First of all, thanks corrine for being the first forum virgin to share your experience, it makes it that little bit easier for the rest of us!

I found our first investment property a couple of years ago. The owner had subdivided the land, we were buying the existing house and he was building a house on his half. The house was supposed to be finished the following month, so we exchanged contracts thinking that the we’d have our first investment property by Christmas. The work on the house dragged on and so did the approval from council. Almost 6 months later we were still waiting, we had to reapply for the loan, lost the great interest rate we’d locked and paid insurance on a property we didn’t own!

I now know that I was effectively buying my property ‘off the plan’ even though it was an existing house, which meant that the owner had up to 6 months to finish his house. After that period we could break the contract without penalty.

It all ended quite well, during these 6 months, the house increased in value by 13%!

Malika