You can find a squillion places on the net in Australia for 60k and under. Check out regional/country victoria (as an example). If you go to realestate.com.au and just look up any place at random, it leads you to a whole range of other places. I saw the most gorgeous little church (reno’ed bluestone) for 60k the other day- wouldn’t be hard to get $120 rent for it. Finding CF+ places isn’t rocket science- you just have to go to basically any decent search engine and there’s a heap of them in your face.

Monopoly, I think your original question and comments thereafter, was really about the suitability of these for one’s portfolio. I guess as prices have risen so hugely, people have looked at cheaper places as a foot in the door, and not too much risk financially (but maybe risky in other ways- ie finding/keeping tenants etc). Places that were 80k four years ago are now 200k. Some of us fondly reminisce about prices in the old days [tired] and try and replicate that given new boom conditions. Serviceability is really the issue. Can we afford to buy the 250k+ houses and still be able to borrow? (That’s assuming one is a completely new investor with no current equity from previous IP’s acquired pre-boom). It’s why CF+ is increasingly popular now- RE is so exxy! [thumbsdownanim

kay henry

wejohns- why is that people are “greedy” when they want to sell their property at a good price? When you sell your property, do you make sure it is CF+ for the new vendor? Noone I know here or any other IP investor sells their property at CF+ prices, so I am not sure where the “greedy” notion comes into it. Since the boom, property prices have gone up, so the selling price usually reflects that.

kay henry

Here’s an example…

Noone here asks the mortgage brokers how many properties they have, and yet, they are hugely respected. If they had zero or ten, I would still find their advice and information excellent!

Sonja, I agree with your lower paragraph. I asked elsewhere for people’s advice/opinion on painting. But if someone had have said “paint it with paint thinner- you get the best results”, I would have just discounted their advice. I didn’t have to know how many IP’s people had before I found their information credible.

kay henry

Jo,

This waas raised elsewhere in another post- a member felt like she had no fdriends anymore because she had IP’s. She said she needed to hang with a different “class” of friend now that she had “success”. I am sure you’re not like that!!

Your post is not specific about to whom you are referring- is it family, friends, colleagues?

I find that I talk about IP’s to the people I care about- mean, if we bought a new car, we’d tell people, right, and not just keep it a secret? Buying new places is exciting, and I wanna share that with people I like. I find that they share my happiness. Anyway, don’t most people have an IP or two these days? It’s hardly like saying we just won lotto!

My colleague’s boyfriend gets 50k bonuses per year, and next year, they are divvying up the company profits, and he’ll be getting 1.5 million (at least) as his share. He’s a 28 year old venture capitalist. Now THAT’s real money!! Anything I have compared to what he has is a pittance. Next year, he’ll be able to buy himself a place on the harbour- no mortgage at all!

I think the thing is not to compare, but to be happy for whatever achievements people have. Achievements can be a happy marriage, a new IP, a new car, a new baby, a good job- whatever it is.

kay henry

Bear,

Acey does lots of part-time jobs. Ask him and he’ll tell you- he’s pretty open about the jobs he does. As for me, I’d rather just do one job- and most of us *do* work for others- providing skills that other people don’t have. There’s no shame in being a doctor or a nurse- you wouldn’t want to operate on yourself! I am happy to pay others for skills I don’t have! Acey, I dunno how you do so many jobs at once- I’d burn out!

I think the reason why there’s spotters on here is because it was one of the strategies in McKnight’s book. Most of the people who provide that service are well-known on here, Acey. I doubt they aim to prey on people. For a start, it seems like a hell of a lot of work they put in and the financial rewards aren’t so great. I do my own research and negotiating, but some people like to use a spotter or a buyers’ agent to do it for them.

kay henry

I am glad this post came up again to give me an opportunity to read Cel’s post.- Celivia- you are sooooo funny :o) [goatee]

kay henry

Why are you asking Daaj? You looking for a loan from someone who actually “owns” a property?

Perhaps your poll would work better if you told us the thinking behind it.

kay henry

MarkyMark :o)

Sounds like you had an interesting time out there!

With the last RE I had (and am having) dealings with, I found no point in pretending I am from the local area (coastal victoria) when in fact I am from urban sydney :o)) I told her immediately that I am in sydney, and I asked if she was from the local area. She told me she had grown up in a place that was near to where I had gone to Boarding School. That link kind of opened up a channel for us, and made our chats a bit easier.

In my work, I have to negotiate with people every day- from every level of the structure I work in. I do exactly the same thing with them no matter what the issue is- do my research so I know what I’m talking about, and then be myself in every facet of dealing with them- stand by my principles, but let them know I am being authentic. I have made it a conscious choice to be myself with every person I know in life. Whilst people don’t always agree with what I have to say- in business or RE negotiations- most have learned to trust me.

Like with anything else, when we try to make out we are something we’re not, people can usually see straight through us. Better to display ignorance, I think, than to pretend we know stuff when we don’t. Humility works.

Seems you stuck to your strategy, Marky, and didn’t rush into anything- good for you :o)

kay henry

sis,

Chan said you were overseas doing business. I thought you were in brisbane with family- where are you?

kay henry

Yeah, research is the answer to RE. Basically, by the time I call a RE to start asking questoins about any place, I like to have read every article about the region, the town, the street, and feel like I have a handle on all known issues about the place.

Personally, I don’t see RE as a game of one person outwitting another (ie RE outwitting me or vice versa). I am just always myself to RE’s, and I find they are either usually helpful and nice (most of them I have found to be like this) or they are snooty and I don’t bother dealing with them.

As I’ve said before, RE is *to me* about bricks and mortar AND building relationships. For others, it is a numbers game, or about personal power or something else. I’ve kept enjoying RE because of the relationships I’ve built- teamqwork with RE agents, vendors, PM’s, banks, solicitors, etc. If I felt suspicious about all of them, it would do my head in.

If you do your homework, you should almost know as much as the RE. So you need never feel worried about being hoodwinked.

kay henry