What's wrong with Lavington lol its a great place I've made some money there . Carlito- Albury was on Terry Ryders list for his hotspotting company at the start of the year. From memory the general area so Albury/Wodonga had a lot of minor infrastructure projects in the pipeline over the coming years. As Richard said there are good and bad areas…[Read more]

If you conduct a pest and building inspection they will be able to tell you. If it's a block of units that are already strata titled it will most likely be in the strata reports from memory every few years or so you need to get the building inspected for asbestos or they check on the asbestos to see if it is secure and not in any danger to the…[Read more]

It'll be deemed a capital expense and yes you will have to declare the bond amount as a revenue if you use e-tax there is a box for non rental income.

My biggest problem is I'm losing my passion for doing it . When I first started i loved every aspect of the process going through the contract, inspections, talking to morgage brokers, solictors. As i've accumlated property after property the process has become more painful than anything else. I started off doing it as a hobby and now its become…[Read more]

If it wasn't for the FHOG on existing dwellings in 2008 i wouldn't have been able to start my portfolio. Í do agree with some of the points hopefully they do their research first though.

Also i can't see why your bank wouldn't refinance think of the extra interest they would get.

Than you have made a terrible investment choice…although don''t forget inflation will help a little.

You can refinance and it is just a new loan so it can be extended to 30 years…A lot of people don''t pay back principal which astounds some as the banks are seen as greedy corporations and the common perception is you don''t want debt sometimes debt can be helpful you can look at it this way say you buy 2 investment properties now P and I and…[Read more]

I would never use a magazine or tv promotion to find a "property hotspot" they normally only promote it after its boomed or as its happening. Unfortunately you've got to do your own homework they are good for stats though

Various different ways. Open houses normally have a time on the website for the property. Its a good opportunity to have a look around with others as you won't be followed by the agent like a hawk usually unless its quiet. First thing i would check would be the hot water system(make sure it looks new some even have a metal tag with a date of…[Read more]

Great . I'm surprised self employed people only got 10%

Spongy sometimes you just have to take the plunge. It seems you know how to do research so that's a good start Are you buying high priced properties?

As the above have mentioned, have a plan/set yourself goals and make sure you structure it right, Surround yourself with positive people. There are thousands of strategies to become financially free you just need to work out which you want to do and how/when your going to do it. Good luck  

Faircall I thought it sounded a little to good to be true. Has this changed over the years or has it always been this way?

Catalyst wrote:
Sydney is definitely hot at the moment.

People ARE paying more than valuations. But having said that it does take a while for valuation companies to come up to speed. On a whole though I wouldn't say Sydney is overpriced. We have been due for some decent growth.

I believe interest rates will be low for a while but they can't…[Read more]

I'd be careful with a real estates valuation. It can be very inaccurate/miscalculated. It's sometimes best to pay for a valuation they are worth it. If the valuation is correct you could probably draw out the equity to help with the deposit but the banks do keep a percentage of equity as security. I think most banks allow 70% of equity to be…[Read more]

As the above posters have stated probably be best to get another opinion. It might cause some problems at tax time though with using equity from your PPOR for an investment. From memory yoú/your accountant would have to sit down and go over the interest for the investment deductions but it's a good way of expanding your portfolio

It sounds like the agents are just jerks. They probaly didn't even pass it on to the owner. I had the same thing happen when I changed managing agents. As soon as i switched over they asked for a oven because the one in the property hadn't been working for 7 months. The tenant said they had emailed and posted letters to the agents but i had never…[Read more]

Thanks for the information Freckle and yes the broker and I are situated in Western Sydney.

I'm not offended as long as we can plug movie ideas to you also Mad Max was made on a shoe string budget and that is a awesome movie so good luck with it all