coops,

I reckon no vendor in the world is gonna let you put “subject to due diligence.” Things like “subject to finance” or “subject to BPI” would be reasonable clauses for a “vanilla” contract. If you are buying in Tasmania or WA, you have no cooling off period, so you have to do your checks before you sign the contract. I do that anyway, even when there is a cooling-off period. My finances are organised as soon as I offer (I wouldn’t offer unless I had finance available), and I work on a verbal offer and acceptance. Then I just get my solicitor to look over the contract for me before I sign it. I don’t see the point of signing something that isn’t workable. By the time i have signed the contract, my solicitor hass done the valid checks, my bank has organised the finance distribution, and I am on my way. I then waive the cooling off period, so the vendor and I can both relax.

RE agents and vendors are pretty wary of people who sign multiple contracts, or who appear insincere. Think of yourself as a vendor, with people making offers, but not necessarily wanting the house… it would suck.

Hence, I don’t put conditions in a contract. Finances are organised, inspections are done, contract is checked, and then I sign, with no CO period.

kay henry

redwing,

This Q was asked a week ago, so I’ll put the link here:

https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic/12416.html

kay henry

Anita,

Annandale is really a nice suburb. Location location still works for me (worst house in the best street kind of thing). A reno (if you are the reno type) would see value maintenance.

Some like perth, some like sydney. It depends on what you’re looking for.

kay henry

calvin,

I find that hte more I know about RE, the more I feel comfortable with my purchases- because, generally, I’ve checked out about 100 places before I am ready to know that THIS one is exactly thre one I want. I find RE to be such a comparative thing, that if you know specific markets really well, you’ll know that your beats the others- in whatever measurement you use.

Nerves are normal with RE- it’s a huge purchase, and ambivalence is a part of it all, I reckon. I know for myself, that if I have missed out on a place, I have then justified it to myself as not in my best interests to have had it anyway :o) I think our mind lets us think it’s for the best so we don’t get too disappointed.

kay henry

Necropolis,

There’s still cheaper propertties to be found in Sydney. This one (you want dumpy- I’ll show ya dumpy!) was advertised in yesterday’s House liftout in the SMH. Annandale is a decent suburb (inner west), and the suggestion in the article is that this house would go for about 350k. Bidding starts from 300k in the ad below. It’s a renovator’s dream:

http://domain.com.au/real_estate/buy/nsw/annandale/2004532663.aspx?property=36+Breillat+Street+Annandale

I reckon if you have serveral animals, and you want to move… your own PPOR is the way to go.

kay henry

garrytas,

There is no cooling off period in WA either. Hence:

TIP: Do your checking BEFORE you sign the contract. (I do this anyway for my IP’s- cooling off period or not).

kay henry

Steve’s book was a success due to timing and method. He bought properties in a flatter market and then they got great CG. Had he bought in times of negative growth (I am thinking in many locations around 1994-1999)… then there were capital losses, and the book might not have been written. The victor writes history and there’s not much money to be made out of writing books which talk about losing money.

Steve bought in regional centres, but now, those properties are generally not achiving CF+ returns post-boom), so people are buying into the “tin-pot towns”. I still think there are properties to be bought that are well-located and well-priced, but to just think a “guideline” (the 11 second solution) is a “rule”… then I think some people will come a-cropper. Steve changes his strategies, and is now inesting in NZ, whereas some people are still simply following his *old* strategies to the letter, and will be in trouble.

Because RE is a buy and hold affair really (due to often prohibitive entry and exit costs), then it’s an idea to not get caught up into one “way” of doing things, but be flexible enough to read all the books and make one’s own way.

I think there are still gains to be made in the market, but I think it’s for more lifestyle properties, ones that keep up with market trends and demographics. If we’re buying (to buy and hold) in 2004, we’re really trying to preempt what australia will look like in 2011 (there are some good reports on the net which look towards demographic and industry changes for the next decade or so). A lot of CF+ properties are what Australia WAS, not what it will be.

kay henry

Redwing.,

Mine is:

* variable interest rates
* I just bought, so I want to build up some equity before I buy again. I’ll definitely buy again before I’m 40.
* Negative gearing (although if the properties I bought had positive yields, I’d be stoked)
* Tax returns for future deposits
* I will buy in any market (flatter is better for city; a buoyant market will have me buying regionally)
* Buy and hold forever now… or maybe until the next boom
* Post 1987 properties for depreciation
* I won’t buy in locations that have been well-discussed on Forums. I’d rather buy in places that haven’t been spoken about.
* Pay as much as I can extra on the mortgages- use rent to go into mortgage and use pay to go into mortgage (I used to pay double per week but not these days).

kay henry