Investing in a cheapy

Now and again I do a search for the absolute rock bottom properties in Australia and see if I can see something interesting. You know what I mean; those places under $100K, wasting away in a rural area somewhere, an asbestos laden cottage that probably hasn't had anyone live in it for a while, begging for a bulldozer.

Why do these properties even exist? Should they, not unlike the Detroit-like sub-prime houses, be flattened to make way for something new, or better yet, returned to mother earth?

The underlying fact remains that these properties do change hands, and someone is doing SOMETHING with them. Have you had any experience with one of these? Please write comment about it below; I would love to hear of your experiences.

Contract crash

So we were looking at house in Caboolture. Put in an offer. Three weeks. Hear back and they say valuer said worth more,  so they back out. Now,  it will continue to stay in the market for 6 month and probably sell for the same price we offered. Hmmmmmmm.

Upgrade Part 2

Yesterday we had a few hours to kill so we went and had a look at a property on our "upgrade" radar. 

Here is a link to it on re.com.au. 

We had mixed feelings. Yeah, it has four acres, but it's sloping away. 

It's in a great spot close to Toowoomba CBD, but it's next to a dry creek bed. 

It had plenty of bedrooms and a study, but it's hardyplank. 

It has a large kitchen, straight from the 80s. 

So it was mixed thoughts. Prooobably a no goer. Your thoughts?

Brisbane Property Market: The Outskirts

And the winner is: Housing Commission House of the Year, 2012

Recently I've had a fascination with trying to secure a cheap property in one of the fringe suburbs of Brisbane. When I mean 'fringe', I mean fringe. I mean 'fringe' like Caboolture, Moronfield, Kingston or Woodridge. These aren't technically "Brisbane" but they are not far away. It's the type of suburbs that are chosen by those who couldn't be bothered; just a place to live, no McMansions around here. 

And the entry prices are dropping. I mean $220,000 dropping. This is good news for me, as I'm in the 'couldn't be bothered' category at this stage of my life and I live in a Toowoomba suburb in such a house. So the question is, should I buy? Are these properties worth it? Is an investment NOW in one of these 'burbs  going to pay dividends in, let's say, 5 years? 

All very tough questions with unfortunately ambiguous answers. Stay tuned, I may be reporting a new acquisition soon.

Are we all just idiots?

As I'm sitting here, sipping my Lipton English Breakfast, I'm on realestate.com.au looking at cheap houses in Queensland. Here is what I found:

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-quilpie-107942021

This appears to be the cheapest, 'liveable' house in Queensland. It lives here. 

Wiki says this about Quilpie. It looks like an alright kind of place to live.

Upon closer inspection, the ants had become quite technologically advanced.

So the obvious question is, why am I paying a mortgage that is much much larger than this, spending less time with my family and/or doing the things I like, when I could be 'living' in such a place? Furthermore, why are people, some of whom are paying enormous mortgages much larger than mine, making ends meet, living beyond their incomes, doing what they do?

I suppose it's how we have all become; we live in cities, we watch television shows like 'Modern Family' and 'How I met Your Mother', we are lured in by the conveniences of urban life. With this comes a job, and a sizeable mortgage, and if you have kids, less and less time to actually be involved in their lives. OR, if you have a hobby, less time to devoted to this. Or if you want to get fit and healthy, finding the time to do these things regularly becomes a bit of a challenge. 

Questions: Can I do what I do here in Toowoomba, in Quilpie? 

Watch television: Yes, albeit it may be Imparja. The internet could help here tremendously though.

Access internet: Yes, worse case scenario is satellite.

Outings with the family: Yes, but seeing relatives is much more difficult, as they live in that other world far away.

Play badminton: Yes, but not like it is in Toowoomba, there would not be many players and the standard would be questionable. There'd be tennis as a n alternative.

Live: Yes

Get a coffee: Yes

Funny thing this 'living' is.

There is a little Facebook/Twitter/other social media sharing options thingy underneath this post. Spread the word. As much as I love writing on this blog, it would be great if I had more 'followers' or 'disciples' who read the word of the great Andrew. 

A relative bargain 3 bedroom home

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-tas-invermay-107524471

I have been keeping my eye on this suburb mainly because I have one of these in my portfolio, but this one seems just that little bit nicer. A bargain I think, and probably a little bit negotiable.

UPDATE: Well what do you know, it's under contract!

Cheapest 'livable' 3 bedroom houses in Australia!

It's that time of year again, when we do the rounds and find the cheapest livable (depending on your standards) stand alone homes across Australia (as searched on www.realestate.com.au). This year, I will rank them by price, by state. You will notice that NT and ACT are not represented; it must be bloody expensive to buy an 'entry' home in those territories. Enjoy:

6. MINNIPA, South Australia - $65,000 South Australia is the most expensive place to buy a crappy house! Who would have imagined! Terrowie took out the title for the cheapest place to buy in 2009, but in 2011, SA has become THE MOST expensive; go figure. Anyway, this house in Minnipa is actually quite cute and looks ready to move into today! I don't know much about this area, but this looks like a genuine bargain!

5. ZEEHAN, Tasmania - $59,500

Quite suprisingly, Tasmania did not take out the number one spot this year, considering the myriad of bargains that usually pop up in Queenstown. But in a strange twist, Zeehan has produced what must be the worst looking house on this list, at a relatively expensive $59,500. Let's face it people; crappy shed with windows and the usual mishmash of interior linings. LOVE IT!

4. MITCHELL, Queensland - $50,000

A lovely little town, Mitchell is just down the road from Roma on the way to Charleville. I won't say a lot about this one, except, that blue door ALONE is worth the money.

3. TINGHA, New South Wales - $45,000

Nothing says quality like a piece of miss-matched, ripped, green shade cloth hanging off your balcony, and you just know that the owner of this wonderfully crappy looking house has been watching Better Home and Gardens for styling cues. But, for $45,000, who cares! The town itself actually looks well positioned and it's rented!!! Jump in today!!! (PS. I bet it's gone within a week!)

2. BERRIWILLOCK, Victoria - $38,000

Alarm bells must ring when you look on a map and all you see are straight roads leading to this town, but this little gem in Berriwillock is just $38,000! You will probably catch asbestosis just by looking at it, but with the right attitude this place will come up a gem (to enjoy until you die from said asbestosis). Realistically, this place doesn't look all that bad, maybe I need to investigate further.

1. NORSEMAN, Western Australia - $35,000

Norseman feautured in the 2009 list and it's back again! The house you see below can be purchased for less than most new cars, but we still have people complaining about affordability! Yes, Norseman is in the middle of nowhere, and when you consider that you have to travel to Kalgoorlie just to do your shopping, it isn't a stone throw away from anywhere. Yes, the house looks like it was assembled by a blind drunk, but it's still standing and is an absolute bargain. The winner for 2011, NORSEMAN!

A quick shout out....

I have recently had a really positive experience with Andrea Bonner, at LJ Hooker Launceston. She is selling my little house in Invermay, an inner up and coming suburb of Launceston. Andrea has been very professional, even seeking feedback on the re.com.au ad and is an excellent communicator via emails and on the phone. She has never pressured me to do anything and was very patient waiting for us to list after a few months of to and fro-ing on our behalf.

Well done Andrea, it's people like you that give re agents a good name, instead of the usual crappy service and constant pressuring.

I have to be honest, I can not say this about other agencies I have worked with in the past. Rude, arrogant, even going as far as giving me a "put down" about how much I bought the property for...the kind of idiot we can all do without. Anyway, well done Andrea....

Why I like Tasmania...and so should you!

Tasmania is a great little piece of paradise at the bottom of Australia, albeit a very cool and miserable paradise for most of the year. It is filled with old growth forests, mountains of green, boundless plains of rolling hills and areas of drought. Amongst all this are a mix of quaint, little villages, deserted mini towns, a few sprawling urbanised towns and the jewel in the crown, Hobart. Perhaps more pertinently for us investors, Tassie represents the cheapest real estate entry costs found anywhere in Australia.

Why is Tassie soooo cheap? I mean seriously, you can buy a decent 3 bedroom house with minimal work required in Queenstown for $40,000! Queenstown has shops. It has minimal infrastructure, but it does have a new hospital, it has awesome windy roads, it has chilling Roaring 40's winds, it has barren environmentally catastrophic hills surrounding it and the creek is yellow, but why wouldn't you want to live there? When you consider all the facts, I wonder if the weather is just THAT BAD, that people hate it THAT much. If that is true, perhaps with a bit of climate change, it would scrub up nicely in about 50 years or so, but that's a separate story.

Other parts of Tasmania offer unbelievable real estate bargains for investors too. Launceston, Burnie, Devonport and Cygnet. All low entry, excellent properties, some almost CF+ with great potential.

Hobart is thriving, just think Brisbane 30 years ago, the catch up is imminent. I hear great stories of developments and "refreshing" and "updating" and "modernising", verbs that have me thinking there is hope for MASSIVE capital gain in the not too distant future.

I currently have two tiny chunks of this wonderful State. My block of land not too far from Hobart is virtually my dream come true. It will one day make me a millionaire, if not a multi-millionaire. My other one is a renter, almost CF+ hidden in an area that could boom massively. If only the AFL would allow a Tasmanian team into the league. I have seen growth and I am sure I will continue to see growth as long as the rest of Australia keeps heading to the 1million plus club, Tassie will continue to be the little engine that could.

A super bargain in Ferny Hills...

This property is a genuine super dooper bargain. Actually, I'm going to recommend it to my brother and sister in law, so get in quick!!!

By CRICKEY, that's cheap!!!

Thank you to Australian Real Estate for this list...as you know, I love cheap KFC and I love cheap houses.

Australia's Cheapest Suburbs

Cash Flow Positive, or should I say "The Yeti???"

Be on the lookout for a big, hairy beast, lurking in the bushes, very hard to spot and ultimately, very hard to convince people that you've found one. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about cash flow positive investment properties, the elusive beast that lurks in our suburbs, in the regional areas (the bush) and often disguised as something else.

Many many people are on the lookout, many many people troll through countless websites, newspapers, listening intently during IP convos (conversations), and ringing real estae agents feverously. There have been sightings, and in fact, towards the end of 2009, there were many, some even confirmed, but now once again, it is difficult to find these beasts. Perhaps a bit of KFC will lure the hairy ones out....

Good luck in the search....I'm looking, picking up the scent, looking for footprints, listening with sound enhancing devices...they MUST be out there!

New contender for cheapest house in Australia.

For just $40,000, that's right, 40 thou, you could buy this house in Tasmania. Surely one of, if not THE cheapest houses in Australia at the moment.

Could this be cf+???

Could this property be cash flow positive??? Listed for $180,000, could probably be had for much cheaper and only needs a handyman for a general "clean up" as far as I can see. It's in Ingham, North QLD, with all the pleasantries of a decent sized town, and only 1 hour to Townsville. Would probably rent for...$250/week???

Cheap...

This property is a bit of a bargain. Looks neat, low 400's and probably could get it even cheaper. Check it out..great part of Brissie...

Want cheap land???

This 100 acre block is selling for $1400/acre!!!! This is definitely a go ahead area...if I had the cash I would have snapped this up ages ago...it's been on the market for a little while, I'm sure they're open to offers...

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....

One of my babies is for sale...

Well, here she is, ready for the market. At $285,000, I think someone will get an absolute bargain here for a very, very well positioned property. 3 bedroom, looks shpick and shpam inside and out and with the powered double garage out the back on a decent block, you can't go wrong. Toowoomba will always have a strong rental market.

Check out the location on Google Maps here.

Cheap Queensland towns....

Someone on my favourite Somersoft forum recently bought up this topic. Below are the top ten cheapest suburbs in QLD...the red is my opinion:

Charleville: $140,000 Far removed from a lot of places.

Tara: $151,000 Possibly the worst socio-economic town in QLD

Gayndah: $155,000 Meh...

Mount Morgan: $160,000 Meh now...

St George: $187,250 From what I hear....dump.

Rockhampton City: $195,000 I don't know why Rocky is so cheap.

Harlaxton: $215,000 ???

Oakey: $216,750 Undervalued, being so close to Toowoomba.

Home Hill: $219,500 Needs more infrastructure.

Stanthorpe: $225,000 I'm biased, but I like this town.

A bargain - Toowoomba

This property is a bargain. At first, I didn't think much of it, but on second inspection this property is a good buy in my opinion. 4 bedroom means it will always be rented, it has a patio thingy out the back, is a bit of a blank canvas in the backyard and Harristown is an OK part of Toowoomba. Come to think of it, I often wonder why this awesome largeish regional centre is not worth more. I think it's due for a price correction....