Hi Domo,

I believe that when there are no tenants in your IP the agreement between your and the PM is no longer binding. I have twice ditched PMs for too long a vacancy and had no problems.
If you have to ditch a PM for lousy performance I would ammend the notice to quit the agreement to 1 month.

Not much use if next year your asset is worth say 10% less. I’d stick to ING for the 12-month period !

Hi Allen,

I keep cash,tomorrows deposits, backup survival funds or what ever you want to call it in an offset account against one of my IP loans.

Hi,

Be careful. A lot of “renovators” fool themselves that their renovations have added huge value to their properties. Mostly, the capital gains have been attributed to an upswing in overall property values whether they did renovations or not.

I‘m not saying you can’t make money out of renovations. You can!
I‘ve noticed that the peo…[Read more]

I think Westan you’ve got it right and you’ll do ok out of it too.

…….If you can buy ahead of the crowd and then flog them off that is where the money at!………Not holding these remote headaches for years and years with the eventual maintenance / tenant issues that WILL come with time.

Most will tell you +ve cashflow is the only way to go. Forget about –ve gearing and praying on a capital gain it’s too risky. Hmmmm……

I see +ve cashflow props out the back of Burke as the biggest risks in property investing for exactly all the reasons you outlined!!!

Hi Dee,

Separating / divorce whilst still being financially connected aint such a good idea IMHO. When I divorced I split our net worth down the middle and gave it to my ex.

Believe me any financial deal you have together will be quickly overturned once a new partner comes on the scene.

If you can stay financially connected and good friends…[Read more]

Yeah, I’m with you Baloo. I would keep an eye on vacancy rates, yield etc and make your move when the market is truly heading in the right direction. (Maybe 12 to 18 month wait IMHO though!)

Hi Da Man,

I too am looking at beach side suburbs (one in particular) in Sydney. My advice is always be careful of buying units. They are easily replicated when demand gets hot therefore curtailing capital gains somewhat. My brother lives down at the beach in Sydney and cuts articles out of the local papers regarding real estate. It appears there…[Read more]

Sheeesh Yack keep posting !

If there’s anybody who I can draw parallels with in my investment philosophy it’s you mate.

Yes, I seem to remember the “to let” sign at the front of this place during renovations…………….if you get my drift……..[biggrin]

My accountant went for one of these and at the end of the lease sold up and did very well out of it. That was a deal struck 2 years ago and sold 6 months ago.

At this time in the cycle you might not get any real capital appreciation and more than likely a value drop as the house moves from brand new to second hand status. Also the rent in the…[Read more]

Hmmmm,

Real Life.
Marital assets are assets of a husband and or wife no matter when they were accrued, no matter who contributed to them and no matter whatever entity they’re held in.
Marital assets are split upon a divorce.
You will be asked by your solicitor to disclose your TOTAL assets / liabilities. If one hides the fact that they have a…[Read more]

Hi Lucifer,

Holding your assets in trusts etc wont save your butt either.

……………unless, of course, your ex doesn’t know about it…………
[biggrin]
I have heard of a story where one guy converted most of his assets to cash went to the casino and converted it all to chips (over a period of time) placed a few bets and converted it all back to a numbe…[Read more]

Hi Monopoly,

Tell me about it! When my solicitor told me that last bit I snapped!

No offence taken. Divorce can certainly be a pretty crappy time in ones life.

Glad to hear you’ve moved on and found someone great.

In a nutshell TOTAL net assets held in a marriage (super, assets in a trust, out of a trust, your name, her name, jointly held etc etc) after a reasonably long marriage are divided by 2 and that’s what would be yours in the split. Other things that can change this 50/50 split are

1) Children to the marriage and their ages.
2) Length of time o…[Read more]

I have NEVER had a tenant mow a lawn or look after a garden to anything I would regard as satisfactory. I remember one of my properties, I complained to the PM about the lawns not being cut and the next time I saw it was mauled to the dirt!!.

Pay for a gardener, get it revalued and let them live in it with the lawns to the eaves!
[biggrin]

Kay henry,

We’re built differently I suppose. I’ve been investing since xmas of ’86 and always purchased property when others didn’t (slump market) and done OK. One thing I’ve learnt in property is that many techniques work. Mine has and I hope yours eventually does to.

1) Work out the best ways to hold your properties (tusts etc).
2) Work out exactly your temperament with real estate investing. 130 properties to me spells a logistical nightmare with low SANF. Someone else might see it as a challenge.
3) Buy slowly. As your knowledge develops you might look at other things like sub division potentials…[Read more]

Hi BBG,

I remember the last boom. The guys who went into real estate too hard and too late in the cycle got burnt the worst.

Where are we in the current cycle?……….hmmmm.