Hi BruceI don' think there is much of a debate to be had here. Let's ask all the 1974 flood victims, then the 2011 flood victims would they buy another house in the flood zone? Then we can ask all the people who helped clean up the flooded homes if they would buy the house they cleaned up. If the answer is no, which I would suspect it to be, the…[Read more]

I lived through the 1974 flood at Goodna, our house went under. I have 16 properties and not one of them is in a flood zone. You never forget. I would look at buying land in flood zone, only if it could be filled and made higher than the flood level. Or the house could be lifted to be made higher than the flood level.You have to ask yourself the…[Read more]

Hi MadchenIf your goal is to own enough property to provide an income you need to buy property. I would suggest you purchase cash flow property which means dual income property purchased in regional areas or fringe areas or a mining area property. You can not afford buy and hold capital growth property as the banks will stop you quickly on…[Read more]

Hi troy6225You need to number crunch to work out your ROI {return on investment} this will tell you if this is more viable or purchasing another property is more viable. Then you need to work out your goals: are you accruing property, are you looking for capital growth depending upon your income, are you looking for cash flow property? A good…[Read more]

HiPricefinder and RPData estimates can be a guide, however its up to you to do your diligence. What i said previously was: Before you offer anything you need to know what the price of houses in that street and area have been sold for in the past year. I did not say get price finder to pick a number, this is not doing your diligence it's asking a…[Read more]

If they are a good agent they won't give you a figure and say something like: i don't know, why don't you put an offer in and see or they may give you a red herring and say I would expect something close to asking price would be considered. After all the agent is working for the seller and not the buyer, though sometimes it's hard to…

What i find interesting in the comments in this thread is that nobody asked the question, what is the property worth? When you buy is when you make your profit, this has nothing to do with the asking price. Before you offer anything you need to know what the price of houses in that street and area have been sold for in the past year. NOT what they…[Read more]

I have heard some very mixed feedback from the IC. In the 90's an acquaintance of mine purchase 3 properties through them with in a year then the market took a downturn. They found the properties were very over priced to start with so they couldn't sell them. As the property market does over time, it turned the other way and after a few years they…[Read more]

Options are great if you need the time, however they can be a deal closer for desperate vendors. Currently I am negotiating a block of units 30 mins from a major CBD, they are not strata'd. An option will not help me here because the rents will cover the holding cost and the units meet fire regulations so I don't need the time. 12 months would be…[Read more]

No money down deals are great. It saves your 20% deposit. You just need the 5% for legals etc. If you purchase in a reasonable capital growth area your equity will cover your 20% by the time it comes around to paying back the loan.