Hi Tanya
Is that anywhere near Fleet St? Anyway, regardless, I wouldn't buy there expecting much capital growth. You can work out the returns yourself. I doubt it would be worth it. Sorry to rain on your parade but I think if you can buy a cheapie house that is closer to the water is the way to go. People move to Redcliffe because they want to be near the beach.

Now I have a house down near Hercules rd primary school. I don't expect much in the way of capital growth. It doesn't get the sea breezes, and all the units/townhouses will one day be cheap housing for the unemployed. They don't stay new and shiny for long. I'm not concerned about my house because it is brick and tile and has a grannyflat out the back which I rent out separetly. Thus, the return is great.

Of course this is just my opinion.
Good luck in whatever direction you choose.

People make a big song and dance about the new bridge……a bridge that was needed and promised 20 yrs ago. When they built the Houton hwy, it was supposed to go in one direction while the Hornibrook went the other….thus providing the much needed 4 lanes. Well it didn't happen. Finally something is to be done and it will be adequate without being more so.

I provide a roof over their heads and fix all the little things that are totally neglected in my own home.

Good tennants will always be good tennants just as rewards aren't going to change a bad tennant

CENTRELINK! Boy was I glad when I kissed goodbye to parenting payments.

What Margaret Lomas told you is correct re cross-collatorising home with IPs.  Unfortunetly, or fortunetly I was first told incorrectly by Centrelink that I could buy an investment property. (you know how you can  phone centrelink 5 times and get 5 different answers?) Anyway I went ahead and bought two, all crossed with my home. Then Centrelink caught up with me and told me I wouldn't be eligible  for parenting payment and that I owed them 10k.

At first I was at panic stations. I refinanced so the houses were no longer crossed-collaterised. But by then they had increased in equity so I was over the asset threshold. I had caught the property bug and didn't want to sell. I bit the bullet and kissed goodbye to parenting payments. (my god i can't tell  how great that day was). I still get family benefits A and B and with 4 kids it is significant. Then I drew down money from my home and used it for living expenses and bought other investment houses.

Doing what I did is not for the faint hearted and you must purchase houses in high growth areas. I understand that you do not wish to take this gamble so you will need to find the deposit for your investment property which is usually  20% and as you won't want high growth (so  you don't cross the asset limit threshold) you'll want a good return on your money.

But consider this; Parenting payment is about 14k/yr. Now if  you bought one 300k house and it increased by 8%/yr,  there would be an increase in value of 24k/yr that you could refinance and live off.
goodluck

Buy a highset home that you can wack in a cheap granny flat downstairs and get a boarder in. Thats what I do. I hardly see him.
He pays $150/wk adn for that he gets free electricity and internet and we share bathroom. He is actually an investor himself but being single it's cheaper to rent. Of  course I had some duds before I got this gem.

gees i recalll when we got married, I had a house, he had some city property. and some rural property…I remember how we both decided we wanted no debt.and when we sold the lot we still had this 'massive mortgage of 60k hanging over our heads"
We sold it all to buy one really nice house. Now if only I knew then what i know today…….
Dont we all say that.

However that probably isn't your situation. Is it really essential to sell now? It must be aggravating knowing how much you got the other one for. If you could possibly take it off the market for six months and then put it back on. People begin to think there is somethign wrong with a property if is keeps the 'for sale' sign too long.
best of luck

I hope some more knowledgeable people reply to your post.

My guess is that during a recession, interest rates are high so it becomes a struggle to hold on to your property. On the other hand, if you are cashed up and ready to go, there should be some bargains to be made as there will be a glut of people needing to sell. Properties go down in price.

On the other hand everyone needs a place to live. I think the govt will need to put some incentives in place to ensure investors stay in the market. They don't want 2million homeless people. I think people and families will 'double up' so instead of teh luxury of living alone, they will take in a boarder or if the house is big enough, families will share. Actually  I believe this is already happening.

If you are a long term investor, you expect the low times and have to see it out.

I wonder how many of us in the same situation as the vendor would keep the money. We are in the investing game and if we were to get a windfall because someone was ignorant of the procedure and failed to secure a solicitor, would we keep the money?

I might be inclined to keep an amount that covered mortgage repayments for a few weeks until a new buyer was found but no where near 20k. But Im not even sure I could do that to someone.

'what goes around, comes around'

I got a pool put in last year. It is kidney shaped so 9m  long x  3.5 and 5m wide.  Was a good time to buy in brisbane cos with the water restrictions the pool industry was doing it tough. I got the pool with fence for 33k and a further 4k for the solar heating. . The solar means we can swim most of the year and with 4 boys and their hundred mates, it is great entertainment. Thoroughly recommend the solar panels.

Incidently I asked a local agent if there was any increase in value with a pool. They  told me it adds about 10k so that was a bonus for me.Not sure about Canberra tho.   I guess in canberra you  could use it as a skate rink in winter

Now the other problem is that real estate agents and property managers probably more so, move around a lot. They might be with harcourts one year, professionals the next and then Ray Whites.  A  new principle property manager may change the whole attitude of the office with his/her enthusiasm and diligence. So I think it is a bit hard to single out particular offices. word of mouth is best so if you had a property in in say bathurst, you could ask the forum if they had any recomendations.