How did you start out in property?

Buying properties on credit cards a good decision? It sounds like a terrible decision to me.. but bad decision can sometimes = good outcome

 

Lucky they motivated you to rebel.

 

You get a high level of motivation to work and save (at 11) when you want material things (like toys, comics; bicycle etc) and all you get is socks and underwear for birthdays and xmas.
Once you are working and saving (11yr old) there is high motivation to supplement your weekly income with Term Deposit/dividends
It does not take long (15yrs) to realise property can make many times what TD and dividends produce

 

I started in property when 'all my friends ' started buying houses.
What I didn't realise at the time was that it was their families money...
I didn't have that..

 

Totally worth the 60% plus capital growth in 3 years. Secured CC. Exit strategy to refinance

 

It is a lot more fun using your own hard earnt money
But as a school boy i was rejected by every bank till i was in the mid twenties ...used solicitor lenders till then

 

Are low docs things of the past now? New to the whole scene of property investments but we just signed a low doc loan with a really good interest rate however it was for a PPOR. I did hear that lending criteria will be changing and will be more difficult to obtain loans. That was one of the reasons we wanted to get into the property market this year, as might have been more difficult for us later down the track.

I've missed out on plenty of good opportunities in the past 7 or so years more due to not being in the financial position (or so I thought). Looking back now, I know that had I actually tried there would have been options available.

 

Does asset protection bother anyone buying single?

 

Wow I read it as opposite to what you said! Privileged Chinese, hard working aussie!

 

It did for me because I didn't like the risk of losing it all and having to start again.

 

Yes. I'm likely to enter a relationship with a disproportionately high amount of assets and net assets.

Of course it worries me... a lot of hard work and sacrifice has gone into where I am now. Wouldn't want to see half go poof...

 

My best friends aussie, aussie mum, British dad. She's a beautiful considerate person and the more intelligent than anyone I know. The only thing that's kept her struggling is a lack of self confidence and dare I say expectation. I compare her to my younger brother, brilliant yet not even thinking of what he can do cz he wasn't expected from the same way as my parents expected from me to do well and weirdly enough that translated to a lack of or abundance of self confidence (atleast from how I interpret it).

I came here on a job, have only been in Aus 7 years. She and I have only been friend 2 years in which time Ive just constantly expected her to do more than she was used to. She has bought land now, building a house this year. She has saved and budgeted when she never did before and I can't wait for her to get rid of finance on her car! She's already switched jobs to one she deserves with excellent career progression and now I'm pushing her to do uni cz her minds too brilliant not to! (And cz my minds been brain washed to think she's too young to ignore it ). I like to think that expectation from someone turns them into highly confident people, cz you believe in them so much it wipes out their self doubt. That's what my parents did for me too.

So point of this whole babble, maybe the difference is just parents or someone quite key in your life expecting you to do something vs. no expectation by anyone.

 

How are you safe guarding it? It's my concern too.

 

Did you do anything that mitigates that risk?

 

Certainly wouldn't have known you will have 60% plus growth at the time of purchase.
If you used a secured credit card, you already had the cash to secure the credit line on the card. I am very interested in knowing the strategy behind a purchase using credit card -even more so when cash was available.

 

Yep, I took out insurance (because if you can't afford to lose it, you can afford to insure it) and I bought using trusts.

 

I was going to ask if your friend is single

Assets are not in trusts or anything like that. I may need to investigate pre-nups...it'll be pretty easy to account for everything e.g. list everything brought in at x date. The legalities of it all are another matter

 

Haha I'm surrounded by single friends, it's like a singles brigade!
Isn't prenups only if you get married? Having said that in my culture they are considered off putting to two people starting a life together.. I'd rather sneak them into a trust and pay a bit. I asked @kierank a lot of questions and got some direction on what he has done!

 

Send them my way then. There are no single women left in Sydney

 

Are you happy for me to disclose that you are likely to enter the relationship with a disproportionately high amount of assets and net assets? I'm pretty sure some of them will move if just to releave you of that plight!