Top ten mistakes
OK, been and returned.
There were no responses to my post about parking. A pity about that. I arrived in Sydney 5:30PM. I found a parking spot- "$13 flat rate after 6PM". OK- half hour parking to 6PM, plus $13.
WRONG!
Parking bill was $49. The flat rate only applies if you arrive after 6PM. If I'd known, I would have driven out after 6PM and driven back in again immediately.
City slickers 1. Country (capital) bumpkins 0.
OK. Here's my summary of a brief part of Peter Span's presentation- "Top ten mistakes". Note-this is only from my quick notes. It is probably not accurate. I'm only posting this to promote someideas anddiscussion.
1. Over committing. In the current environment, a 5% deposit is too high of a risk in an environment where prices may drop.
2. Under committing. If you wait for growth to show again, it might be two years before the figures show growth again. By that time, because of the time lag, growth figures might be up to two years out of date. You might have missed out on perhaps 40% of the growth.
3. Buying outside your area. Buy within 10 km of where you live. (But, as a result of questions- you need to do the research where you live to ensure it is a sound place to invest)
4. Overvaluing the opinion of non-experts (newspapers, media, friends, taxi drivers. Peter no longer tells people he is a property investor, as he too often gets a lecture. He tells them he is an insurance salesman).
5. Relying on hearsay instead of quality research.
6. Buying property from property marketers and developers. There’s nothing wrong per se from buying from a developer, as long as you negotiate hard.
7. Not sticking to a pre-set price at auction
8. Overdoing renovations. You should spend a maximum of 12-13% on renovations.
9. Trying to find the “bargain of a lifetime”. Peter has only ever found two of these in his career. He turned them both down, because he thought there must have been something wrong with them.
10. Not finding the finance appropriate to needs. Many people just go for the cheapest interest rates-but this can be at the expense of flexibility- for instance, a Line ofCredit.
Peter is looking for IP stories for his new book on property. Any story would be good- disaster or success. Any story published will get a copy ofhis book. Email
sales@freemanfox.com.au