My Property Investment Journey - Week by Week

Glad you found my thread useful, @Smasher. The fees definitely vary, depending on how "big" the company is. The range for the 6 ones I spoke to went from 8k to 15k.

 

congratulations for your purchase! cant wait to hear your update whenever you can

 

Tks @samiam! And I can't wait to share with everyone. Exciting times

 

Week 17: 16/7/17 to 22/7/17

This post will be short, but it's definitely the most important event in my journey so far: I signed the contract for my first property!

A lot going on, as everyone who has been through this process before knows well:
- deposit paid;
- contract with PM signed;
- conversations with the solicitor and the insurance company started;
- broker ordered a valuation and is working on getting my loan approved;
- B&P will happen tomorrow morning.

If nothing goes wrong, this time next week I'll be here posting about how the property went unconditional.

Details on price, location, PM, solicitor, insurer and, obviously, the BA, coming soon (not only the names, but also the details of my experiences with each one of them). So far, all I can say is that the property is in Queensland and that I'm quite happy with the way things are moving.

I'll leave two questions here, would love to hear your thoughts:

- Nobody seems to worry about Household Worker Insurance or Property Risk Insurance. Does anybody here have any of them? Should I just ignore them? Will I be ok with just building, landlord and content insurance?
- Would it be a good idea to advertise the property as pet-friendly and charge a little extra rent for that, considering how hard it is for tenants to find pet-friendly properties? Apart from the premium rent, I would probably be getting tenants that would like to stay for a long period, given they would like to avoid having to go through the hassle of finding another pet-friendly property.

Cya next week!

 

Hi Jose,

Pet friendly is a big plus especially in QLD where every second household has a dog or cat or both. You are right in saying that it will attract a better tenant pool and you can charge a bit more rent.

Instead of saying 'pet friendly' on the ad, you might want to put something like 'pets on application'. This will attract tenants with pets to see the property and if they like it, you can potentially negotiate a slight increase on your advertised rent instead of assuming its included

I would also set some rules around the pet only being allowed outside (not often adhered to anyway), but will give you a leg to stand on if you are after compensation from the tenant due to damage/wear and tear internally especially on floors, doors and carpets

 

Thanks a lot, Simon, that's great advice!

 

Weeks 18 and 19: 23/7/17 to 5/8/17

Hi everyone,

Before I jump into the cool stuff, I'll just quickly say that I'm (pleasantly) surprised by how many people are following this thread and how many views it has. I've received heaps of messages asking me details about the property and the professionals I've used, as well as why I didn't post anything last weekend. I guess this shows that this forum is not only about people looking up to the successful investors who have been around for decades - it also has a lot of new investors wanting to follow the journey of those starting out at the same time as them.

To the real stuff now: a lot happened in the last two weeks. On week 18, the result of the B&P Inspection came out suggesting we did an invasive termite inspection, just for peace of mind. We already knew there was termite damage, but we also knew it was nothing to be worried about and we simply looked at it as negotiation ammunition. The invasive inspection were extra $250 that I spent just for peace of mind, and it came out clean: no structural damages and no live termites, as expected. On Monday of week 19 (31/7), the last day of the "under contract" period, we put through a new offer, using the issues found on B&P to justify the lower value, and the seller accepted it. Big day for me: my first investment property in Australia went unconditional!

After that Monday, a lot happened:
- My BA started coordinating with the tradies for the renos and on Friday I paid them the initial deposit for their work.
- My Property Manager is obviously across the whole process, giving me advice in terms of what is worth doing in the renos and coordinating with the guys who will replace the carpets.
- I started quoting insurance and am now just waiting for confirmation that my payment has been processed and that the property has been successfully insured (Content, Building and Landlord).
- And finally: my loan got approved on Thursday.

Things are moving quickly and, apparently, in the right direction. I'm looking forward to seeing the final result of the renos and how much rent I'll be able to get, as well as how much growth I'll have managed to fabricate thanks to the cheap purchase price and the renos.

So... now that it's unconditional, I've decided I'll start sharing some details. For now I'll only share the property: 14 Musa Street Crestmead Qld 4132 - House for Sale #125809002 - realestate.com.au

Apart from that, I'll just say that my BA has been awesome in every way and completely exceeded my expectations so far. Let's see how this final phase goes...

Details around price, renos, loan, professionals etc coming soon...

 

congrats jose!! that is a great price for a 3BR house on a big block. it's so exciting when you start receiving rent, i loved that part!

 

Tks @Pat! Yeah, it's quite exciting, can't wait for the renos to be completed and the settlement to be finalised so I can finally say it's mine.

PS: If you find this cheap, wait till you see the price I actually paid for it...

 

240k??

I looooove killer deals!

 

I wish!!!

It was a great deal, but no, I didn't get a 20% discount, that would be too much. Will share the details soon...

 

Its funny I was going to offer on this property as well. Ended up with another one with less work required since I'm in Sydney.

I would love to hear how much you ended up getting it for? I knew this house would have good leverage with the owners for the price. If only I could afford to spend the time up in QLD for a few weeks. My work and other businesses take too much time!

Congrats mate.

 

Tks mate! I'll share all the details next week!

 

Weeks 20 and 21: 6/8/17 to 19/8/17

I've been delaying this post because I was hoping to post it after settlement, but since it's also being delayed, I decided to post today.

The initial date for settlement was yesterday (Monday), but the seller requested for an extension of one week so they can get a certificate of death that will be needed for settlement. My solicitor is now trying to negotiate early access to the property so we can start the renos asap, given all tradies are lined up. Should have news tomorrow, let's see.

Now that the property is practically settled, I'll share some more details around the purchase:
- Original price was 300k, as per the ad: 14 Musa Street Crestmead Qld 4132 - House for Sale #125809002 - realestate.com.au
- My BA already knew the seller was desperate to sell and offered 285k, which they accepted
- After B&P, my BA managed to shave off another 15.5k off the original price. Final price: 269.5k
- Will spend about 15k on renos that should bring the property value to something around 330k:

- bathroom and shower need a lot of love
- put new carpets on all bedrooms
- convert the garage into a 4th bedroom
- add a carport
- lots of minor/medium touch-ups everywhere
- add blinds
- replace stove​

- Loan details:

- St George
- P&I
- LVR 90%
- 180k fixed for 3 years at 3.99%
- 76.5k variable starting at 4.98%​

- I decided I won't add a termite barrier. Instead, I'll do an annual B&P and act if needed.
- Got Landlord, Contents and Building Insurance (200k sum insured) for a total of $845

Still too early to share details about the professionals I've been using, I want to wait until everything is finished. The only name I'll disclose for now is who I hired for Insurance: EBM, and I went for the Platinum package. Heard lots of good things about them (especially in this forum) and had a 2 months discount in the first year, it was actually a no-brainer. Hopefully I won't ever need them!

More details about the professionals I've hired coming soon...

 

Great work mate!

Beers to celebrate is on me.

 

Is 15k enough for planned renos?

 

haha Tks!

 

Based on the quotes I have, 13k should be enough, I'm planning 15k just to be conservative. Hopefully I'm being conservative enough!

 

Hahahah.....good stuff man. I was going to make an offer on that exact same property!!

If i had the time to fix it I would have. I think you got it for a good deal.