Andyk12, ……

I don't have the answers to your questions, but I do have some for you :

– have you spoken to any property managers to see what type of property is most in demand for rental in the various areas before you buy? you mention 3 or 4 bedroom, but have you researched.

– What have you found out from your own research about vacancy rates and capital growth

– Is there currently capital growth happening, if so what is driving it.

– Is there any new infrastructure projects in the pipeline or recently completed

– is the population increasing or stagnant

– what is the unemployment rate and average wage

– what is the long term predictions for each area

– what attracted you to those locations in NSW

– is the mining in those areas local people or predominately FIFO

– what is the current demand for properties on sale at present, … are they selling quickly or sitting on the market for a while

I understand that you have asked for opinions, but the quickest way to understand the market you want to invest in is to source the information yourself and get a real feel for a location…. I don't know these areas you mentioned and I'm sure someone here will answer your questions in detail, but if you can track down much of this information yourself it will give you certainty in your decision. By relying on others opinions you are putting your decision in other people hands.

I'm honestly not being rude or unhelpful, but I spent the past 6 months this year researching several locations in Victoria and NSW before making an informed decision and bought an IP in Goulburn… I took time to visit each location on my list by driving thousands of kilometers, spoke to locals, spoke to agents and PM's, local council town planners, drove streets, talked to business people, chatted to builders, inspected many properties and read and researched on the net before making an informed decision …  It's all part of gaining an understanding of what drives a particular location and if it's suited to your investment style.

I wish you well on your journey

Mystery

PS … Grab a copy of the Margaret Lomas book, …. something along the lines of "20 questions you need to ask before buying" (I can't remember the title exactly). It will give you the tools to make an informed decision.

Very true Terry, ….. One of the first things I do when buying is have a locksmith come in and change all the barrels to one key. This makes it easier having the one or two key's, but also for security as you don't want former tenants still roaming around with keys after they have vacated.

Mystery

The Dark Knight wrote:

I'm about to start a Reno early next week and I've been able to obtain quotes for everything I'm not doing myself but unfortunately I can't get any plasterboarding quotes until mid next week. Just wondering what people have paid in the past for a wall in your average sized bedroom. Whether it be put on the frame or just stuck to the internal brick wall. Any help would be greatly appreciated

A couple of ways to put the gyprock over brick, … if the brick wall smoothish and flat then you should be able to glue the sheets directly to the surface, otherwise and I prefer this method, screw timber battons on the wall and then apply the gyprock.

As far as cost of getting someone to do it for you …. the sheets are pretty cheap, but you also have to allow for adhesive, joint tape, joint compound and finish coat, it can start to add up, but a professional will already have this stuff, … plus you may need to match the cornice and skirting. Unless you are proficient with plastering then don't attempt to set the joints … you need to know what you are doing to get a smooth/seamless finish.

If it's only one wall then it really shouldn't cost that much, ….. I can't give you a m2 price as I do it all myself on my reno's, but definitely it should under $1,000 easily, it should only be a few hundred for one wall.

I tried to add a couple of example photo's from one of my reno's of the wall battons, but I couldn't work out how to paste photo's in.

Mystery

We had this situation in our townhouse. You lose so much bathroom space by having two doors as you need to keep both doorways clear. I pulled out the door from the main bedroom and re-did that section in stud wall and gyprocked/tiled etc …. made a huge difference … in a good way. I vote for do it ….

Mystery

Hmmm, … tempting, but …. NO!

Mystery …

Good point Jenny111……. Ipswich council rates are extremely expensive. Our IP's rates cost in excess of $2,800 to $2,900 per annum for council and water rates per property …. Hence why we sold one and the dual occupancy development won't be strata titled until we want to sell either or both of them.

Mystery

Something not right about this in my mind, but then again I've been wrong sooo often …. I have IP's in the Ipswich Shire and no way would I get this sort of rent return, …. but then again I have no experience in student type accommodation investments.

Also, the fully leased bit …. Are you paying the $125,000 and $140,000 for the lease option or is this for outright strata purchase?

I would imagine the on-site manager/24 hour security/maintenance of grounds and facilities would need paying for and I imagine this will come out of your rent return by the management structure which if is the case won't be cheap.

Look, it's ringing alarm bells in my head, but if you are interested then I would advise that you do a heap of due diligence, especially with the lease structure/rent return/body corp (if any) and onsite management  fee's and any other costs.

The bit that say's … "FULLY LEASED and July statement available on request", …. it's now November and this great deal that "you would be crazy to leave for someone else" is still available …. why?

I reckon the "owner needs urgent sale" is because he/she has realised it's not as good a deal as they thought and let's face it … if it was so good why is it still available, but as I've said … I've been wrong many, many times before.

Mystery

PS … at those prices … Capital gain hasn't been great has it?

Landlord insurance generally only covers you for proven malicious damage not general wear and tear.

We use NRMA because we get a good discount and they have always been fair with our claims. Others will have their preference.

All the best

Mystery

Jason, …… I'm not sure if these people can help, but they did the work for us about 4 years ago for a successful dual occupancy application with Ipswich Council that was approved with no issues. The development is in Redbank Plains.

Hedges Geomeasure

Surveyors and Town Planners (Land and Property Development)

16 Vanessa Boulevard

Springwood Qld 4127

Ph: 07 3208 6566

Email: [email protected]

Drawings :

Matrix building design

46 Queensland Road

Sunnybank

Ph: 07 3375 5441

Email: [email protected]

From memory … for Hedges Geomeasure to handle the whole application process including surveying, complete application forms to council and $1,350 council application fee, …. the whole thing came to approx $5,500 and then sketch design/drawings from Matrix Building Design cost around $1,500 … I seem to remember the cost being around the $7,000 – $7,500 for everything including design/drawings, but well worth it.

We are about 2-3 weeks away from the project being completed with a huge equity gain …..

I'm not sure if these two companies are still in business, but give them a call.

The builder we used is Mainz Developments in Coomera …. They are excellent ….. we are in NSW, so we had to place a lot of trust in them to do a good job and they have been brilliant. They took regular photo's and placed them on the web site with a status report so that I could watch the progress. The quality of work from the trades they use is excellent.

Anyway …. hope this helps

Mystery

Interesting redhot, … our dual occupancy development (SE Qld) is due for completion in around 3-4 weeks, ….. I may need to look into this as we were going to keep the properties on one title for the time being.

Mystery