Recent content by gailh

Hi, Has anyone had any experience with the St. George no deposit loan. Sounds too good to be true. Obviously will be expensive mortgage insurance to pay. Any other catches? Gail

Hi, Does anyone know which lenders will factor in child support payments when calculating DSR. My friend gets child support of a couple of hundred dollars a week from her ex (informal arrangement and not through the child support agency). This can all be shown through bank statements etc...

Hi everyone, I have just purchased and read Steve McKnight's new book: From 0 to 130 (or some number like that) Properties in Three Years. Most of you will know that he is an advocate of positive cashflow investing. I thought it was a reasonably good read, with some nice examples, but...

Hi Well, who really knows? But I'm a little worried about the tenor of MikeT's first post. The implication seems to be that property investors should never worry about when they buy. The proposition that if you listen to the crystal ball readers (ie. connotation of unreliable fortune telling)...

Okay, I'm lost. What's the relevance of having an ABN? Gail

The Consumer Credit Legal Service in Melbourne (number in the phone book) may be able to give you free advice and perhaps write them a nasty letter or two. Good luck Gail

Robyne, I don't think pos cashflow is the way to build wealth, but I aim to have a couple in the mix so that they contribute to servicing the cost of the neg properties, and give a greater yield come retirement time. If you only go for high growth properties, your wealth will grow quicker...

Hey Melbournites, I'm not planning to buy right now, but what do people think of Preston for medium term growth - is it undervalued at the moment? Have the trendy coffee shops started to open. Prices seem cheap compared to surrounding suburbs. Does anyone know it well? Gail

Hi, I own an investment property on the Sunshine Coast (Marcoola). Yes, huge gains in the last 12 months. I wouldn't say its about to bust, but I wouldn't buy right now. A shortage of stock on the market, so prices at a bit of a peak. I get letters from RE agents everyday asking me to list...

Hi, For choice, you couldn't go past Rocky, as they have so many flats. They also have a shortage of rental properties at the moment, so tenants are pretty easy to come by. The area is meant to grow because of the new Magnesium mine being built there, but who really knows what effect it will...

Hi, I bought a property on the sunshine coast last year (in Marcoola) sight unseen. The suburb was suggested in the API magazine and I had read elsewhere that the Sunshine Coast was about to move, so I didn't want to waste anytime. So, I tracked the property prices for a while on the net...

Hi everyone, As someone who grew up in Altona, I couldn't resist adding my bit. Altona is definitely a strange one. Bayside and close to Williamstown, but still very daggy and working class. There is not one single trendy cafe in the whole suburb (believe me, I've looked). But, it does have...

Chris, I'm a little confused - is this your first property purchase? If so, why is it an investment property, rather than owner occupied? Anyway, I don't think you can do positive or neutrally geared in Melbourne. Don't worry about what the American investors say about having to buy...

In many inner city areas, period housing is in greater demand, and appreciates better. G

Hi Harriet, I think everyone has just about covered it. But I would say, beware the people who say 'only every buy cashflow positive'. Another cliche is 'only buy if it makes financial sense NOW'. Many of these mantras are derived from gurus in the US, where the benefits of negative...