yack,

It’s one of the reasons I think property is so much *safer* than shares. Basically, you could buy into a company, and not really know what’s going on internally, and the coy could close down, and you’ve had it. Even buying into the cochlear ear could be risky if it ends up killing someone. Remember the old silicon breast implant? You would have been a boob to buy into those.

I think buying into a flatter market means most people will be expecting *less* CG, but not NO CG. The article someone posted today suggests people buy into more CF+ properties- focus on rental yield rather than neg gearing for CG. That seems to make sense, economically.

People will either continue to do what they do, or may change strategies to deal with different market conditions. There’s no shame in changing strategies. Why be bullish in a bear [mickey] market?

kay henry

Sure James, I agree. There are differences in reporting from most of the RE people- Commsec, Residex, homepriceguide.com.au, and a bunch of others.

I think it’s super important to be deconstructive on reports. I do however, think it’s important for us to know our market. Guess if we bought shares, we’d be doing the same thing.

For long-term investors, or for those who have a “gut-feeling” that RE will ALWAYS be the way to go, I reckon we’ll be safe. Someone, I think redwing, posted some stuff on the Forum about 90% of millionaires made their money through RE- that’s a good enough stat for me – I reckon I’ll believe that one [biggrin][thumbsupanim]

kay henry

georgis,

I can see where you’re coming from about the love/hate thing. But I do believe the reporting is about what’s happening. The boom is slowing down, and that’s what’s being reported. The article also said flat times can be from 4-10 years. I know wen I bought my property a few years ago, the market was dead flat, had been for a few years before that, and if I had sold in the 4 years after I bought it, I would have lost money on it.

I like to read every article I can on RE- keeps me up-to-date. The article also said there were some markets- Brisbane and Adelaide, I think- that were defying the current trend of prices flattening.

kay henry

viralk,

You sent me a pm some time ago asking about Ayr, and I’m gonna reply now- sorry for the delay :o)

I was checking out townesville properties on RE.com.au some time ago, and Ayr came up as an extremely cheap alternative- still highly cheap despite the boom. Do some checking on realestate.com.au and see what you can find. I have a friend who came from there. The reputation of the place from a couple of coleagues of mine from up that way is that Ayr is a redneck shothile, but don’t let that stop you from buying

kay henry

Thanks Rugs and Chan :o)

but if she is talking about the BIG depreciation allowances- as in post-1985/7 buildings, isn’t she referring to neg geared places (most of those buildings would be neg geared initially) and then making them pozz CF due to taxation benefits? She isn’t referring to pozz CF upon purchase (from rental yield only) is she?

kay henry

I though Margaret Lomas was into taxation/depreciation, and neg gearing. But Cel, you tell me she’s got a book on pozz gearing- do I have this wrong?

kay henry

Pisces,

Perhaps your interpretation that the lack of response to this topic is because people are “devoid of good ideas” might be attributed to people finding this topic childish and unworthy of reply.

Asking people their ideas on ways to torture Saddam? Get real Pisces. It’s highly inappropriate.

kay henry

hehe Leigh

Mini,

I just came back from europe, and picked up as many english-speaking newspapers as I could- some of which were British. One newspaper had an amazing section full of articles on the English RE market. I would say it is similar (probably worse, from the articles I was reading) to hte Aussie market- home owner affordability at its lowest, workers on average wages needing 70% of income to afford a mortgage, etc etc.

Having said that, there will *always* be deals around for those who can find them, and they have good govt rental schemes available, where you can hand your property over to the govt to rent- good rental yields and guaranteed incomes for X number of years- govt cleans it up etc- a bit like the dept of housing used to do here before notions of public housing died. Actually, more like the defence dept housing rental scheme- but the yields in england are much greater. In England, the emphasis is on homeless families- apparently of which there are many- but it’s a set and forget arrangement.

I would say that from my brief readings, the English market is at peak boom. But I also read that investment properties aren’t yet as fasionable in England as they are in australia- most are just struggling first homebuyers, so I imagine there is a niche there with so many renters.

kay henry

Marisa,

No such thing as a stupid question- ask anything you like and people will be happy to answer.

It is possible to make an addition to the property- perhaps a ceiling fan, airconditioning, dishwasher etc, to justify the rent rise, if that’s the way you want to go. I would suggest though, that it is an “improvement” rather than merely bringing the property up to scratch.

I also agree with rags2riches- you will be taking a risk of losing a reasonable tenant perhaps if you raise the rent. That’s a risk you’ll have to weigh up. As we know, the whole IP market rests upon tenants- the better the tenant, the better we do out of property.

And I understand your reluctance to raise the rents- it’s bloody hard- particularly when you know the tenant’s circumstances. They’re just people like you and me

kay henry