Evening all.
I seem to return here whenever I can't make up my mind. There's a wealth of information and experience on this board, and I like to tap into that when faced with a dilemma.
Background info.
Bought my first IP a little over a year ago for about $275k in Bendigo.
Have about $40k equity in that property
Saved another $50k for next property
Still living at home
Time to move out
Dilemma.
Not really, but having a hard time making up my mind.
Initially I thought I would buy a place for myself. I want to live in St Kilda, so I was looking at small (tiny) 1br apartments.
I've spent nearly 6 months searching for something I like, but haven't had much luck. I was looking at older apartments in smaller blocks, with car space and preferably a courtyard, internal of 40sqm+, with a budget of $350k MAX.
Probably not the most realistic goal, but I was happy to buy something a little run down and add value, keeping available the option to rent it back out in the future.
6 months passed and I'm re-evaluating my plan.
Plan A -
Stick to the plan above.
This is the only property lately that has interested me:
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-vic-st+kilda-115956067
It's not ideal, but with some work it has potential to make a nice little (temporary) 'home'. Or I could add some value and rent it back out for $300+ p/w.
Plan B -
Bite the bullet and rent in St Kilda (which would be in a share house). Then look at buying a property a little further out from St kilda, maybe where I could afford a 2br apartment or even a town house. I haven't done the research yet into other areas as I have been pretty determined to buy in st kilda, but I'm looking at all options now.
Summary
So. From an investment point of view I imagine plan B is the better option. However owning my own place and being able to work on it and make it my own home also has strong appeal. However this will mean I won't be able to purchase another IP for a while either. But with my budget and desired location I might be out of my league anyway.
Goals?
Buy and hold. Capital Gains. No long term exit strategy? as yet.
Something affordable that won't cost me much each week, as my weekly budget would be fairly tight.
Thanks.
Sorry for the long rant, but I find it helps putting things down in writing.
As always I would absolutely love to hear any advice, comments, criticism. I know you can't make decisions for me, but I do gain a lot of perspective hearing from everyone here.
Peace
I seem to return here whenever I can't make up my mind. There's a wealth of information and experience on this board, and I like to tap into that when faced with a dilemma.
Background info.
Bought my first IP a little over a year ago for about $275k in Bendigo.
Have about $40k equity in that property
Saved another $50k for next property
Still living at home
Time to move out
Dilemma.
Not really, but having a hard time making up my mind.
Initially I thought I would buy a place for myself. I want to live in St Kilda, so I was looking at small (tiny) 1br apartments.
I've spent nearly 6 months searching for something I like, but haven't had much luck. I was looking at older apartments in smaller blocks, with car space and preferably a courtyard, internal of 40sqm+, with a budget of $350k MAX.
Probably not the most realistic goal, but I was happy to buy something a little run down and add value, keeping available the option to rent it back out in the future.
6 months passed and I'm re-evaluating my plan.
Plan A -
Stick to the plan above.
This is the only property lately that has interested me:
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-vic-st+kilda-115956067
It's not ideal, but with some work it has potential to make a nice little (temporary) 'home'. Or I could add some value and rent it back out for $300+ p/w.
Plan B -
Bite the bullet and rent in St Kilda (which would be in a share house). Then look at buying a property a little further out from St kilda, maybe where I could afford a 2br apartment or even a town house. I haven't done the research yet into other areas as I have been pretty determined to buy in st kilda, but I'm looking at all options now.
Summary
So. From an investment point of view I imagine plan B is the better option. However owning my own place and being able to work on it and make it my own home also has strong appeal. However this will mean I won't be able to purchase another IP for a while either. But with my budget and desired location I might be out of my league anyway.
Goals?
Buy and hold. Capital Gains. No long term exit strategy? as yet.
Something affordable that won't cost me much each week, as my weekly budget would be fairly tight.
Thanks.
Sorry for the long rant, but I find it helps putting things down in writing.
As always I would absolutely love to hear any advice, comments, criticism. I know you can't make decisions for me, but I do gain a lot of perspective hearing from everyone here.
Peace