Hi Elkam,

Sorry I can’t help, but I too am asking the same questions and eager to hear from people who have knowledge on this topic. I’m sure there are a few forumites out there who can help.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Andy,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I too started looking at buying in Western/Central NY about a year ago and did months of research before heading over there. It wasn’t until I actually got there, looked at properties, met all my contacts and spoke to as many people as possible where I realised the amount of risk involved. And to be…[Read more]

Hi Brett,

No problems. I’ll let you know how I go. If its ok with you, I might give you a call sometime soon to talk further.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Brett,

Thank you for your input. I did speak to the Council Planning Officer briefly about easements. All I was told is to build over an easement, I must get written permission from the underlying authorities. This is something I will look into further if the property has any easements.

I appreciate you providing Benni’s details. I will check…[Read more]

Hi Stathism,

I’ve actually been looking into Sunshine recently. I think Sunshine is still relatively cheap given it’s proximity to the CBD (12km). Being the oldest suburb in the City of Brimbank, it has excellent infrastructure and the quality of housing is fairly good.

After doing a bit of research, I do have my doubts though. In the not so…[Read more]

Just bare in mind the HSBC won’t give foreign nationals online banking access within the first 3 months of opening the account (even if you open it in person). CitiBank however will give you instant online banking access. If you are going to be purchasing over there, I would say online banking would be important.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Rumin,

That is also an idea I have considered. The land with DA approval could be sold off for a profit, but I think there is more in it if you develop it. I believe maximum profit = maximum use. Putting the land to it’s best use will release the most profits. Selling it to a developer will release the profits to someone else.

I like your…[Read more]

Hi Alistair,

Thanks for your input. As I’m trying to increase my portfolio and equity, my immediate plan would be to hold onto the properties and not sell. Instead I would refinance at the end of the project and use the equity to help fund the next project. I agree that if I was to buy-develop-sell in today’s climate, the stamp duty and CGT would…[Read more]

Hi hb,

In regards to when the next boom will be, who knows? Your guess is as good as mine [eh] I am guessing it won’t be for a few years yet. I don’t really take much notice of all these predictions by gurus as I find it hard to believe anyone can accurately predict the markets in 15-20 years time. Its a bit like a weather man giving accurate…[Read more]

Hi all,

Just in case any of you are ever tempted to reply to such enticing offers via email or through this site, I urge you not to. NEVER EVER REPLY TO FRAUDULENT/UNSOLICITED EMAILS!! Basically, the way these crooks work is they send out mass emails to addresses which are normally either randomly generated or page scraped from websites (for…[Read more]

The ASB in NZ is affiliated with the CBA here in Australia.

Regards,
Ozi

The thing with programmers is, most of them can’t spell [biggrin] My boss often uses me as a human spell checker to proof read all his documents before they get sent to the client. Ah the joys of IT.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Richard,

The deal you closed on Friday, was that for a property in NY State? If it is, that is more than reasonable.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Jo,

Sorry I can’t be any help, but people have been trying to crack this old nut for a while now. All I can say is good luck [cap]

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Steve,

The new format looks good, but I have a few suggestions:

1) As muppet stated, the text is hard to read. a) increase size by 1 or 2 points, and b) change the text colour to black, or change the back ground colour. Grey on blue doesn’t work.

2) The sash menu on the right hand side makes the main forum frame too narrow. I would prefer it…[Read more]

I agree with Shellby! But here, this should help:

http://www1.auspost.com.au/pac/aus_parcel.asp

Ozi

Hi jenwren,

Thank you for your input. I think my sister may just need to find a new solicitor. I will get her to act on your feedback. Hopefully all goes well.

Kind regards,
Ozi

Hi all,

Just to keep you updated, my sister is still battling it out with the developer trying to break the contract. She has spoken to her solicitor and he says there is not much he can do. The solicitor told her she will need to sort it out with the developer.

Anyway, the developer is yet to find her suitable finance. Settlement was meant to…[Read more]

Hi Don & Liz,

We all like to joke about the crime rate in Buffalo, but not all areas are bad. Believe it or, but Amherst (a suburb in Buffalo) was voted the safest city in the USA a couple of years back. It has since fallen down the ranks and is now the 3rd safest.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20051122/1026210.asp

I was there recently…[Read more]

Hi bardon,

I have heard similar stories regarding vacancies. I know of 2 Aussies who bought earlier this year and their properties have been vacant since day one. We are talking a vacancy of 6 months here. What sort of cashflow is that? I am sceptical when anyone offers rental gauarantees. If the investment is so great, there shouldn’t be a need…[Read more]