Noted. As blingbling has not specified what size town they were looking at i just wanted to clarify that their are some larger regional areas woth looking at.

cheers

Sonya

I rented a two bedroom granny flat from people i did not previously know when I seperated from my husband. Admittedly, it was originally built for the ladnlord's mum, but when she moved into a nursing home i rented and then when i moved out another lady and her young child rented. this is in NSW, so don't know the legislation on initial building and usage of the building. i have also seen a number of properties listed for sale in Victoria that advertise rental income from the main dwelling as well as income from a granny flat attached to or free standing.

In the Blur Mountains when my landlords were building the granny flat they were required to have the building attached to the main residence. So they built a covered walkway between their residence and the granny flat and enclosed this as a large sunroom/barbeque/outdoor entertaining area. I am not sure if this requirement is statewide or just one required by BMCC. They do have some rather unusual requrements.

cheers

Sonya

The government may shoot themselves in the foot with this one, like they have done in the past when they have changed investing rules. they may find that MANY property investors ditch all their properties leaving  far fewer rental properties for people to rent. the government does not provide enough affordable housing adn rely on property investors to meet the shortfall. if they penalise investors they may find that they are left with a whole new problem, significantly reduced revenue from land tax as well as a huge number of people seeking accommodation which they cannot provide.

cheers

Sonya

Be wary of people who are pushing their own barrow encouraging you to pay big money for their 'guidance' and /or encouraging you to buy their properties.

This forum can probably offer you way more information, perspectives and combined experience than any 'mentor' and best of all its free!!
cheers

Sonya

yes, but if you have bought well the value of your property will increase and the rental income will also increase so in ten years time the loan amount becomes a much smaller percentage of the original purchase price. the equity allows you to buy another property or two. my strategy is to buy and hold, never sell, when I am happy with the number of properties that i have in my portfolio then I will begin to pay down the loans on my various properties using the increased rental payments. in the meantime the extra income that i receive from my properties go into the offset account that i have linked to the loan on my PPOR. reducing the interest payments significantly.

YOu would also need to deal with the body coprorate to get permission to make structural changes as well as getting an engineer to assess the wall to ensure that it is not a loadbearing wall. This would all need to be done before applying for  a DA

cheers

Sonya

Alex, those returns are also woeful for an outlay of $100k. I bought a house in a good size regional town for $80K and rent it for $145/ week. Another property in a larger rural town bought for $120k rents for $175 per week. Perhaps you need to decide what your aim is, are you wanting an IP or something that may become your own PPOR, the criteria for each is usually quite different. Also are you sure of your budget. Remember to factor in what you would reasonably expect to recieve in rent  when working out repayments as well structurign the loan properly, ie interest only.

cheers

Sonya

HI, i also had the same feeling as you that having more people contributing to mortgage payments should be seen as a positive, however, the banks don't see it this way. i don't know what their reasoning is.

i had looked at buying a block of six units that were VERY poditive cashflow with long term (15 plus years) tenants for a price less than the average Sydney home and i could not secure finance. Very annoying!

Hi, i have started looking at Victoria for property and am having trouble finding cashflow positive properties, something that i found a bit easier to do in NSW by buying in large rural areas.

Am i missing something or is a lower return on investment the norm in Victoria?

Thanks

Sonya

i speak to local councils to find out what developments may be planned for the area as well as what the different employers are in the area. Steer clear of towns that have the majority of their residents employed by one big employer such as mines. if the business closes you lose tenants fast.

i also speak to property managers before the sales agent. Asking them which areas of town rent well as well as which areas are more troublesome for both locating and retaining tenants. i also find out what type of property is in most demand and what price bracket for weekly rental. this then helps me to narrow down which areas of town to look at as well as property types.
Property managers tend to give a more honest answer regarding properties as they are dealing with landlords for a longer time than sales agents who have little if anything to do with the purchaser once the sale has gone thru. Property managers do not wnat unhappy landlords ringing them every day wanting to know why the property isn't tenanted yet.

i work full time and am a single mother with three primary aged chidlren, i don't have time to travel to view properties so i ask lots of questions of many different agents. Having said that, I completely trust one of my property managers and have just bought  a second property in the sam town after having her inspect properties listed by other agents until i found one that I was completely happy with. She had a tenant in the property, paying rent before i seetled.

Cheers

Sonya

good luck

Sonya