Hey clint,

excuse my lack of capital letters as i am typing with one hand and holding my baby girl with the other.

this could be a good idea or it could not be. adding value by doing a renovation can make you a lot of money in a good market, but can lose you a lot of money in a falling market. there has been some talk about a possible market fall due to rising interest rates. see so many people bought houses when the first home buyers boost was on and interest rates were low. now that interest rates are rising there is a fear that a lot of people have over extended theirselves and will have to default on their loans and sell theu=ir house….but this is all speculation.

if you have 160k to invest with then the extra 7k of the first home buyers isn’t enough to base an investment decision on. are you good at doing renovations? do you enjoy handy work? can you support the negative cash flow?

most importantly what is your goal? if you do make money what will you do with it? is financial freedom your goal? how will this bring you closer?

my investment strategy is to rent and buy cheap positive cash flow houses. eventually i will have enough cashflow to buy a house using my investments and have it cost me nothing.

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

I would go with the house.

Rental returns may be the same, but with a town house you have added costs like the costs for taking care of the common areas.

Also the house is better because it is LAND that goes up in value NOT houses. With the house you own more land than with the town house.

The house will probably be more CF+ than the townhouse

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

That is a very broad question and one that can’t be answered easily.

The short answer is “It depends”

The long answer is:

It depends on your strategy and reasons for buying. Are you buying to live in it, for capital growth, for rental return?

Why Geelong area? Have you done research that shows this area is a good place to invest or are you one of those people who doesn’t do any research on the area but believes because they live there it will be a good investment.

Do your research and work out a strategy for investing. What do you want to achieve? Cashflow or growth? Then find an area based on that.

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

Cons of trust – Harder to get lending, and more complicated when it comes to tax return

Pros of trust – There are so many pros. The asset protection is amazing and second to none. I would never invest without a trust. If someone sues you without a trust you are effed, if someone sues you and you have a trust you lose a lot less (sometimes nothing at all).

Looks like you have everything pretty covered. Now you just need to find a property

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

Just because it has been repossessed by the banks doesn’t mean it is going for cheap. Banks like to make as much money as possible and they won’t sell cheap just to get their money back…they will try to make a profit.

The way to get them for cheap is like allycat did. Find properties that have been on their books for a long time which won’t sell and make a low ball offer.

Why are you trying this strategy? To make it easier to achieve positive cashflow?

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

When it comes to mentors I would say only sign up if the person who will be mentoring you is doing exactly what you want to be doing.

If their property investment strategy is different from yours (and it might be because there are hundreds of strategies for investing) then you might want to steer clear.

I am all about investing into your education. The more you know about investing the less money you need. I would spend $5,000 on education over saving $5,000 for a property purchase…but that is me. I would spend the $5k to learn how to invest using no money (and it can be done). I am currently looking at some Joint Ventures and Vendor Finance deals, all which cost me nothing to buy because of my education. Best thing is that they are positive cash flowed from day 1!!!!

If you don’t want mentoring and just want to get on with it then a property finding service (like the one in my signature) may be better for you. But you have to look at your own situation and decide for yourself. Good luck

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

Generally, guaranteed returns mean you are paying a premium for the property. They have to get the money to pay you from somewhere.

If it is only $57/week negative (or around $3,000/yr) then you might be better doing some more research and buying a property off a regular vendor and getting a discount of $3,000+ on the purchase price.

Generally if you hear about guaranteed returns, or supplementing cash flow losses then I run for the hills. If it is too good to be true it usually is.

Also…just because they say it is a high growth area doesn’t mean it is. Do your own research.

Plus wouldn’t you want to buy positive cashflow property instead of negative?

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

I dislike mortgage brokers. They have never helped me but always blown me off because I didn’t fit into their little box. I have had so many rude mortgage brokers that they have almost permanently put a bad taste in my mouth.

Not to be too much of a hater but they come across as the “nice guy” saying they don’t charge anything and are just here to help. But at the end of the day they are salesmen and if they don’t think they will get a sale out of you, or the sale will be hard they ditch you. I am only annoyed at this because they never let me down politely but were always really rude to me (setting meeting and never sowing up).

Ok now I have vented (thank you).

I find it easier to look for loans myself. You should try that first maybe???

Ryan McLean
http://CashFlowInvestor.com.au
Positive Cash Flow Properties Are Just A Click Away

Hey Bea,

My name is Ryan McLean and welcome to the forum. This is a really great place to get help in CF+ Properties and just property investing in general. I have just started becoming an active member in the forums and I am loving it. The community is great. I have looked hard to find people like me who focus on positive cashflow properties.
The whole time it was under my nose right here.

I run a positive cashflow finding service if you ever need any help. You can check it out at http://cashflowinvestor.com.au

Property investing is heaps of fun….so is talking about it.

Once again welcome

Ryan McLean