I went today. I don't think it was quite as big as last year's.
**What's big
- Free lollies (the Arab Bank had the biggest!)
- Attendees having bar codes. Stall holders scan it and, voila!, they have your name, address, email and other profile info (if you gave it)
- Share trading and magic software
- Success motivation
- Small business services
**What's not
- Property
Property stalls included purveyors of hotel units in Hobart, storage units in Seaford and Off the Plan in Toowoomba, ie not the mainstream 'average unit or house in a capital or regional city' that most of us here would favour.
** Talks
The free talks were approx 30 min, evenly divided between shares and property. The two property speakers were Monique Wakelin and Margaret Lomas.
Wakelin gave the usual spiel - buy scarcity value 2 to 7km from the CBD - this quality property will never lose value etc. However this time, as foreshadowed on earlier ABC Radio spots, properties in large centres like Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat were thought suitable for people with limited capital and offered better growth prospects than outer Melbourne suburbs (which are likely to stagnate or fall).
That tired chestnut about the 10% growth/5% yield IP outperforming the 5% growth/10% yield IP was wheeled out yet again, while neglecting that more of the latter can be afforded so overall it works out about the same (as pointed out by Jan Somers).
A brochure dismisses +ve cashflow property as a fad sold by scammers and on a par with non-investments like timeshare accommodation. Of course, the -ve geared property scene isn't exactly lily-white either, but that is no reason to avoid this asset class either.
Lomas covered similar ground to previous presentations but emphasised the desirability of buying in the bottom third of the market. Most controversially she mentioned that cheap properties often appreciate more (percentage-wise) than median or dearer properties.
As we have learned before, buying site-unseen can take away the emotions and give you a better deal (the risk is that you miss seeing renovation opportunities in the property you buy, or not know about the privately-advertised property down the road for $20k less!).
Lomas claimed that more positive cashflow IPs can be bought than -ve geared properties. This is true, but if they are only positive after tax then sooner or later you will run out of tax deductions and will need to buy +ve before tax only.
As an example of the latter, a $100k property returning $250pw rent in Kalgoorlie was cited. This is an excellent deal (even for Kalgoorlie) so maybe there'll be a barrage of calls from Eastern States investors come Monday
Some brief words were said about complicated investment structures, such as companies and trusts. Controversially she these were of little value and that users of them may sacrifice some tax breaks available to the individual.
If I had to pay, I would probably have thought it was a little dear. Especially when compared to other uses of the money (a quality investing book from an op-shop typically costs between $1 and $4.) However for what I paid, it was excellent value for money
Rgds, Peter