Recent content by steve101

Interesting... there aren't many home improvements that would pay for themselves in just over 2 years. Are there any ongoing maintenance costs?

Actually, it was a rhetorical question - there aren't any middle class houses within an hour of Sydney for $130,000, particularly if you want to live in an area where you can go to the park without worrying about being stabbed. And actually, no, I don't need to live there - I work hard and have...

Oh really? Care to point them out to me? Australia has a per capita annual GDP of $50,000, so show me the typical middle class houses for $130,000. Yeah yeah, in your day you had to walk to school uphill both ways bare foot in the blistering cold. Told any kids to 'get off your lawn'...

Yes, I do tend to get defensive when someone calls people 'whiners' for simply stating the truth of the matter - that housing affordability is at or near historical lows. Check out this graph from the RBA that shows house price to income ratios. Show me the suburb where I can get an...

Sure there is available housing out in the middle of nowhere, but if you want those little trivialities like a job, good schools and anything that even closely resembles a reasonable (< 1 hour each way) daily commute, you are SOL. You're statement that there is affordable housing available for...

Another 2 minutes of searching: http://www.theage.com.au/business/property/housing-affordability-hits-the-wall-20100222-opcd.html And another quote from the article just for you:

"The term Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 Ad Age editorial to describe teenagers of the day" "Advertising Age (or AdAge) is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media." That was about 15 seconds worth of Googling.

Good point on the theft angle, that had never occurred to me... I'd rather not mention any names, but a couple of the 'big guys'.

Really? Only $1,000 for a fitted split system? The quotes I have been getting have been 2 to 3 times that at least, which is why I was thinking I'd go with either a portable ac or an evaporative cooler. Was doing a bit of research and stumbled across...

Sorry, just realised this should be in the 'add value' forum :(

Definitely Option 2. I actually find Option 1 a little initimidating and overwhelming.

Just wondering if the expense of an air conditioner is worthwhile from an investment point of view? In other words, will tenants pay signficiantly extra for a place with A/C, or is it just a sunk cost? What about throwing in the use of a portable air conditioner while they're renting to...

Whatever you do, go with an FP that works on a fee for service basis, and not one that works on commissions. I'm a bit biased, because this is my site - but have a look at this guide I wrote a while back: http://debtloans.com.au/2009/07/10/how-to-select-a-good-financial-advisor/

I don't see why you're making this a generational issue when age really has nothing to do with it - there are whiners in every generation, and it shows a real lack of character to act all superior because of some arbitrary labels that were probably invented by a marketing company.