agreed, I'd be interested and would be happy to add my two cents

my takeaway from this is that supply does indeed follow demand but obviously at a significant lag (permits/building etc.) so therefore lack of short term supply helps support prices.The article is a bit schizpphrenic.  It say on one hand that supply has nothing to do with price and then the article author goes on to say that thank goodness we…[Read more]

All I'm saying is I don't consider a 10% drop a massive bubble crash.  If it happens here it won't worry me that much and I'm sick of all the scaremongering end of the world stuff.Obviously property goes in cycles like all assets, however I do think that the down swing of prices in Australia will be modified by the generally strong economy -…[Read more]

my experience in Geelong at the moment is that everyone is at 100% in the lead up to Christmas.  hopefully will ease off in the new year.thommo

OK, I'm kind of thinking so what? Two points – the UK economy is totally scre*ed so while I will happily admit I'm no expert, I would have thought a 10% fall isn't that surprising given the curcumstances.  Considering that prices in the south east of england we're going up by 10% per year for year after year after year, just pulling back 10% ove…[Read more]

Without getting too depressing, I agree with casanovawa to the extent that there is obviously a limit of human population.  Thinking back to my biology, there is a pretty strong model of species population growth that shows definite charactersitics of a bubble…Human population will, in the end, be self-regulating and will prob come down with a…[Read more]

Let's take a step back and think on the macro scale for a bit.  The population of our planet is increasing at a truly massive rate at the moment, and while it took 120 yrs to go from a population of 1 to 2 billion (from 1800 t o1920), it now increases by a billion every 12 yrs or so.  Now that's ridiculous and will result in severe pressure for…[Read more]

I grew up in the UK in a regional town called Colchester, just over an hours commute from London, actually scarily similar to Geelong, where I live now.  About the same size, commute in to the city, strong but lower house prices (than london/melbourne) etc.Just yesterday I wa schecking house prices in Colchester and comparing 3 bed houses in si…[Read more]

that bubble historian isn't Robert Langdon is it?

I think what IP Freely is saying applies to comparing investments.  Work out whether the investment is a good one or not (and compare to others) first and then work out whether it works for you personally regarding holding costs and cash flow.For example a large propoerty in South Hedland may return 10% ROI and is therefore a good investment but…[Read more]

Our local council requires 300m2 size lot per dwelling in our area as standard, that may be what he's referring to.  There's also obv all of the other requirements like spacing, setback, overlook etc. but the council or a local town planner or a licenced surveyor should be able to tell you this pretty quickly.Depends on the zoning set be the…[Read more]

mate, I'm sure wiser heads than mine will be able to offer some good advice but I just wanted to say well done for saving that kind of money – I wish I had done that at your age.  Sounds like you're in the right place mentally and I'm sure you'll do fine.thommo

Spot on there Banker, at least from my personal experience.  I have everything with one of the big4 and they really seem to be offering me excellent unsecured credit, high LVR as well as good customer service.thommo

The first couple of posters are so transparent with their real motives that I actually laughed out loud when I read them, good stuff fellas.However, I suppose that doesn't by default make them wrong, they may have it right, even if only by accident.  I personally would like to see a soft or even a flat period for a while.  I think that would he…[Read more]

oh yeah – don't forget your market research determining what you actually need to build – if the main market is families you're prob going to want gardens as opposed to retirement living low maintenancethommo

Hi aferns,I don't know the answers but I can maybe point you to some more questions…1.  Talk to your bank straight away and determine your borrowing capacity2.  Talk directly to the council or a qualified town planner or licenced surveyor in the area to determine what you can actually fit on the block.  I don't mean get a survey at the moment bu…[Read more]

Westpac are going above 80% for me but then it is all going to be done by commercial builders and it is my own PPOR.thommo

From my persepctive (as a beginner also) there's basically four stages:1.  Somehow get the money together to fund your first property (prob as PPOR but maybe IP)2.  Wait (hope) the value goes up in a rising market (various strategies to manufacture equitty can be used as well i.e. reno or subdivision)3.  Use the equity gained either as a re-d…[Read more]

thanks Bill,  I'll keep my eye out for that.  To be honest I've always felt more comfortable with my cash with one bank and loans with another thommo

coretex – what's the 'all monies clause' mate?