As Jamie said it depends.

Yes I do because I want to minimise my weekly spending and maximise my cashflow efficiency. Not having to service the principle component means I get to hold positive cash flow property costs covered by rent (or if negative it still costs much less per week) this means I have more money for my next investments.

Of course if you are nearing retirement, have oodles of cash and no plans to buy more (and your own place is paid off) then go ahead and pay down prIncipal it has to go eventually.

Nandi wrote:

Hi All
We are planning to sign up with Spring Finacial group for holistic financial advise.We would ideally like to set up SMSF and also build our investment property portfolio.However I’m stumbling across advisors/planners who only recommend brand new properties as they have a vested interest in the same.Has anyone from the forum dealt with Spring FG?Please feel free to share your feedback as it will help us make an informed decision.We are currently on the lookout for a reputed and trusted financial planner who can advise on a range of matters including SMSF,tax,property,insurance and the like!

Thanks
Nandita Rao

Nandi welcome to the forum please see the comments above. Marketing firms that recommend new property are working for the developer. You are not the client you are the patsy. Please be careful. You need independent advice from someone who is only being paid by you and no one else. Shire Financial/Shire Accounting is one service who offer independent financial planning and advice Ben Poppett is someone I have known for years and would trust with that spread of queries. Best of luck.

I have seen Jamie Moore fix this problem for a number of people he is good with strategy and can set up the right loans.

@terryw conjunctions are fairly common but I have never done one. I don’t believe they work very well for the buyer in most instances. It makes for a cranky sales agent every time. Only desperate agents in very quiet markets accept conjunctions. In any warm to hot market it will fail to get through every time, why would an agent say goodbye to such a big portion of their fees? How are they motivated to get the deal done or move their sellers price down? They aren’t.

My introductory emails to agents I have not met yet typically read something like this “Hi, My name is Matt Knight and I am an independent buyers agent (no conjunctions) and I would like to talk to you about….” because I have met so much resistance and suspicion from agents when they think I want their fees. Once we are over that hurdle we are best of friends, I am now their ally bringing buyers and doing half their job for no cost to them. It changes the dynamic instantly.

@waydo77 glad you got a result! Well done.

As asked by Rix and others – tell us your goals. This will encourage a more useful conversation.

rose,

check out brazen from granny flat approvals he does these on a regular basis under the state laws not just councils. The post is from 2013 but still applies, the SEPP is still doable.

Gday @steven-b

I was 23 when I bought my first. The unit vs house question can be a bit irrelevant. As Corey said its about setting your goals, then taking steps to move towards them.

My first property (many yrs ago!) was a 2 bed townhouse in Brissy for 65k, but it had renovation upside potential and a desperate vendor. The combo meant within 6 months I could refinance it and buy a 3 bed brick home in the same area. Another renovation on that 2nd property meant a 3rd property after another 6 months. Holding 3 properties through the last cycle up there was what got me my start, it funded my wife and I having kids (with her no having to work for 9 yrs) and bought us a block of land to build our house upon. I could not have done any of that on the salary I was on at the time as a social worker. These were my stage 1 goals, mainly family related. These days I am looking at development sites for short term equity deals and long term cashflow deals as I am moving from my initial goals to my long term income replication goals.

So what you buy is really important, but not as simple as a unit vs a house. Location is also a big deal, are you thinking Sydney? I has had a lot of growth in the last few yrs.

arron wrote:

Hi to all I’m Arron,

As the title suggests we’re new to property investing. I work away up north and don’t want to be doing this forever (to much time away and not being with my partner n young fella). I have wanted to start an investment portfolio for some time but have been worried due to not having enough info at hand. I have not the least idea of where to start, so here I am. Been reading a few of the posts here, lots of useful and interesting information.
I think first port of call maybe a financial advisor, but then how do I find one who doesn’t “recommend” me to agents from which they get commission. Has anyone here had experiences with advisors here in Perth (positive and negative).

What we want eventually is 2 or 3 properties, I’m unsure weather this can offset the amount of tax I pay or claim back (which would be nice). Again here is where I need some professional knowledge to steer me in the right direction.
We also would like to build a place of our own (currently residing in my partner house) at some soon, so do we keep this place as an investment or sell put the money into the new place (for a smaller mortgage) and gain the investment property after.

I look forward to hearing your opinions and any help will be appreciated.

Arron :-)

Welcome Arron,

As you have stated you need an advisor who is not on someone else payroll. I would consider an independent buyers agent as they only work for you because you are paying the bill. Rebaa.com.au is the national association and buyersagentguide.com.au is another great national database. I think you will find 1 or 2 perth BA’s that way if you want to invest locally or get help with a ppor build. I have herd good things about Momentum. Alternatively there are lots of BA’s on the east coast if you want to invest abroad. I have a few FIFO clients who work up your way and 1 who lives in perth. If you do your research you can work with someone without meeting them face to face.

Remember tax is great but you want to invest for profit first, not a tax saving. In some cases older properties can be more lucrative than new (due to value add opportunities like renos or development) whereas new stock can’t really have value added.

Best of luck

risk is lower in southport