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    January 11, 2008 - 9:09 am

    Congrats Lisa!  Do you have to pay for the bus stop relocation?  Regards, Linda

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    January 10, 2008 - 1:19 am

    I think if you take an ordinary house and make some small improvements it can make a huge impact on peoples emotions. A couple of times we've just tidied up some yards, trimmed trees and shrubs, added a garden and mulched it. They amount of positive comments from neighbours is proof it makes a big impact. Maybe that may be a better soloution for a country town. Here's and example of one we did.

    http://www.propertydivas.com.au/Images/Lin/Lin_exterior_before_bw.jpg

    http://www.propertydivas.com.au/Images/Lin/lin_exterior_after.jpg

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    January 8, 2008 - 1:56 am
    L.A Aussie wrote:
    millions wrote:
    I remember seeing a property on the market for about 2 years. The owners ended up having the bricks, windows, etc painted white and roof and gutters dark grey and then it sold straight away.

    Did it sell for the asking price?

    Could work, but what will probably happen in a town like this is the cost of the changes will not be reflected in the sale price. All it will do is make it more attractive to look at.

    Hi Marc, they put the price up $10k and got it.  The new owners sub-divided the block and when they put the original house on the market it sold again within weeks.  It was a very dull house on a main road in unpopular suburb, close to industrial area but after the paint job it looked quite cute.

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    January 7, 2008 - 8:42 am

    It sounds like my friends neighbours in Beenleigh.

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    January 7, 2008 - 12:48 am

    1. Twice in 4 yrs – once to unblock toilet, once to replace toilet.  Hubby is a construction plumber but prefers to deal with new toilets, and not handle our tenants poos.  (What a slacko)  In general we have 1-2 plumbing issues every 6 months for 4 properties.

    2. Word of mouth as much as possible for all trades.  We found our current plumber by him addressing a neighbours rental property invoice to us in error.  It was for replacing a toilet and his price was very reasonable compared to the plumber we had just used to unblock the tenants toilet.

    3. Price, answers phone, turn up on day promised

    Linda

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    January 6, 2008 - 6:52 am

    It will NEVER be a sought after suburb and I'd purchase elsewhere.

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    January 6, 2008 - 6:41 am

    I remember seeing a property on the market for about 2 years.  The owners ended up having the bricks, windows, etc painted white and roof and gutters dark grey and then it sold straight away. 

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    January 2, 2008 - 12:32 am

    Hi Mathew,

    My plans are:

    – Get a new accountant, (i've got a couple in mind) before I do anything discuss my goals with them
    – No share purchases, offload the piddly amount of shares I currently own at a loss
    – No property purchases, do a minor reno on currently owned property, increase the rent on it, sell it for a good profit
    – Build 2 houses behind another property we already own
    – Get hubby to take 3 months off work, either leave without pay, or take his long service leave and travel around Aus

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    December 30, 2007 - 7:16 am

    If there is a low volume of sales for a period (eg 5 sales in 3 months), often they take into account the previous periods sales also and average the previous period as well. So in effect they ave 6 months, which in a rising market is very inacurate. Is the suburb you are referring to a "small" suburb, or a popular suburb with a small turnover? If so, you need to do your own research carefully. I consider it an oppurtunity to pick up a bargain. L

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    December 30, 2007 - 3:06 am
    trakka wrote:
    I don't think it's fair to say that commercial property is inherently riskier; it's all a matter of what you're comfortable with. Education and preparation can ameliorate risk!

    If you have commercial property with a long-term lease in place, I'd argue it's a less risky investment than residential, and more straightforward. It's much more "set and forget" than residential, because leases are usually written such that the commercial tenant does all maintenance and pays all outgoings – it's really quite simple.

    The main potential pitfall of commercial property is that if it becomes vacant, there's a possibility that it will remain vacant for quite some time, as commercial properties and commercial tenants are much more varied than with residential, so you have to find a tenant who's exactly the right fit for your property. The risk of vacancy can be mitigated somewhat by doing your research about the supply and demand in the area, future developments, checking out the lease, keeping tenants happy, etc.

    So if you absolutely need every rental payment coming in to save yourself, then perhaps a commercial property that's vacant or on a month-to-month lease isn't for you. But commercial property can be a valuable addition to a diverse portfolio, where the risk can be spread between a number of properties.

    You've made some good points about commercial property, Thanks Tracey

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    December 28, 2007 - 1:56 pm

    Steve, Isn't commercial property riskier?  L

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    December 12, 2007 - 1:11 pm

    I liked the mystery prize!  My family and I had tears running down our faces.  Thanks Steve, Merry Christmas and have a fantastic festive season!  From Linda

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    December 10, 2007 - 9:05 am

    Good points Richard, will PM you when I get a chance.

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    December 10, 2007 - 8:56 am
    Scott No Mates wrote:
    Linda, you can't count your land value 3 times as each house will only have 1/3 of the land.

    On ths construction side of things, do you have side access/dual street frontage or will they have to lift the buildings over the existing house – this will cost a fair bit due to the size of the crane required?

    If you can provide a few extra student niceties eg additional power/wireless network/broadband connection/multiple phone jacks etc ie have the place wired for students it will become more attractive to them.

    Hi Scott, My block is almost 1600sqm.    I'm hoping the valuation will double, but I guess there is no guarantee.    Green titled houses in area on 500sqm blocks in streets that aren't anywhere as nice sell for $400k.

    My property is beside at 10.5 m wide laneway (drain underneath) so should have access to my yard easily.  I tried to purchase lane off council for about a year and they wouldn't sell it, last time I was speaking to them they were trying to convince me to buy it off them, so that me be a future possibility.  House behind our property is opposite the river so I don't wont to lose easy access and would have to purchase all of it.  Zoning is increasing in future (according to town planner) so that's why I don't  want to build anything permanent.

    I like your idea of broadband, phone jacks, etc

    Thanks

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    December 10, 2007 - 2:32 am

    Hi  Scott,  Sorry  if  my post isn't written clearly , i'll try to explain further.

    At the moment the property has a 3×1 house on it and I get $290/wk for it which is slightly neg cashflow.  I worked out if I borrowed $335,000 to put two small (removable) houses  at the back I should be able to rent them for about $310 each giving me a positive cashflow of about $8000/yr. 
    The block is currently zoned for 3 houses and I've had a verbal approval off the council town planner.  Have spoken to surveyors  also who confirm I don't need to subdivide, can have the three properties on one title. 

    My property is a bit of a one off so valuations always come in really low from real estate agents, banks and licenced valuers.  I'm assuming with 3 houses on one block I may be able to get the valuation lifted to the equivelent value of 3 houses.

    I'll do some more research into the student idea.  My sisters neighbour gets $200/room.  So maybe an extra room and bathroom is worth looking into also.

    Thanks, Linda

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    December 9, 2007 - 9:56 am

    Handy Andy, that sounds good but you forgot to mention your son waking you at 2.00am because he wet the bed, your daughter waking you at 7.00am because she can't find her favourite socks, and wife waking you at 7.30am because the toilet won't stop dripping.  LOL

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    December 9, 2007 - 3:04 am

    I was googling Clarkson a while back and came across some comments from a government department  saying they wanted to improve Clarkson a little bit, but not too much as they didn't want it to compete with the Alkimos development.  Those comments turned me off purchasing in the suburb, but overall, I think the Alkimos land will be sold for a premium and will have a flow on affect to surrounding suburbs. 

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    December 9, 2007 - 1:18 am

    It may be quality.  More expensive building co's employ better tradespeople and pay them more.

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    December 8, 2007 - 12:17 am

    I think you've come alone really quickly Andy! What would you do with your spare time anyway? I want to travel Aus.

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    December 7, 2007 - 8:52 am

    Hi Handy Andy, just curious, why Tas?  Cashflow?  Good excuse to holiday every year?  Spreading assets?  Cheap? Expecting  growth?  Expecting aging population to tree-change to cheaper area's.  Thanks, m

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