Hi there,
I've been reading and learning for a while now and now want to start investing. I do have an idea what I want to do: build my wealth with investment properties and retire early. Well, who doesn;t want that? If I read the investment property magazines, it seems doable, so I want to be an example of how you can do it.
Apparently 70% of property investors own only 1 property and 50% sell their property in the first 7 years. It's the old story....if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it 
I would value forum members opinions on my personal situation and which strategy I should develop to reach my goal.
You will get as many differing opinions here as there are members, regarding investing strategies
There is not a real lot of detail in your personal situation above though to assist and how much do you want to lay bare on an open forum?
I just became self-employed with one major contract worth about $300k pa. I own an investment property which used to be my primary place of residence. I just re-financed it to get it of all other debt and to transfer it into an investment loan which increases my cash flow. The property is currently rented and pays 50% of my mortage costs.
Do you have other contracts also?
You rent now?
A Good Mortgage broker will be able to assist here when looking at your income and serviceability levels, it will at least give you a starting point
I'd like to build a portfolio and be able to buy a few houses fairly quickly, as I think houses are fairly cheap atm and will go up in value soon.
Australia is a big place, with a myriad of markets, "houses are fairly cheap atm and will go up in value soon" is a broad brush statement; where do you think they are cheap and will go up in value soon (Rocky?) and why?
More information will assist respondents to your thread
How should I achieve this? Ideally, I purchase a positive geared property in a high capital growth area and should be able to use savings from this property to purchase another one in 12-18 months. What's the opinion of some more experienced investers?
Sounds like a good plan, if i could purchase a positively geared property that also gave me enough in capital growth to purchase again in 12-18 months i'd do so...Port Hedland was a good example, it had reported 11% growth last year and has properties with 10% yeilds
I thought its run was done, however I thought that the year before also...what do you think about its 2012 prospects?
Also, should I buy the property or my company? If I buy it I pay nearly 50% tax on the income, if the company buys the property it's only 30% but there's CGT which I believe is no way around.
Along with a good Mortgage Broker you need a good accountant and preferably one who's able to assist you with your strategy, once you choose it.
As Rolf said though, it would be best not to mix your investing & your business with the same company
How do you work out "nearly 50% tax on the income"?
2010-2011 tax rates are incremental and the highest is $180,001 and over = $54,550 tax plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000 (and a 1.5% medicare levy). However you may have many offsets and add-backs with your business and investment property?
One way around CGT is a PPoR, another is not to sell; there are also legitimate strategies to mininimize CGT and the government will also give you a reduction if holding an investment more than 12 months. If its high cashflow-high growth why sell though and if you did, where would you put your money?
I would really appreciate some opinions and advice. Thank you!
