Investing in Interstate IP's-Feedback sought on resource

[sheiks]

I work at TAFE as a Multimedia lecturer and recently asked my students to do a FLASH based project as an assessment . The project is an interactive
presentation on "investing in interstate residential property".

I had a choice of several topics to ask the students to choose from..the
objective being that I do all the research and provide them with raw
content, and, they on their part, would be expected to do the majority of
interface design, navigation and scripting with some help from me whenever
needed.

I felt that a project like this would be a meaningful and practical activity that would benefit my students as well as their target audience (in this case somersoft members). I approached one of the mods, GeoffW and told him what we intended doing and whether it would be ok to present the best of the student projects as a free resource to forumites. Geoffw has suggested I post this link and see what reaction we get...

http://www.freewebs.com/robynred

The objective of the resource is:

1. To offer the finished product as a resource for the benefit of forum members and get input from forum members (if they wish) on the content.
2. For the student to get some form of recognition (praise, commendation etc) which they can include in their resume. They can then point potential employers to this resource after completing TAFE.

The content is drawn from my own experience since I started investing in property 4 years ago (the student has little experience and knowledge of the topic as such). A lot of the ideas are also drawn from what I have learnt on the forum, through books, as well as personal experience.

I acknowledge that some of the content is debatable and I DO NOT consider
myself an expert in this.

The student who has since graduated (with a Cert 4) and I will be able to make some minimal modifications if necessary based on the type of requests received, the frequency of change required and the impact on file size, speed etc. any requested changes may require.

Also, please note that, it can take AGES for the page to load up. It's not
very suited if you have a dial up connection but should be fine for broadband users. The first page has a an option to turn sound off and on. If you are
experiencing problems, it's probably best to have sound off.

Cheers

 

[geoffw]

Thanks Sheiks- and our apologies that we could not get this going sooner.

Initial feedback was provided by Ian Somers, and some changes have been made as a result. The use of the Somersoft logo as an incidental to the design (on t-shirts) was OK, just in case anybody asks.

Ian made a comment about the emphasis on interstate property- Sheiks' response was

I appreciate Ian's view that the emphasis should not be on interstate investing. However, I had specifically chosen this topic for the class. The reason I chose the topic is because I have recently been buying investment properties outside my own comfort zone by timing property cycles in different states. I think the idea of buying in a different state can be very scary and quite challenging (at least it was for me initially). So it is mainly for the benefit of such members that I felt motivated to produce a resource like this.

There has been a lot of good work put into the project, so constructive feedback would be welcome.

 

[Peter Parker]

I would start the presentation at an even earlier level as there is one basic concept about standard buy & hold property investing that must be mentioned.

* That is you're buying an appreciating asset with depreciating dollars (that you borrow). Even if the property rises by CPI only the gap between the two will widen (exponentially) over time making you money.

Following on from that is holding costs and the -ve gearing shortfall. But since most cost is interest (that doesn't rise by CPI) and most income is rent (which should) then over time the property will become CF neutral and then positive. By that time the mere act of holding it makes money for you and you're not dependent on rising values.

Note that you're not trying to time cycles, treating cyclical gain as a bonus. Especially for an educational project, I think that is a safer option, and it might be a good idea to reduce emphasis on timing the market. And I agree with Ian Somers, 'interstate property' is too prescriptive - it would be better if it is general. And note sometimes that at particular times (eg Perth 2002) the bargains are right at home.

Having understood this basic concept (and accepted that it is sufficiently probable to become an assumption you're comfortable to accept) are two important things that need to be understood before the decision is made to go into PI.

* The first is knowing your own finances and circumstances. This sets limits on (i) what you can borrow & buy and (ii) the shortfall you can afford each month (if it's -ve geared). In turn this may affect location and type of property.

* The second is knowing what you want to get out of IP. This (along with your financial and non-financial capabilities) could influence the investing approach - ie buying for CG, buying for +CF, buying to resell, buying and renovating, etc.

And only then can you press start for the rest of the show!

 

[geoffw]

Bear in mind that the target audience is investors, who may have had experience, who may want to look interstate.

Also please bear in mind that comments about content are going to be less useful to the project than comments about the multimedia presentation. How are the graphics, the design, the navigation, the sound?

Sheiks would like to be able to provide something which the student can learn from- and if it's something the student can include in a resume, all the better.

 

[sheiks]

Just to add to what Geoff has said....the emphasis is on giving the student feedback; however, I am happy to hear any feedback related to content as well, especially if it's something easily fixed or if there is anything in the existing content that is flawed in anyway.

Shakil

 

[Rixter]

Looks great Shieks.

I especially like the house photo on the home page!

 

[caz]

It looks great. Really easy to follow, much better then a lot of websites I have visited.

 

[sheiks]

Here's the link again:

http://www.freewebs.com/robynred

Appreciate the feedback so far.

Peter, I take your point regarding where the presentation should start, pricing, strategy etc. When we started on this project, we were concerned about bandwidth and speed issues and therefore had to make certain assumptions ie the investor knows something about IP's, has an idea of budgets/costs as well as strategy (+ve/-ve gearing, buy hold/value add etc.). In the time allowed it would have been difficult to produce a resource with everything so we had to come up with something that gives a taste of what the student is capable of doing given more time and help.

I believe it is very possible to take your suggestions on board and keep developing this resource but I guess I need a bit more feedback from others as to what they think of the product before we decide where we want to head with it.

Cheers

Shakil