Seems I stand corrected on this – you can have an IP and a FHSA. You can now also add the FHSA money to a PPOR (when the account matures) if you buy a PPOR before the account matures. You can not add the money to an IP loan, however. It's the FHBs grant (7k or whatever it is now) that can not be used if you own or have owned any residential property. 

I also have a FHSA – it can only be used on your first ever home purchase. If you buy an IP before it matures, you'll have to leave it for super.Let it mature – buy an IP with it, move in for 6 mths, move back with your folks, then NG the place. That is the only way you can use a FHSA to end up with an IP.Or, alternatively, if you have seperate…[Read more]

emptyvessel wrote:
Interesting. 10 years ago I used to think like you. Now I earn 3 times as much and have 3 kids. I promise your perspective, priorities, planning and level of action as a result will change. Just like mine will 10 years from now. Good news is, renters like you are paying for my financial freedom strategy. Just like I did, for…[Read more]

SmartGenY wrote:
If I had kids and was looking to provide them some stability I would be looking for a house to buy close to good schools and public transport. But at the moment I am under30 and looking to travel via working and volunteering as much as possible, and will continue to do this while I can still get temporary work visas with ease.…[Read more]

Joel0430 wrote:
What you everyone else do with their saving until a point where you had enough to invest in property?

Short the $AU. Buy gold. Look at shares (requires research and risk to profit).Savings are safe – so long as you are disciplined enough to grow them, as others mention.I'm pumping most of mine into a FHSA (until it reaches the…[Read more]

fWord wrote:

ummester wrote:
Well, I've said it many times on this forum and others, a crash is really only going to hurt those that bit of more than they can chew. Either by equity withdrawal for lifestyle spending, of IPs that are too highly leveraged. It won't hurt those that have borrowed or invested sensibly.

Haha, call it the culling of…[Read more]

fWord wrote:

ummester wrote:
fword,Yes, maxing out on debt maximises potential in a rising market. But it also maximises the risk. Is the mortgagor truly comfortable and aware of that risk? I'd be very happy for this big crash/ correction to come, because it'd separate the boys from the men…the people who did their thinking and those who…[Read more]

fword,they type of employment (as in wether or not the bank considers the income secure) matters also. One of the reasons ACT house prices grew so much in recent time is that the banks viewed PS wages as a safe place to load up debt.Just because you are a sensible borrower, doesn't mean that others are or that the banks are sensible lenders. When…[Read more]

ALF1 wrote:
A true collapse in house prices would indeed require some large external shock – a doubling of unemployment or interest rates – to trigger the wave of forced home sales that it would take to provoke house price falls.

Here is a recent article on this:http://macrobusiness.com.au/2011/05/unemployment-and-house-prices/As the article…[Read more]

angelinsydney wrote:
But wait, isn't 2012 the end of the world, the Mayans said so. 

Oddly, it will probably co-incide the end of the Australian economy, as we know it, also. At least we can claim we survived to the end:)

desilucky is in a position where buying makes more sense – mainly because of the deposit. A buyer with little to no deposit would not be in the same position at all.I totally agree with the theory that if your interest payments are less than your rent it is right to buy. If you only have 20k, however, you are not going to get your interest p…[Read more]

DWolfe wrote:
A couple things with your comment Ummester.Would you move 1/2 hr drive hr away from your stomping ground just because you could get a bargain. Not many people would.

I don't have a stomping ground, so it doesn't really apply to me. I've been moving since my mid 20s and have no desire to return to where I grew up.But yea, I'd…[Read more]

DWolfe wrote:
The prices are dropping, but do you ever think that it may be unreasonable to ask $1.2 million for a house that is not even able to be used for firewood? Prices are NOT falling in suburbs that are around the $400-$500k mark which shows that people are still ok with that price.

This is a reasonable observation and interests me.400k…[Read more]

fWord wrote:

ummester wrote:
Here are (longer) term IRs and prices. Still not as long as I promised fword but I will find them – just for you:http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/9/26/595019-128548078561902-Leith-van-Onselen_origin.jpghttp://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/9/26/595019-128548185597047-Leith-van-Onselen_origin.jpgI…[Read more]

I'm reading this great book ATM – it's called Lord Foul's Bane. It's well crafted work of fiction – total fantasy – but enjoyable to read and inspirational none-the-less:)

mattnz wrote:
Here are some fascinating graphs… First, US house prices, inflation adjusted, 1890 to present. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2011-Case-SHiller-updated.png Now Australian house prices, inflation adjusted, 1880 to present.…[Read more]

Perhaps mattz is one sided in his outlook but then, by denying the possibility of a crash, you are equally one sided.I think a crash is the most likely outcome from this point. Doesn't mean it will happen.I think strong growth is the least likely outcome. Doesn't mean it wont happen.There is fundamentaliam on both sides of the fence here, not just…

angel,If IRs come down, it is likely the dollar will also.On 'your money, your call' (I think that is what the show is called) last night, the RE section was speculating the lenders would lower IRs with or wothout the RBA by the end of the year. That seems like wishful thinking. But, if the RBA does lower, the lenders should follow with some, if n…[Read more]

Here are (longer) term IRs and prices. Still not as long as I promised fword but I will find them – just for you:http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/9/26/595019-128548078561902-Leith-van-Onselen_origin.jpghttp://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/9/26/595019-128548185597047-Leith-van-Onselen_origin.jpgI wont give you the whole article -…[Read more]

ALF1 wrote:
25 years………Bought first home PPOR in VIC 1984 for $55,000 a bloody fortune -worth $ 650,000 todayBought first IP 1987 for $129,000 with 18.4% mortgage – worth $580,000 todayOwned freehold IP in Bunbury WA in 2000 worth $61,000 – sold in 2002 for $153,000 (ecstatic!) – it sold in 2003 for $249,000 – worth today $780.000.Defense…[Read more]