Hi all, 26 year old from Melb

Hey there,

I'm Sam, a 26 year old physiotherapist from Melbourne. I'm looking to buy my first investment property (first of any property for that matter).

So a bit about my situation... I want to buy a 3 bedroom house to rent out, somewhere in the western suburbs of Melbourne preferably - between 400-550k. The idea is for it to be an older brick house on 600sqm+ that allows for subdivision some time (decades) down the track.

My goal is to have the property for a long term, mainly for capital growth and I guess to have something that I can pass onto my as yet unborn children or whatever.

I like the western suburbs because I've from there, and it's close-ish to the city.

Of course, it may be apparent that I know nothing of real estate, so was wondering whether I should employ a buyers advocate to assist me in this process? Does anyone recommend any that has experience dealing with similar situations to mine?

What other things should I be considering?

Thanks everyone for reading. I know that a lot of people (like me) come onto forums looking for answers and not necessarily to help out those who know nothing so I appreciate any assistance at all!

Sam

 

Hi @sam.q.n welcome to the forum.

Why don't you come to one of the investor meetings. Great opportunity to meet a few like minded people and talk about some of your ideas and hear those of others.

Tomorrow night in the Eastern suburbs:
VIC - Melbourne Meet Up (East Side) Matthew Flinders Hotel Tues 13 Sept

In about 2 weeks in the Western suburbs:
VIC - Melbourne (west-side) meetup - Thurs 25th August 7pm - Plough Hotel, Footscray VIC.

 

Hey Sam

Welcome aboard

Keep reading and learning - this site has to be one of the best free resources with a massive amount of useful content.

The meetings Pete has mentioned would be worth checking out too.

Cheers

Jamie

 

Hey @sam.q.n , welcome aboard.
It can seem like you gotta buy at times, but there really isn't any rush.
Trying to learn as much as you can is more important, important before your 1st purchase.

 

Thanks for your posts @Peter_Tersteeg and @Jamie Moore, I'll definitely look into these meetings, they sound like a great idea!

Thanks @Azazel! I definitely feel as though I'm being rushed, by what, I don't really know. I guess one of my biggest issue is that I am finding it very difficult to learn. It is less of a hobby for me and more like a duty. I get anxious coming home from work because I have that feeling in my stomach that I need to do research, almost like that feeling when you've got an exam the next day or something...

 

Goto re.com.au
Goto meet up and pick Peters brain... He is knowledgeable and generous.
Don't rush.. Financial rehab is more painful than muscular rehab

 

I know what you mean. Some of it is "fear of missing out". It's good to start early, but there will always be a good deal somewhere.
And don't confuse faffing about on realestate.com.au with research, you need to read more books!

 

Thanks @oki doki, I really think I should attend this meet up. I do feel uneasy about tagging along when I have no valuable information to provide though. What do they call that, a leech? Haha!

Oh @Azazel you've got me in one! Literally all I've done is look at that website, and some random surbub profiles. What books do you suggest I read?

Legitimate question though; Say if it takes me 6-12 months to research enough to feel confident in buying a house - houses probably went up more than 10k - should I just get a buyers advocate to just do it for me if it costs around that? Especially since their knowledge would be light years beyond mine no matter how much I learnt? Excuse my over simplification of course.

 

If you don't have time I suggest use a BA but that will set you back $10k

 

Hi Sam,
If you're a Physio, I reckon you would have high enough and stable income to cover that 10k outlay for a BA with little pain to find you a property and it would not take you too long to recoup that 10k. Hopefully they will educate you on property as an investment and get you into the market much sooner with a better property with more potential than what you can find yourself. They probably negotiate better than you do anyway so you end up paying the same or less.

Re: meetups, just go. I went to my first meetup when I only had 1 IP but it was great to listen to very successful investors and pick up their tips. Better to learn from people who have done it all before over time and can provide solid and free advice than to buy something that could be a costly mistake (eg. Buying in a Mining towns with high vacancies and falling house prices. That was considered a great idea by some back till a few years ago...).

Now I have a few under my belt so I now tend to find I do more of sharing my stories and hopefully others can learn from and take some inspiration from me. But it's still a chance for me to network, and learn things from others too. Maybe I could do a JV one day or buy commercial... I still haven't done either but if it happens that i'm on the same wavelength as someone else and I know their attitudes it could be an opportunity to find those JV partners to get into something bigger. (Note: Absolutely not recommending this for newbies - you need education first!).

Enjoy the forum.