does any one want to clarify here, that fhog applies to every property (including new and existing one) ?

as my understanding of reading, the fhog and victoria grant (12000), only apply to new home, existing building only have fhog ?

is that correct ?

i am about to buy one as well, in the surrounding area (seabrook) for my ppor, i don;t really think it is undervalued, what i think it is an area where i can afford with my budget, similar distance on the eastern suburb will be asking around double the price, which sounds very overvalued.

and for rental, i think it is very hard, since there is a lot of empty houses, and whenever i go to the real estate agent over there, the rent list still the same, same house have been sitting there for about 2 month, and have been lowered the rent, still on the list. so fir + or – geared. i think it will be very hard.

my opinion anyway.

what sort of price are we talking about here ? i just read a recent article on one of the web.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of existing U.S. homes rose 1.0 percent in March to the third-highest level on record as an increase in single-family sales offset a dip in sales of condominiums, a trade group said on Monday.

Sales of previously owned homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.89 million units last month, the National Association of Realtors said. That figure includes both single-family homes and condominiums.

Single-family homes sales increased 1.2 percent in March to a 6.04 million unit rate from a 5.97 million unit rate in February. Condo sales fell 0.1 percent to a 845,000 unit rate from an 846,000 unit pace in February.

Analysts had expected overall sales to climb to a 6.80 million unit rate.

The national median home price jumped 11.4 percent to $195,000 from the same month a year ago, the NAR report showed. That price increase was the biggest since December 1980, when prices rose 11.5 percent, NAR said.

‘The market is very strong,’ said NAR Chief Economist David Lereah. ‘The problem in this country is housing supply. It’s still very lean.’

In March, the supply of homes for sale at the current pace was 4 months’ worth, down from 4.2 months’ worth in February.

‘We still have this awkward balance between demand and supply,’ Lereah said.

Home sales have been bolstered by low mortgage rates for more than a year, but some analysts said the housing sector has begun to show signs of easing. Last week, a U.S. Commerce Department report showed a 17.6 percent plunge in housing starts for March.

The national average long-term fixed mortgage rate was 5.93 percent in March, up from 5.63 percent the month before, according to Freddie Mac.

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so if you have enough cash to put it towards the + flow, then go for it.

otherwise.. you got to work out your circumstantes if dollar raises.

my opinion anyway.

Share market ?

Hi tim, not trying to be smart cookie here, nor you need to listen to me, as i am still trying to find my feet here as well.

what i think would be better is learn and study the subject of investing itself, for ex: share market. when to get in, get out, p/e ratio, etc.

And maybe start a little team/circle which you can discuss this, and take on the investing yourself. this will provide a better return on the managed funds, of course this will be more risky, but that is why you need to know what you are doing, otherwise, just leave it to the pro.

if you follow the small correction recently on the australia share market, you should be able gain something already from there. but i might be wrong here.

There is a lot of road to one destination, different path taken with different risk, and hence the time taken as well.

Cheers

everytime my agent/landlord increase the rent, i moved out (because of greedy land lord), being such a good tenant i believe that we should be treated fair as what we treat the property (i look after the property).

Depends on what type of tenants that you are facing, it will be up to you to make a decision. Of course i will be looking around my neigbourhood to see how much i would be paying (not just next door). if it is less, then i am happy, if i pay more, why should i pay more ??? i will go away and look for another place.

PS: a thinking as a tenant.