Jetstream,

Universities ain’t like they used to be- now they’re an all-year-round affair. Most Universities now have summer sessions, and increasingly, depending on where your property is, and the nature of the University demographic, there are huge numbers of people who don’t go home after semester- they just live near the University and want continuing stable accommodation. This is particularly true of urban Universities, or newer Universities that have an older student demographic, such as UWS, for example. In rural Universities, it’s possible some people nick off, and International students certainly do, but I reckon Uni students provide a great source of continuing tenancy.

kay henry

madeinoz,

Whilst you can’t purchase when under contract, some RE agents put “under offer/under contract” logo’s onto their websites. Perhaps you could check with the RE if it under offer or contract. It is *possible* to buy a property under offer (gazumping) if some RE’s do that. Generally, it’s not considered a good thing to do if a seller has accepted an offer. Legally, that *should* constitute a verbal contract- offer and acceptance. Gazumping does occur however, and was rife during, for example, the recent sydney RE boom. I believe gazumping is illegal in one state of Australia- can’t remember where but []

kay henry

diclem- you don’t seem so green- you look kind of blue to me [:X]

Yes, spending is at an all-time high in Australia, and by increasing interest rates, it slows spending. It also scares the bejeezuz out of people, and they crack- it’s a weird psychological thing. I remember when I had money invested and got an 18% return. When interest rates are that high, it’s ok to panic if you’re in debt up the wazoo.

If interest rates don’t increase, it’s possible that people will get into unsustainable debt, and that can’t be good for anyone. [xx(]

And craig? []

kay henry

Dear Craig,

I agree with you – I like Wagga. It’s just when Teacher asked about thatspecific property, I thought he need to knew what he might be buying into.

In terms of investment, I think Wagga has a lot going for it- populkation of about 58,000. There is *some* talk about population decline, but really, wagga is a good city, with a university, and it’s pretty to look at. Population decline won’t occur to a huge extent in such a city- it’s not like the University is going to close down! It’s a non-industrial city too, so it’s as clean as a whistle.

So don’t get me wrong, Craig- i’ll be investing in Wagga as a preferable regional. The prices there are fantastic compared to cities half its size.

Cheers!

kay henry

My bet is that the Fed govt will do all in it’s power to try to coerce the Rez Bank into keeping interest rates at the same rate until after the election. The Reserve is “independent” only after Lib gov elections- then it’s free to do as it pleases. My bet is that after the election, we’ll see interest rates go up by 1% by next xmas.

Fatboy- is there a prize for winning this comp? the new Fatboy slim CD perhaps? ;O)

kay henry

You are welcome jason :o)

Basically, whenever I look at property- the last one I bought over the internet in Wagga- in exactly the street and location i wanted to buy in- I ask the street name from the RE agent, and then I type the street name and town into google.com (australia only sites). Any mention of the street name will come up. It’s a good indicator of what might be happening in that street- murders, drugs, fights etc. If there’s any police reports or media, it should all come up. I do that check in all towns for RE I am looking at. You can also check out a location by looking at a map of the local area. So if i am looking in broken hill, for example, i check out the map and see if the place is sitting next to a mine. Sometimes, there’s no reason to visit a location if you do your google and map checking beforehand.

Local knowledge of an area is a good thing. It’s why forums like this are so important- most of us came from somewhere- we can all help each other out! )

kay henry

Dear Fudge and Broz :o)

I tend to think that interest rates will rise a little. Then those who are overcommitted will panic. These are the kind of investors who got sucked in by the Investment Seminars and who bought properties in oversupplied areas. They were sucked in by the “buy buy buy” stuff and they’ll be sucked in by the “sell sell sell!!” stuff that will no doubt happen when IR’s rise.

I do believe many of those new units are over-valued- with valuations made “in-house”. There ia already evidence of this with people trying to sell in sydney. It will be borne out further when the off the plan units are finalised and people wish to sell them- there just won’t be the tenancy for them. And places like Southbank, Melbourne, will become the new urban ghetto, I reckon. When I was in melby recently, all I read about was what a shocker of an area it is, with the cops there stopping fights all the time. And yet this is where people are buying new apartments??

I tend to think the more experienced investors did their usual investment checking (some call it due diligence- i just call it checking), and didn’t go crazy and overcommit. For those who have, Ido think it’s inevitable that they’ll panic and chuck all their apartments on the market. Given that the values are already questionable on some of these new apartments, once they start coming onto the market, and there is a generic range for buyers to choose from, it seems that buyers may be able to pick and choose.

I still don’t think these apartments will be CF+ though. CF+ ones still seem to remain in the rural and regional areas, and I doubt their prices will fall 20%. Perhaps the prices in regional/rural actually reflect market values already.

kay henry

Fudge and Broz :o)

I used 100% equity to purchase a new property, but then I made what was possibly a mistake. Just after I bought the second one, I sold the first one. Now I have to pay back the bank all but 80% of the second one- which I didn’t want to do. So the “duplicating properties using equity” as in ‘no money down’ approach, really relies on you not selling the property with equity in it until you’ve developed equity in the new one.

Or something like that []

kay