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.

State of Affairs, October 2014

They say variety is the spice of life and so it has come to be for my family over the last few months. Throughout the last 4 years or so I've often blogged about the tiny little insignificant thing called 'life' that often gets in the way of my ambitious investing strategy and again, it has proven so.

A few thing then. We have sold our PPOR in Toowoomba. Sentiment in the Garden City boomed after the airport announcement and, when news of the bypass started spreading, the proporty market went into a sort of weird piranha-like eating frenzy where everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING, was getting snapped up quick smart. We jumped on the bandwagon and surprise, surprise, we ended up about $20,000 ahead of my best-case-scenario amount when it came time to order the removal truck. It took a grand total of 3 days to sell our comfortable home and I have to thank Ray White Toowoomba for the wonderful job they did for us. 

Just prior to this, we also bought a modest, tiny little three bedder in Caboolture. Remember that little thing called 'life' I was talking about? Well, when the planets aligned nicely for me to leave my job, this little Caboolture residence was (somewhat) ideal to shift into. And, it came to be, that after a short stint in a govy provided residence, we moved again. 

Kicking out the tenant was a whole new world of pain. I won't go too much into detail, but let's just say that SOME property managers have no idea what they are doing (shock horror) and in reality, since we began our investment journey back in 2004, this was the first time we were left with a very sour taste in our mouths. Luckily it all worked out satisfactorily in the end, but it was a close call. 

Caboolture is an acquired taste. The house itself is tiny and we are surrounded by EVERY neighbour having a dog, which of course is not a real confidence booster. On the plus side, we won't need a dog. The clientèle is very much mixed, low and medium socio-economic families, single mums and a lot of renters. Our street seems leafy enough, quiet so far and, the best part of it all, it's a hell of a convenient location. Besides, we've lived in Kingston in the Logan area south of Brisbane and we survived that experience. 

So where does this leave our portfolio? 

We are still in the process of consolidating. We have:

PPOR: Caboolture (QLD), 3 bedroom brick and tile, small suburban block.   

IP 1: Launceston/Invermay (TAS), 3 bedroom plus sleepout, tiny historical block of 405sqm, weatherboard, competitively rented with some renos completed mid last year. On the market, but no bites. 

IP 2: Ingham (QLD), 5 bedroom typical fibro, undesirable street, on the market, DEFINITELY no bites, but we can hang onto it as it's also strongly rented. Both of these IPs are just negatively geared. 

IP 3: Glen Aplin (QLD), small block near Stanthorpe, on the market but again, no bites. There has been some movement in the area where our block is and if the street is finally developed from dirt to asphalt, we may be in luck to make a tidy little profit. A lot of little houses popping up around our block. 

All of these are becoming very hard to move. Ingham is floody, Tasmania has a job crisis and the Glen Aplin block has it's challenges to develop. Hopefully we have a win on one of these soon. 

A few months later in the land of OZ.

The 2013 winter is behind us now and with the renewed economic stability we're receiving here in Australia, the property market is starting to perk up a bit; it's time  for a new post.

Again I've had an extended sabbatical from this blog; work, life, kids....something had to give and blogs was pretty much it over the last 5 months or so.

A bit has happened since. My family has started to look for something different. If you read my blog regularly enough, you'd get the overall feeling that I'm not a big fan of suburbia. I'm not a big fan of living with your window coverings almost permanently closed and am definitely not a fan of not being able to walk around nude in my backyard. So we've been looking; with the sole criteria of a property where I can walk around completely nude without anyone seeing me. This has lead to a few properties which fit, but the one I really liked was a 144 acre bush block. It had everything ready for the picking...some development, a lot of virginal bush, far away yet close enough (sort of).

The main challenge to buying such a block to live on is very much about choice for kids. Buying a bush block basically:

1. Limits you to your nearest school. The next nearest would be ages away.
2. Limits you in terms of sporting opportunities. Although there'd be enough space to flatten an oval or two.
3. Limits you to a 'run down to the shops'.
4. Limits you to the type of car you can realistically have.
5. Limits you to checking out tractors akin to checking out Lamborghinis.


Anyway, the space and the opportunity to make a huge block mine, the way I like it, is indeed compelling. Have any of you made the switch to a rural block?

Suburbia revisited

My little family has lived in suburban Toowoomba for almost two years now; in a plain, no frills, small little house, made of bricks and colorbond.

I'll be truthful, it's not where I imagined to be by 2013, but then again, I don't think I had a particular 'dream' for this phase of my life.

Suburbia, to me, is kind of a living hell. Most of the time:

1. Our windows are closed with curtains and blinds virtually permanently closed. We typically live in darkness and artificial light.
2. When we do go outside, we have 634 square metres of "land". The reality is there is a patch of about 4 by 14 metre grass to run around on, the rest is house, sheds, garden, totally useless unfenced front yard, carport and driveway, and trailer space. It's a bit like watching lions in those small cages. Space, yes, but it's really just a small holding pen.
3. There is no paths leading to the local park; we become 'road walkers', dodging cars and pushing prams up and down  the kerb between the road and the council strip.
4. The local 'park' has unsuitable play equipment for my 2 and 3 year old. Half of it disappeared one day after some teens melted some of the plastic tunnels with some sort of fire producing device.
5. At around end-of-school time, the street becomes a mini racing strip of mummy taxis.
6. Birds.


Look in all honesty it's not too bad. Of course there are heaps of awesome parts to living so close to convenience, to life, and really, we are lucky to have great neighbours (although next door just moved out, here's hoping).

At the moment, suburbia is close to work, which is good. But soon enough, work will change once again and I'll be doing my 30-35 minute "thinking time" drive all over again.

The bottom line thought I think for me has become about the actual house itself. This particular one is your typical three bedder with the original garage remodded to be a rumpus/large 4th bedroom. It's starting to grow on me in terms of practical space; recently I've added more storage and it's starting to work. It's become easier to live with.

What is most perplexing for me is how do millions upon millions choose this living option. How do they favour such an option? How do they "live with" this type of living? Is it by choice?

Suburbia....the joy of confinement.    

Sweat Sweat Sweat, Toowoomba Edition!

Wow, this latest heat wave has really hit home here in Toowoomba and even I, the official air con Nazi, has had to yield. 

I just finished saying how climate doesn't really influence house prices, yet, here we are in a town often referred to as "the fridge on the ridge" melting like snowmen taking in a sauna. So I suppose the climate up here on the Toowoomba range is no different to anywhere else is South East Queensland, although I do have to say, the humidity is not as high as it was in Brissie when I was down there a few days ago. 

On the plus side to all this warm weather is the fact that my front garden, the one that will ultimately provide SOME street appeal  come sale time (I say 'some' because the house is only kind of appealing form the front, no matter what gardens will be in place) is going great guns. My hedging plants are doing well and I'm contemplating putting up a small  hedge boundary, as we have open council strip front gardens on my side of the street and I don't really like this concept much. 

"Permission to land in Toowoomba."

I wish it was a bit cooler so I could go and do a bit of gardening outside...maybe after New Year. 

In other news, it dawned on me that my little nuclear family is staying in this house for at least another year, if not longer. Not a bad thing, but it does mean that I can go ahead and try to make our house a bit more homely for the year ahead. I'm installing more permanent storage, looking at setting up the backyard for the kiddies a bit better and generally trying to fit into this house a lot more. 

Ciao. 

Humid, humid Brisbane

The City of Sweat

I'm staying in Brisbane tonight, on the northern side, not far from the Bruce Highway. I can just hear the cars, the trucks, the slightest echo of travel wheezing by at breakneck speeds, wondering what important places people need to be at this time of night.

The thing is, I like this place. It's handy to everywhere, the house is small but nice and it's been a place we have visited over and over again for almost 16 years now. What I don't like is the humidity.

Every time we come here, it feels like a sauna. Not that saunas are bad; I love to sweat now and again and I love the feeling that comes with cooling down after such a sweatfest. I do however hate sleeping in the heat and Brisbane unfortunately gets to the uncomfortable humidity level more often than not.

Yet many many people choose to live in this city. Do they like the weather? Do they like to choose to either sweat continuously until they become a sticky mess, or, choose to rather pump air con which, let's face it, is killing the planet. Neither really appeal to me, and it's times like this I love Toowoomba again.

I then get confused as to why houses prices are so much more here than in the town I call home right now. The climate, in my opinion, is 10 times better in Toowoomba, you can actually see four seasons and really, it's quite an awesome place. But obviously this isn't a factor for most, as if it was, Toowoomba would be the capital by now. So the obvious conclusion is that climate, while important for some people, has no bearing on house prices.

In other news, I think finally conditions might be right for a bit of movement in house prices in Queensland. The recent rate drop, the strength of the job market, the flatness in real estate all point to a buying frenzy. I do hope it happens, the markets need a bit of a boost.

Should I mow my grass more often? Hmmm.....

It occurred to me today that I am not a frequent visitor to my front lawn. Yes, I vaguely look at it for a split second as I drive up my driveway, but I don't really take notice of whether it needs mowing or not. Until today.

As I pulled into the driveway I remembered that we need the other car out for a trip later, so I stopped half way and began to back out. Strategically perhaps, a car was coming down the road, so I had to wait and as I did, I spent an extra split second to glance at my lawn and what I saw scared the crap out of me. 

You see I've planted a few fruit trees to fill this empty space, you know, just to be different, maybe with the hope of starting a fruit tree revolution in my neighborhood where everyone decides to do the same in their tiny, otherwise useless, front yards and we all miraculously swap our KFC for pieces of fruit. Anyway, I digress. As I took this extra glance, I REALISED THE GRASS HAS GROWN ALMOST AS TALL AS THE TREES! Surrounding each tree, roughly where the watering system would take effect, the grass had shot up. Not that this is unusual, but I would have thought that over a few days, perhaps weeks, I would have noticed this starting. But alas no, it appears that the grass height has to hit a critical point where I FINALLY see it and force myself to push around a plastic/metal contraption which, much like to Cookie Monster, or me at KFC, goes NOM, NOM, NOM, and makes all the long grass disappear. 

I was then also thinking "Is me not mowing having an effect on my potential resale value?" Is my house going to be known as a "rental house" because I prioritise other aspects of my life over mowing? A potential buyer, who may know a neighbour, what will they think when they find out the grass grows as tall as them sometimes (I exaggerate of course, but it does get quite high). 

In established suburbs on owner occupied streets, everyone knows how each house is kept. My street isn't quite like that, there are a few rentals, but also a lot of PPOR houses too, but it is an "established" street with nice brick houses. 

So maybe I need to mow more frequently....you know, just for house value sake. :)

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.

RBA says 'Merry Christmas", but banks say 'Humbug!"

So it looks like the RBA has done the nice thing and dropped the rate again, in what seemingly is a wonderful boost for the average mortgage owner's hip pocket, but wait.....there's a catch. The banks, well, the four majors, have not moved yet, and, as has been the practice over the last year or so, they are waiting until 'the board meets' and as a result, they will still pocket an extra few million just for their troubles. PS. please CBA, just flick us 1 mil of this, I'd be very thankful. In fact, CBA, just pay off my mortgage and I'll never say another bad thing about you ever again...promise.

Anyway, so the reality is, this early 'Christmas present' that is spoken about, in fact, will not be a Christmas present at all for many of us, as once the respective boards meet, it's then at least another week or two before it comes into effect, and the next time your will actually see your interest repayments go down will be at the end of January (all assuming the banks do lower their rates).

In other financial news, I am almost at the stage of switching to UBank. I am not overly happy with the ever growing gap between what I am being offered from CBA and UBank is starting to look tasty. The only problem is, I have absolutely NO IDEA, whether they'll lend for another investment property. This is a bad thing and a major one as to the decision of why I am holding off the switch. I think maybe once everything has been consolidated and I'm left with a tiny mortgage, it may be time to do it, but unfortunately it looks like a distance away before this comes to fruition. 

Oh well, CBA it is. 

Are prices getting cheaper or are we paying too many peanuts?

When it comes to house prices across this great brown land, there are many sources of confusion in today's mad media world. Are prices going up, are they stagnant, are my farts stagnant? Unfortunately there are contradicting thoughts coming from different commentators and nothing is as clear as they were lets say 10 years ago.

Prices get an erection, prices go limp...

The suburbs that I'm watching are no help either. One suburb in Tasmania seems to be on the up up and away, yet another suburb in Brisbane is probably THE definition of 'stable'. Reading into these two suburbs is a bit silly, it does however show that different markets still operate amongst not only our states, but within our cities and even sometimes within a suburb on different streets. 

If I try to sum up all that is going on with buying an investment property right now, I would say do A LOT OF RESEARCH. I don't mean like hours and hours on the internet, I mean days and days and weeks and weeks until you realise that you are doing the "haven't had a shower for a while and the skin on your arse is starting to rot from your computer chair" type of research. 

There are bargains out there everywhere at the moment, it's just a matter of picking the right suburb to go with it for future growth. 

Happy hunting.

Upgrade = Stress = Upgrade?

Recently my wife and I began having conversations around the nasty "U" word. This word often strikes fear in the hearts of the average man, as this word changes everything. This word locks us in, and throw away the keys, because after this word, nothing will be the same every again. EVER. That word is "upgrade". 

Currently we live in a slightly small but comfortable 3 bedroom house, which really is four bedrooms because the rumpus room (read "built in garage")  serves as a large study and hence we refer to it as a bedroom. But somehow, it's cramped. Getting the cars out for example, we have to move one out of the single carport/garage to get to the other and a few months ago when I had a motorbike, you basically had to move half the machinery on the entire block, just to go for a ride. Also, my little boy and I sometimes want to play ball. The tiny backyard is OK, but we're limited to a piece of grass on an uneven sloping surface and really, once we get this new swing set, we will be playing 'guess where the grass is' game. The kitchen too, is on the smallish side for us, as we're used to a bit more space from our last few places.

So yeah, upgrade. Not such a dirty word, is it? Well, unfortunately I think it is. We're on a single income and at this point in time, while we could upgrade to a nice pad, it would really tighten the belts. Not that there is anything wrong with a bit of extra forced savings as I like to call it, but somehow over the last two years or so, I've become accustomed to a certain relaxed spending mood and not minding having a bit of extra cash lying around now and again. 

In reality, an upgrade is out of the question right now, especially on a single income. Maybe soon...only time will tell. 

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. 

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. 

Oh the optimism of Spring

A lot of interesting traffic on Somersoft recently with noobs posting asking for advice, it all points to the typical sense that Spring brings with it all things good an prosperous. Strangely however, it seems that the lurkers are coming out of the jungle too, a few members who've come forward as the 'first time annoyer, long time lurker' who are ALREADY investors, asking for advice.  Let's decipher these posts:

'...oh, I already have an investment property...' really means '...I'm a noob but I have street cred so please don't hurt me...'

'...I have just come across some money...' really means '...I've just robbed a bank and need to offload the cash quickly...'

'...I don't know what to do...(followed later in the same post by)...but I'm going to buy a unit...'really means 'I just needed a sounding board and I really don't give a  shit about your opinions'

'...I've read a lot of posts here...' really means '...I've read the first two posts in one of the sections...'

These posts are a waste of everyone's time. Are they seeking financial advice? Investment advice? Life advice?

What is unfortunately more agonisingly annoying is the responses which I can summarise in two words: 'More info?'

So I've stopped reading these types of noob posts. Stop asking advice from investors who, on most fronts, made their wise investment choices in a different market, in a different time, and let's face it, in a different universe, where CG was just something that happened no matter where you bought.

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. 

I think my brain has gone loopdy-loop!

Staring at the screen, my eyes bloodshot, my body trembling with the energy drink I've just consumed, my mind flying at 100 miles an hour, I am not doing anything special, just looking at our finances. You see, I've just sold my motorbike and it has made a slight change to our cash flow; I'm adjusting the spreadsheet to reflect the changes and just as a matter of curiosity, I check the bank balances. 

I've been putting cash away for a few months and have now amassed a small fortune the equivalent of which I could spend on a new, low-budget small car, you know, a Cherry or something. So I'm looking at this amount of cash, earning a modest percentage in an online saver, thinking surely there is a better use for it. And there is. I COULD put it onto one of our mortgages, heaven forbid, reduce our PPOR, but then I would be left thinking, where has this money gone? I had a moderate amount sitting in my account and now it's gone, only to reduce ONE massive mortgage by a small amount. Psychology is a funny thing.

In essence, I am wondering what to do with this money, because as nice at it is to look at, I'm reminded of a Pearl Jam song:

Oh what to do...the heart says keep it in there, looking nice and tasty, but the mind says, be logical, there are other more useful things you can do with it. 

But it looooks sooooo niiiiiceeeeeeeee!

Hmmm.......I think my brain has gone loopdy-loop.

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. 

Plan 43b, version 2.1a

As usual I'm sitting here, contemplating the past, the present and the future. I ask myself what is important to me. What is it that I want out of life and am I on my way to getting there? So I'm deep in thought and my mind ultimately turns to two things; time for kids, time for health. This then leads to the obvious question, is what I'm doing with my life, with my financial strategy, align with these two priority areas. 

Unfortunately I think the answer is a resounding no. This is sad. It makes me sad. I mean, seriously, why am I living in a large town, paying off a mortgage (well, to be technical, not even paying it off) and going to work every day missing out on precious time with my two gorgeous kids and not having enough time to get some riding, running or swimming in a typical day. 

So it's contemplation time; what can I do about this situation? It is possible, albeit slightly, that I can build my family a little house, live mortgage free and have a lot more time to do the things that matter, the things that are important to me. 

My investment strategy therefore has to change. I must be able to do something different to get out of this cycle of mortgage ownership, or having to grind away at work (although I do enjoy what I do) and push the priorities into the back. Let's review what it is exactly that I am doing right now:

1. Going to work 7:30am-6pm (when I leave, to when I get back home)

2. Small property portfolio of two houses and one block of land + a PPOR.

3. PPOR has a bit of equity.

4. Making a decent wage. 

Lets hypothetically turn this around to what it COULD be:

1. Going to work 8am-3:30pm, three times a week.

2. No portfolio

3. PPOR mortgage free.

4. Getting by.

The secret here is Point 1 and 3. Yes, we would be just 'getting by' in this scenario, but look at the extra time I have. Look at the reduction in pressure, in stress, in 'grinding' away. Who knows, I could even contemplate doing something really worthwhile (that's a different story).

Contemplation is a wonderful dream.

Until next time.  

There is a little Facebook thingy underneath this post. Spread the word. 

What has happened recently...

Well, after our block of land down in Tasmania finally settled, we are in a 'solid' position as far as our portfolio is concerned. 

As the title eludes, I want to talk to day about what has happened recently to me, and possibly more importantly, my life circumstance, which has once again changed my mindset and has re-defined what the end goal should be. So in the last few months I have been contemplating HITTING THE BUTTON (HTB). HTB for me basically means to totally get out of property investing by consolidating all investments to pay down the primary PPOR mortgage and live happily ever after. I have talked about this before, have contemplated the thought many many times, but then it dawned on me again that it was exactly this sort of thinking that got me into a bit of a stalemate for the last few years. 

So the main dilemma for me is family time. I want to stop work, or at least not work as much, so that I can spend some more time with my family, with myself, think things through. At the moment, this is not possible; work is super busy and I am left fighting a battle between the things I love doing all taking up the precious little down time I get during the week.   

So the dilemma, or shall I say, conflict in my mind, continues to haunt my drives to work and that precious time just before I go to sleep. Property investing....HTB...wonderful stuff! 

Ownership pushed to the suburbs?

I often fail to see past the obvious notion that our nation's journalists are a bunch of idiotic, moronic, 'non-life experienced' idiots. I mean for instance, read this article. 

While the statistics about how far people travel for work are indeed very interesting, the wording is just all wrong:

"Young people are most at risk as housing affordability worsens and first-home buyers are increasingly pushed to outer suburbs."

Does this writer suggest first home buyers should be buying the premium properties in the exclusive suburbs AS THEIR FIRST HOME? Get a grip please, a grip on the reality that the typical first home owner SHOULD NEVER buy ANYWHERE NEAR the CBD. No wonder we have our 20 and 30-somethings complaining about 'affordability'. 

In Brisbane, where should a typical first home owner, in 2011, buy their home? It isn't going to be any of the 'leafy' burbs, not the Indooroopily corridor, definitely not the CBD, not St Lucia, not Kangaroo Point, none of these places are for FHOBs. 

Young people need to get a grip on reality and realise that home ownership is rarely about living where you want to, but rather a compromise between four main factors: distance to work, the suburb 'age', the size of the property and the entry cost. 

1. Distance to work: As in the article, the closer the better, but this needs to be balance with other factors. 

2. Some suburbs, like those popping up near Ipswich at present, are new suburbs with new homes. These come at a premium. Some more established suburbs, say, Oxley, have generally older homes, but are a tad closer to the city. 

3. The size of the property is always a factor, and as the typical back yard becomes smaller and smaller (read 250 square), a premium is paid for the 'larger' lots.

4. Entry cost is probably the most important factor for FHOBs. The market dictates the overall value of a property, considering ALL factors related to the 'livability' of a property, and this is continually forgotten by many many people. Entry cost dictates basically where you will live, but FHOBs can not enter the market with a $700,000 inner ring home. The article talks about stress etc., imagine what it would be like when you need to make the repayments on something like that, AS YOUR FIRST HOME. 

Ciao.

The Brisbane Property Market must be VERY interesting.

Throughout the last week or so, basically since this blog post, I've been intently monitoring which of my blog posts are getting the most hits, and basically it comes down to one about the Brisbane property market from mid 2009. So the question is, how come this particular post IS the most commonly hit post, again and again and again? I think I can put it down to a few points:

1. It has the words 'Brisbane Property Market' in it a number of times. This of course must be a keyword worthy of looking at, as my Russian friends attest to, bombarding the comments with junk (which by the way I've left for entertainment purposes). 

2. It also has the words 'Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide' etc. etc., once again, words that must be high hit keywords.

3. This is an earlier post on my blog, basically it's been there for a while, with all those juicy, yummy keywords, sitting pretty. 

So, the dilemma is this; do I keep writing blog posts that are meaningful to me, that, I believe, may actually entertain a few people, or do I switch over and become a keyword robot, making sure that I have words like 'Brisbane' and 'Australia' and 'Sydney' and 'potato', just for the sake of getting hits?

Perhaps I need balance, a bit of Column A and a bit of Column B. Lets see, what other words may score highly? Any suggestions?

Also I am now going to add a little message to the bottom of my posts, similar to the way smonkyou does whn I read the entertaining posts on Google Reader. So...

Can I ask you a small favour? Pretty please? With a cherry? Please put a link on your website to this website. In return, if you notify me, I will back link you, or whatever else you want me to. Cheers...

RBA keeps rates the same and at the same time, becomes boring as batshit

News that the Reserve Bank has kept interest rates exactly where they have since the start of the year is no surprise, and in doing so, have shown how 'safe' the RBA has been over the last little period. Although many of our shares investor cousins are doing it tough (although the smart active ones probably making a lot of dough), the RBA continues to hold the rates. I am beginning to think they are so fixated on keeping inflation at bay, that they are not actually looking at the rest of the data. Of course you'll 'hear' reports that they are, but currently the markets are, in my opinion, looking so negative, that this should have pre-empted a drop in the cash rate, and if this doesn't then what does? For property investors, this continual inflation minimisation policy that the RBA have in place is bad news; we need inflation to help boost our capital gains, but for the immediate future, its not look positive.   

Gardening and the value of your house

Did a fair bit of gardening today, thanks to a visit from my dad, who just so happens to have a wonderfully loud chainsaw. We trimmed off virtually all of the trees in the backyard and then I proceeded to pull out all the ferns. I have plans to create a formal look, with a lot of hedges and neat gardens. The missus has dictated that there still must be room to kick a footy and run around a bit, but when you start with a 600 square metre block, something has to give. Anyway, I have an idea or two to incorporate into this design, which will hopefully mean that we can have both; a bit of garden, a bit of grass. 

It got me thinking; how much value does a neat or established garden add to the value of a property. I mean its obvious that it will present better during the sale. But, is the intrinsic value, the time you put into it, really amount to anything in terms of dollars? 

I think it does, especially if someone with any interest in gardening is looking at the property. Established trees, or a neat weed free laws, or some established hedges all contribute, lets say to the tune of around 1-1.5%. So in a property that is let's say on the market for $300,000, the garden may contribute between $3000 to $4500. This may not be apparent at first, but subconsciously, I bet its there. When I bought this place, I saw a few hedges and already I was thinking about the amount of time that those, being established, will save me. Was it to the tune of 1-1.5%? Hard to say, and I think this is the overall issue with placing a dollar value on this particular item during a purchase. Its just 'hard to say'. You simply can not put a value on the countless hours that has gone into a garden, even a simple one. 

Your thoughts?