@ The Freckle
Funny how no one actually commented this. This is the ULTIMATE investment strategy. RE is a side dish where you sink some money just to give you some diversification. This is in case if you take Diversification as the Insurance against your ignorance (W. Baffet).
Best is to invest what you are good at, not in RE, Gold, Shares,…[Read more]

gmh454 wrote:
Very simplistic sensationalist view. Property is flat and will stay so for a while. Although continual building and renovation is improving the average of the  stock, real movement if any, in recent years has been minimal. Factor inflation into the mix and it may have gone backwards in many areas.

The term bloodbath could apply to…[Read more]

Agree with JacM. 
Wynnum in Brisbane have more potential than Redcliff in this respect. It's on the water, plenty of infrastructure for Brisbane Port going up and you got JOBs.

That article on Redcliff makes me think of Gold Cost. Not enough industry to support population wages growth, so weak RE.

Like in above post, crunch the numbers and see what comes out. My approach would be to see if I can improve cashflow. Another one is to dump some cash in to the loan (assuming P+I loan) to place you on the brake-even point. From there onwards it will just keep on improving.
I do not see Redcliff booming anytime soon. Anyone with money is looking…[Read more]

Interesting comment about US market.
I was watching Los Angeles area, lower part of it some 2 hours from city.
Over the last few years higher end properties have sank down a bit, but still fairly expensive. I was concentrating on 700K – 1.5Mil. I did not see any price crash in good areas near the water, same confirmed my a friend who live…[Read more]

Capital city home values fall over consecutive years, down -3.8%in 2011 and -0.4% in 2012.

RP Data just released their end-of-year housing data for 2012 and it confirms what many  already knew. 125bps over the last 12 months still hasn’t been enough to get traction under the market and as we roll into the “fiscally responsible” new year 2013…[Read more]

sanasar, based on your post I can see alot of academic education. You need to get out more, mix with agents, other investors and get a feel of the market. No book will teach you this. Do not get me wrong, I do read few as well
Basically, its like any other business, you try and see IF you can be good at it. Most will fail, very few will…[Read more]

Oh boy, a holy grain question.
From this point in time RE prices can:
– rise
– stagnate
– drop
Also, they can rise/drop by different amount as well as for different length of time.

Imagine number of possible outcomes? Now, multiply them by number of possible government interventions and major moves in world economy.

So, in real world any…[Read more]

Nigel Kibel wrote:
I think that in a down market also creates opportunities. I can see that a city like Brisbane is currently under valued. 

I do not like boom markets its a little like being on the set of the walking dead. People over pay because they are worried about missing out. In a market like this if the deal works then in the medium…[Read more]

Well, I am actually on opposite side of the fence. We hire people, run manufacturing facility.
Since 2008 we lost turnover, dismissed 25% of our staff. Our competition went of business (bust), our clients take 2 years to pay 60 day account.
None the less, guys that work for us on $25-30/h carry new Iphones + Ipads + drive $30K+ cars. They also go…[Read more]

To add one more variable to the discussion, consider that since GFC 2008, the age group 55-65 are also same people that had to stay in businesses to continue working. This is due to sudden drop of revenue and evaporating retirement savings plan in some cases knows as (SUPER fund losses).
They are now have worked extra four years in business trying…[Read more]

The open house inspections I done over the last few weeks starting to look like "Freckle" scenario.
Owners purchased in 2007 for $845K, trying to get $745K. Two couples on the open house.
Owners listed property for $400K, few months later still there listed $365K. We are the only visitors at open house.

Had 2 open houses at same time, 11am. Both…[Read more]

^
Good advice right there.

Sidenote, last inspections I made in Brisbane (last 4 weeks) looked sad. Agents look very lonely inside the big house. None is coming to have a look. 
Interestingly, 8 weeks ago, 50% of properties we made offer, already had offers. 
Market goes hot/cold in matter of weeks. First questions Agents now asking: Where do you…[Read more]

Oh boy, this is an OLD thread.
Let's throw some fun article in. Source

Slump looms as a third of new home sales abandoned

Melbourne's outer-suburban property market is facing a serious slump as distressed buyers and builders cancel one in every three new home purchases.
The collapse in sales could have serious repercussions for the state economy…[Read more]

OK, let's look at it from other side:
Say in Australia, if nothing dramatic happens and economy continue it's trajectory. As time moves forward, people/businesses  gradually reduce debt (we are according to statistics already doing it in private sector). Government to reduce spending to match income, as already starting to happen.  I cannot see…[Read more]

There are few ways out actually. Most known is German Style (1946) aka hyperinflation. You can have controlled inflation and just let the time do the job.

Just thinking here, state is no different to private individual. How many ppl do you know that have debt 400% yearly wages?
I know many who is at 800% of non business related debt! No one is…[Read more]

Now, if governments will manage to to keep economy from going in to the recession, how many years it will take to clear/devalue/inflate our way out of this?
I am thinking: are we up for some years of stagnation? Surely, further growth can only be sustained if debt levels significantly reduced.

bardon wrote:

simple wrote:

A lot of dancing there, but we are not going anywhere!

So are you saying that there wont be a property bust and that there isn't worse to come?

There is definitely no crash happening here. Some pain out there, but no bust.
It's 8 years in to this thread, prices still where we was in 2006. Went up/down and…[Read more]

Commercial buildings like hotels have water chillers on the roof. They call them Cooling Towers. Much more energy efficient, but consume water and require some advanced water chemistry control due to recycling water flowing in the machine.

They do not work in humid environments when humidity is high and evaporation do not take place.

It's nice when you can do that. Some time you can get a steal. Not many are around.