safety are the factors that make me lean toward a new car. Also I feel better not driving a heap of s**t , knowing I will arrive in comfort and on time. If I need to travel 1000km to inspect a bargain piece of RE, the car is just there ready to go. A car is really a “Tools of Trade” for me in my real estate investing hobby.
JTW
Hi there Delboy and Adambc,
I would be interested in something along the lines of a property investors meeting and mentoring. ( No to combined finances)
Location and suggested times suit me fine.
Please keep me informedJTW
Gross, I am interested in how you would get 2%p/m. The ability to get a steady 27% would interest us all. What method? could you provide a bit more detail. I don’t have a million bucks laying around but I do have some cash coming my way soon. I was thinking of doing a 1/10th or 2/5th scale version of Dazzlings idea.
jtw
Thanks for the imput. Based on the figures (which is similiar to what I came up with) it still makes a small profit ($approx $84 P/w). At present the tennants are getting a great deal and are well below market on rent. $20 per week per unit would be achievable without reno of the interior. The $70k quote was the engineers estimate and included rendering the exterior of the bricks, repaint interior of the one unit effected. Interestingly he told me that the units were about 30yrs old and the cracking was recent due to the exceptionally dry conditions in SE Qld. If the place had been looked after it wouldn’t have happened. The market growth in this area will be substantial, it may be quiet in Brisbane for a few years but this still seems cheap for 6 x 1 bed flats. Before the cracking became an issue, the other investor went to contract at about $600k.After looking at hundreds of real estate deals this one pays for itself right from day one, admittedly it doesn’t make a fortune but I can get into it for nothing upfront.
Do you think I could do better? What would you consider a reasonable rate of return? I am interested in what experienced investors look for in a deal like this. Advice greatly appreciated.
jtwWe had a colourbond roof installed on our new house and reckon it is great. For our needs, 2 advantages. 1.Collecting rainwater into tanks, colourbond has no competition. 2. In a high wind/cyclone area it is far more secure, easier to meet W51 rating etc. Now we have had a colurbond roof I wouldn’t consider tiles again. Dazzling is correct with cost reduction. Roof trusses can be further apart. 600mm spacing for tiles , up to 1.5 metres for metal roofing.
jtw
I am in total agreement with you C2 on your point about relaxing, thats why I personally prefer real estate over shares etc. About 15 years ago I had a small windfall of $6000 and my relative Ray got an equal share. I put it into RE and Ray put it into shares. At the time Real estate was really in the Doldrums and did nothing for a long time. Now I know on paper shares look to out perform RE in statistical terms, but Ray won’t tell me how much his Compass airlines shares are worth. (I wonder why. He hasn’t given me grief over my “All your eggs in one Basket” real estate investment strategy either.)
Gross Realisation,I gave your question some further thought. I have come to the conclusion that I am just happy to buy any Rental proposition as long as it pays it own way and will Capital gain in the long run, sorry no formula but I can still work out if it is affordable using 4.1 as a guide. The only thing that would make me gun shy about investing for rental would be if the Govt withdrew Negative gearing because it would cause a major market depression.
Looking forward to further discussionJTW
