When crashy says 'redcliffe'  he means as close to the water as possible. Not kippa-ring, not rothwell,. Id be looking at  redcliffe , scarborough, maybe margate but walking distance to water.  REdcliffe worries me a tad. THey keep building highrise and I don't believe it has hte infrastructure to support it.  I grew up there and am often over there.My dad complains of lack of water pressure and he isnt in an old house with old copper pipes.  Yes there is a new bridge to be built, currently there is a breakdown on the Houghton bridge at least once a week holding up traffic.  As for rail, they have been saying that for over a hundred years now and I simply dont believe it will happen.  I am willing to make a wager if anyone cares to wait 40 yrs.

I really prefer  sandgate, shorncliffe (again if walking distance to water). Unspoilt by highrise,its a nice place to bring up kids, It's closer to city and  the freeway to north and sth coasts,has  railway and has proven past high cap growth.

Otherwise see if  you can pick up a cheapie  close to the CBD.  Kedron,  chermside, .  If I were  you I'd be checking out  API mag  when they  do a residex report on suburb  growth. 
goodluck

Yeah i agree with above comments. wots the rule ' land appreciates, buildings depreciate'.
Too many overheads with units, usually a better return on houses.  And gees I hate body corps telling me what I can and cant do.
goodluck

http://www.thelandlord.com.au  is a great site for those of us who want to manage our own properties. It has documents for all the states I believe. There is a fee but it's worth it compared to some of the useless property managers I've come across.

Just make sure you have landlords insurance.
I manage the houses that are nearby.  Thus I get to do those little things like fixing a flyscreen or  changing washers that an agent would get a tradey or handyman in for.  I dont mind doing this cos it lets me keep an eye on the house and how well the tennants are looking after it.
goodluck
milly

The first buy is soooo exciting. and filled with nervousness.  I wouldnt be concerned about  a one bedder. There are more and more ppl living alone.  (I'm quite looking forward to it  meself).  jump in and have a go. You will learn from the first one.
Just keep putting in offers. Outrageous offers.  Someone, somewhere is desperate to sell. 

Looking at your avatar I woulda thought you would be looking somewhere further afield…….venus perhaps.

If you go to the centrelink site you'll find just what you will be paid in retirment.  Depending On whether you're single or partnered and depending on  income and assets your  centrelink payments will vary.  Certainly  $350/wk income will affect youre pension but not altogether. Your assets might be a prob tho if you own an investment property outright. I'm not sure the asset cutoff but I believe a single person is only allowed assets up to 200k .

I was glad the day I quit centrelink and took control of my own life and future

I'm in a similar situation, call me gutless but I thinking about telling my tennants that  my nephew is going to the area to study at the uni so 'unfortunetly'  they will have to vacate the house.

good luck.

It's run by a sheep for chrissakes. I see his picuture everywhere and want to throw darts.

I realise Ipswich is earmarked for  great things. It's a gorgeous city  but lets face it the weather is crap. I dunno how ppl function outside of aircon.  Yes it's a  growing city but that is because it has hte land to support the new developments and state govt is releasing land and encouraging  development. I'm not convinced the price of houses will go up that much, it will be a place where new housing  estates can be built at affordable prices.
just my 2 cents worth

hey Michelle I love your second option but gees wouldnt Today Tonite have a field day describing the big bad wolf er landlord.

I used to have tennants who were often a week or more late with their rent. What they don’t seem to realise is that if the money is not in the account, I get a $30 fine from the bank because I wasn’t able to make the mortgage repayment..

You know what really peeves me Amanda about putting in the smoke detectors? Everytime I go in for an inspection after tennants have left, ,the smoke detectors have had the crap smashed out of them by a broom handle and they all have to be replaced. I understand that few tennants have ladders. And I also understand that that intermitant beep when the battery needs replacing is damned annoying.

I guess the thing to do would be to once yearly go and replace all the batteries myself. (sigh)