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 residents/guests. 

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 my job(nobody ever likes their job). Having said that I haven't had a holiday in 3 years so maybe that's my biggest problem lol

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

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 can never afford another IP due to not having a good enough cashflow. If you bought two properties on interest only you would have more money to play with so you could get more investment properties. More properties=cashflow/capitalgrowth/discounts(banks/property managers will give you discounts with larger portfolios. I wouldn''t worry about paying P&I but would consider an offset account.  

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  installation, the newer the better obviously), make sure you check under sinks and vanities for water damage/leaks. The other way is to book with the agent and go just with them. I prefer not going to open homes. Other peoples company puts me off my game

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?

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 touched although ING may be different. one of the many brokers on here will probably be able to help you with that side of things.

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 being notified. As Jeff has posted their are numerous help lines you can call but it sounds like you have a good case. Did you have photos of when you first moved in?

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