Hi everyone, I've been lurking around these forums for a couple years now and only joined recently. This week I'm posting a thread out of a strong desire to finally take action. What kick started it is actually kind of funny, and sad...
I'm 31 years old, and have wanted to buy an IP for the past couple of years. Earlier this week I went back through some old books and found Steve McKnight?s 0-260+ properties book. Looked inside and saw some questions and some answers that I'd penned in when I first bought the book...
"Age:........22" My jaw dropped. I first picked up this book 9 years ago and have STILL not got a property! I was immediately depressed. Although I can't say the 9 years have been wasted (I now have a small deposit and a degree) I just wish I'd done something sooner.
I remember thinking at age 22; "Buying a house is a big deal! That's for grownups, and I don't even have a girlfriend!" Plus an extremely cynical friend of mine kept reminding me; "Do you know, Radicals, that "mortgage" literally means "death lease" in Latin?" How inspiring.
Why this post? Well after reading hundreds of pages from the forums, in books, and magazines, and after figuring out my financial goals (that was harder than I thought!) I want to see if I'm on the right track. Please comment below if you have any input, I'm interested in things like; have I missed anything? Am I focusing too much on one problem? Etc...
My goals:
1) To have an income/cash flow from investments big enough to cover my "needs" (rent/food/insurance/gas, power & fuel) by age 40.
2) To have enough equity & cash flow that I could retire by age 50 and travel for up to 3 months per year.
I believe these goals are realistic and achievable because other people seem to have done this, and I have plenty of time. Also, I do not cost much to run
My plan:
1) Live in a small rental property, keep my outgoing as minimal as possible.
2) Keep saving up my deposit
3) Research areas in QLD that "add up" (Do my DD)
4) Form a team of; accountant, broker, B&P inspector, possibly a conveyencor & lawyer.
5) Put a deposit on an IP (Hopefully I can find a CF neutral or CF+ property, even if I do interest only to make it so)
6) 12 months later, with more savings, and a bigger income stream from my new work, tap a little into the equity of property 1 and buy property #2 with a focus on growth.
This is as far as I've planned...
Right now I'm going to seminars/meet-ups for property investors; I'm reading just about every book and magazine under the sun as well. I just started a new job a month ago, so in 5 months I'll meet the minimum period of employment to apply for a loan. Once I know my borrowing capacity I will have a clearer sense of where I can look to buy.
Thoughts?
I'm 31 years old, and have wanted to buy an IP for the past couple of years. Earlier this week I went back through some old books and found Steve McKnight?s 0-260+ properties book. Looked inside and saw some questions and some answers that I'd penned in when I first bought the book...
"Age:........22" My jaw dropped. I first picked up this book 9 years ago and have STILL not got a property! I was immediately depressed. Although I can't say the 9 years have been wasted (I now have a small deposit and a degree) I just wish I'd done something sooner.
I remember thinking at age 22; "Buying a house is a big deal! That's for grownups, and I don't even have a girlfriend!" Plus an extremely cynical friend of mine kept reminding me; "Do you know, Radicals, that "mortgage" literally means "death lease" in Latin?" How inspiring.
Why this post? Well after reading hundreds of pages from the forums, in books, and magazines, and after figuring out my financial goals (that was harder than I thought!) I want to see if I'm on the right track. Please comment below if you have any input, I'm interested in things like; have I missed anything? Am I focusing too much on one problem? Etc...
My goals:
1) To have an income/cash flow from investments big enough to cover my "needs" (rent/food/insurance/gas, power & fuel) by age 40.
2) To have enough equity & cash flow that I could retire by age 50 and travel for up to 3 months per year.
I believe these goals are realistic and achievable because other people seem to have done this, and I have plenty of time. Also, I do not cost much to run
My plan:
1) Live in a small rental property, keep my outgoing as minimal as possible.
2) Keep saving up my deposit
3) Research areas in QLD that "add up" (Do my DD)
4) Form a team of; accountant, broker, B&P inspector, possibly a conveyencor & lawyer.
5) Put a deposit on an IP (Hopefully I can find a CF neutral or CF+ property, even if I do interest only to make it so)
6) 12 months later, with more savings, and a bigger income stream from my new work, tap a little into the equity of property 1 and buy property #2 with a focus on growth.
This is as far as I've planned...
Right now I'm going to seminars/meet-ups for property investors; I'm reading just about every book and magazine under the sun as well. I just started a new job a month ago, so in 5 months I'll meet the minimum period of employment to apply for a loan. Once I know my borrowing capacity I will have a clearer sense of where I can look to buy.
Thoughts?