Bear,
Acey does lots of part-time jobs. Ask him and he’ll tell you- he’s pretty open about the jobs he does. As for me, I’d rather just do one job- and most of us *do* work for others- providing skills that other people don’t have. There’s no shame in being a doctor or a nurse- you wouldn’t want to operate on yourself! I am happy to pay others for skills I don’t have! Acey, I dunno how you do so many jobs at once- I’d burn out!
I think the reason why there’s spotters on here is because it was one of the strategies in McKnight’s book. Most of the people who provide that service are well-known on here, Acey. I doubt they aim to prey on people. For a start, it seems like a hell of a lot of work they put in and the financial rewards aren’t so great. I do my own research and negotiating, but some people like to use a spotter or a buyers’ agent to do it for them.
kay henry
Working as a spotter or attempting to work as a spotter is very hard work.I have just spent the last four days on the road.Spent heaps on fuel.Slept in horrible beds.Racked up my phone bill.Put up with $##^%^$ RE agents and all to help someone out.
For those who have the time to do it yourself I say go for it.
But it is quite obvious that not everyone has the time,the inclination or maybe the brains to hunt down a good deal.
Although I do think that people should at least have a go before resorting to a buyers advocate.
At least they get an idea of how hard it can be.Hi Russ
Glad you’re back from your spotting trip. [thumbsupanim]
Give me a ring or email me ASAP so we can continue our networking and go onto the next step in “cutting a win-win deal”.Cheers
Greg F
Hi Russ
Glad you’re back from your spotting trip. [thumbsupanim]
Give me a ring or email me ASAP so we can continue our networking and go onto the next step in “cutting a win-win deal”.Cheers
Greg F
I can say that if a guy wants to charge me 1 or 2% to find me a good deal then why not, after all i still have the final say as to wether I will purchase or not, no one has a gun to my head.
I have roamed around a little bit looking for +CF jobs, and there is some work in it. I am getting to the stage now when i may utilise their services simply because it does not make good economic sense for me to lose weeks on end and thousands.
One week on the road for us equals a net loss of 3k, start adding that on top and its not worth the hassle of running around like a chook with its head cut off!Just to get to the drift of it, you would treat scouts like anyone else when it comes to money, just dot your I’s and cross your T’s.
[strum]
“Dont be looking in your back yard for a four leaf clover when the opportunity of a lifetime could be knocking on your front door….” “Even though you may be on the right track, you can still get run over if you sit there long enough”
I’m absolutely positive that my search for positive cashflow properties has turned out entirely negative so far, to the extent that I was positive that I would have to buy a negative cashflow property just to get started. Now I’ve read a lot of positive and negative debate about positive or negative IPs, and posted some questions about when an IP is to be considered positive or negative, and so far I’m pretty negative about the outcome of the debate – tainted no doubt by my personal negative outcome, but I am doing my best to maintain a positive attitude about the possibility of finding that elusive positive property.
If you got thru all that and are still here, you have stamina. On the more serious side…..
My so-called -ve IP turns +ve in a few short years. Why? My largest expense (finance payments) stay fixed for the term, while minor expenses and income increase with inflation. HENCE, I look not at first year +ve cashflow. I look at return on investment. For me +ve or -ve is a relative term.I could put down 100% capital and have +ve, so my question in another forum was, at what deposit level can I say I am positive or negative? Subjective, no?
I’d rather get 110% finance and contribute a little to -ve cashflow, than tie up capital in a deposit (not so?). Also – I’m not hanging about waiting for the +ves (horrors, what if they really do not exist!) I look at 30 IPs, then pick the highest predicted return using IRR.
Please beat my argument to a pulp so I can learn from you. I confess, Steves’ book is still in the mail.
With the incredible growth in property prices over recent years, I think positive cashflow properties are MUCH harder to find. Yes, they exist, but for most of us in the major capital cities, they are not likely to be right on our doorstep.
This means that an investor has to make a commitment of time and money to go and search out these properties – ie spend a week in NZ or a regional area far from home. For people who are full time investors or at least have good job flexibility, this is a lot more achievable than for Mr Joe Blow working 60 hours a week.
Yes it can be done – but reality is that it takes work, time and commitment.
Because of this, I can understand why Mr Joe Blow would decide it’s easier to pay a spotter’s fee to someone else whose prime task is to source such properties.
Certainly there are other strategies to create positive cashflow properties, but I am purely talking about buying a property which fits this category upfront.
There is more than one way to get rich with property, it’s up to each of us to find our own path and accelerate the journey in whatever method fits us.Keep smiling
Felicity
You can find a squillion places on the net in Australia for 60k and under. Check out regional/country victoria (as an example). If you go to realestate.com.au and just look up any place at random, it leads you to a whole range of other places. I saw the most gorgeous little church (reno’ed bluestone) for 60k the other day- wouldn’t be hard to get $120 rent for it. Finding CF+ places isn’t rocket science- you just have to go to basically any decent search engine and there’s a heap of them in your face.
Monopoly, I think your original question and comments thereafter, was really about the suitability of these for one’s portfolio. I guess as prices have risen so hugely, people have looked at cheaper places as a foot in the door, and not too much risk financially (but maybe risky in other ways- ie finding/keeping tenants etc). Places that were 80k four years ago are now 200k. Some of us fondly reminisce about prices in the old days [tired] and try and replicate that given new boom conditions. Serviceability is really the issue. Can we afford to buy the 250k+ houses and still be able to borrow? (That’s assuming one is a completely new investor with no current equity from previous IP’s acquired pre-boom). It’s why CF+ is increasingly popular now- RE is so exxy! [thumbsdownanim
kay henry
Kay,
I just looked on realestate.com.au in NSW and found a relocatable home 50km from Sydney for 32K, you would be able to get $80 -$100 rent for it I reckon.
It took me 5 mins to find!!
I am not an investor yet so don’t shoot me doown in flames!!kylie
Exactly, Kylie- my point exactly. Just wondering if you have to relocate that relocateable home, though?? You are right though kylie- a bit of checking will come up with a heap of places. A few more checks on those locations will help decide if it’s worth investigating more. Finding places (for any price) is easy. Funding them is another matter.
kay henry
Finding +cf property is easy.Just jump on the net.Any fool can do it.They are everywhere.
Yes they are everywhere and nowhere.
That is why it is so important to have a trusted person do the looking for you.
I went through about 30 or so properties this week that anyone could buy through an agent on the net.They all met the 11 sec. solution.But they were not all good investments.
I,d say about 10% of what I looked at had potential.
The things you dont see on the net are the holes in the internal walls.The mouldy ceilings.The rain damaged ceilings.The wrotten carpets or wrotting floorboards.The stove from hell.The illegal addition to the back of the house.
I could go on and on.The whole thing you have to remember is that small fee you pay someone for a service can be very small compared to what you are up for if you go sight unseen through an unscrupulous agent.
Remember you only get what you pay for.
Russ.
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