If landlords raise rents in rate rises, will they lower rents if rates drop?

kay henry

Bradles- yeah, what the rest said, but adding a bit more…

It does, as others said, depend on what ya wanna do. If you want to reno, think about reno kings, if you want to develop, think about development-focussed strategies… if you want to positive gear (for income), or you want to negative gear (for growth), then direct your research there.

There are SO many different ways to invest money in RE, then I think you are better off targeting. But the way to trget is to read all the material out there first- but the books before you go to seminars- and then specialise.

I am not a seminar type myself- I haven’t got the money. Remember, free seminars are usually tasters for much more expensive seminars, and provide very little info. They often sell a dream more than specific strategies. I believe seminars, in general, are probably good for people who need motivation, but books are kind of self-directed, and contain incredibly valuable info.

Think about it- how long does it take to read a book? Many hours (if you’re like me and like to mull over the info I read). A seminar would have to be the same amount of hours to provide the same amount of info. And a book is about $30…

Also, if you are thinking of going to a seminar, ask if the seminar will provide different (additional) info than the book has. If ya wanna pay to see slides of a man in front of a red sports car, then go for it. But I’d rather spend that money buying my OWN red sports car.

kay henry

Marisa,

I’d be a little wary about buying into an alliance company. I think we wanna get idea from gurus- not just buy houses from them or their builders.

As oyu’d know, Fitzgerald has a fairly conservative buy and hold for CG approach, which is kind of suitable to me, but it’s also a bit risky to pay big bucks for property now and depend on CG.. when the market has changed so rapidly. Is Fitzgerald offering some “discount” for these properties? Many discounts are bogus anyhoo, so you could just go on the usual principles for B/H C/G- location, scarcity/supply etc etc. If the builders are more exxy than other comparable builders, then go the cheaper one and apply Fitz’s principles- that might be less risky.

kay henry

loanwolf- Bernald Salt, demographer, interviewed on ABC- ok, a year and a half ago, but possibly still relevant (although albury/wodonga wouldn’t be my chosen destination for an inland change…)
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Property “Sea Change” to Inland Australia

Presenter: Neil Meaney

Monday, 19 May  2003

Bernard Salt is Author of the book The Big Shift and a partner at KPMG Property based in Melbourne. Bernard agrees that the so-called “Sea Change” where people move from the city to coastal regions maybe drawing to an end.

And Bernard agrees that an increased amount of people are now looking for investment opportunities in inland Australia.
He says people are now showing a keen interest in inland cities such as Albury-Wodonga and Echuca-Moama. “People find that they can’t get a property at a suitable price within striking distance of Melbourne or Sydney – and they’re looking for other options”.

Bernard says he expects the new shift towards inland Australia to continue for another “seven to eight years” and he confirmed to Neil Meaney that a new edition of The Big Shift will be coming out in a months time.

http://www.abc.net.au/goulburnmurray/stories/s858201.htm
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loanwolf, if you haven’t already, get your hands on a copy of Salt’s book- it’s very good.

PK- not sure about manji as the next big seachange area- I think it’s still a bit rednecky- despite logging changes- but the population is stable, at least, so it might be in with a chance.

kay henry

Gats…

there is a thing called “constructive dismissal”. I suggest you look it up on google- australian site. Constructive dismissal is a term used – it’s pretty much unfair dismissal- for when you felt it was untenable to stay at the workplace.The remdies for a proven case of constructive dismissal are 26 weeks pay, I recall. It is highly unlikely that reinstatement would be forced upon you in the case of constructive dismissal (unless you wanted to continue with your job- which of course would be an entitlement of yours).

You’ll be right with Slater and Gordon- they are good guys who do a lot of pro-bono work.

You might also be able to go to the ADB if you feel that you are being unfairly treated due to other issues related to your situation. Your workplace probably ought be putting “reasonable adjustment” processes into place to assist you anyway. Unless you have had formal warnings or other disciplinary action against you (not just a foul-mouthed boss bitching at you), then any external issue cannot be used as evidence of unsatisfactory performance.

Happy to discuss any of these things with you if you wish, Gats

kay henry

Hello all

Mike, in response to one of your questions, I think if you can get decent CF+ properties, there will always be a market for resale- look at the folks on here- one of the greatest questions is, “where can I buy CF+ property.” Capital growth is king, but CF+ is CG’s doppleganger- opposite, but valuable. Where CG is all about “potential”, whereas CF+ is measurable *now*.

One thing about cheaper prices and smaller rents is that it can kind of be less risky- in some ways. Let me explain… I have a property which provides 3 times in rent to me than another one provides. I would rather a defaulting tenant in the cheaper property than the more “quality” property, as I would lose a major amount of money in that.

Having said that, a plumber or other tradey, will cost you the same no matter how much rental return you get. I always think the $80-$100 rental places can cost significantly more in repairs than one which is newer and gets more $$ rent.

Poor people aren’t poorer tenants… just like we are not always enriched by having richer tenants. However, a poor quality rental property *may* allow a property to not be looked after- if we don’t maintain our properties as landlords, I guess we can’t expect tenants to. A cheap cottage can be a “renovate or demolish” job, or a “cute charming cottage”- just depends on how we look after it. I presume the latter would get a better “quality” tenant- despite income of the tenant.

kay henry

The level of IR rates is probably a bit off topic, but some 12 years ago, I was getting 18% interest on a deposit over a year. So IR’s would have been about 20% then. That was the highest I ever remember them being. The next year, the deposit rate fell to 16% over 5 years, and I thought it was too low- hehe. Actually, it’s fortunate I put my money into RE, because I made more from that over each year.

I had an on topic comment, but have to go to work- hehe. I’ll chuck it in later.

kay henry

hehe.. well, at least I answered the Q, techa- sheesh.

Seriously, IR’s are not going to rise all in one go. I get wage rises every year, and in fact, they should negate any small IR rises on my current level of mortgage- not on yours- but on mine. That’s my answer, techa- and to pay extra on my mortgage. That’s not avoiding the Q- that’s how I deal with IR rises.

I’ve never been a fan of lock-ins. That’s just me- others like them.

kay henry