Hello xdrew,
The value equation is what we normally go for.  We like entry level housing on freehold land.  Buildings which need little maintenance, target a retiree tenant. Good location, but cheap stuff needing next to no work.
Yes, we are enthusiastic.  Concerned not to miss out on a very cheap deal – yes.  Good sales person?  I think we are excellent sales people and we sold it to ourselves.  The agent, who does quite a bit of business with our business, wasn't very enthusiastic.  They have even been quite negative about the tenable quality of the property.
Is it a problem rather than a solution?  Quite possibly.  The property is priced slightly above block value.  Another house in much worse condition, but with a larger block and a half decent shed sold across the road for $40K just recently.  We believe we are buying below the market.  Another vendor, diagonally across the road recently turned down and offer of $15K on a house which has a condemnation order on it – chasing $25 apparantly.

i do wonder if perhaps tenants expect better living conditions than I have put up with in the past.  Are we out of touch with what is expected?  But then, there is a real accommodation shortage in this town, and people do live a bit rougher here than in, say Townsville. 

We DO like it.  It is just nice.  It has an appeal – it is one of those old houses that feel historic, rather than just crappy.  It has great shade, which is important up here.  We CAN afford it.  We can afford for it to go empty.  We can afford to learn a lesson.  And we could do with a wet season project. 

The down side is really that it will just occupy a bit of cash that we might have used for something else, or put in an offset against another loan.  There is another property that could come up next door to our ppor and when it does we want to buy it, but might hesitate to do that if we buy this little renter. 

To me, the greatest up side is that it is a good little wet season project and seems like a fairly low risk way for us to learn about adding value for profit.  It's a new recipe to try – a new adventure. 

As they often say, you make the money on the buy, and I'm confident that it is a very good price to pay for this property.

I'll weigh in and say get your own equity to gamble with.  Leave Mum and Dad alone. 

Ben!  I drift back onto this site again, and here you are. Getting noticed again.   You funny bastard, are you making money out of this stuff yet?
Are you responsible for these invest your super in property emails I've been getting?
Good to see you're still going.  How long till bub is due?  Be nice to Nicky, pregnancy sucks.  You'll have to grow a spine when you become a Dad.  "No, don't burn your sisters hair, noo, no – oh, okay then."

5 stars for imagination – talk to an accountant!
S

I've used a RE agent as a buyers agent, informally.  Gave the REagent a brief about what I was looking for, and he found it, listed with another agent, negotiated a deal between the two of them to share the commission and brought us to inspect the house.  We looked at a few houses, bought one of them which matched his brief perfectly and were very happy with the whole arrangement.  I've since asked other agents to do the same thing for me, and found they're not interested.  When buying in another city, I found it really cut down on time looking at properties, I also found my RE agent to be quite a cut throat negotiator and he got us a good price.  I've since tried to do business with him again but I can't find him, and one of his competitors told me that he had become an alcoholic and dropped off the radar, but then again, RE agents will tell you anything.  Wonder he didn't tell me old mate had been abducted by aliens.

Brevity.

Ha ha.  John, I think you are an absolute wealth of information sources, and I just don't have time to do these resources justice.  I'd love to store all your links away for future reference, but I guess I can always run a search on your username and it will be right here.
The idea of analysing a specific suburb is a good one, but I just don't have the time to do it personally at the moment.  Wouldn't it be necessary to research several suburbs so you could compare them and choose which best suits your needs?

I really need to do an income tax return and tax planning so I can borrow some money, and this must take precedence at the moment.  The tax office has some of my money and I want it back.  Damn PAYG Instalment tax

S

Very very good.

And Kylie, I agree, we women are responsible for our own emotional resilience.

I think that in the relationships dept, my DH and I have a head start cause we grew up in families with a functional marriage.  We saw how our parents loved and respected one another and we naturally emulate that.  I believe it would be much harder, and perhaps this is where these books really come in handy, if you had grown up in a family where the marriage wasn't loving and respectful.

I also agree, Kylie, that women shouldn't expect too much of their husbands.  While your routine sounds a little like that of a young couple without children (all that talking and reading and no distractions), it is nice you are getting this time in now.  I do demand a bit from my DH, but I also fully support every escape he makes.  If he wants to go fishing, I'm only too happy for him to take that time, be it a couple of hours or a week away.  Similarly, he supports my every move towards recreation for myself.  When you get stuck in the routine of kids, the demands on both of you are many and endless.  There isn't enough time in the day, or enough energy, and things still need to be done.  We work together to get everything done in the home, in the business, in raising the kids, in the garden.  When you are working this hard, it is important to have fun and to take time for yourself.  My husband fishes, I am an ammateur performing singer and volunteer choir mistress at the local primary school. 
Fun is important.

S