Originally posted by Monopoly:
It can be done, even guaranteed, but the real question is not HOW, but rather, at WHAT RISK LEVEL???

Remember, a fool and his/her money will soon part ways if they gamble on chance!!!

Jo

If its guaranteed – where’s the risk – isn’t that what a guarantee is for?????

That sort of return is quite easy as a one off…[Read more]

Westan – Yes – we have landlords insurance (although anyone that has ever made a claim on this insurance will know that you can only recover certain things ie the damage must be “malicious”. All the crap and rubbish left everywhere are my problem)

GMH454 – The tenant had secure tenancy as they had just signed a 2 year lease so there is no way a…[Read more]

I’ve never found one to be mutually exclusive of the other. All our properties that we have bought (over a 7 year period) have been cashflow positive and all have shown substantial CG. I found this even before the latest “boom”. Why not have both??

Monopoly

I am currently selling 4 houses one of which has a 2 year lease (only 6 weeks into it) that has a 8% return on the asking price. It’s in Victoria and I think (and the agent seems to agree) that it is fair market value. It’s even advertised on the net with an 8% return so they are there if you look.

(ps – this is not meant as…[Read more]

Understand where you are coming from Monopoly – we have been burnt a couple of times too (once to the tune of $9000++ – oh well). You can do these things without becoming to “close to the tenants” though. We contact the rental agent at the end of the month to make sure the rents have been paid and then we post the tickets – no actual contact…[Read more]

We own 4 houses and we send each tenant (who is up to date with payments) 2 passes to the local cinema each month. I was actually wondering only the other day if it was worth it when my younger brother called to tell me that he had met one of our tenants at a party. Without letting on that he was related to me he asked about the house she lived…[Read more]

Flight Instructor – used to teach aerobatics and formation flying – now teach people to fly big stuff for major airline. Not as glamorous as it sounds – spend more time in a simulator than I do out in the real world!!!

Hi Yack

Yeah – I actually did use them and found they were worth about what they charge – nothing!! After submitting all the paper work I heard nothing much until I contacted them after 2 weeks. They said that they had sent out letters. When I went to confirm with them where the letters had been sent they hadn’t got any addresses in the system…[Read more]

Westan

Morwell right now I would say is in the transition between topping out and declining. More and more houses are appearing on the market but sellers are still expecting top dollar (a few are still getting it which encourages the rest – but it is slowing). Cheaper houses (ie those under $100k) are selling quickly (you see maybe 2 per month)…[Read more]

We recently finished sanding the floors in a 4 bedroom house (it was huuuuggggeee). The quote for a professional come in at just a touch over $5000. We did it ourselves for about $600 and it looks sensational. We asked around a few places for advice and found a really good place (Paintright – they supply the stains and vanish for the…[Read more]

Unless you have indications showing potential problems – why upset your cashflow right from the start? With tenants I usually assume innocent until proven guilty. Having said that we have bought a place where you could tell the tenant was trouble (ie the real estate agent wouldn’t go into the house because of the smell of dirty nappies stuck to…[Read more]

Melbear

You know – it’s funny – I was in a meeting with senior management when the announcement was made about the name and within 30 seconds it had been changed to(“christened”???) pornstar and it seems to have stuck – maybe we should have passed it on to marketing.

In regards to it becoming the “domestic” operation this rumour has been going…[Read more]

Kendell tried to operate out of Avalon for quite a while and couldn’t manage to fill a Beech 1900. Not sure how much luck Jetstar will have filling an A320. Sure you will get people from Geelong and the coast but how many people will travel to Avalon to catch a flight from the rest of Melbourne/Victoria? The big advantage I see at the moment is…[Read more]

Westan
$74000 and it is rented for $160 pw (4br – Owner in hurry to sell – we offered 30 day settle so he dropped his price – funny thing is we actually bid on this house almost 5 years ago and were the loosing bidder at $23500 – I didnt quite understand what I was doing back then – not sure I do now sometimes!!!). As I said not as good as we…[Read more]

Westan
I had to laugh when I read on a previous post that your wife wouldn’t let you buy in that town. My wife still will not let me even read a page in a real estate section that is from that town. She’s been that way since we started investing in 1997 and prices then were a little(!!!) cheaper than they are now.

If your in Victoria get a copy of the new guide from Consumer Affairs. In there it tells you what your after. There’s also been some discussion on this in a previous thread if you do a search.

Westan – I’m surprised at your comment – We just (2 weeks ago) bought a house in a town that is near the town where your wife wouldn’t let you buy in. It returns 11.25%. Not as good as it was a few years back but the house backs onto one of our other houses and we think we may be able to develop at a late date.

Felicity

If you get a copy of the new regulations for real estate agents from consumer affairs in Victoria it quite clearly specifies that agents MUST present any and all offers that are made to the vendors. I posted the contact details in the Heads Up forum about 2 weeks ago. Its a free document, pretty easy to read and unbiased.

ginamarree

We did the exact thing that you are considering a few years back and I would say it worked well. However, having said that let me add this. If you are the type of owner that is going to worry constantly about the way the property is being maintained (and I mean more than the usual interest you need to show for any property) while you…[Read more]

We have 3 houses that have varying amounts of asbestos in them. Asbestos is fine as long as its not disturbed (eg strinpping paint away, breaking boards etc). There are also different types of asbestos. The one you really need to look out for (in housing anyway)is the one that has golf ball pimples on the back side of the sheet (does that make…[Read more]