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In retrospect, yes, it was a great time to buy, and turned out to be a great start for a newbie like me. I didn't buy before or even at the start of the boom, but managed to catch the back end and still made some good gains. I had the same experience with my perth house: bought it for $165k in...

At your age, 1st Home Owner, your income will most likely increase as time goes by. My first place was purchased with a 90% LVR loan, but 6 years later and refinancing it's at around 70% LVR. It's important to separate control and claim to future profit (which you have as the owner) and a...

I wouldn't worry too much about the 'owning' vs 'purchased'. Leverage is almost a given in property investment. I always make the general (depends on individual circumstances, of course) that it's better to have $2m in property with $1m debt (especially if they're all IPs) than just having a $1m...

In my case, I was 22, second year after uni, and was basically looking for ways to make money. I'd started investing in shares, and attended this seminar on property investing. It made a lot of sense, and I don't know why but I decided to try it. I don't remember doing all the long term...

I saved during school, etc. and bought my first IP with a 90% LVR loan. Slightly positively geared, but this was a time when the property had a 6.6% rental yield. My suggesiton: develop a savings habit first (which you've said you don't have). IMHO property investment is about consistent...

I'm with rixter and Doozer. My purpose in investing is to have money to do what I want to do, and avoid what I don't want to do. I certainly don't want to have tenants call me in the middle of the night about plumbing, and I'm willing to pay people to do this for me. Alex

I would also use a prop manager even if all my IPs were within reach. In addition to Doozer’s reasons, I’d also say that once the number of IPs increases it becomes impractical to manage everything yourself. My goal is to have enough investments to do whatever I want, so managing properties...

Great work, Doozer. If I may ask, what's your cashflow like and what is your LVR? Alex

Great work, kmdj11. It’s great to have your first property work out, especially as well as yours has. That gives you a great base to build on and buy more IPs. The market helped you but it was you who saved the money, went out and got the loan, bought the place and did the reno. All this at an...

I agree that my friends aren’t realistic. They’re used to renting $400+ apartments, so when they’re looking for a house, they want something similar in value. However, their attitude is fairly common. Reality will set in soon, I’m sure. Alex

Because they would need 90k minimum to borrow 90% LVR. Most people don't save: a lot of my friends are on $100k and they wouldn't have $100k cash even if they sold both kidneys. Too much consumption. They lived well (are living well) during their 20's, didn't bother saving and aren't willing to...

My own view on affordability is that most people can only afford $500k+ properties because banks are willing to offer 95%, 100%, 105% LVR loans. When interest rates go up, the market falls further and the banks rein in their lending, people will no longer be able to get those sorts of loans...

Mish, absolutely wonderful achievement! Even if you just buy 1 IP now and don't buy another for 10 years, you'll still be way ahead of your peers (and most people older than you). Of course, I'm sure you'll buy more as soon as you're able, and do even better in the long run. Good work! Alex

I think the indicators will be reversed. When you hear the bearish experienced investors (I'm bearish but wouldn't call myself that experienced) posting excitedly about how they just bought a great house in a mid-ring suburb and got the vendor to finance half the purchase price at zero interest...

Gigigoodyear, can I ask what your past experience has been with selling IPs at the top of the cycle and buying near the bottom? When was the last time you did this, and how did you identify the top and the bottom? With your statement about shares returning 5% v shares returning 12-20%, what...

Very true. Property is cyclical. Average properties in median priced properties in median suburbs will appreciate over the long term. With some gearing even a 5% average increase will translate to big gains over 20 years. However, if you buy at the top of the market you may go through a few...

Tiger, you don't have to be limited to Sydney. I'm from Sydney and all my properties are in Brisbane and Perth. I remember when I bought in Brisbane all my Sydney friends said 'Why are you buying in that backwater?' When I was in Tokyo and speaking to colleagues who grew up in New York, they...

Kudos, Dazzling! Always love your posts, and 35 is young (didn't used to think that way but now that I'm staring down the barrel of 30….) Now THAT's the sort of story that gets me all excited! Gives me some signposts to follow on my own investment journey. I’m making plans for the next stage...

Oh, you meant don't compare oneself to the point where we do something stupid because we want to go too fast...... Sorry......

I don’t agree there, oc1. It’s not about choosing between slow and steady or wanting to go fast. Competition (even if it's only in your mind) can be healthy. By comparing yourself to those better off than you, you force yourself to improve and take action. If you keep comparing yourself to...