Property In Adelaide - Investment

[4door_Sleeper]

Agree with most of what has been posted on here.

Property should be considered a long-term investment, and as such you have to be prepared to ride out the bad times (such as those at the moment)

But for those looking for the silver lining; remember these times, when the market was bad, this could be the time to invest, and sell (if you have to) when the market is at its peak. I'm sure that in 20 years many of us will look back and say "if only I had 100k to invest in the 20teens, there were some great bargains then. (but you have to be able to carry the debts through the bad times)

As with any investment, some will be better than others. You need to pick the right property at the right price in the right area. Some people can make a fortune being . There will always be a huge rental market at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum, because these people will never be able to afford to buy, and they have to live somewhere.

Others pick the right area just before it booms, or buy in an area that later becomes popular and allows for subdivisions (think Prospect 20 years ago, some great bargains)

There are some real disadvantages to building in SA with our land tax, so large portfolios are not very attractive.

I have a reasonable portfolio of investment properties, and have been able to leverage these to get a home and acreage I would otherwise never have been able to afford, so it can work.. (but there have been tough times along the way)

[JiN_MaN]

I thought I would bump this to see if anybody had anything new to add.

Im looking to buy early/mid next year in the under 300k range. I may or may not live in the property depending on what financially works better for me and where the house is located. After 5 years I will be buying a different property in which I hope to live long term, and after 8 years the original property would be fully paid off.

Note these are all loose comments and estimates, but open to hear what people have to say. Where would you buy? What do you look for in a property?

[SLED]

For that sort of money you'll get a small newish home 30km south of the CBD (around Huntfield Heights) or 25km north of CBD will get you an old trust home (around Salisbury/Elizabeth)

[Nightcrawler]

I like the idea in theory Jin Man, but the concept of paying off a $300k house in 8 years is way off base. Just the loan repayments on say a $280,000k loan are $21,000 per annum, then you want to cut $35,000 off the principal per year also? And don't rely on rent, as on a $300k house you would be lucky to get $300 per week = $15,000 p.a but then you have to take out management fees, repairs, vacancy time - it is not as blue sky as some people make out. You also have to factor in maintenance, legal costs, water rates, land tax etc in all of that too - until you own a house you have absolutely no concept of how much it actually costs to own, run and maintain a home.

But hey, aim high - you have nothing to lose. - you definitely have the right idea in concept.

[MattR]

on my rental i have in Roxby atm at a minimum ive had to allow an extra 1/3 on top of repayments for all those little things that Andrew said. Dont think you will have no maint issues etc as if you dont have money put away for these little things you will have big problems.

[JiN_MaN]

For that sort of money you'll get a small newish home 30km south of the CBD (around Huntfield Heights) or 25km north of CBD will get you an old trust home (around Salisbury/Elizabeth)

Bingo, fairly much the exact places I have been looking, but were would you buy if it was you?

Financially, I have everything under well control, I haven't worked since I was 14 for nothing.

I also think that living in a house before renting it out reduces what you will spend in maintenance when you do rent it. Items are always going to break, interest rates are never going to just disappear and rent is not an income, its a bonus to put towards your loan. Surely if you keep these things in mind there isnt too much that could go wrong.

What are peoples views on apartments vs houses?

[SLED]

Probably Huntfield Heights vicinity.

Bit further from the CBD but the Southern Express Way makes up in travel time.

Less maintenance issues too as it's a relatively new subdivision

[Whiplash]

until you own a house you have absolutely no concept of how much it actually costs to own, run and maintain a home.

Agree to that

Currently bumped my repayments up so i pay 6weeks repayments every 4weeks.

I figure a little bit of pain now will pay off in the long run

[Nightcrawler]

Good work there Nick! We used to do that, but with Carolyn off work with little Scarlett and my work being quiet (change of company and quiet market in general) we have backed off to the minimum payments .... I workout out that from our $3k-odd monthly mortgage payment $2,900 or so of that is the interest :(

[Whiplash]

Good work there Nick! We used to do that, but with Carolyn off work with little Scarlett and my work being quiet (change of company and quiet market in general) we have backed off to the minimum payments .... I workout out that from our $3k-odd monthly mortgage payment $2,900 or so of that is the interest :(

similar to what i was paying, $100 off the loan and the rest going towards the interest.

Its restricting me in going out, which is a pain after all I don't have a wife or kids yet but luckily i have a job that allows me to hit the town every now and again

speaking of which need to catch up for a beer some time, I see someone is getting a year older next week....

[SLED]

Good work there Nick! We used to do that, but with Carolyn off work with little Scarlett and my work being quiet (change of company and quiet market in general) we have backed off to the minimum payments .... I workout out that from our $3k-odd monthly mortgage payment $2,900 or so of that is the interest :(

WOW!!

Hence why Jin_Man is looking for a cheaper property.

I draw a reasonable income from the Company but even so (if I had a mortgage) repayments like that would be the death of me

[ISC-Performance]

I thought I would bump this to see if anybody had anything new to add.

Im looking to buy early/mid next year in the under 300k range. I may or may not live in the property depending on what financially works better for me and where the house is located. After 5 years I will be buying a different property in which I hope to live long term, and after 8 years the original property would be fully paid off.

Note these are all loose comments and estimates, but open to hear what people have to say. Where would you buy? What do you look for in a property?

If your going to rent the house out its best not to pay it off as then the house will have no tax benifits. Best to use the money to invest in buying another house and renting that out and so on.

[Nightcrawler]

Sorry I have to completely disagree there Ryan .... tax benefits are only useful if you have bucketloads of income. And even then, in saving 40% tax, you are still losing 60%. Always better to have an asset fully paid off, no matter what.

[SLED]

yeah it's the old "pay $2 to save $1" (negative gearing).....not very sound investing.........very long term proposal

I've always tried to make my investments earn me "$2 for every $1 spent" (positive gearing).........makes you money straight away.....much harder these days unfortunately

[Whiplash]

Hmmm just got my statement in the main...

originally took a 30yr loan one year ago when i bought the unit, and due to increasing my repayments the current loan period left is 14yr's 9 months!

cant wait to see how much further its reduces with the increased payments again

[heslo]

Amazing what a little bump can do eh Nick?

[Tommmo]

Amazing what a little bump can do eh Nick?

simple things like changing monthly repayments to weekly can also save you bucket loads in the long run!

just check out the calculators..http://www.banksa.com.au/personal/home-loans/tools/home-loan-calculators/repayments

on a 300k mortgage, you save around 100k in interest over the life of the loan

Edited July 15, 2011 by Tommmo

[heslo]

simple things like changing monthly repayments to weekly can also save you bucket loads in the long run!

just check out the calculators..http://www.banksa.com.au/personal/home-loans/tools/home-loan-calculators/repayments

on a 300k mortgage, you save around 100k in interest over the life of the loan

Damned straight! That's why I pay my mortgage weekly. Any little trick you can use to help you out you've gotta go for it; every cent helps

[bigmikespec]

yeah it's the old "pay $2 to save $1" (negative gearing).....not very sound investing.........very long term proposal

I've always tried to make my investments earn me "$2 for every $1 spent" (positive gearing).........makes you money straight away.....much harder these days unfortunately

If you can positive gear that is great but prepare for the government to dip their hand in, in taxes. Especially if you are already earning a decent amount. I have balanced both scenarios and it all comes down to the individual, what you earn, what the property/s make... etc.

It is true... every cent or dollar counts; including each one from the sale of my GTR time sell so I can be in more debt...

[Whiplash]

Damned straight! That's why I pay my mortgage weekly. Any little trick you can use to help you out you've gotta go for it; every cent helps

agreed,

although i don't get out as much I would prefer to know that I'm eating into the mortgage on my place.