What would you do? - Exploring my options

Howdy folks!
I very much value & appreciate all the help on offer here! This site is a wealth of information, literally :) I'm going to present my current situation & I'd welcome any comments or feedback, especially suggestions - I'd guess the majority of you are far more experienced than I, so hearing what your next steps would be would help me a great deal. Of course, I'm not just looking for an "easy button", more a nudge in the right direction. If nothing else this could be a good progress marker for me to look back on!

About Me
I'm 27, just about to finish my Uni degree (I've been banned from mentioning the area of study, sorry :p) & pretty much your typical mid-20's guy... Actually, wait. Scratch that. I'm by definition quite atypical :p
In March of 1998 I broke my neck in a diving accident which left me a Quadriplegic. As I'm sure you can imagine, that's had quite an effect on the course of my life since (the mother of all understatements!), not to mention ahead! Fast-forward a lifetime & here I am.

My Goals
I want to build things. Pretty simple! To be more specific, I'd love to have a role in creating properly accessible housing, especially apartments. State & federal legislation has really let the wider community down in this regard (grand total of apartments required to cater for the ~20% of Australians with a disability: 0%) & there's a lot of inertia still, much unwarranted. The human element aside, universal design will become the new "green", I'd put money on it ;) All we need is a few trailblazers to show that making a house/building accessible to everyone doesn't mean it has to look like a hospital, doesn't mean it has to cost the Earth & can even increase value, all while making you feel warm & fuzzy on the inside. So there's me on the long(er) term.
I need to build up to that though, so I aim to start smaller: houses, townhouses, the standard PI gig until I can afford to take on some bigger ideas.
Yes, I'm a dreamer, & totally proud of that :D

Today
So here's my game right now:
Hands-off account (managed fund) - Currently ~900k which is basically my living expenses. This is not to be touched. It cannot be risked, as it's for care, equipment etc.

Investment property (unencumbered, no loan) - I jumped out of a margin loan in early 2007 (phew) & pumped it all into 2 acres of residential-zoned acreage. Currently renting for $290pw & about to submit plans for a 9 lot subdivision. Hoping to keep at least 2 (possibly 4) & sell the rest.

Tomorrow
A big priority for me is a PPOR. I'd love to buy & modify an apartment in town (Newcastle), but most places suitable are in the 600k area, add the modifications (20 - 80k), so I'm not sure if this is wise just now.

If all goes well (read: in my dreams) I'll sell 5 lots in the next 18 months & free up some capital, so I'm doing my homework now so I can reinvest straight up.


So there you have it! Thought? Comments? Suggestions?
Being new to this, I'm still quite conservative with investments but I've been pondering borrowing against the property to buy up an IP or two, but I don't want to delay the PPOR purchase for too much longer. Am I being too timid? Should I self-educate more before I dive in? I'd value any input you might have :) Thanks for taking the time to read!
 
I have never developed anything, and we are pretty much buy and hold type of lazy investors. There are plenty of go-getters on here so I hope you get some inspiration from people who can help you.

I just wanted to say how inspired and impressed I am reading your goals and attitude having had such an experience at age 14 or so. You are a few years older than our oldest son, and I can believe you when you say you had a life changing experience.

Good luck with your ambition. I reckon with your attitude and aims, you'll go far.
 
Kyebosh,

I'm amazed that given what has happened to you physically, you're still able to do more things than the vast majority of people, let alone investors, have done. But to answer your original query - it you are wanting to buy your PPOR sooner - the best way to do it is thus:

After your subdivision/sale of lots you will have lots of free capital. Use that capital to pay for your PPOR outright. Since the PPOR will be fully paid off, you can borrow off it to invest in investment properties/shares/whatever you want, and that interest will be fully deductible. It's never a good idea to borrow to buy a PPOR if you have enough funds not to. Hope this answers your questions..
 
welcome kyebosh,

I'm in the "ability industry", so have thought alot about the area of accessible housing also. I have been thinking for quite a number of years about how to provide accommodation options for young people in nursing homes.
http://www.ypinh.org.au/ . I used to provide services for a number of them (in the Newcastle area, coincidently), and have often thought there must be a way to provide more appropriate housing options while still providing the level of care they need. So, I'd encourage you to keep thinking about how you could do that.

My main advice would be to, as you say, not touch your 900K. It sounds like a lot, but with the costs of care and equipment etc, it doesnt go very far. So, continue to be disciplined with that.

there is certainly work available in designing/ auditing accessible housing, and maybe you could combine your IT skills with accessibility auditing or design somehow. Another option to combine those interests would be getting into designing and/or fitting environmental controls.

I think its quite a good time to be buying property now. the market is fairly soft and there are bargains to be had. But I think from an accesibility viewpoint, particularly if you are using powered mobility, it may be easier and probably cheaper to build something from scratch, rather than modifying an existing building.. thats certainly been the experience of my clients. Its much easier to get a good layout, that also looks good.

good luck with it all.......
 
Welcome from a fellow geek. There's nothing wrong with IT :D

I really admire your spirit and determination. Your story reminds me of a really interesting one I read in API mag about a paraplegic who became a successful property investor through creating accessible houses. I'll see if I can find it and scan it in - I remember being really amazed by his achievements despite him being a wheelchair.

Good luck kyebosh!
 
Apparently I have to spread the kudos around a bit more first, but I love the way you so matter-of-factly mentioned you were "atypical" - not seeking sympathy, and still getting out there and having a crack at everything.

Can't comment on the development side of things, but attitude is such an important part of being "successful" (by whatever measure we use) that I'm sure you'll achieve your goals.
 
Thanks for the feedback folks! Much appreciated :)

Good advice there on the PPOR - While I'd love to get a place soon I think you're right in that waiting & using capital instead of servicing a non-deductible loan is a much wiser move. It might even give me more opportunity to take my time & find something OTP, which would likely be cheaper option than retrofitting for access. Thanks!

pennyk, good on you! It's pretty frightening for kids (or anyone, really) to be at risk of living in a nursing home - such a detrimental environment to independence & fulfillment. Hopefully the NDIS will alleviate some of that, but it only can if there's other housing options! I think I'll get in touch with that alliance once I start building, sounds like they'd know what the needs are.

Yeah I've thought about getting into Access Auditing as a full-time job (& I probably will get the quals anyway), but it's a really hard job given my bias... Most developers (& I'm not trying to be mean here, this is honestly true) don't make accessibility much of a priority, they leave such up to architects & engineers. Some architects & engineers will employ the services of a specialised access consultant, but the vast majority just rely on standard BCA certification (n.b: not BCA compliance, BCA certification - a very big difference!)... They don't chase the best certifier, or even the cheapest; they go for the one who will sign off on what they want with as few modifications as possible. Thus someone like myself would get very little work, as people don't seem to like being told "sorry, you need a 1:14 ramp here, an automatic door here & a hearing loop here, or we could start planning over with access integrated" ;) Until such times as councils get serious about enforcing compliance, I think I have a better chance at showing developers how accessible housing can be a fantastic value addition to any building.
(sorry, end rant :p)

Thanks wobbycarly! Yup, sympathy is great when you're sick. I'm only sick in my taste of humour :D Right now, this very moment, I'm not all that different from you or anyone reading this - we're all sitting at computers wishing we were outside!

Thanks again people, no doubt I'll keep you posted on how this all pans out :cool:
 
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