Hello everyone

Thought I would say hi,
I have been loosely reading through the forums to try to figure out the very basics of property investment. My friend at work suggested I read through these forums so far so good, I mentioned to him my idea is to rent where I want to live and buy an IP somewhere that wont stretch me with a big mortgage, He said search rentvestor and don't stop reading, so that's pretty much sums me up at this point.
My deposit to get started will be in the $150000 to $200000 range and I plan to buy a unit or townhouse at around $300000 to $350000 all in, I like units and townhouses due to the fact they are less hands on than a house and often they will have caretakers looking after the property.
My short term goal is to get started by reading/learning as much as I can and buying #1.

Thanks for checking out my thread, I will most likely not do to much posting but I will be reading so any suggestions I am all ears
Thanks Darren

 

Good morning @Darren and welcome to the forums

The strategy of becoming a person that resides in rental accommodation and invests funds elsewhere is becoming more popular these days. Don't rule out having some free-standing houses in your portfolio ... they can offer you more options regarding value-add down the track.

 

Hi Darren,
That's a great deposit. I would suggest not using all of it and keeping the majority in an offset account to use when you eventually buy a PPOR (or any other non-deductible purchase) - much better outcome tax wise.

Most investors tend to use a 12% deposit, or 20% if they only want a small portfolio. There's rarely an advantage to putting in more than 20% deposit and often carries additional risk, for eg if you're without tenants, have major repairs etc, all your cash is tied up. Using a smaller deposit means your cash is accessible and can be used when required.

 

Thanks for advise @Jess Peletier my friend at work suggested the exact same thing.
Thanks again

 

Hi Darren
There is no rush at the moment as many markets are either peaking, peaked or falling. Keep reading and researching strategies.

Have a read of posts by @Taku Ekanayake he is using a strategy where he is adding value, may/may not suit.
This is one way to build equity in the first stages of investing.

Here is another strategy that @sash uses where he builds land and house packages, this also can add equity on completion, where depreciation and rental yields cover the mortgage.

Also how about networking with investors in Sydney, search for meetings, perhaps they meet every month? I am sure you will learn a lot from these investors.

I think where the markets are at the moment its important to be active rather than a passive investor as achieving growth may be difficult moving forward??

All the Best
MTR

 

Thanks for the shout out @MTR. Yep, I follow a similar strategy @Darren. That is a healthy deposit - well done! Which area are you looking to invest?

Btw - I note you live in Sydney. We have a Sydney CBD Meetup coming up on Thursday 7th July. You should definitely come down - very casual catch up with a bunch of investors from ppl that are looking to buy their first to seasoned investors. Please comment in the thread if you can make it. Will be a good time (link below):
NSW - Sydney CBD Meetup - Thursday 7th July

 

Hi dags welcome aboard. keep reading!
Your friend at work sounds like a smart guy you'll need to shout him lunch now for sending you here

 

Hi and welcome

Jess makes a really good point - that deposit could potentially be spread across multiple IPs - especially if you were willing to leverage lmi.

Cheers

Jamie

 

Thanks for the encouraging replies everyone,
The words I consistently read on this forum are "Speak to a mortgage broker" so that's what I will do, excited to see what is possible.
Any threads worth a mention please post the link.
cheers

Darren