Hi LisaP,
You didn't disappoint under promise with the number of questions!
I always deliver on my promises!
Hit me LisaP, cant ensure quick response but will respond when I get a chance.
Thanks Bigtone. Apologies for the delayed response - it has been a very busy week for me.
Just as an FYI, I am in the process of formulating a strategy that will provide me with "financial independence" within the next 9 years (before I hit 40). I am starting from zero, but will be purchasing in Sydney within the coming months. While I sometimes kick myself that I didn't start sooner, my life decided to take me on another path, and I now have the good fortune to be undertaking a PhD on this topic - something that I have always been very passionate about. So at the moment, I am living and breathing investing, but it is a topic that I love, so I consider myself very lucky!
OK, back to the thread...
I read some books on investment concepts such as Jan Somers "story by story"? and some good books like "wealth for life" and some terrible but nothing really on hotspot criteria or where to buy.
Thanks for these titles. Are there are other property investment books that you have come across in your travels that might also be worth a look in?
1. Rental Returns 7%+...It is number one...
In looking at rental returns, do you look at the "general" medium advertised weekly rent for the area (regardless of property type), or are you more specific, and look at the rental yield for the property type you will purchasing, such as a 2 bedroom unit. For example, units in the area might be providing rental yields above 7%, but houses might only be providing a 4% rental yield. Is this still acceptable in your opinion?
I think lifestyle town such as Hervey Bay and many in Victoria such as Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads work on different criteria but I won't bore you with that...
Please bore me with the details!
3. Wages to value ratio: What is this ratio?
You summed this up nicely in a later post - so no questions here.
when we bought in Mackay in 2004 there were 100 new people moving there every fortnight but the local builders were only producing 20 finished homes a month
How did you find out this information? For example, was it obtained by talking to local real estate agents, property managers, the council, or did you call the local builders or developers in the area?
I think this may also refer to your
that you carry out on an area? What does a hit and run mission consist of? It sounds exciting.little hit and run missions
I hate housing stats so pretty much ignore those as they compare outdated apples with outdated bananas, prefer to research on a much more micro level
OK, so I'm gathering that you hate housing statistics, especially medium house price stats!! However, you also mentioned that:
if you look in Melb at end of 2006 after 3 years of basically no capital growth the rental yield had improved dramatically
So I'm guessing that you still keep an eye on capital growth by way of medium house price movements? Or maybe by some other means?
I found some properties last year that sold for less than what they did in 2003 yet the rent return had doubled on those properties, that is a boom waiting to happen when the other factors are also right
Good stuff! Do you use RP Data to obtain previous sale prices for a property or some other data provider?
I am much more into "feel" than technical analysis, graphs etc as I am not selling a book or a mentoring program where I can reveal 7 secrets your grandma's cousin never wanted you to know!
My grandma's cousin is going to be very disappointed with this piece of news...
OK, one more question that was not mentioned in the previous posts. Given that Australia is such a large country, how does one go about choosing a potential town or region to research? Is it just a matter of throwing a dart at a map, or are you pointed in a certain direction by information in property magazines, federal and state planning documents, or perhaps by trawling realestate.com.au or looking at websites such as investsmart.com.au or by purchasing a "hotspotting" report?Choosing an area to research
Many thanks.
Lisa