In response to the original post ‘where to buy in Gladstone” I would suggest buying anywhere around Kin Kora, Kalleentha, Emmerdale, New Auckland, Kirkwood.. these areas are more up market. The coastal suburbs are badly affected by coal dust and alot of the houses full of asbestos. 90% of the investors I have dealt with buying in Gladstone have…[Read more]

There are some great reports available on where to buy property i.e. Terry Ryder etc, and if you can find any investor clubs in your local area they are a good source of information.. and I mean real investor clubs where like minded people get together not spruikers selling their stock and calling themselves an investors club.

Im my opinion you…[Read more]

Re mining towns, yes you can ride on the back of fast growth there depending on the town and mine location but you really need to know what you are doing and research the fundamentals pretty well. (naturally). Take Pine Creek NT for example 4 years ago you could buy a house for $25,000 and within 2 years they were selling at around $150k – $200k…[Read more]

Hi Bob, when buying through a buyers agent you are going to pay hefty fees for their services as you mentioned in your email. Whether you get to buy below market value or not depends on certain variables. In my opinion they could be useful to you if you don’t know how to research a property, or don’t have the time then you pay for someone to do it…[Read more]

Hi Raslaffin if you sell what are you hoping to gain? It’s cash from the equity right? Then your up for all the costs associated with selling so you loose a whole chunk of money in the process, real estate agent fees, if an investment property then capital gains tax etc etc. Not only is it costly to sell you LOOSE THE GOOSE THATS LAYING YOUR…[Read more]

Hi MikeI noticed Tony's comment up there, he is absolutely spot on.. Ive got 7 properties and now buying #8 and you need a broker who knows what hes doing. I can tell you 100% for sure that bank employees are pressured to not only set up lending structures to give the banks more security but also to sell you all the extra features they can. The…[Read more]

Hi Mike, good topic and one that will affect anyone building a portfolio. Basically what has happened in your case is the bank has cross secured or cross collateralised (same thing) your loans in order to give the lender more security and control over your properties. Worst case if you default on one of your loans they can sell out from under…[Read more]

Hi Ken, I do alot of renos myself and regarding kitchen, if the carcass isn’t too bad tend to leave as much in place as possible and facelift i.e. bench-tops, doors and draw fronts.. you can cheat a little with dodgy edges of shelving by fixing white plastic angle along the edges and of course re surface dodgy shelves with white contact. Replace…[Read more]

Just be aware with NRAS that mortgage insurers will not go near it so you are limited to which lenders will fund. As far as I know max LVR is around 80%. This may not be attractive to investors later down the track if you ever want to sell.
Best Regards
Tony Born
Senior Mortgage Consultant
[email protected]
0407 617 141

My advise is do your homework, is the deal really positively geared? If you use equity to cover deposit and costs so no money out of pocket so to speak no matter what loan to value ratio you purchase you are still borrowing 100% to buy the property. In todays environment pos geared at 100% lend would be impossible. BUT there are some high rental…[Read more]