A quick self plug...

Well, not a plug exactly..but if you want to get in my head (as I know you do), check out What Andy Likes

You may find something here that you like too....because I know I'm cool and after going to this site, you will also know that I'm cool and finally I will know that you know that I know that I'm cool.

Ciao...

Market news on the thin, and, property managers need to get a grip!

Once again we can see the calm before the storm, as the media give property a bit of a breather before, no doubt, a full out attack at the next interest rate rises.

I've noticed a funny occurrence on www.realestate.com.au the other day. In one of the places I invest, in Queensland, when you search for property in the "City" part of the town, you only get a handful of properties. Not that there isn't a crap load for sale, but because of the boundaries as set by the website I presume. One of my properties that is on the market falls within this boundary and as such, I wonder how many searchers do find it. It is still getting a stead ten hits or so per day, but none the less, I asked the agent to change the search term to the towns name, rather than just "Atown City".

I am now going to have a good old whinge about property managers, just because some of the silly ones I have now, defy belief. I ask you PMs, what is your job? Why am I giving you 10% of the rent? Seriously...why? I would think that amongst your job description it would say "manage maintenance" and "good customer service". But NOOO, one of my places still has a wall leak, one that now has not been attended to for a few months. Come to think of it, I'm shooting off another email. And in another property, a slightly sagging section of ceiling, once again, nothing. Get a grip on reality, property "managers"!!! Get your shit together and DO YOUR JOB!!!!

Waiting, waiting, slowly de-hydrating....

I don't know about the rest of you, but I hate waiting. Well, actually, come to think of it, I don't mind waiting, but waiting to hear news from an RE agent who I am about to hand thousands of dollars to just does not agree with my psyche. I mean, come on, a quick email once a week to let me know he still knows its on the market would just show me that he actually does want to sell it. I mean come on, he has sole agency, surely an email wouldn't hurt...or maybe it does hurt him, I don't know. Anyway, I would consider this bets practice and is in the REIQ learning modules, but alas, no email, no phone call and worst of all, no sold house...

Our own Forum...

Just a quick reminder, we have our own forum at...

Property Forum

Although not very popular yet, I think over time we will slowly build a community of like-minded investors, home owners, KFC lovers, etc. etc.

Have a browse, please enter something (with a cherry on top)....

I would hate to see a forum die...sob, sob...

Start of November Ramblings....

Real estate in Australia has come a long way this year. By this I am inferring that a lot of soul searching has occurred amongst investors, home owners and renters alike, a lot of "is grass greener on the other side" type of thinking. Should I buy a house at these low rates? What should I do with the spare cash I have available now that rates have dropped? Should I continue paying down my PPOR, or is now the time to jump onto the investment bandwagon? 2008-2009 has indeed been a turbulent time for us all and the head scratching no doubt will continue deep into 2010 and beyond. House prices this past year all of a sudden became a mystery, mainly due to stupid doom and gloom predictions and silly hype created by the media. It seems that, in some cases, nothing has happened. The "average" 300K-500K segment has remained solid, with some growth over the period, but this is coming off a very productive 2007 and was expected anyway. Those in the upper million/s certainly felt the pinch, but the bottom end of the market remained strong and performed well. My cheapest investment for example rose 16% from when I bought it last year (roughly), whereas my most expensive made a modest/crappy 1-2%.

A lot was learned in this period too, I myself am slowly becoming more and more aware of the impact of sentiment, of confidence, and the associated mindset of watching house values and rates go up and down. But it has been one hell of a ride. For the first time in my property investment life, I felt a strange sensation, something peculiar....I think people call it stress. Now, I'm not a stressful person, in fact I am the least stressed individual I know, but the looming rate rises and my purchases earlier this year are starting to create a little bit of, dare I say it, stress. The "sleep at night factor" or SANF as we like to refer to it in the heady world of investment circles, is slowly getting worse, although, I don't really have trouble sleeping, I guess it's more that it's in my mind. My SANF, or my stress, related from property investing, has just eased a little this past week and I think I will once again lull back into my usual care-free self once again.

So, are people worried about interest rates? Am I worried about interest rates? Yeah, of course we all are, it's not very nice watching your money fly away in interest, only to see SOME of it again at tax time, but for me, it's a little bit less of a problem, for the time being.

On a bit of a side note, I wonder what the Australian market has in store in the next five years. I have now been investing for 5 years and during this time have seen, a slump after a boom, a slow mini boom and then a larger steady boom, followed by a stagnant period. I have made SOME money, not as much as I would have liked (has anyone?) and have learned a hell of a lot. What will the next 5 years bring? Will it be fortune? Will we see 50% increase in prices during this time? Will the average cost of a house in Brisbane break the 500K???? It's all possible, it's all ahead of us and most importantly, I'm in it. If you're not in it (property investing) you'll watch from the sidelines, probably complain that they're too expensive already and that you're waiting until they become cheaper. I laugh at you...I laugh at you heartily....

Predicting the unpredictable...

Trying to predict the future is futile. I was looking forward to steady growth in 08/09 across my portfolio, and instead one property increased roughly 16% (I consider not bad for 1 year), and the other at 6% (quite crappy really). Another one of mine has gone backwards. It's simply silly to say "the Australian market will do this and this, then this...etc" because there are too many sub-markets. FHB, investors, the mega-rich, the mega poor, renters, executive renters, migrants, the job market and real estate agents all influence the sub-markets and at different rates in different markets. As we all just saw, the higher end suffered, the lower end has done well, the middle is on the way now....

I could theoretically predict a 40% across the board drop, or a 15% annual rise and then predict that its basically unpredictable...

I tend to think historical data is a good indicator, but as we all know, the future is unwritten....

Another bargain in Toowoomba...

UPDATE: Finally SOLD on the 23rd of October...

I don't know why this place is being over looked. I would have snapped it up very quickly if I had the equity. Oh well, some lucky bugger will get to invest in mixed residential/commercial....