wanttosuceed wrote:

 The houses (one in Guilford, one in Albany) have been on the market for a number of years. Albany has been in the family for generations but is empty for 3/4 of the year. The parents combined land value is approx 900K completely owned. Whilst in desirable suburbs and perfectly livable however the houses are very…[Read more]

sam2011 wrote:
the contract the lawyer wrote had no conditions such as "finance, building, pest"

very very frustrating.

So you are saying there is NO subject to finance etc in the contract at all? 

Thanks for clearing that up dgirl! Good luck to the top 10!

Personally I would rather buy first (obviously not going to be your dream house!), and then renovate and add value, then use the equity to invest.
I think I would go nuts if I couldn't improve the house that I lived in. I have never rented though so probably a little biased.
Just seems like wasted money to me.

Hi James,

I know exactly what you're talking about! My house has the exact same walls and strips.
Originally I did just rip of the strips in one of the bedrooms (my trial renovation room) and plastered the gap.
After a couple of weeks it all started to crack. I was then later told that because the walls are some sort of timber board that it…[Read more]

I am no legal guru so hopefully Terry or someone can answer my question…
If the landlord is aware of overpopulation of the house (as above), but turns a blind eye, could he then be legally liable if something happened? Say a fire or something and someone got hurt?
More so just interested for my own knowledge, just one of the previous posts made…[Read more]

Emil,
At first I couldn't understand why you would recommend a certain type of unit, in a certain price range, in a certain city? Seemed like very narrow minded advice to be giving to a newbie.
Than I seen your signature and it all made sense!
Generally it's a good idea to contribute to the forum before you try offload one of your developments  

J…[Read more]

Hi Firewater,

There is no required timeframe for being able to use your equity. How quickly you can unlock it will depend on both how quickly you can pay down your loan and how quickly you see capital growth on your property.

If you are intending on turning your now PPOR into an investment later on down the track, it would be advisable set up an…[Read more]

Could be wrong but I am pretty sure the apartment is only $40k and using 20k of his own money?

Agree with Terry on the return after expenses, especially with properties with such a low cost base and low rents. A couple of hundred dollars in unexpected expenses could eat away a couple of weeks rent and turn it from positive to negative cashflow.
I am guessing the unit may be in Cairns? Just be careful up North, the insurance's seem to be…[Read more]

I'm another one on the Townsville bandwagon. I really think it is undervalued at the moment and has huge potential.
I bought a 3 bdr in Kingston Park, Burdell in Feb last year. Haven't seen much Capital Growth in the last year but the yield is quite good. And haven't had any problem with vacancy either. It's a long term hold for me and I am pretty…[Read more]

Yes the credit card points with no annual fee is a must. Also to help, try and use the points on things that you would normally have to buy anyway, like tyre vouchers or plane tickets for a flight you would be taking anyway. Then you free up some more cash that you would've already budgeted for elsewhere.

Jpcashflow wrote:
Hi All + Great thread Rosa,
Saving for a deposit is never easy and it’s not usually caused because someone is not earning enough $$$, There are plenty of people out there who are on the big bucks but they still can’t save because they simply don't know how too and they may also have bad spending habits.

I couldn't agree…[Read more]

This is one of the exact reasons why I have a PM handle my properties. I really don't want any personal relationship with my tenants. I want it to be strictly business then I know I won't be second guessing myself or feeling guilty when I up my rents!

I found API's Renovation guide booklet quite interesting. Doesn't tell you how to do things as such but more what sort of renovations add the most value to a property and which ones you probably won't make your money back on. It's on http://www.businessmall.com.au. Few other good books on there too.

Agree with the You tube comments! I learnt how to lay…[Read more]

Wow that really couldn't be any further from the truth! Sorry but that would just be creating a financial/tax nightmare. Who told you this anyway? I hope it was just a work colleague or friend and not a broker or accountant?

Easy Solution… Give Jamie a call! At least you know your loans will be structured correctly and you will be making the most of your deductible debt. I don't think you realise just how much you can borrow with $450k equity!?

I would be very careful with what fees etc are involved.
Someone came to me the other day with a nice 1 bdr unit they found in cairns for around $50K and a ROI of 10% and couldn't believe how cheap/good of a deal it was.
When we had a look at it properly and took the strata fees, management fees and insurance into account, even if they paid cash…[Read more]

I would say yes! Especially considering the full interior renovation.

I would say yes! Especially considering the full interior renovation.