investing in the west

[zaligirl]

Hi all,


I am looking to start investing in the west of sydney, the property that interest us are properties that can be turned into duplexes later down the track, (corner block eg). We are using "Property Secrets". Has anyone heard of them or dealt with them? Any feedback would be helpfull.

Zaligirl.

 

[yo yo ma]

Which one?
http://www.propertysecrets.com.au/
http://www.propertysecrets.net.au/aboutus.html
What are the commissions like?
Steve

 

[zaligirl]

It,s property secrets.com

commissions $5000

to high?

 

[yo yo ma]

Ask yourself, "What are you getting for the $5K?"

Read this article on Hans Jakobi. It is by Neil Jenman, who I don't always agree with. In this case I do... Feel free to make your own mind up. Do a bit of research & ask questions before signing up or giving any money.

Jakobi says, "The full retail price of 'Super Secrets To Real Estate Wealth' is only $4,995". But "for a VERY limited time" he's going to sell it for "only $3,867". He then tells us, "That's more than a whopping $1,100 discount!!" Hans says he loves helping people.

If you're a battler, you can pay Hans $957 a month for three months. If you pay up-front, Hans gives you a further discount of $370, meaning he pockets (sorry, your investment is only) $3,497.00.

Steve

 

[skater]

Yep! I know them quite well. I live & invest in Western Sydney. They typically source ex-housing commission houses & project manage the reno on them. I have heard that it costs around $40k for the reno, but as this is just hearsay, cannot confirm this figure. I know that I would not spend half that amount if I was doing the same job.

All the houses they source look the same & have the same reno done to them. The houses come up looking clean, neat & somewhat sterile. When driving down the street it is easy to pick out the property secrets houses.

They do source other homes too that don't require the reno, but to be honest, if you were to come out here & do a little homework you could find yourself just as good a deal (maybe better). They typically make lowball offers on many houses.

 

[Nathan]

Agree with Skater 100%.

Wouldnt touch em personally.

you can buy ex houseo homes for about $170-190k with little research. although property secrets seem to buy everything at the auctions. there are many good buys out there. they generally spend upto $200k + your $5k comm + your 40k reno, for 245k id rather buy a fairly decent private home up cranebrook way thats private area and around 20 years old, and expect to get about 250+pw rent

food for thought.

 

[skater]

I should have added that you can get something already reno'd for a little over $200k (without having to look too hard) & you should be able to rent it out for $230-240pw.

 

[beachgurl]

I was at an auction a few months back and they were there too. I asked them what they do and they said they renovate and sell properties. They made very low bids on the (very) ugly properties and basically buy whatever no one wants at a low price. I think they bought 2 places at that auction, but like Skater said, the price they paid would not have been low enough for it to be a great buy for someone else. Pretty sure they paid around 180K for properties that would sell renovated for around the 200-210k mark.

If your target market is low end ex-housing commission properties in outer western sydney, I would recommend you go to the auctions yourself rather than put money in the pockets of a middleman.

 

[skater]

If your target market is low end ex-housing commission properties in outer western sydney, I would recommend you go to the auctions yourself rather than put money in the pockets of a middleman.

Yep! And you can pretty much bet that you will be the only one bidding against them in this market. Many of the agents auction a group of them at a time & if they have competition on one, they usually move onto the next. There really is no secret to what they do.

BTW, they also charge a fee to project manage the reno too.

 

[zaligirl]

Thanks forumites

Your feed back has been tremendous!

Sounds like I need to do more homework in Western Sydney area.

Cheers

 

[dash11]

Skater is right. Also be carefull on corner blocks, especially with Blacktown council. It is far from certain that a duplex can be built once setbacks, road frontage, easments etc has been taken into account.

 

[skater]

Skater is right. Also be carefull on corner blocks, especially with Blacktown council. It is far from certain that a duplex can be built once setbacks, road frontage, easments etc has been taken into account.

Be aware, too, that many of the homes are built on an angle, facing the corner, which means that in a lot of cases you can't just build another home on the back portion of the block. In order to build you will have to demolish the existing home & build two new ones.