First IP, First Post - Young lads looking for advice

[doggahoskin]

Firstly, first post! Woohoo!

A mate (both 24yo) and I have just bought our first property at Westbourne Park in SA. I am living in it for the first 6 months to gain first home owners grant, then I will be travelling overseas for a year and we'll rent it out.

First a bit of background:
- We paid $230K (perhaps victims of recent price highs), but are looking at it for long term, hoping to ride the mining boom in SA.
- Its a great location 6kms from the city, in an "affluent" suburb.
- Its an upstairs 2br unit with large living area.
- Pictures are from before we bought the place, so furniture is different.

I guess what I am looking for is help a few things:
1) Is it hard to manage a property yourself, or is it truly worth it to pay the 8% for a PM?
2) Do polished concrete floors look that good? Would it suit our unit? What is the approximate cost?
3) Does anyone know where you can get venetian blinds made to order size cheaply?
4) Since I will be moving overseas when I move out, I will probably rent it furnished. How much extra do you generally receive for this? (fridge, table and chairs, washing machine, 2 TV's, bed)
5) Any other recommendations or suggestions for improving the value of the unit, considering the pictures, or just any info about owning your first IP are appreciated.

I've been looking at this site (SS) for a while now, and it feels great to actually now own a place and actually posting on this site about a property. All help appreciated.

 

[wylie]

Hi, and welcome.

Well done for buying. I am a bit confused as to whether you have gone half shares in this with your mate and who is claiming the FHOG. Can you both claim it?

Anyway, cannot help much except to say that I am really glad that you have changed the furniture.... a bit grandmotherly for a couple of 24 year old lads

Only other advice I would give would be to think about modern eyelet type curtains that look trendy rather than pay big dollars for venetions made to measure. Tenants will not care how much you paid and will still possibly not treat them well or clean them.

I also would be careful about what sort of furniture you leave. Generally people who rent with furniture will perhaps not look after it, and you will cut down your market as people with furniture will not want yours. Perhaps better to get someone you know to store it for you.

I am sure others will have more advice.

Good luck, Wylie.

 

[steveadl]

Overall it looks very good - a nice location close to the city, large living area, nice kitchen, and decent sized bedrooms too. Well done both of you for getting into the market at this age! Also nice to see you buy the unit before you leave, and not put it off till later like a lot of people tend to do, then forget about it.

Last 2 sales in the complex were one in May for $250k but that was for 3br 2bth (double storey). Other was in April for $183k for one similar to yours. Also another one in Nov '06 for $193k. I wouldn't sweat it too much with the market at the moment, you probably paid around the right price.

As a matter of interest, what are the body corp fees pa?

1) Personally, I'd get a PM to manage the place for you - a lot less hassle, and tax deductible anyway. You may be able to find one that already has some of the units in the complex and negotiate a discount? Most of the units appear to be OO's or long term tennants as not many have been advertised for rent, especially recently.

2) Don't have much knowledge on the subject, but I think polished cement is very loud, and quite cold in the winter. That's the 2 major reasons I decided against it. I think if anything, polished cement would be more for commercial as opposed to residential.

3) ??? Maybe Burns for Blinds, or Kresta?

4) Not my area, but hopefully Xenia here can give you a good idea.

5) I would be careful about spending too much doing up the unit to rent it out. There are a lot of units in your complex so you want to make it look attractive to prospective tennants compared to others that might pop up, but don't spend too much money and expect a higher rent as the reverse can work, and they just rent the unit next door which is the same size for $20pw less.

Again, congrats on your first purchase!

 

[doggahoskin]

Hi, and welcome.

Well done for buying. I am a bit confused as to whether you have gone half shares in this with your mate and who is claiming the FHOG. Can you both claim it?

Yes, I have gone 50/50 with my mate. We get the one grant between us, so we get a $3500 benefit each. Thanks for your well wishes and advice.

 

[Shonnie]

If you guys are going overseas - I would recommend getting a property manager - You don't want to have to deal with any issues while you're overseas having fun..

Just make sure you look around first, do some interviews, ask a lot of questions (you should be able to find a list on somersoft somewhere about what questions to ask - or even in some good books) -

My property manager is awesome and worth her weight in gold - I don't have to deal with ANYTHING - the only thing I know is that I get the rent coming into my account every month like clockwork. She is really feisty (which will come in handy if they don't pay), and property management is what she does for a living - so I get lots of attention if need be!

Good luck

 

[doggahoskin]

As a matter of interest, what are the body corp fees pa?

Fantastic advice, thank you, and thanks for the background research too. Yes, we were kind of caught up in the scramble for places in this price range at the moment, but as a long term investment we should be OK.

As for your question, strata fess are about $760p/a at the moment.

Thanks for your help.

 

[alexlee]

If you're going overseas (and I've done it) definitely get a property manager. Think longer term: soon enough you might have 3, 5, 10 properties. Do you want to manage all of those? Might as well get used to using a PM now.
Alex

 

[twobobsworth]

Vista Blinds and Kresta Blinds are owned by the same company but Vista is the discount arm.

 

[skater]

If you want to rent the unit out furnished, I'd suggest finding a good PM & then find out if there is a market for furnished units & what kind of vacancies to expect. You may just have to store your furniture while you are away.

I wouldn't spend too much money on it either, it looks fine as is. If it's going to be a rental, then just get cheap curtains/blinds as I've found that they will last several years before needing to be replaced & a tenant will not look after your belongings. In fact I have found in some of my properties the tenant has purchased their own curtains & stored mine away (read, left in the damp shed, screwed up in a ball at the bottom of a cupboard etc) And they weren't the cheap ones.