If I was in your position I would definitely  be visiting a good solicitor to see exactly what my options are in regards to the contract you signed. It will take the guess work out of your decision.  Others here may have viable options and opinions for you, but in my own opinion, spending some dollars could give you the answer with legal backing.

Martin

I have just bougt another IP and as I generally buy interstate going into the agents office is out of the question most of the time. After discussing the property over the phone and I want to put in an offer. I fax or email a signed one page document which outlines the following :

– The price for the property offered
– Names and contact details
– Finance and the terms
– Building, pest inspections
– The deposit amount
– I usually add a time-frame (24-48 hours) for a reply from the vendor or agent with an acceptance, rejection or counter offer

To me this shows the agent and the vendor that I am serious and in return I get taken seriously. When we agree on price and terms them the agent can arrange for contracts to be signed. We have a fax machine at home, so this speeds things up.

We have quite a few IP's and if we haven't bought in person then this system has worked very well for us. In fact, once we have made the initial offer in writing then any counter offers are usually done verbally. This is obviously because the agent sees you as a serious business person and let's face it … property investing is a business.

I agree with Jon here, …. If you are serious about buying a property then I see no reason why you wouldn't be prepared to make a written offer. If you want the best chance of your offer being accepted then why wouldn't you take the time to put the offer in writing, I'm sure it gives the vendor confidence that they are dealing with a genuine buyer.

Martin

amaljaya

We have an IP in Redbank Plains.

After recently having a 5 minute chat to town planner at Ipswich Council with the intension of handling the application process myself, I decided to employ a town planning consultant.

We can't do sub-division on our block, but we can have dual occupancy approval on our 800m2 corner block apparently. It will cost us around $20,000 (about $13,000 of this is for council fee's, levies, impact reports, holding fee's etc). We are flying up to meet the consultant in April to finalise everything as we live in NSW and I don't have the time, knowledge or understanding to do it ourselves.

Martin

Question: ….. Could the "sunset clause" option get around this problem, whereby an expiry date included in the contract signed by the prospective purchaser/s makes the contract null and void unless the contract is signed by the vendor before this date/time?

I have put an expiry date/time on written offers, but not on a contract.

Martin

Geoff,

Whenever Mitsubishi want more govt money they threaten to close down the plant. The govt can't afford the bad press with headlines of "plant closing – loss of hundreds of jobs" plus the added ripple effect on other business who supply them with parts, so they give them more grant money to keep the doors open. This tactic by Mitsubishi has been going on for many years, …… and I'm sure it will continue under Labor / Rudd government.

I have a couple of IP's near the Holden plant in Elizabeth. Last year they announced that they would be laying off 600 jobs. It didn't affect property sales or rental market in the area.

If the plant did close it would probably have a negative affect on the immediate area, but Adelaide is growing and you would imagine that it would be able to absorb the closure.

Martin

hgwells wrote:

errr…Its Ms thanks, and yes i'm a nice person how kind of you to point that out. I took the advice of researching, reading, attending seminars and doing my homework, NOT asking where are the +CF deals and waiting for them to drop in my lap thanks. No one on here told me where to find the deals, and nothing here says I have to give you all my hard work on a plate! And… i've given away to my friends and family about 10 deals that I couldn't do myself because of my situation, so yes… what comes around goes around, I did my research and took the kind advice on how to do it from here gladly and contributed back as well to this forum, I was offering encoragement, that if you do your homework you too can still find the deals, not asking for a free handout for where to find the deals, everyone's situation is different. You my friend.. need an attitude adjustment fast, and yes karma is a great thing didn't expect to be attacked here like that, leaves quote a sour taste to posting here after being here for several years.

Well done Ms HG, …… as they say, … the harder you work the luckier you become. You've put in the hours of research and you deserve the success.

Congratulations !!

Martin

I did a google search and nothing came up under that name, …. they must be very new  ……

Martin

Hmmmm … scored 734, this would give us enough income to survive on current combined income for 2 years. I imagine the score will improve greatly over the next couple of years as we have added another 4 IP's to our portfolio since April this year and in 2-3 years we should see some good capital growth in the areas invested in ……. Well, that's the plan anyway ….

Martin

Crashy,

Doesn't sound like agent of the year material. What a nightmare.     

Martin

Well done Amanda, … the way the market has been moving around Ipswich the past few months you've gained even more equity from your reno. We bought 2 IP's – Goodna and RBP in April 07, and can't believe the growth in only a few months.

Good luck and once again well done.

Martin