Have I made a mistake?

[rugrat]

Your mum basically disowned you over your choice of investment?!?!? WTF?!?
I think your mum must have some other issues going on (control issues maybe) because that's an extreme overreaction to disagreeing with you child on an investment.

Why are you letting her opinion get to you so much? As someone else said, unless she is a successful property investor herself, her opinion really isn't actually worth anything (except that we all obviously like to have our parents approval). And even if she is a successful property investor, it will really depend on you personal strategy and plans as to whether it is a good investment for you.

What her 'friend' think is of even less importance.

My father has talked a number of times about going into an investment together. I won't because what we want from the investment, our goals and strategies are simply too different to reconcile. There are some things he cannt compromise on, and there are some things I cannt compromise on - not without completely redesigning our investment strategies.

What you need to do is run your numbers and see how 'you' feel about those things yourself. If the numbers look good, then you have your answer.

 

[DennisLeung]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, advice and support guys! You all have given me the confidence to move forward with this.

Just to clarify, my mum is not a property investor but has bought and sold about 3-4 properties. When I first told her I would be investing in property in general, she had a big freakout and told me I was insane. We fought etc for quite a while and then she accepted it. Now she is at a stage where she has certain biases toward certain things e.g. can't buy more than 15 mins from a train station, can't buy in areas considered "ghetto", must buy in areas which have already seen capital growth etc.

The only 2 concerns I have regarding this property is the distance to station (20 minutes to Penrith - but 10 minutes to Centro/Panthers) and also the strata ($150 sinking fund so early in its life). Hopefully the positive factors will outweigh.
I haven't checked out the sold price in the last cycle but I think it wasn't built last cycle. I'm pretty sure that when they sold it off the plan a few years ago it was a price HIGHER than I'm buying for now.

Regarding the rent for some reason you got 3 exactly the same units in the block (including mine) renting for between $340-$370. Hopefully I can achieve at least $350 which will be about $20 negative per week for me.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[skater]

Now she is at a stage where she has certain biases toward certain things e.g. can't buy more than 15 mins from a train station, can't buy in areas considered "ghetto", must buy in areas which have already seen capital growth etc.

The only 2 concerns I have regarding this property is the distance to station (20 minutes to Penrith - but 10 minutes to Centro/Panthers) and also the strata ($150 sinking fund so early in its life).

Thanks again everyone!

Where did you get that from? I'm 20 mins from Penrith station, and I live all the way at St Clair. Your unit would be 10 min tops, with traffic.

If those are her only concerns, then she should be happy with your decision.

Except for the Cap growth comment. It's best if they haven't had much growth in the current cycle.

 

[DennisLeung]

Where did you get that from? I'm 20 mins from Penrith station, and I live all the way at St Clair. Your unit would be 10 min tops, with traffic.

If those are her only concerns, then she should be happy with your decision.

Except for the Cap growth comment. It's best if they haven't had much growth in the current cycle.

I think the 10 minute figure is for walking. When I visited the property I walked from the unit to the train station and it was about 20 minutes all up, 10 minutes to the Centro. You're definitely right about driving distance though, it is only a stone's throw away.

The 2 concerns I mentioned are my concerns. Her biggest concern list is as follows:
- Penrith far from the CBD
- Unit not within 15 mins walking distance to the station
- Her friends have all disagreed with the purchase

 

[skater]

The 2 concerns I mentioned are my concerns. Her biggest concern list is as follows:
- Penrith far from the CBD
- Unit not within 15 mins walking distance to the station
- Her friends have all disagreed with the purchase

Has she heard of decentralisation?

Seriously, you need to let her know that this is your decision alone, and it has nothing to do with her friends.

 

[citystar]

Reminds me of my first apartment purchased in QLD, very similar style and layout. My oldies thought I was nuts to buy in the location I did. A year later refinanced, drew $25k in equity out to use as the deposit for the second apartment. A year later drew equity out of the 2nd IP to purchase my 3rd and so forth.

Even though I had done my due diligence and studied the surrounding suburbs in-depth, with my oldies and friends being so negative, I had my doubts about the deal for a while until my stubbornness kicked in and I went ahead with it. I wouldn't be where I am today without taking that leap of faith in myself.

 

[DennisLeung]

Just arrived home from a session of OTP spruiking and rental guarantees. Stories of people making 100k equity in one year buying units in blocks of 100+ in places like Mascot and the like. Immense psychology pressure and emotional blackmail. It's sad to think my mum trusts such a friend (inverted commas) more than she trusts me. They've said that buying in Penrith we are 5 years too early, instead we should focus on OTP or new units in the Hills district. Said company is willing to provide rental guarantees. What do you guys think? Personally I feel nauseous.

 

[Aaron_C]

I think you should vomit to remove the nausea. God, these people.

 

[DaveM]

Rental guarantees lol. Are they backed by the developer personally or by their $10 share capital pty ltd that gets wound up after 12 months to avoid warranty works

 

[skater]

Rental guarantees are worthless. It's easy to give a rental guarantee when you inflate the sales price.

To be honest, yes, you can make money with off the plan, but the majority of spruikers are nothing more than slimey snakeoil sales people with the gift of the gab. Personally, I'd run as fast as I can. If these units were so good, they'd be selling like hotcakes. No need for seminar's, as all us investors would be fighting each other to get one (or two), especially as the market is quite warm in Sydney.

If your mother thinks the body corp fees are high on the unit in Jamilsontown, then she'd really LOVE the fees with an apartment block of 100. There'll be all sorts of amenities included. I'm thinking Pool, Gym, Lift(s) etc, all paid for by the body corp. Read between the lines on this one (enormous fees).

Remember, at the end of the day, this is YOUR decision. Trust no-one that has a vested interest in selling something. Trust no-one that knows nothing about investing. You know what your income is. You know what you are comfortable spending. All the other stuff out there is white noise & you have to learn to block it out.

 

[jaspn]

When I first casually mentioned to my mother a few months ago that I'm going to invest in property, I was met with a sort of stunned silence. Nothing much came of that conversation, until I told her a few weeks later I'm flying to Sydney to conduct on the ground research for a possible investment property. Her reaction was 'Are you sure you want to be taking on all this debt?', and 'Wouldn't you be better to be pay off your own home first?'. To me that's an old school working class mentality, and it really annoys me to hear it!

So as I jump into my investing career I too am seeing all the doubters telling me it's a bad idea, and I admit it makes me question myself sometimes. Am I doing the right thing? Is this going to break me if the investment goes south? But then I just jump back onto Somersoft for a bit of encouragement and get on with it

 

[Spades]

As OP have said don't listen to the naysayers,go with your gut,be confident in what your buying and to quote skaters last line ' All the other stuff out there is white noise & you have to learn to block it out'.

I was in a similar situation early this year.I bought cheap(mortgagee sale)but pulled out as i went through analysis paralysis due to negative opinions,done my head in.The Prop would be worth 50k more now.

You've done your dd and numbers stack up.
Btw not everyone wants to live near a train station nor closer to cbd but do it for lifesyle choice.Draw a ring around the said prop and look at the amenities,pretty good imo.

Cheers Spades.

 

[TMNT]

stuff your mum!

real estate is one of these topics that everyone can and will think they are an expert,

unless she is an presently active and succesfull investor thorugh due diligence (and not by pot luck) then ignore what they say

if she is too worried about your/her reputation going down after buying in a certain area, thats even more reason to ignore her opinion/comments for the rest of your life or until she wakes up!

 

[skater]

Just one more thing from me......

Back in the early days when we bought our first IP we were really excited and told our family what we'd done. We didn't get any negative responses (I think we were older than you are now), but did get several congratulations.

Then we got No2. The responses changed to "so soon?" "why would you do that?" etc.

Then No3, it became "Hmmfp! How many houses can you live in? You're being a bit greedy aren't you?" etc.

These days we've learnt to keep it to ourselves. Very few people know how many IPs we have & we like that just fine. We learnt the hard way that if you tell people, especially those you are close too, that unless they are following the same path they don't understand.

Sometimes they are jealous. Sometimes they think you've struck it rich & then expect you to spend big on them. Sometimes you get the whole Tall Poppy thing. Whatever reason it is, others don't seem to relate too well if you are trying to go where they (and perhaps their friends) have been. It's usually well-meaning, but you will go no-where if you stand around listening and adjusting your investing career to what is acceptable to the 'non investors' in your life.

 

[see_change]

My parents were concerned when we first started investing , but ended up realising we knew what we were doing . Now though , they're 90 and 87 so we don't tell them as I know they'd worry about that we were doing .

Cliff

 

[MsAli]

Yesterday we were at a BBQ at family friends. One of them said to us, "Oh you live around that area that's why you can buy in Mount Druitt". Btw we live near Parramatta and not in Mount Druitt itself where we have invested. They added "we've lived in Homebush and all and that's why we moved to Auburn and hence don't invest there".

Then I asked her, oh so how many years did you live in Mt Druitt - she said "between year 2000 and 2007. By the way they sold their house in Mt Druitt and another in Rooty Hill a few years ago and do not invest!

Can you believe that? We've only been living in Parramatta region since 2005 and we really love it. Prior to that we lived towards the inner west but I felt quite offended when they implied that they were living in a more sought after area - Auburn - which is not really the west yeh right.

This is the LAMEST comment I've heard from someone whose tried to make it sound like we are investing in the west because we live there and it doesn't cut it for them (when in fact out of all places they live in Auburn and lived in Mt Druitt for MANY years). Surely they know the area more than we do....I only even went to the area to see my first property three years ago!!!!!

 

[see_change]

Ms Ali

That's one of the reasons why I like coming here . Like minded people who can provide support and , hopefully , appropriate and constructive feed back . As per Dennis's post , feed back in the real world is often different to here .

When we first got into investing we discussed it much more openly with people outside the forum. We tell our kids what we're doing and also mention it to some members of the immediate family . One niece has gone down the path of investing and is doing well .

Cliff

 

[Darlogus]

My parents said I was stupid and would loose the lot.

now they say I was lucky, and how well things turn out. But now they tell me property will not go up again (EVER)

I don't think I was either. Buy when you can afford to.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

My parents said I was stupid and would loose the lot.

now they say I was lucky, and how well things turn out. But now they tell me property will not go up again (EVER)

I don't think I was either. Buy when you can afford to.

From Pain & Gain - Johnny Wu (bad movie, saw last night).
http://www.english-attack.com/videobooster/pain-gain/im-doer

Don't be a don'ter
Do be a doer.

Don't listen to don'ters.
Don't even talk to them if you don't have to because all you're gonna get back is nagative talk.

Listen to Doers.

 

[Scott No Mates]

From Pain & Gain - Johnny Wu (bad movie, saw last night).
http://www.english-attack.com/videobooster/pain-gain/im-doer

Don't be a don'ter
Do be a doer.

Don't listen to don'ters.
Don't even talk to them if you don't have to because all you're gonna get back is nagative talk.

Listen to Doers.

Too many "don'ts" Ace, are you a don'ter for don'ting?