By Paul Wilson Ugly houses get a bad rap.  Ugly houses are properties which certainly do not fit into the “hot property” category but should.  In today’s realestate market, Australian property prices have caused many to have to rethink their property investment strategies.  After a bit of a slump in property sales in 2012 along with an increasing difficulty in locating positive cash flow properties, some are looking at more innovative ways to turn a profit.  Buying a house consideredRead More

By Paul Wilson Summer is approaching and it’s known to be the best selling/buying time in realestate.  When it comes to property investments, this is the time to get out there and get active.  Traditionally, there is more property for investment at this time of the year but this season there does seem to be more optimism in real estate investment than for some time. Indeed, the real state of property investing is great. Give Your Property Investment Portfolio SomeRead More

By Paul Wilson Waiting for the property value to go up?  Why not take the initiative and force the sale up. Yes, force the sale up! You might think this is a bit gung ho but the truth is, if you can increase your profit from your rental property, then you will be increasing the value of your realestate. An Investor’s Auditing Role You, the investor, need to wear many hats when you own investment properties and one of thoseRead More

By Paul Wilson I think we are all aware that people are now getting married at a later age and also starting their families much, much later. As it happens this has had quite an effect on the real estate housing industry and the demand for accommodation from singles and couples who want smaller, compact and quality units for many more years than has been the practice in the past. This demand is putting pressure on developers to provide thisRead More

    By Paul Wilson If you own real estate, property, something that is a must is good Landlord Insurance.  The right Insurance policy is a blessing; the wrong Landlord insurance can spell disaster. I recently had the unfortunate experience of a fire at one of my investment properties.  It’s not something that I’ve experienced before and I have to say it is something I would not want to go through again. What it highlighted for me was the factRead More

By Paul Wilson Property investing is a long term method of gaining wealth and many new first time property investors do not look at it this way when they buy their first piece of real estate. Understandable, I guess, when you consider that it has taken some time to get the deposit together and then find the financing.  At this stage new property investors are keen to get into the market place. They are not usually in the frame ofRead More

By Paul Wilson As a property investor it’s important that your property repairs are done without delay but done with a minimum of fuss and bother to the tenants.  When you made your initial purchase of investment real estate, you likely did so with the attitude that you were going to grow the value as well as enjoy positive cash flow.  Then something happened on the way to the bank.  Something needed attention.  Far too often, the reason that somethingRead More

Regular property maintenance will keep the costs down on a rental property.  There is no doubting that time seems to fly by so fast we wonder where the months have gone but there are certain items at an investment property that do need to be attended to on a regular basis, especially if the property was bought at an older age or if it has been owned for quite a long number of years.  Let’s have a look at someRead More

Doing the due diligence on the income and expenses of a property is a very large part of staying out of financial trouble with an investment property. You need to be aware of the net income from the property not the cash flow and the reason for this is that when you are presented with the income and expenditure figures by a seller they may one some items missing in the expenditure column and this could make a big differenceRead More

People who are serious about building wealth for their future retirement often struggle with knowing what level of income they will need as it could be many years into the future before they will retire. Looking a few years ahead to the future is difficult enough but if it is 20 – 30 years away that is even harder. And not only that, we are living a lot longer now days as well and that needs to be taken intoRead More

When you buy an investment property there are certain steps that should be ongoing over the life of the renting out of the property. When a property becomes vacant, whether at the time of purchase or in between tenancies the property needs to be back in order before the next tenants start inspecting and to do this there are 3 steps to take.   Essentially these three things are:   Repair anything that needs to be repaired, whether it beRead More

It is true that it is easier to lose money in business than it is to make it and your property investing business is no different. So if you want to lose money in your property investment business just follow these guidelines and it is sure to happen! Choose a property in the worst area – that will attract the worst kinds of tenants and your rent will also be lower than a similar property in a better area. InstallRead More

You may not have heard the term ‘analysis paralysis’ but with property investing we refer to that term when a person has been educating themselves for years, has the money to buy but just does not go ahead and purchase an investment property. There are several reasons why they don’t go ahead and purchase and one of them could be their psychology, but the other could just be pure and simple – confidence. We will look at the psychology ofRead More

Finding a good investment property is not usually a quick process unless you are on the list of an active buyers agent or real estate agent.  This post is about how to find an undervalued property in your local area. An active investor needs to know their target area well.  They need to know when a property is looking tired, and when a property has been empty for some time. Existing rental properties are a source for buying undervalue. IRead More

This is definitely one for the new investor, but even those who only have one or two properties will I am sure find this a useful exercise as it usually takes the purchase of 5 or 6 properties before you have got into stride confidently.   Going down the learning curve of property investing can sometimes feel like you have walked into the forest and you get to a point where you don’t know which way to turn to comeRead More

The best time to start investing is when you have sufficient education to make informed decisions regarding purchasing, finance, renting and other matters. WHEN SHOULD YOU START INVESTING? This is always an interesting question and one, that probably has a thousand answers as each and every investor has their own set of circumstances to consider. Obviously many factors come into play but there are some very basic questions to answer first. 1.    Do you know enough about property investing? 2.  Read More

It never ceases to amaze me the different ideas that property investors have and what they want in certain properties when building a property portfolio.  And this is a good thing, not a bad thing.   Those new to property investing probably do not realise just how many different little ins and outs and different requirements one might want when property investing. This is why it is important to do the research, look at all the options and discuss propertyRead More

Property investing is still a very popular vehicle in wealth creation over the long term. Do you realise that of all the property investors in Australia very few own more than one or two properties.  And this is a good start, but unfortunately it is not going to make an investor rich or have the wealth that was the motivator for them to start investing in the first place. In fact out of 200 property investors in Australia only oneRead More

In a market such as we have today, which is flat, there are more listings to view and a buyer can find themselves in a situation where they have two very similar properties to decide between. To help with that situation we have listed some of the questions you may ask yourself. If both properties are similar and both are priced at a very similar price then a little more research needs to be taken to decide on a price.Read More

I would suggest that you keep in mind what easements may be affecting a property you intend to purchase for the purpose of investment. The point is that at a later stage you may want to sell the property and an easement may hinder the sale. If you want to sell a property on and the purchaser is considering installing a pool, an easement running through the property may be a problem. The upside is of course, that the propertyRead More