Usually investors will want to buy both duplexes for a cheaper price, than just buying one. It's probably best for you to do this too return wise, instead of doubling up on selling/marketing costs, agents fees etc. selling individual units.

Albeit true. However, whilst there's that chance you can lose it, there's also a chance the offer could be accepted too.

Like Kristin said above, the agent should get back to you to make a counter-offer if a higher offer is received. So there's really no harm I guess. *shrugs*

Wow! 14?

Consider yourself lucky Ethan that you know what you want to do with your life and start now.

I don't think you're ever to young to start – anything! You can probably read, read, and read for now. And like Shiny_Suit_Man said above me, if you're not sure on anything, ask your parents (or here  ).

You should start building up a wealth of knowledge through this reading, and then in a couple of years when you get to do work experience at your school, you can get a bit of experience in the field at a real estate firm.

Then go from there

Hey mate.

I just came across this and (although a tad late in terms of response) thought I'd give my two cents.

Mid last year I purchased a one bedroom unit at Rostrevor for $220,000. It fetches $250/week rent. I got caught up in the excitement of it being a buyers market at the time (and it still is), and now I've ended up with a negatively geared property. Big mistake! In Norwood, Payneham, Unley etc., you're looking at units in the $220-$280k range with rent ranging from $220-$285/week depending on the amount of bedrooms.

After doing some more research, I found that the northern suburbs are probably your best investment. I'm talking Salisbury and Elizabeth in particular. I've seen houses and units coming on the market in $120,000-$160,000 range, with rent in the $220-$260/week range. Not only that, house prices have doubled (and some even tripled) in those areas in the past 10 years, as a lot of them are old housing trust houses that were sold off back in the day. They're on large allotments too – perfect for development in the coming years.

This is from experience after a year of sussing out the market, so take it for what it's worth. But in terms of return – even capital gains – it's pretty low in the eastern suburbs. The north east is promising, but the further north you go, the better I reckon.

Eastern suburbs = great place to live, poor place to invest.
Northern suburbs = poor place to live, great place to invest.

Still residential. I'm in Adelaide, so I'll definately suss out the market here still. Then research interstate, then US.

Baby steps lol….

Well obvious things that firstly come to mind is the council. Ring them up and ask if there are any significant trees on the piece of land that can or can not be removed. This could affect how you build your property and (somewhat) it’s worth.
You would also need to test the soil. Depending on the type of soil, it could affect your foundations for the house.
These are just a couple of things to look at prior to purchasing the land. I’m sure others will add more

Hi Jon!

Just thought I'd add my two cents on top of Richards. Doesn't hurt getting a second opinion I guess

I just want to suggest that if you're living in a 2 bedroom unit – presumably by yourself (or with a partner), you'd only use one bedroom. Try and get a flatmate in to rent the other room to give you some more income; because, unless you have a well paying job, home loan repayments for $280-$300k would be around the $2,000/month mark; obviously not including other (living) expenses.

Obviously the more deposit you have the better. $7k on top of your 5% deposit won't really get you very far, especially paying the minimum $2,000/month mentioned in the above paragraph. You must live in the property for a minimum of 6 months (or is it 12 – it escapes me now lol) to get the FHOG.

IMHO, unless you have a well payed job, or you put the house in your parents name (and they put their house up as collateral; which, depending on the lender, would give you a better interest rate), I'd save for the next 6-12 months. OR purchase a property now, and get someone in to rent for the next 12 months, until you're ready to move in. Then you can somewhat have your cake and eat it too

Someone may want to back me up here, but hasn't the US market been considerably cheap {depending where you want to buy of course} for a couple of years now? Even today.

I remember going to a Steve McKnight seminar in late 2009 where he was talking about $400k properties being bought a few years earlier, and selling for $150k in late2009. My memory is a bit hazy, but that was the gist.

AdisKay, the market is of course unpredictable; but who knows? Maybe you will get some deals there in 1-2 years time similiar to deals now. You might be able to get better deals. Or if worse comes to worse, like others have said, Australia has plenty of deals out there

Perhaps purchase 1 or 2 here first, live and learn from your mistakes, and then try overseas investing when you have more knowledge and a bit of experience. Being a bit older than yourself (just turned 23), investing overseas sounds very risky at suc a young age with limited knowledge.