I use Optus Cable and it sings like a kitten.
Most ISP’s (I work for the largest in the world as a pre sales technical engineer) contract customers to protect thier investment and budget with re-occuring monthly revenue streams. – Much like you will if you get ito rental or wrapping investments (either as a private lender -taking a 15%+ cut – or as an active investor)

It does matter who you are using as your internet provider and the old saying goes ….. you get what you pay for and always look for hidden costs such as uploads and excess data rates.

Check out the SLA’s (service level agreements) and compare with providers to get the best quality for your buck…. I think NetSpace are fairly good and are getting a fair share of the DSL retail customers due to good speeds and uptime….. for an unbieased view of consumers opinions…. goto http://www.whirlpool.net.au.

Networks are very simple to set up and I would suggest a switch as you will get more throughput on your network. You can choose going wireless to keep the cable mess down but the costs are a bit more due to the costs of cards and base stations devices. Advantage here is you can move house without having to relocate all the cabling … and you do not have to drill holes in the floor to get the cables all back to the switch.

Also I would suggest getting a firewall (Either Software based or a hardware appliance), you can get a free trial of Zone Alarm @ http://www.download.com

you can get all sorts of proxy software off the download site to control your other machines accesing hte network also. I have a netgear router that shows me all the urls that access the internet and make sure I run through them once a week to make sure my kids are behaving…. they know that If I find out they are going to naughty sites …… watch out []

Anyway …. hope this gives you a few ideas …. if you need a hand with hardware …(Cabling….. cards, routers, firewalls etc…. drop me a line.
Cheers.
Kiwi[:o)]

Hey Elves…… you forgot to add the smokes and beer…. most people my daughter hangs out with live like porpers….. not that there is anything wrong with that …. but we are realists. I did feel good when one day our daughter came home one day and said out of the blue ” You know Mum and Dad…. I am very lucky compared to my mates”…. we were so proud! [:o)]

We do not live like kings by any means and we hardly go out at all (maybe to the park)….. but it has not always been that way and we know that things will change and swing in our favour if we continue to do what we are doing. It is a little like starting to walk to burn off the 20KG that just crept up on ya[8]

When you start you are in so much pain for hte first 3 weeks of walking averyday that you just want to give up …. but as they say sucess is just round the corner …. al of a sudden your shin splints are miraculously gone and then you start winging about the body weight not changing …. but persist and all of a sudden you start feeling fitter , stronger and then the fat starts to actually melt off you. This does not happen over night by the way… it is the same for all your goals …
1. Resolve to change.
2. Make a plan and anylise it for faults
3. Take action.
4. persist through the lag – Lag is time where nothings seems to be happenin
5. Watch the success surge your forward on a wave of glory!

Cheers
Kiwi [^]

yep I did it….
I think part of hte problem that challenges us is that most young couples want to live in thier dream home from day one….. instead on using it as a stepping stone. We are living in the have it all now society as the average Aussie dept expenditure rate goes over the 105% average…. this shows how most get sucked into the marketing hype and can thus never (in their own minds) get into the property market.

If everybody practiced the 7 steps of success for at least 2 – 7 years …. most would never have to work again.

We slogged our way into the market and clawed our way from arriving in Aussie broke, penniless and luxuryless to ….. not too bad off should I put it.
….. if people really put thier minds to it….. they would go in with others for a few years to get into the market and then sell up and use the combined equity to buy their own…. teamwork my friend ….teamwork …. a very uncommon thing in the common place today.
Cheers,
Kiwi [^]

Hi Fullout!

I am not a fencer but am very logical and have done a lot of renovations and things so logic prevails…

Heres a good exercise to give you an indication of your costs: – should take you around an hour to do this…. but will give you some good bargaining power if you are getting rip off merchants quoting you.

Go to Bunnings and price up the pickets (900mm highx75mmwide x 16mm thick). measure the length of the area to fence and do the following (loosely termed calculation)- will deep you within a bulls roar!

eg.
Length of area to be fenced = 12M (12,000mm)
pickets = (75mm)75mm x 900mm x 16mm
Gaps (between pickets) =(25mm)

Picket Calculation:
1. Logically for every picket there is a 25mm gap, thus every 1 picket + gap = 100mm
so….. every metre = 250mm of gap (750mm pickets = 10 pickets)
2. 12(metres) X 10 pickets = 120 pickets required
3. add 5% for wasted or acidental damage = 126 pickets required for the job. (round up to the nearest whole number).
=======================================================
Posts required:
QTY 7x75mmx75mmx1200mm tanalised posts -1 @ each end and 5 @ 2m intervals to span the 12 Metres.
=======================================================
Steel footing Stirrups:
Qty 7 x 75mmx75mm
=======================================================
Galvanised coach bolts:-Posts
Qty 7x12mmx100mm
=======================================================
Footings (bondcrete):
Qty 7 x 400mm x 150mm x 150mm = 0.06M2
=======================================================
Top and bottom rails required
Qty 12x45mmx75mmx2100mm treated pine
=======================================================
Galvanised coach bolts:-
Qty 24 x 12mm x 150mm
=======================================================
Picket Screws (galvanised)
Box 1000 x 32mmlength
=======================================================
Paint (all weather external) = 8-10 litres (approx 1 litre per 4msq) total approx coverage required = 16.2 msq. x 2 coats – Remember you have 2 sides to do []
=======================================================
Labour = around 10 hours (@40.00/hour)= $400.00-approx
– 4 hours to dig post holes and pour, align, set and brace posts and stirrups.
– 6 hours to fit & paint rails and pickets (2 coats)
(remember to paint the rails before the picket are attached)
Hope this gives you some idea anyway,
Cheers
Kiwi[^]

Hi Cornel,
I have to agree with Property Guru…. I have set up ad trust and a company as trustee…. this has set my future in stone and although it cost me a pretty penny …. I see it as my insurance policy that will secure my future. – end of the day … it all comes down to your own values and priorities.
Cheers
Kiwi[:o)]

Well there is always the human factor … as it is effectively a large drawable credit card and it tale a lot of discipline (personal Experience) to make sure you are not taking out hte profits all the time… this is because it is so easy to access the finds.
So take caution …. but the good old LOC does work …but the end solution is to pay more in more frequently.
Thanks
Kiwi[]

The 11 Sec rule …. is more designed for Rental opportunities … however it does give you food for thought when you can see other options that may increase your chances of getting to this formula. I must admit I have found dozens of properties that have met this rule…. but either the towns were to small(my threshold) or the vacancy rate were way too hi.
There are a myriad of options to get things to cashflow favourably…. just need to get out of the box I am thinking in and look from the outside …. this way you will get a different spin on things and find a way to do it …. that works for you in both comfort and income. as someone once said…. “Time is money … however some one forgot to say that you can alsways make more money … .but time …. that is lost forever”.
Cheers[:p]
Kiwi!

I love stories like that …. I have sent out over 2000 flyers to see what response I get from the local community … I will use the bad news to paint a picture that may get me into some interesting opportunities… nothing like a fast sale to beat the crash!

Besides … the press have one job to do …. and that is not to give the news in its true form…. but to get the best angle to sell the most papers and get the most coverage….guess why???? so that people watch & read the adds between riviting stories and blow thier ever evaporating cash on trinkets and beads…. while we all know better Right?
Cheers
[:o)]Kiwi[:o)]

You could always try to wrap it.
then you would get some real return out of it:
Perhaps this will look better if I explain (or NOT)
You Buy say $60K
Your costs $15K – inc closing costs
Mortgage = 45K
Interest (P&I) @ 7.5%
Payments: = $76.75/week
rates and Water = $10/week
Total = $86.75/ week

You Resell @ 72K
Deposit = 10K
Total owing: 62K
Int rate(p&I) = 9.5%
Payments = $135/week (inc $10.00 rates etc)
********************************************
$135 – $86.75 = $48.25 (+tve Cashflow)
as you have recieved $10K deposit….. you can either take it off your mortgage and further reduce your payments….. or re invest…. let us see the 2 options.
1. pay $10k off your mortgage = $35K = $69.70(inc rates etc)
CoCR = $5000/$4511(annual net cashflow) = 90%
ROI = 13months (approx)

2. pocket $10K for reinvesting:
mortgage = $45K = $86.75(inc rates etc)
CoCR = $15000/$4511(annual net cashflow) = 30%
ROI = 13months (approx)
Still this is much better than les than 10% on the rental scenario.
Something to consider anyway