Don’t get me wrong, those two have done well to get where they are (I too also thought they were living on the edge a little, but hey they have $1.2mil in equity!!!!) but with a little determination and a booming property market, this aint hard to do. They should now be cranking it up now (maybe a spot of commercial, small development etc.) Well done to them!

Wayne, just noticed your post with no replies. Suggest getting in touch with mortgage broker who can present to many more options than that of one useless bank. Good luck.

Eric

And you know there is people out there that try to beat the message home that living beyond your financial limits is not a good way to go. Unfortunately major behaviourial change is required. However, sometimes when `trying to keep up with the Jonees’ is more cool making big decisions about future financial planning just seems too hard and unfashionable.

And frankly I think we haven’t even seen the worst of it. I’m not a doomsdayer really, however the levels of consumerism in our lives today is unprecedented. I don’t think the outlook is good for the so called gen x’s or y’s when they reach retirement age and they find that they dont have enough super to sustain their lifestyle after retirement or that the Govt of the day only provides a pension that is bearly above the poverty line. This is a big big problem and only one that can be rectified by making prudent and timely investment decisions now. Obviously this can only be done by living within the bounds of our financial limits. Yes sounds boring but hell, I’d prefer to live a fulfilling, happy life with my family in my twlight years rather than worrying about how I am going to survive….

Eric

Agree with Rick here. Finding +cf properties is rarely dished out to you these days. You certainly need to look for it or use creative ways to make an investment cf+. There are several ways to increase rental yields for instance that has a positive effect on cf.

Eric

Cata, even though you have a vested interest in the subject of the topic, I am happy to debate my point and stick by my original post.

I’m not saying that one should not consider it, but it seems to me that Mukta is in some dilemma about which way to go. I am reasonably certain that alot of us out there in the big wide world of property investment retain ownership under our own names as it is the quickest and most cost effective. I highly doubt that for someone with a couple of properties would need to deliberate about what structure they need to go with. Its the same when someone starts a small business. In most cases it is undertaken as a sole-trader situation. Once the business grows (and is starting to make money etc.) then incorporating is probably the next step.

I just felt that delaying a decision to buy a property (particular when Mukta is `busting’ to do it) because she couldn’t see a professional about structure till October is nonsense!

Whilst it sounds well intentioned, I doubt that you could be so methodical and precise with a time budget as you could with your financial budget. I mean, life in itself is so unpredictable and with most of us here fairly and squarely trapped on the 9 to 5 cycle, realistically what time is left to budget?? You come home, eat, play with the kids (or with whatever else…) for a while and then go to bed only to do the whole thing again the next day. What works for me is a prioritised task list (I keep two; one for personal, one for business). Every Saturday morning I set aside time to review our household budget, pay bills, check that tenants have been paying their rent into our bank account, and generally see how we are progressing. A bit of weekly health check if you like.

Put it this way. If someone is really motivated to invest (be it property, shares etc. etc.) they will make the time. If someone says that they don’t have the time, I suspect that their reason/s has more to do with reluctance than lack of time.

Eric

this is the exact situation faced by a family member now. A real dilemma apparently coz their right into city life but are reluctant to hock themselves to the eyeballs in debt. he would rather die than live in twoheadsville apparently! So i then told him to rent (he’s now living rent free with the future outlaws….). Rent is dead money i’m told. So like youre story hoick, i told him to have the discussion with his fiancee rather than with me. My wife and I decided a few years ago to live a minimalist life which meant buying in a twoheadsville type of area, ensuring that we weren’t in over our heads. The equity we had built up in the property allowed us to start investing this year with another on the way soon. Your option 1 sounds feasible to me. Does your partner think so?

Eric

wise words john!

its great that youve made the decision to invest in property. I for one love the thrill of finding and then trying to seal a deal. i guess for a lot of us, it is this feeling which keeps us always on the look out for good investments and watching our portfolio grow. unless you know an accountant or lawyer/conveyancer to join your `team’ this i suspect will be a process of trial and error. I’ve managed to assemble and surround myself with a great bunch of people who all actively try to help me to achieve my goals. I do the same for them. Good luck, hope you achieve all that you set to do.

Eric

turf the `friend’ out!