I have found a positive cashflow property that I am looking to put an offer on. But as you may have guessed, this property is no where near local to me and actually would be further than a 7hr drive, so I am not all that keen to inspect it personally.
It does not come tenanted and I have searched the Australian Bureau of Statistics for this rural town but Ive come to realise I dont know what I am looking for cos I waded my way through pages and pages of numbers and ended up just feeling overwhelmed. I dont trust simply asking the agent because I am sceptical of their answer anyway!
Any help on suggestions to find out more data, would be thoroughly appreaciated. Admittedly I am both excited and scared at the same time to take the plunge, but willing to give it a go all the same.
Hi
I can only suggest common sense type stuff…..go there, talk to people, get a sense of activity or lack thereof…..look at the internet to see how many properties for rent, what rental levels, are they letting or just sitting there?
Based on what you have said are you sure you want to do the remote investment thing? If you arent motivated to go and have a look at the property now, and you dont trust the agent, what will happen when stuff needs to be done to maintain the place. People make this work but you do need a trusted partner.
What I did before when buying property sight unseen was to gather info around your property such as shops, restaurant, …. club… anything you can find.
Now start to call them and ask them what is like in the area and whatever you wan to know. Of course you don't want to ask a direct questions ….
Before going into such a large investment such as a property one needs to gather all of the facts first.
You seem to know very little about both the property and the location.
Sure there are websites that will provide with general statistics for the area and these should be used in conjunction with other information you have acquired.
The only real way you will get this information is by going and have a look yourself. A 7hr drive is not that far to check that your investment is indeed as good as it seems.
The ramifications that come with being misinformed and nieve when purchasing property can be an awful lot more serious than taking a weekend trip to go and visit.
Your right, I cant believe I was considering not checking it out! – I'm embarrased that I even admitted it!
Although it will be positively geared, I am beginning to think this is probably not the best first investment for a newbie… but on the other hand I have to start somewhere as I am sure if I think about each possible investment enough I will come up with plenty of reasons not to buy!
I was looking at this in the wrong light! I will make travel plans to check out this town and others along the way. It will be an awsome weekend road trip adventure!!
Has anyone else here bought a rural site at great distance to themselves? How did it go / is it going?
Hi Azalia,
A few years ago I was considering buying a property in Gunnedah, well this was all pre-Miranda Kerr and so i had no idea about the place and neither did those around me. One good resource for me was contacting council, they have very diverse information that they can send on the area, and the best thing is you can be upfront about the kind of information that you are looking for.
If that fails you can always try local valuers, I have yet to meet a valuer who is not prepared to be conservative and this can sometimes be very helpful in balancing the opinion of the real estate agents.
Good Luck!
Azalia :
Remember, the buying part is the fun part.
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