Has Somersoft changed or have I?
- Thread starter Sunfish
- Start date
ok matt, how about 'tips on investing in a flat market for people who don't want to invest in mining towns and don't have enough capital to do a development'
Exactly, let to me add my support to Sim that "back in my day" (pun intended) when I was Mod:
In 95% of the cases, a complaint would be sent to us by a member or a number of members. The group as whole knows when it sees something wrong. Then if the issue was not obvious, it was debated. The mod group would consider and vote on an action. Majority ruled.
Sometimes nothing but you don't see no action so you are unable to relies IMO 50% of issues were let go or watched for future.
In most cases the issues raised were personal attacks, offensive PMs, legal issues and the rare but occasional full on nut case. IF you read the rules then there should be no need to see these.
As Sim has said the thread starter can and often requested it end as it is had got too personal, offensive, off topic. I can remember many examples. This is public domain and sometimes people forget what they post can be seen by those they are posting about.
It may interest many to know Mods are not paid. Nor can you request to be a Mod to push you agenda. Members are approached by the Mods after careful consideration of their expertise, posting, demeanor and attitude and a vote. I was and remain proud to have been asked to help.
Ironically being a mod means you cannot comment as much as you can as individual member lest you be accused of perceived biases. You effectively gag yourself to some extent.
As and for pushing services this is just untrue.
Whilst Somersoft is owned, paid for, supported and run by Ian and Jan Somers and they ask for nothing, no fee, no advertising, no pop ups, they don't even spruik their books or post. They do however risk enormous legal liability in publishing everyone posts. There has been legal threats. Yet they still pay for this site and ask for nothing. They want to educate others. That is the objective.
I never advertised my services and as far I can see Rolf is the only one Mod offering services, and he was doing that before he was a mod. I seem to remember he offered to drop it as conflict of interest but his reputation indicated he would not abuse his position and he has not.
Lasty, as I am NOT a mod I can say this:
Sim is not paid or is paid very little to use his vast IT expertise to keep this place going. Sim is legend and to be blunt, NO SIM, NO SOMERSOFT. All the other Mods are property people, not IT, Sim is man that keeps this place up. Sim is a legend.
Mods work hard, having to read threads they would not and reported PMS for no pay, no glamour, no annual Mod conference in Hawaii. They do it because they support education.
So any “newbie” who thinks otherwise needs to spend more time looking and learning a lot more before attacking them. Education is SS goal, they should get some.
Regards Peter 14.7
My strategy of developing in booming towns has been done with $70k of capital. I am on track to deliver 40% return on developing costs, 16% yields plus any additional capital growth and $1 million profits in the next year, at current prices.
People have a mindset that developing requires too much capital to start. I thought the same until recently. You just need to be investing in the right market with high returns and start small. My first development is a 2 townhouse build at the back of an existing house on a corner block. This gives you access to standard residential lending and you are basically getting the land for free. The high cashflow allows you to borrow easily, based on the rental yield on completion.
I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they invest where the economy isn't booming. It would be a poor strategy. Find the best possible investment with the best return and invest there, where significant growth and capital gains are much more certain.
As for potential downside risk of the mining boom stalling, if that happens, it won't just be the boom towns that go bust, it will be every capital city in Australia. It is the only thing that is moving ahead at the moment and the lifeblood of investment activity in the country.
Totally agree... I think that given that people are volunteering their time to moderate and provide IT support, we need to respect and appreciate the work they do.
I've been on other forums where there is less moderation, and they have become unusable because of the amount of spam etc. I've also seen on SS how easy it is for a thread to go from useful information to personal attack, and been on the receiving end of one of those personal attacks. I was very grateful for the support of the moderators at that stage.
Obviously there is a need for balance, but overall, I think the mods do a great job, and dont deserve the level of criticism they have received in this post and the other recent one.
I think it probably would be good if some information could be included when a thread is closed or deleted... but I'm not sure if that's feasible.
In terms of SS changing, I think its inevitable in an online "community" ... peoples interests change, their availability changes and the market changes. So, it's unrealistic to expect that the forum wouldnt change! Unfortunately, the market is not quite as exciting and fast moving as it was a few years ago... that has an effect on the forum as well.
I do think that there seems to be some increased "nastiness", particularly in Coffee Shop discussions. I think sometimes people just need to know when to leave a discussion, or stop arguing. its frustrating when things are just going round in circles.. and also read over their posts to make sure they are not attacking the person instead of discussing the issues.
Apparently, I need to spread my kudos around.....Well said Pete
Reminder to self, give more kudos....
see "Nathan Birch".
In 2009, they were inexpensive and there were massive FHOGs of $32k available to buy. This gave a free 10% deposit.
A good sized block of 540 sqm was $140k. Have a look at it now. You are paying much more for 300 sqm.
Those that bought and have sold already did great, I was one of them. There really was good value at the time, especially when compared with comparable areas in Sydney. You could get a brand new fully spec'd 4/2/2 with stone benches, aircon etc for $320k on a decent sized block of land 20km from CBD.
Yes, I'm really impressed with Nathan's strategy. A good starting point for those looking to get into low end housing in big cities.
Thanks for elaborating. Maybe we could start a new thread so we don't derail this one, and you can give some more details about how you chose your development site, how you chose the towns you invest in, and what your long term plan is? Sorry if you've already posted this info somewhere and I missed it, but these sort of posts, 'what I'm doing, how it's working, and why I chose to do it', are the ones I find really helpful and interesting.
I love reading Nathan's posts too. I love reading all posts where people share their various investing strategies and successes. That's what I miss a bit. Seems like there's less of that these days and more argument about property economics and stuff.
Not sure,it still seems the same to me,you have the agents looking at the public image of real estate, the people that work in the money game always have their fingers on the pluse of which way the rates-rba will go,in between you can learn or complain,i'm just a blue collar worker and i'm still learning something new each day when i first came here i never posted for quite a while just read and watched all the high end investors come and go,and who they took with them is history,no one ever took me for ride up the garden path and then slammed the gate then did a runner with the 20 cents in my back pocket
..And BTW ,Sim and the people that run and own this site always have my thanks..
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FYI just had friend I am advising confirm a buy at $240k 3bed 2 bath townhouse renting for $350 a week.
Peter
I've only been a member since 2010 so I have no notion of the good ol' days.
Since I've joined, 'Where to Buy' has all but died. Views in general have mellowed out. It all feels a bit meandering. No-one really knows what to expect or where to go from here (there are a few dedicated exceptions, but even they feel more 'vanilla' of late). Just a reflection of the current economic environment.
The mods do a fairly decent job, I think. I've been accused of being a D&Ger once or twice (not true, I swear) and the mods have never deleted any of my posts. When a thread goes south and a bunch of posts, including mine, get deleted, it seldom bothers me. Usually it's for the best.
Sometimes I'll feel a little sad when a member is banned but the mods are mostly justified. Even though I know they had to go, I miss their flamboyant and cantankerous ways. Except for the fructose-obsessed one.
I still have plenty to learn from this forum, but it feels like most of the seasoned members have exhausted its educational potential and are half-heartedly sticking around for some light chitchat.
Since I've joined, 'Where to Buy' has all but died. Views in general have mellowed out. It all feels a bit meandering. No-one really knows what to expect or where to go from here (there are a few dedicated exceptions, but even they feel more 'vanilla' of late). Just a reflection of the current economic environment.
The mods do a fairly decent job, I think. I've been accused of being a D&Ger once or twice (not true, I swear) and the mods have never deleted any of my posts. When a thread goes south and a bunch of posts, including mine, get deleted, it seldom bothers me. Usually it's for the best.
Sometimes I'll feel a little sad when a member is banned but the mods are mostly justified. Even though I know they had to go, I miss their flamboyant and cantankerous ways. Except for the fructose-obsessed one.
I still have plenty to learn from this forum, but it feels like most of the seasoned members have exhausted its educational potential and are half-heartedly sticking around for some light chitchat.
Plenty around nerang, south port and Labrador.
For 200 kish a decent 2 bed in a six pack not far from water is poss at the moment
Ta
rolf
Just have ask with the low 200k's 2-b six packs,what land area would they be on and are they all around Southport or up the Tweed end of the strip?..
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