I just bought in Tokoroa myself. For the same price as a beach hut in Melbourne I got 2 reasonable houses. If it’s going to be a ghost town in 2026 maybe I will go retire there in peace!

My online investing diary: http://www.retireyoungandwealthy.com/

If I were you I would keep buying properties in NZ. You won’t be finding places easily with high CG, or with +ve cash flow in Australian cities. If you can still find +ve properties in NZ I would be buying them up before they all go.

My online investing diary: http://www.retireyoungandwealthy.com/

My own experience with my single IP in the last 4 years is that CG has been very good, but rental growth has been very limited. Saying that, I haven’t spent anything on the place in the last 3 years, have had 3 tenants and haven’t missed one week (possibly day) of rental income.

The property is an older flat in inner-Melb and rental income is…[Read more]

Congratulations! I am also on my second property now. I bought my first one a few years ago. I have done pretty well out of it, 61% gain in 4 years, but at that time I didn’t even think about negotiating on the price. I remember my hand shaking when I wrote a cheque out for the deposit, but know I do everything from the keyboard.

My online…[Read more]

Yes, I guess I was a little quick there with my judgement. Hope you don’t take it too much the wrong way Got home from work and saw this property emailed to me and couldn’t believe how much it was worth.

They are now very much a Melbourne icon, but I was questioning is it really worth the money if you can’t own the land, or can you? Could a…[Read more]

My first tenant was a student. He didn’t have a job but the agent said she had seen his bank account and he had plenty of money (mostly from his doctor-father). I was a student once so I thought I would give him a go. No problem paying the rent, but after about 8 months I got complaints from neighbours about him being noisy. The other people…[Read more]

Simon,

If your goal is to work less and/or work at home you might want to consider internet affiliate marketing to suplement your rental income. It’s a great way to earn money if you are internet savy (being a software engineer will probably help). I know some people making a lot money from google adwords.

My online investing diary:…[Read more]

> How is this related to property?

When I applied for a new loan last week, I had to provide my latest HECS statement. It’s a debt like any other. There is no interest, but the debt does increase with inflation.

My online investing diary: http://retireyoungandwealthy.blogspot.com/

What sites are you looking at? The US is a big new frontier for me, but I am getting more interested. One problem is that there is just too much information for the US and it’s difficult to know where to start.

My online investing diary: http://retireyoungandwealthy.blogspot.com/

Thanks, I will give it a try.

My online investing diary: http://retireyoungandwealthy.blogspot.com/

I won’t be going to see it before I buy it, but I will probably go for a holiday to NZ sometime this year. I probably would never have thought about buying a property unseen until not so long ago, let alone in a foreign country. I know shares and property are a different investment, but if you buy some shares in a company, I doubt that anyone…[Read more]

I called an agent about a property which had already been sold. He told me about this property. It wasn’t even listed yet so I don’t think I had any competition. I have been receiving email from a number of spotters but everything gets sold before I even have a chance to show interest in the property. So in this case, fortunately I didn’t have…[Read more]

I have been to a State Trustee auction in Melbourne and it wasn’t much different than buying from an ordinary seller. Unfortunately, not much cheaper than a usual auction, and people where more interested because they thought it might be cheaper.

If anyone knows a site of upcoming auctions, please let us all know.

My online investing diary:…[Read more]

Sorry, but I don’t want to offer any advice as I really think you need some good professinal advice from someone who knows your situation better.

At least now you are starting to research and read more. Don’t worry, we have all been in this situation before.

Question everything, assume nothing.

My online investing diary:…[Read more]

My bank won’t loan money for inner-city apartments. They say there is too much fluctuation in value. Personally, I think you can’t go wrong investing in the established inner-city suburbs of Richmond and South Yarra.

My online investing diary: http://retireyoungandwealthy.blogspot.com/

It’s a position I want to be in a couple of years. So many Australians wouldn’t even dream of renting as they see this as throwing money down the drain, or paying of someone else’s mortgage. I see this a little different now. If you rent a nice place in Sydney you don’t have to worry about paying rates, stamp duty etc. Keep investing in NZ for…[Read more]

Investing in real-estate takes some money to get started. It is a good way to invest if you are time-poor but money rich. If you are still studying you are probably in the time-rich, money-poor bracket. Consider ways to to build up a sizeable deposit so the banks can’t knock you back. Building web-sites is a good way to generate cash-flow to…[Read more]

You should consider commercial property if you are looking strictly for cash flow +ve properties in Melbourne. Commercial properties can be good, but your success will depend on the success of the business which operates in your property and you have to pay GST on the purchase. However, outgoings are paid by the tenant. A shop with an apartment…[Read more]

Sorry, I am not an accountant or an expert in this but since no-one else has replied, I thought I would add my own 2 cents. From the research I have done, it is better to have a trust in NZ to buy properties through, otherwise you will be liable for CG tax in Australia. Currently there is no CG tax payable in NZ. NZ accountants are probably…[Read more]

ggumpshots,

Thanks for the advice. I met with NAB and Lloyds last year. I want to get a couple of lower priced properties under my belt first using Ozzie finance before I look into a bigger purchase using a yen loan. If I take out a yen loan I would be looking for the biggest capital gains possible rather than positive cash flow and make the…[Read more]