I have been fumbling around this forum over the last week or two and have become quite addicted. I thought I'd join in by introducing myself through the thread "How did you start"?
Allow me my indulgace as I clamber onto my soapbox!
Bought a house with my fiance in 1987, (Little more than a fibro shack) for $46.5K. Married in 1988. In the same year I changed jobs from working as a kitchen hand to learning how to build home improvements, ( Awnings, carports screen and glass enclosures) originally the idea was to go into the sales side of the business but It was decided that if I were to sell the products I had to know how they went together. 1994 I started my own Home improvement business and I never looked back. Paid the house off in 20 monthes (56 K) in 1996 and also did every improvement imaginable... brick veneered it, two extensions, new kitchen, bathroom ra ra ra.
The Final house payment was gratifying, there was a sense of crossing the finishing line ...... and I was only 31. I floundered for a few monthes and decided that I needed to commit myself to another property as I wasn't saving any money and those weekly payments that I used to make seemed to be just frittered away.
1997
I ended up buying another hardiplank shack across the road from me in the same street. Paid $97 K. Spent another $23 K
doing it up, new kitchen, bathroom, carport, windows etc.
Rented it out for $175.00 per week to excellent tenants. Managed the property myself. No problems. This house was actually paying itself. Everything was looking sweet as........
1998..... Wife wanted to seperate.....
Things wern't looking as sweet anymore....
1999 moved to Umina on NSW central coast, I owned a caravan
there and thought that if I was going to be miserable ,I might as well be miserable by the sea.
My wife got the house I got $50 K. We settled amicably although we actually lost money on our investment property.
2000 Bought an old red brick house with an inground pool for
$220K. I was about to move in then decided that I wasn't going to spend the next ten years doing this one up. So I took to it with a crow bar and rendered it uninhabitable. I removed all the doors, skirting, architraves , demolished the bathroom, pulled up the carpets. I had that many skips that my neighbours must have wondered what was actually left inside the house. After 6 monthes I finally moved in and the inside of the house was complete.... or so I thought.
2002 Using house No 1 I bought another brick veneer home in the same suburb. I was at an auction and the property was passed in. I bought it a few days later for $230K. I improved the house with new a new carport, awnings, fencing and a new paint job. This house also has a rear lane access with a garage.
I partitioned the back yard and kept the garage for my own use and rented out the house to new tennants. I manage the property myself.
2003. Using House 1 & 2 I have just had loan approved on another old red brick house for $325K.
House 1 valued @ $400K
House 2 valued @ $330K
House 3 Valued @ $325K
Being self employed I have used Low doc loans, with a LVR of 80%, sure you pay a premium in interest rates but considering the capital growth of the peninsula recently, I figure it is well worth it. My strategy is buy and hold. Both investments are negatively geared and there is only so many -ve geared properties that one can afford. I would like to investigate +ve
cashflow properties at a later stage, but for the moment I am thinking about capital growth. I have read a number of books and have been bitten by the bug. I think this forum is an invaluable resource.
Things are looking sweet again...............
Angela Anaconda
"Divorce....better at 33 than 53.....!!!!
Andrew Jackson
Allow me my indulgace as I clamber onto my soapbox!
Bought a house with my fiance in 1987, (Little more than a fibro shack) for $46.5K. Married in 1988. In the same year I changed jobs from working as a kitchen hand to learning how to build home improvements, ( Awnings, carports screen and glass enclosures) originally the idea was to go into the sales side of the business but It was decided that if I were to sell the products I had to know how they went together. 1994 I started my own Home improvement business and I never looked back. Paid the house off in 20 monthes (56 K) in 1996 and also did every improvement imaginable... brick veneered it, two extensions, new kitchen, bathroom ra ra ra.
The Final house payment was gratifying, there was a sense of crossing the finishing line ...... and I was only 31. I floundered for a few monthes and decided that I needed to commit myself to another property as I wasn't saving any money and those weekly payments that I used to make seemed to be just frittered away.
1997
I ended up buying another hardiplank shack across the road from me in the same street. Paid $97 K. Spent another $23 K
doing it up, new kitchen, bathroom, carport, windows etc.
Rented it out for $175.00 per week to excellent tenants. Managed the property myself. No problems. This house was actually paying itself. Everything was looking sweet as........
1998..... Wife wanted to seperate.....
Things wern't looking as sweet anymore....
1999 moved to Umina on NSW central coast, I owned a caravan
there and thought that if I was going to be miserable ,I might as well be miserable by the sea.
My wife got the house I got $50 K. We settled amicably although we actually lost money on our investment property.
2000 Bought an old red brick house with an inground pool for
$220K. I was about to move in then decided that I wasn't going to spend the next ten years doing this one up. So I took to it with a crow bar and rendered it uninhabitable. I removed all the doors, skirting, architraves , demolished the bathroom, pulled up the carpets. I had that many skips that my neighbours must have wondered what was actually left inside the house. After 6 monthes I finally moved in and the inside of the house was complete.... or so I thought.
2002 Using house No 1 I bought another brick veneer home in the same suburb. I was at an auction and the property was passed in. I bought it a few days later for $230K. I improved the house with new a new carport, awnings, fencing and a new paint job. This house also has a rear lane access with a garage.
I partitioned the back yard and kept the garage for my own use and rented out the house to new tennants. I manage the property myself.
2003. Using House 1 & 2 I have just had loan approved on another old red brick house for $325K.
House 1 valued @ $400K
House 2 valued @ $330K
House 3 Valued @ $325K
Being self employed I have used Low doc loans, with a LVR of 80%, sure you pay a premium in interest rates but considering the capital growth of the peninsula recently, I figure it is well worth it. My strategy is buy and hold. Both investments are negatively geared and there is only so many -ve geared properties that one can afford. I would like to investigate +ve
cashflow properties at a later stage, but for the moment I am thinking about capital growth. I have read a number of books and have been bitten by the bug. I think this forum is an invaluable resource.
Things are looking sweet again...............
Angela Anaconda
"Divorce....better at 33 than 53.....!!!!
Andrew Jackson
