Hey Alex,
Congratulations, the frist step is the hardest![8D]
Odds are nothing will go to plan and there will be times when you wonder if it’s all worth while. Believe me it is![]
My advice is when something goes wrong, get pro active and make it work! Don’t take no for an answer![}]

Good luck!
Scott S

P.S. Get a good solicitor this will make everything so much easier!(I learnt the hard way [])

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

G’day Justin,
I jumped in with both feet and haven’t regretted a minute of it! (well maybe one or two[])
I purchased 2 IPs and am yet to settle but its been a valuable learing tool.
I don’t think buying 2 has made me learn any faster but I’m twice as far ahead for it.
If you can afford the worst case senario (probably paying back two vacant houses), dive in!
If you can cover the costs while learning about the development/subdivision side why miss out on a good deal.[] If the due dilligence checks out, why not!
Maybe I’m a bit too eager but only time will tell, I’ve already got too many “what if I had..”s to lament over, so I’m not going to let fear slow my progress.[8D]

Best wishes,
Scott S

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Gday,
It’s not mentioned in this article but servicability is becoming a problem among borrowers in Australia because most of this debt is being used to fund lifestyle rather than wealth building assets.
I too had fallen into this trap, but fortunatly woke up before it was too late![]
Now one of my goals is to reduce my personal debt by at least $250 per week, regardless of other needs or wants. So far so good, I usually pay more off.
Another thing that I do now is only use my credit card when purchasing by phone etc, and only spend an amount that I can pay straight off.
I’ve also created a strict budget that I follow rigidly it includes saving 10% of my wages. Hopefully all these things will teach me better finacial habits.[8D]

Cheers,
Scott S

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Hi Guys,
Gavalynn, just come here for honest advice we’re not all experts (especially me[]) But theres a lot to be learnt here, no need to be a financial member, I don’t think there is such an animal.
Buy some of Steve’s stuff if you want a bit more education “Property secrets revealed” is actually the notes and a recording of one of his seminars I think, its pretty good.
Stu, I agree with you on the buying an IP to learn thing. Man what an education![] It has to be the steepest learning curve you could find.
I personally wouldn’t wait untill I had 10 properties to go out and get educated, once I knew it was for me I went and did a seminar and got heaps out of it. Make sure though that you know roughly what type of strategy you want to follow first, because that affects the type of seminar that you would attend.
One thing though Gavalynn. Don’t be discouraged when everything goes wrong, fight your way through it and you’ll be alot smarter next time (Trust me, I stuffed just about everything up, because I didn’t know any better! I know now!!!)
It all seems to be working out now![8D]

Good luck,
Scott S

P.S. Just do it! Once you’ve jumped in it’s too late to go back![]

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Hi Lizzie,
When I put in the offer on one of the places that I am buying, I went in 10K below the asking price(it needed 10K’s worth of work), the vendor refused the offer, saying that he had allowed for that in the price and wanted his full asking price, I paid it because doing the sums it still added up. Don’t miss out on a good deal over pride, but don’t buy at a price where the numbers don’t stack up.
Look at your strategy if it fits buy, if it doesn’t find one that does!
Try and treat the property as a financial transaction nothing more, I know it’s hard, no nearly impossible, but at least if you go into it with that in mind, your more likely to buy with your head than your heart.

Good luck,
Scott S

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Hi Kooringal,
I’m from the north side of brizzy too.
I’m in a simmilar situation to you where none of my friends are into property and all I ever want to talk about is property, so if you ever want a chat I’d be more than happy to get together sometime. I think AD is in the process of organising something official, for all the locals as well.

Cheers,

Scott S

P.S. my email is [email protected]

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Sorry Jars, I hope I wasn’t too confusing![]

Hi Fullout no they are in central QLD and interstate investors are just pushing the prices up at a stupid rate, I just hope that there are more deals like this in the place before it settles down. I do think that these prices are a little inflated by the demand, but demand still seems strong when all signs would to me now say stay away!

Cheers
Scott S
P.S. i’m sure nobody’s got any thing against black ducks![]

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

If the house is removable give sell it (or even give it away), on the condition that cleanup of the block is carried out by the purchaser.
I know of people who have done this sucessfully, the only drawback is the extra time that may be involved.

Cheers,
Scott S

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Hi Fullout,
It’s never the best time to buy, in my opinion, but anytime is a good time! Did that make sense!!!

If you cannot fund a deposit try getting creative with your purchases. Ask the vendor to finance your deposit ( I was suprised that a vendor of a IP I was looking at was more than happy to do this).
but make sure your not over committing yourself as far as repayments and outgoings goes.
If you keep them positive cashflow you should have no problem with this. Just make sure the income exceeds the expenses and you’ll be right!

Ultimately it will be your ability to get the finance that will tell you when to stop! As long as you buy smart you’ll be right.[]

Best wishes,
Scott S

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon

Hi Trying,
I might seem overly simplistic here, but why not buy properties that will increase your serviceability rather than decrease it[?]
I’ve just mentioned it in another post, but here goes again, this time I’ll be more specific.
Ive recently bought(well they’re under contract) 2 positive cash flow IPs that have seen nearly 50% growth in the 8 weeks since I signed the contracts.
Specfics:
* 2 Queenslanders divided into 2 flats each.
* Purchase price 73K & 86K respectively (the cheaper one needs 10K spent on it)
* Situated in a major rural centre
* Value estimated by agent yesterday 115 -125K [8D] each(after spending money on cheaper IP)
* Return 210/week each (ie 110 & 100 per flat)

These properties will increase our income thus increasing our serviceability, allowing us to buy more IPs, and use up our equity as deposits.

My point is not to brag but to show the deals exist, and that the capital gains are definately there! I personally never expected much more than growth equal to CPI on either of these IPs. How good it is to be wrong![]

Maybe I’m thinking too simply, and I’m the one missing the point![] I sure hope not!

Cheers

Scott S

“Aim for the stars and you’ll shoot the top of the telegraph pole. Aim for the top of the telegraph pole and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot!”
-anon