Helensburgh – between Sydney & Wollongong.

Hi CR

Derek’s idea of an excel spreadsheet works well. If you can’t design one or find someone else that can, RentManager is a program that tracks all aspects of income and exp for as many properties as you like, and is quite simple to use. Email me if you are interestd and I will let you know the cost and where I got it from.

Wake

I believe Steve McKnight uses a firm called William Partners in Melbourne. Given Steve & Dave’s years spent as accountants, its probably pretty safe to assume that their accountant would be up to speed on property investing.

Good luck

Wake

Hi Dan

In our experience, NSW contracts are usually 6 weeks (42 days) while in QLD they are 28 days.Don’t know about other states. 5% deposit is standard in NSW, but deposits can be negotiated (could be $1000) eg if its NSW and they want a quicker settlement they might accept a lower deposit as a trade off.

As to whether you can get finance…[Read more]

Hi Anthony

I’m not sure what state you are buying in, but in NSW the Strata Schemes Management Act allows for two lot schemes (duplexes – joined or freestanding) to take out individual building insurance. This means that in theory, with certain by-laws in place, you can run both lots almost totally independantly, like a torrens title house.…[Read more]

Hi blondie

Go to Search (top LHS under forum boards) and type in “book reviews”. This will bring up quite a few postings where people have listed books they recommend.

Happy reading!
Regards

Wake

Hi steamtrain

Once you have a family, owning your own home will be even more of a good feeling because who wants to have to move around with kids at the whim of a landlord? That may be a good strategy for some, but if you can invest successfully, as you are obviously doing now, and maintain the relative security of your own home, go for it!!

Wake

Thanks for that Derek.

We have spoken to two brokers who have advised that we would be worse off by refinancing at this stage as quite a few of our loans are low IO ones. Quite a few will “mature” around the same period, so we have been advised that might be a better time to refinance.

I will seek further opinions from brokers, as…[Read more]

Hi Residentialwealth

Can you explain what you mean by “critical mass”? Is this like net assets?

Thanks
Wake

Hi Bizibee

cf+ IP’s in regional areas can still get decent capital growth – you just have to look a bit more carefully. If you want some ideas as to what growth is predicted in different areas, check out the range of Residex reports at http://www.residex.com.au. They aren’t the bible, but can certainly help point you in a direction. It is also very…[Read more]

Hi Bizibee

Re finding cf+ IP’s, depends where you look.More difficult in SE Qld, but quite achievable in more rural areas, or central, north or far north Qld. You should determine your investing criteria in terms of a town’s population, reason for existance, infrastructure etc. Some people might be comfortable buying in a town of population less…[Read more]

Hi Derek

Read the thread – that’s great news and will make quite a difference to us. Now… to find a good accountant.

Wake

Hi Derek

Thanks.Hubby & I have jumped in the deep end and bought 10 IP since May 03 (2 -ve cf). Initially they were for buy & hold, and without a crystal ball our equity posn looks good for retirement in 10 yrs if we do nothing else. But our plans are changing and we want cashflow sooner so we can ease up on working, which means more of what…[Read more]