To answer your question on cap growth:

No one can predict whether values will grow or not. But there has been growth in the last 18 mths or so.

I bought my first in March 03. The yield was 9% but I knew the rent was a little below market value (its now returning 10.2%). An identical property next door sold for 13% more than I paid for mine in…[Read more]

Hi Francois

I have IPs in Kalgoorlie and offer the following:

$260pw rent would probably be for a fully furnished place. Sure you’d get depreciation benefits, but there’s the risk of shorter term tenants, more wear and tear AND much higher management costs.

I think I know the area and it’s not easy walking distance (maybe 30 min) to much at…[Read more]

Originally posted by agent smith:
[biggrin]Hi There,
Can anyone recommend a good Quantity Surveyor in inner Melb?
Thanks in advance…….[biggrin]

I’ve found BMT are very good.

If your IP is in a remote area and they can’t go there, they will send you forms to fill in and request you take photos of each room. Cost is $440 per property.

Rgds, Peter

I think it’s a good point about buying newer units/apartments in those areas- particuarly larger ones. Often, land in the outback can be worth only a few hundred bucks, or a few thousand. I think it was depreciator (please correct me if I’m wrong, depreciator) who said he was concerned people were paying too much money- even if they were cheap…[Read more]

Originally posted by DEANNA:
Thank you all for your great advice. The town is in WA ( I’m in Victoria) and it is 30km outside the largest regional center in Australia,

Hi Deanna – if you meant to say ‘the largest city in outback (or inland) Australia’ I think I know the one!

As others have pointed out, there are considerable risks there.…[Read more]

Originally posted by aussierogue:

the big problem is that access to public transport is pretty crappy. the mitcham-frankston freeway due to open in 3-5 years will be a big plus though and you shld be able to drive to the cbd in 30 mins….

Wantirna, Rowville, etc has the worst public transport in Melbourne, with large areas lacking service…[Read more]

The mortgage industry is the best ever. The overheads are low (unless you open a shop). When rates go down, more people buy… when rates go up, more people refinance. It is a CAN’T LOSE business!!!

That is until the unemployed REAs join the laid off bank managers and the dotcom refugees and become mortgate brokers.

Then there’ll be more…[Read more]

When I bought in Geraldton (Sept 2003) my budget permitted me either a house in Rangeway/Spalding or a 1980s brick duplex half in Bluff Pt (7 min walk to beach and near all other facilities).

Neither would have been cashflow positive. At the time yields in ‘good’ areas like were commonly around 6-7% and maybe 8-9% in Rangeway or Spalding. Thus…[Read more]

Originally posted by devilcv8:

Also, (and correct me if Im wrong) but I think the banks have a lower LVR here (60 – 70%)

I had no probs getting 80% LVR there (in Sept 2003).

According to my PM the main rental demand at the moment is good quality family homes. These will not be cf+ as Geraldton is a low rent town. You’d be doing well to get…[Read more]

1. For a mining city (pop >20000): 9-10% (on a post 1985 IP for building depreciation benefits)

2. For a regional coastal city (pop >20 000): 8% (pre-85 building acceptable if well-located)

3. Capital city: 7-8%

4. Small country town: 10%+++

Note that I haven’t purchased in 3 & 4 and won’t do so unless yields are right and/or it’s undervalued…[Read more]

Originally posted by darkon:
Current Situation
• Share a house, rental $130 per week, I do not want to leave the house I am at.
• Earn about $1700 after Tax per fortnight.
• About $5000 available for deposit.

The reason I would prefer to do it this way, is that I know that I would never be able to save close to $46K by the end of this year. I fin…[Read more]

Originally posted by Salubrious:

In the 4 Crn’s story they interview a Gentlemen who purchased a new home in the then new sub-division of Mt Druitt, he paid 10k for the property, his gross income was 8.5K!!!!

What would be the situation today? Mt Druitt 3 bedda 320k income 35k……wow simple but effective.

IIRC, the $10k/$8.5k example was…[Read more]

Ablaz – Yes it is worrying, but people will still need a place to live.

One could easily have taken the same attitude during the cold war – everyone will die through nuclear war, so why invest?

Should nuclear war occur, you’d have nothing. Should it not occur, you’d still have nothing. So on balance it’s better to invest even though the future…[Read more]

On insurance, I would consider:

1. risk
2. consequences

If the risks are high and/or the consequences are severe then it’s worth insuring. If the risk is very low and/or you can handle the consequences, then it’s not worth insuring.

Re self-insurance, let’s say it’s a retail chain with many stores. Even the complete loss of one store might…[Read more]

Steve wrote:

New Forum Contributor: 0 – 19 Posts
Infrequent Contributor: 20 – 59
Occassional Contributor: 60 – 199
Frequent Contributor: 200 – 599
Valued Forum Contributor: 600 – 999
Forum Superstar!: 1000+

The first four are fine. The last two equate quantity with quality, which is not always so.

Thus for the last two I would suggest:

Very…[Read more]

When I was at uni all I did was save, save, save. Oh and opened my first term deposit. And marvelled at my first real passive income ($93) when it matured. Never mind the interest rate was a measley 5.35%.

It wasn’t much but was a sign of better things. So continued to save and bought shares, managed funds, more term deposits, etc. And kept…[Read more]

Originally posted by Monopoly:(My husband just sold his Qld property yesterday, and the purchaser only has to pay 5% deposit – Man that’s cheap….I am soooo used to paying 10% deposits.

Poor thing! In WA, I’m used to paying either $500 or $1000 deposit (they request $1000 but the last two times, $500 has been fine).

See the section in 0-130…[Read more]

A quote I got for the inside of an 90m2 3br villa in regional WA was $2500. This was for two coats. The quote was from a handyman company. My PM said that painters tended to be cheaper – I rang two to give a rough estimate and one said around $1200-2000 and another said $2000.

Regards, Peter

That’s ANZAC Day – lot of businesses are closed until 1pm.

Apologies if it’s a silly question, but have you checked the hotel’s opening hours?

Regards, Peter

Originally posted by Cremin:
Sorry just put that title there so you would read my post[devilish]he he!
Help me out here i’m confused. There are so many posts about people having to save for eternity just for their fist deposit. Yet there are numerous posts of people racking up a few IPs in a matter of months. How do they do it?.

By doing one or…[Read more]