Hi Mat,

Short term = week to week, however i've found that most people stay between 6 weeks and 6 months!

The target market varies from contract workers, to families in between property settlements, to people new to town and not willing to committ to a long term lease yet – although the rental market is so tight here that some people move in thinking they'll only be there for a couple of weeks and are unable to secure something more permenant for several months.

I include all utilities in the weekly rent – which does leave me a little at risk if tenants use an abnormal amount of power, however i've found most people are pretty reasonable.

I manage these myself which includes doing the yard maintenance. You can contract out all of these services however due to the potentially high turnover in tenants one property management company i work with on occasion charges an enormous management fee (18%), however that does includes cleaning and laundry and they have a large list of professional clients looking for short term accom including mining and government sectors etc. so it is stress free cause they look after the lot and the tenant always pay!

However,like I said I prefer to deal with it myself and keep the management fee.

I've only had them ten months now, so like anything you get better and better with experience.

Have fun!
Dale

My view:

The stock markets have overreacted and are panic selling, which is usually a sign that a bottom is close. Almost every stock in every index around the world is sooo far oversold the charts are screaming for at least a bounce. Then it is likely that we'll see another leg down or at least a double bottom. Then a period of high volatility with loads of trading opportunities while it hammers out a base. Then a nice recovery into year end/early next year.

The facts are, not much has changed fundamentally in the last few weeks, sure America is a bad credit risk, no surprises there, they've had unsustainable levels of debt for many years – I honestly thought this rating downgrade would have come quite a while ago. However the companies themselves are in quite good shape considering the tepid recovery since the GFC. The big difference between now and then (and why we won’t get a repeat) is the companies have strong earnings and some of the lowest levels of debt in many years – the GFC forced them to deleverage.

High earnings, low debt levels, but low prices – does this sound like it stacks up to you?

Stocks have been correcting nicely for a couple of months, this latest sell down has unfortunately coincided with a sequence of events that caught a lot of people of guard and stacked on top of each other. Since the memories of the GFC are fresh in people's minds it created a tipping point and we've seen panic selling, and perhaps capitulation. I think it's time to get ready to scale in to select stocks, commodities and currencies while they are at such bargain prices. But don’t pile in – like I said we may see another leg down yet.

As far as property is concerned, again not much has changed, although these events will only be good for property. We may see a .25% drop in interest rates due to the Aussie growth downgrade, but more likely flat for the reminder of the year. The best thing is that a lot of the cash that has just been scared out of the share market should flow nicely into our countries favourite "safe as houses" asset class –  in the months and years ahead.

That's my thoughts anyway, I could be wrong, have been wrong before, and I case you are you've always got to have sound risk management.

Have fun!

Well done Nathan, good onya!

I've just purchased a 2 x 2 BR duplex in Townsville.
Renting for $1000 per week short term, Fully furnished – Average 90% occupancy over the year – $46K return.

Paid $540K
And the cream is that it has another 500sqm of land on the back that i'm going to build two townhouses on!

Just gotta think outside the box : )

Hi Kaylon,

First, congratulations!, you know what you want. It's very important to start with the end in mind.

I think all the previous posts have covered what/ who you need as far as a team. As Matt says, most important, to answer your question on structure is your accountant. They can taylor a structure to suit your needs, however the way I see it, if you're only starting off small and selling the product on, it may be better to keep it simple and leave it in your own name for the first one. Especially if you plan on selling it outside of 12 months as you can get a 50% CPG exemption. Although, if you plan on moving quickly onto successive deals, this wont be as important.

With regards to education a agree with Richard. 

"Many people give up a lot of their time for nothing and are happy to talk and share information with others without thinking how much money they can make from the deal."

It really is amazing how helpful people can be once you get out and just do it.

I have spect $$$$ on "over priced" courses and although I really enjoyed it, learn't a great deal, and would totally recommend it, you would be better of reading a few books and doing loads of research on the internet first. 

One particular book I've just finished reading which is really good is "Australian residential property development" by Ron Forlee.

Good Luck

Dale
  

Townsville, North QLD – Paradise!!

Would love to hear from anyone else up this way…

Hi all,

Interesting thread, and great site.

I've listened to all the positives and negatives on this thread and not discounting any of them. I'm interested in talking to to people via PM or phone who have had successes and banked money with Massland.

Me – I've done massland's Real estate university 3 day course several months ago. I found the course awesome! I learnt soo much in so many area's and since then I've had a fantastic journey doing all the leg work… No doubt there has plenty alright, but I am loving every minite of it. I've not yet secured a deal under option, however I've feel so much more confident with my numbers and general development knowledge now and am punching out loads of feasobilities, talking to loads of people, and this has lead me to meet people and go places that I would have never imagined. I know none of this means anything to others untill I've made money with it, but it means a lot to me.

 I've also used some of the negotiation techniques Mark taught to sell some land I was holding via privite sale and it's currently under contract for a significant amount over their offer price.

I'm also interested in speaking with other like minded people in the north qld region, especially those with experience to share.

Hi all,

Very interesting reading and good learning, thanks

Does anyone have any experience in dealing with options in Qld? In particular wether stamp duty is payable?

Dale

G'day All,

Great to see! That would be a big help – I'm new to the development world also.

Looking at doing a small townhouse development in Townsville. Having some challenges in pre-feasobility stage getting all the figures I need. Builders giving huge range with estimates ($1400 – $2000 p/sqm)??  Has anyone got any experience in the Townsville area? Does the builders estimate usually include all the civil works too?

I'm looking at building 12 – 14, 2B 1B townhouses on a 2000 sqm block.

Will PM you to get a copy of the PDF

Thanks

Dale Lee