What next?

Hi all, I would like to share my families situation and find out what other investors think we should do next.

We live in Moranbah, hubby is on the coal mines (makes about $110kpa).  I am a stay-at-home mum with 5 young kids (probably won't be having anymore).  I won't be going to work until all the kids are in school (youngest is 6mnths).

We have a house in Townsville (bought in '01 for $105k, now worth abt $280k, renting for $250/wk to family, valued at abt $300/wk).  I love Townsville because it has many different industries (army, mines, farming, uni) and it isn't too far away from us (5-6h) that we can't check on it etc.

We have a house in Rockhampton (bought in '09 for $270k, renting for $300/wk).  I love Rocky because it also has many different industries (big on farms, benifits from mining, uni).  It is also only 5-6h away so we can check on it and do our own maintenance if needed.

These 2 houses are what I consider to be ideal renters: they are both small 3bdm block homes in great suburbs.  Maintenance is low.

We have just moved out of our home here in Moranbah (Hubby got a bigger house with his new job , and will shortly be renting it out (bought in '06 for $270k, now worth $400k).  We are expecting to get $6-700/wk (personally I'd rather have it cheaper and not be empty), and I would expect it to be at $900/wk within 12mnths.  The advantages of this town is 1. we live here so we'd do our own maintenance and 2. great rental returns.  But, heavily reliant on coal.  This scares me, but I do not want to sell our house incase we ever need to move back into it.

My investment strategy is set and forget.  I think the majority of your profit comes from father time, not renovating or buying at the right time.

Although we were pre-approved to buy another house last year (just before the gfc became a reality here), the bank won't lend us anymore money, so I guess for now we just wait.  But, eventually when the bank will give us more, what do we do with it?

Cairns: heavily reliant on tourism, but this gfc didn't kill it, so it couldn't be too bad.  Plus, it has the only international airport in qld outside brissie.  We also have family in the area and know the place well.

Gladstone: has a lot of industry, but it's all along the same vein.  Plus it's close to Rocky, I like to spread 'em out.

Mackay: I don't really want to own a house in Moranbah and Mackay.  Although both have great growth, if something happens to coal they are both in trouble.  I know Mackay won't be as badly as effected as Moranbah, but it will still be heavily effected.

Darwin: very very far away, so we'd never check on the house ourselves.  We'd need an awesome REA.  But, I'd love to invest there.  It's a capital city, so you know it's not going away, and there is nothing else close to compete with.

These are the only places I know well (I  like to fully research an area before I buy there, preferably live there for some time so I get a real 'feel' for the place).

Personally, I am leaning towards a DHA house in Darwin.  Hubby would rather DHA in Canberra (we've never even visited Canberra).  From what I've seen, DHA houses are a lot more expensive than what I'd normally buy, so if we were to take this route, it'd be a while (and we'd probably have to sell one of our other houses to do it).

So, do  you think we are on the right track?  Should I be doing something different, or should I just be waiting for the bank to share out some dosh?

Thanks for your input,
Valerie