Hi All,
I'd like to introduce myself to this forum as I'm new here. I guess you could say, I'm your typical 24yo Gen Y. Up until recently, my experience with property has been incredibly limited, minus the odd attendance to a nearby neighborhood auction. Over my university years I've been very careless and naive with my finances. However I have been very lucky to have much older friends steer me away from the traps that many of my generation fall into.
Whilst I was at uni working part-time at a hifi bulk store, I would pretty much blow my money on everything I wanted. Video games, DVDs, ipod, expensive hifi stereo, big TV, eat out all the time (I'd buy lunch everyday at uni) and live the life blowing away my hard earned cash. I always wanted a sports car too but my parents banged into me night and day that a sports car was the worst way I could spend my money (I never realised this until my old man started to make me pay for the family car petrol, rego and insurance).
At the bulk store I had a small number of senior colleagues who were doing it tough working the long hours to pay their mortgage, maintain IPs and feed their kids. My colleagues realised that when I'd finish uni and move into a full-time qualified job, I'd have the best starting opportunity to build a solid foundation for my own future. Most of them saw me spend my money in such silly ways that they took me aside and told me that if they invested their money at my age, they wouldn't need to work long hours in a retail shop to survive. Having a few of the older blokes give me this advice was too hard to ignore, so I hence decided to commence saving my deposit and shift my focus to investment.
When I had started full-time employment in 2006 I began to sell off all my goodies on the internet (eBay, online classifieds). To date, I have sold 120 items which included lots of DVDs, Video Games, ipod and heaps of other useless stuff I bought. All of the items I sold I would have probably got 30-40% of my cash back and pumped it into my deposit. This is still ongoing, however the bulk of the luxury items I bought during uni have pretty much been sold. *pats self on back.
My aim is to only have the items I use on a frequent basis which are computer, gym membership ($42 per month), Xbox360, ipod and my acoustic guitar - hopefully nobody here thinks I'm living it up excessively with these items.
At the start of 2007, I managed to break the habit of buying lunch at work everyday. Then I began to cut my monthly expenses for example slashing the mobile phone plan and jumping on prepaid. Cutting off a dollar here and a dollar there has had a huge impact on my bank balance!
Since Nov 2007, I've been ready to purchase a place but have been putting it off just to the sheer daunting task of buying my first IP. I don't know why I'm so scared of the process but I found that simple fear, excuses and procrastination has put me away from it all. Other issues I've had is that I've had older family friends tell me I will never be successful investing in property and also my parents are slightly nervous I'm buying an investment property (they are risk aversive and have never bought IPs). However I'm determined to stick with the plan and give it a go.
My greatest fear would be for someone to ask me one day "Did you ever try to be wealthy by putting a few ideas into action?" and to reply with a "No, I did nothing and simply sat on the fence and watched everyone else try different things".
So a month ago, I decided to take action and have since:
a) Started to identify 1-2 suburbs to invest in (Frankston being one)
b) Organised finance (application is now with my broker)
c) Started looking at properties and talking to real estate agents. (3 weeks straight in frankston).
d) Study rental sheets.
e) Confirmed that my solicitor is ok for conveyancing.
I need to:
a) Find a building and pest inspector.
b) Talk to property managers.
c) Learn how to deal with real estate agents and build a good rapport with them (in my 3rd week in Franga I nearly gave away my maximum buy price and one blatantly lied to me multiple after finding facts from the vendor). - Mind you some have also been good to me too.
d) Talk to my accountant about finance structure and implications of investment property?
I've so far read the following books:
Making Money - Paul Clitheroe
Buying & Selling Your Home For Dummies - Karin Derkley
Real Estate Mistakes - Neil Jenman
How to Legally Reduce Your Tax - Tony Melvin & Ed Chan
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
More Wealth From Residential Property - Jan Somers (Currently Reading)
To read:
The Millionaire Next Door - Stanley/Danko
I've had a quick browse around the forum esp the beginners FAQ but if anyone has any specific pointers to kick me in the right direction I'd appreciate it!
I'd like to introduce myself to this forum as I'm new here. I guess you could say, I'm your typical 24yo Gen Y. Up until recently, my experience with property has been incredibly limited, minus the odd attendance to a nearby neighborhood auction. Over my university years I've been very careless and naive with my finances. However I have been very lucky to have much older friends steer me away from the traps that many of my generation fall into.
Whilst I was at uni working part-time at a hifi bulk store, I would pretty much blow my money on everything I wanted. Video games, DVDs, ipod, expensive hifi stereo, big TV, eat out all the time (I'd buy lunch everyday at uni) and live the life blowing away my hard earned cash. I always wanted a sports car too but my parents banged into me night and day that a sports car was the worst way I could spend my money (I never realised this until my old man started to make me pay for the family car petrol, rego and insurance).
At the bulk store I had a small number of senior colleagues who were doing it tough working the long hours to pay their mortgage, maintain IPs and feed their kids. My colleagues realised that when I'd finish uni and move into a full-time qualified job, I'd have the best starting opportunity to build a solid foundation for my own future. Most of them saw me spend my money in such silly ways that they took me aside and told me that if they invested their money at my age, they wouldn't need to work long hours in a retail shop to survive. Having a few of the older blokes give me this advice was too hard to ignore, so I hence decided to commence saving my deposit and shift my focus to investment.
When I had started full-time employment in 2006 I began to sell off all my goodies on the internet (eBay, online classifieds). To date, I have sold 120 items which included lots of DVDs, Video Games, ipod and heaps of other useless stuff I bought. All of the items I sold I would have probably got 30-40% of my cash back and pumped it into my deposit. This is still ongoing, however the bulk of the luxury items I bought during uni have pretty much been sold. *pats self on back.
My aim is to only have the items I use on a frequent basis which are computer, gym membership ($42 per month), Xbox360, ipod and my acoustic guitar - hopefully nobody here thinks I'm living it up excessively with these items.
At the start of 2007, I managed to break the habit of buying lunch at work everyday. Then I began to cut my monthly expenses for example slashing the mobile phone plan and jumping on prepaid. Cutting off a dollar here and a dollar there has had a huge impact on my bank balance!
Since Nov 2007, I've been ready to purchase a place but have been putting it off just to the sheer daunting task of buying my first IP. I don't know why I'm so scared of the process but I found that simple fear, excuses and procrastination has put me away from it all. Other issues I've had is that I've had older family friends tell me I will never be successful investing in property and also my parents are slightly nervous I'm buying an investment property (they are risk aversive and have never bought IPs). However I'm determined to stick with the plan and give it a go.
My greatest fear would be for someone to ask me one day "Did you ever try to be wealthy by putting a few ideas into action?" and to reply with a "No, I did nothing and simply sat on the fence and watched everyone else try different things".
So a month ago, I decided to take action and have since:
a) Started to identify 1-2 suburbs to invest in (Frankston being one)
b) Organised finance (application is now with my broker)
c) Started looking at properties and talking to real estate agents. (3 weeks straight in frankston).
d) Study rental sheets.
e) Confirmed that my solicitor is ok for conveyancing.
I need to:
a) Find a building and pest inspector.
b) Talk to property managers.
c) Learn how to deal with real estate agents and build a good rapport with them (in my 3rd week in Franga I nearly gave away my maximum buy price and one blatantly lied to me multiple after finding facts from the vendor). - Mind you some have also been good to me too.
d) Talk to my accountant about finance structure and implications of investment property?
I've so far read the following books:
Making Money - Paul Clitheroe
Buying & Selling Your Home For Dummies - Karin Derkley
Real Estate Mistakes - Neil Jenman
How to Legally Reduce Your Tax - Tony Melvin & Ed Chan
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
More Wealth From Residential Property - Jan Somers (Currently Reading)
To read:
The Millionaire Next Door - Stanley/Danko
I've had a quick browse around the forum esp the beginners FAQ but if anyone has any specific pointers to kick me in the right direction I'd appreciate it!
