Do lots of searching the net, these type of properties are not very common so you need to keep doing your sums, work out the most likely locations to find them and keep looking and doing more sums! Remember when doing the sums that the purchase price would hopefully be a little less than the asking price. Setting up a spreadsheet may help with the calculations.

We bought a +ve cash flow property in regional WA (wheatbelt) last financial year; it may not excel in terms of growth but it's paying its way and that suits us.

Personally I would do a lot of looking and maybe delay the buying for a few months, it would be nice to see if we get some stability back into financial markets and which way things are moving.  

And then homebuyers will surge back!

I think there will be fibres in the gutters of the house and around the base of downpipes or in the soakwell. Most will still have bits of cement on them, so they would not reach the lowest parts of the lung if inhaled (which is where the damage occurs).

There are background asbestos fibres in every Australian city and town. We all have thousands of fibres in our lungs. The body can cope with these background levels. I don't think that house would be increasing your background levels.

I have some experience and education in the subject.

Won't help with the peitition sorry – I think long term we need to remove all asbestos but there is still time in most cases of asbestos cement sheeting.

(Asbestos is only hazardous if inhaled, not as a water contaminant.)

Have you tried the Asbestos Diseases Society, they would support the sort of proposals you suggest.

Have you had a look at http://www.rent.com.au, investors can place their own rental ad  with photos for around $60, quite reasonable I think. Good luck.

It's more the vacancy rate than the rental % I reckon. Keep an eye on the rental ads for the suburb – if there are heaps in that price range there may be oversupply.

There'll be another one.

There are heaps with a timestamp but I think they would all be "settable" so it's not going to be absolute proof (ie no guarantee you set the correct date). Still pretty good though. Best if you actually printed them and both parties initialled and dated the back of them. Immediately before move-in would be ideal I think.

The price I estimated was based on WA single sample prices. Sure you could get prices as low as $60 but not for one sample, as there is a batch fee as well.

And although the Codes for removal are national, the Regulations differ state by state including the regs on when you need a licensed removalist. In WA you don't need a licensed removalist for tiles. If in doubt I suggest calling the Dept of Health and/or the WorkSafe/WorkCover/Safework in your state.

Some banks only lend on a minimum floor area (eg won't lend on under 50m2 for example) so floor area can be critical.

Polished concrete?

I use Wentworth for my Daglish one, have had no probs the last couple of years since using them.

Just let prospective tenants know it's available for 8 months, you may get someone interested in the whole time, especiallly as the vacancy rate is still low.