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260 | Q&A: Picking The Right Investment Strategy and Beware: Proposed Changes to QLD Residential Tenancy Act

By in Podcast, Q&A

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How do you know if you’re following the right investment strategy? Like… how long are you meant to wait until you buy the next property? And how much should you look at spending? OR what about all the variables in the mix — say, you or your partner is about to take maternity leave, or your overall aim is to leave a decent inheritance for the kids? And where do cashflow-positive properties fit in to all this? (And what even are they??)

We get it folks… there’s A LOT to consider when it comes to picking and following the right investment strategy!! Let alone adding on top of that trying to factor in future costs, changes to income, individual needs and capital gains on each property!

So, in this special Q&A on property investment strategies, we’re going to answer a handful of our listeners’ very own questions that dive into the common dilemmas and unique situations folks are facing!

Plus, given the recent news, we’re going to touch on the proposed changes to Queensland’s Residential Tenancy Act as well!! Learn more about the ‘Opening the Doors to Renting’ Reform here.

 

Oh, and not to mention we have a very, very special gift for you…

(which we hope will even the par on the “Black Friday” discounts happening all over the globe, which let’s be honest, aren’t exactly designed to make your money work HARDER for you!)

 

FREE BOOK!! (yes, it’s a physical copy!) – The Armchair Guide to Property Investing – How to retire on $2,000 a week

www.TheArmchairGuide.com.au

 

Yes, really. We’ve got a stack of books ready to go in the office — and until we run out, we’re GIVING THEM AWAY! Here’s our crazy deal…. We pay for the book. You pay for the shipping.

CLICK HERE to Get Your FREE COPY of The Armchair Guide to Property Investing (just pay shipping, and it’s all yours, provided we have enough left!)

 

The Black Friday Announcements:

 

 

Today’s Questions

Question from Brad

Hi guys, awesome podcast! Very informative. My wife and myself are in a bit of  a unique position, we currently have a house on the family farm we pay minimal rent for. We recently bought our first home, which we are living in due to the First Home Buyers scheme, and will turn into our investment in February; my question is how long until we buy our next property? How much should we look at spending? How do you set up the next investment, as in interest only or principle and interest?

 

Question from Stephen

Hi. Just in relation to The Property Couch Facebook Page I was just wondering what makes a cash flow property if you could explain. Thanks all. Totally addicted to the podcast.

 

Question from Scott

G’Day property gurus, LOVE your work. For the case that we are holding multiple investment grade properties, have a strong cash buffer, and they are cashflow positive but not enough to fully live off. Is a hold strategy and living off the capital growth a possible retirement strategy? Of course, it’s important that they are growing at a faster rate than our living expenses, but can this strategy work long term in retirement?

The big pro for me is that it maximises the value of the inheritance which we’ll leave the kids. What are the watch outs for this strategy? Keep up the great work, and Go Pies. Scott

 

Question from Sara

Hi Bryce and Ben, thank you for your fantastic informative podcast. I listen to it a few times a week and am learning so much. I am a 36 year old woman and have a question regarding buying an investment property now, or family home in 3-4 years. I have $115K saved for a deposit. I am currently on maternity leave with my first baby and will return to work 3 days per week from March 2020 earning around $66K pa total (not pro-rata). I anticipate that I’ll stay at 3-4 days per week ($66-88K pa total) until we hopefully fall pregnant with a second baby in 2021. All of this means I will have part-time and maternity leave income until around 2023 when I’ll likely return to full-time work (earning around $115K pa).

I have wanted to get into the property market for ages but wanted to wait until I met a partner so we could consolidate our savings and buy a family home (and this only happened in the last 2 years). As it turns out my partner works freelance and has not been able to make enough to save for a deposit, so the responsibility for that is with me at the moment. We obviously hope that his earning capacity will improve. At the moment he makes ends meet with around 30K pa.

We currently rent in the inner city but would like to buy a family home in a regional area with a commutable distance to the city, as it is more affordable (median house price $650K), and offers a better quality of life for our family. With my work commitments we don’t see ourselves moving out of the city until after we have baby number 2 (so in 2-3 years).

My question is this: given that we don’t plan to move out of the city for 2-3 years should we keep saving during that time and then buy our family home in the regional area, or should we consider buying a 2 bd unit in the area we currently live (at around $500K) initially to live in (to save on stamp duty) and then as an investment property? I feel anxious about waiting another 3 years to get into the market as prices will continue to increase (albeit at a slower pace in the regional area), and at 36 years of age I am already leaving it very late to start out.  Additionally, if we were to buy a unit in the city, would we be able to use that as equity in buying a family home in 3 years’ time? Or would that mean we couldn’t get another loan? I know that our borrowing power will not be strong with me only working part-time and my partner’s low income.

I know you can’t give specific financial advice, but I thought this must be a common dilemma with the restrictions of maternity leave income bumping up against the pressures and timing of getting a foot on the property ladder. Thanks in advance for any insights you can offer,  Sara

Ps. Are you able to let me know when/if you answer my question? I’d hate to miss it.

 

 

 

232 | Are All Tenants the Same?

By in Podcast

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Have you ever thought about WHO will be living in your investment property?

Chances are, you have! Because folks… an investment property is pretty useless without a tenant/s in it!! After all, you need these guys to help pay off your mortgage!

So. Are they all the same??

What TYPES of tenants are out there and what can you expect from each one?

Well, here’s the deal… we think there are FOUR tiers of tenants.

Let’s meet them, shall we?

Oh and FYI: Ben’s “Did You Know” is off the charts… we don’t think we’ve ever seen him this prepared in our podcast history — so make sure you stick around for that!!!

Resources mentioned in today’s show:

Here’s what you’re in for…

Loved the episode? You might also like:

148 | Q&A WITH TWO GUESTS! Why We Support Movember, Where is Australia’s Best Performing Markets and What You Should Be Buying Now

By in Podcast, Q&A

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Alright, folks …. This is a jam-packed episode!! 2 GUESTS, Q & A and some big announcements! So, where do we start?

First up … We have reached our Movember target of $10,000 big ones! A massive shout out to those who have donated, and a little reminder for those who haven’t done so yet: Donate $25 or more and get a FREE book! If we hit $11,000 Bryce will do his own Webinar TOO!!

(Ben’s webinar is coming up soon! You can access his Principle and Interest versus Interest Only Webinar AND his Working Out Your Retirement Shortfall Webinar by Downloading our Money SMARTS SYSTEM here.)

 

Speaking of Movember, our first guest is Sam Gledhill. He’s the Global Action Plan (GAP) Program Manager at Movember and he has some seriously interesting (not to mention seriously important) stuff to share with you! With a background in nuclear medicine technology — having been with the Foundation since 2012 and now responsible for the overall investments in Testicular Cancer — Sam will explain exactly why your donation is, literally, lifesaving.

 

Secondly, it’s Q&A day AND we have another guest! Not only are we answering your voicemail messages, but also we’ve bought LocationScore’s director (and data nutcase), Jeremy Sheppard, back to The Couch! This time Jeremy will to tell you the supply and demand for each State and Territory, including the one showing the highest potential for capital growth.

 

Here’s a snapshot on what we’ll be chatting about today:

 

First Voicemail (SpeakPipe) from “Anonymous”:

“I’m thinking of using a Buyers Agent to secure an investment property. I’m curious to know if I need to give them a Letter of Authority or a Power of Attorney, or both. Can you please explain the difference, and how I can use them? Thanks!”

 

Second Voicemail (SpeakPipe) from Stuart:

“Hi guys, great podcast. I’ve spent the last year listening to your podcast trying to get as many tips and advice about my property investment journey, which I’ll hopefully embark on very soon. Bit of a ‘spanner in the works’ though — I’d always envisioned starting out with maybe a 1 bedroom, around $300,000 – $400,000, maybe as a borderless investor (I currently live in Victoria). But our current house that we owner-occupy is looking a bit too small for us … my wife has proposed the question that we look at buying a bigger property. So the key to the question is, What are your thoughts on your first rental property actually being the one you currently occupy? I know you guys like detail, so I’ll shoot through to this: Currently it’s a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom property in Chelsea, Victoria about 17 – 20 minutes from the train station and the beach. We bought it for about $505,000 in 2013, we owe $467,000 on it, we pay interest-only — about $1500 a month — and I think it’s worth about $650,000. So I’m really interested to know: what are your thoughts on a 3bd, 2bath house in Chelsea becoming our first rental investment? It’s not really what I’d mapped out listening to your podcast, but we’d probably have to buy a bigger, 4bd in Chelsea/Bonbeach area & I just want to see if this is a viable option in your opinion? I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks!”

 

Third Voicemail (SpeakPipe) from Nicole:

“I’m from Canberra, woo! Looking at buying our 3rd property (1 PPOR and 2 IP). We’re looking at investing in a 1 br unit, which is 41 sqm in an old 1970s building, 5 km from CBD. It’s in Canberra, I’m aware of the land tax). $200,000 property with a $300 week yield. Husband can renovate it, which I think out ways the land tax issue. Question about banks’ lending money to under 50sqm. There seems to be banks that will lend these days, but going forward if we were to sell this — say in 20 years’ time, if we do sell it — do you think the banks are going to change their lending criteria on smaller places, considering most people, moving forward, will be living in small places? I guess I’m concerned that it’s going to be hard to sell in the future? What are your thoughts on this?”

 

Fourth Voicemail (SpeakPipe) from Nicole:

“My wife and I have about $180K to invest — we’re looking at buying our first home in Brisbane. Trying to choose between paying, which in our eyes is a premium, about the $600K mark for an older 3 bedroom home somewhere closer to the CBD like Moorooka or the convenient location of Mount Gravatt. Or: Paying early to mid $500K and getting a bigger, 4 bedroom home somewhere further away like Underwood or Springwood and using $120K of our deposit, leaving us about $60K towards our next property down the line. Again, it’s our first home, and we don’t plan on living in it forever. We just want to use this purchase as a stepping stone to our next property. To sum it up: Buying a property closer to the city, which will use up most of our deposit, versus by a home further away, leaving us with a good amount of money to jump into the market again down the line. Would love to know what you think.  I know that you say it’s good to be close to the city as a rule of thumb; but I am worried that this will prolong our next purchase considerably. Thanks guys.”

147 | Q&A – What’s Your Exit Strategy? Are You Retiring or Have You Bought a “Dud”?

By in Podcast, Q&A

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It’s Q & A day BUT first things first … thank you!!

We have officially nailed our Movember target of $5,000!!!

And we’ve been busy parcelling The Armchair Guide to Property Investing for those of you who donated $25 or more (yep, for those who haven’t donated yet, you can still get a free book if you do this)!

PLUS, as Ben promised, he will be doing a Free Webinar on Working Out Your Retirement Gap … so stay tuned!!

In the first few minutes of today’s show, we also make an announcement on what happens if we hit our next target. (It has to do with Stiggy!!!)

 

But back to today’s Q & A on EXIT STRATEGIES, here’s what you’re in for:

 

The Q’s are as follows, folks:

 

Question from Lou:

Hi guys … long time listener (you take the edge off Sydney commuting, so thank you)!

My husband and I currently have six properties in NSW (nothing in Sydney metro … yet) valued at $2.3 million and LVR at 64% and gross yield of 8.2%.

We are both 40(ish) with two kids under 5. Our aim is to retire early with a $100K income. Reading your book and watching the videos and listening to the podcasts, I am wondering if retirement income is always based on rental income alone, or do you ever recommend borrowing off the equity as part of an early retirement strategy (with major buffers of course!). We’ve been very wrapped up in the acquisition phase that it’s hard to see where the end is especially when rents seem to creep up so slowly … I would love your thoughts on ‘living off the equity’ as part of a strategy.

 

Question from Chris:

Hi, I just started listening to your podcast. Can I get some advice from you guys regarding this case?

Mid of 2016, I paid 40k down payment (10%) for an off-the-plan 1 bed room apartment in Melbourne CBD (close to Melbourne Central.) The settlement is in 2018.

After getting some education from several property investment resources including your podcast (which I should have done first), I realised that I had probably made a rookie mistake. The purpose of this investment was tax deduction (another rookie mistake, I know).

Now, I still have some cash (around $200K) in my home loan offset account (saving and equity from a remortgage). If I want to start building a long-term portfolio (I’m 37, 2 young kids), what shall be my next step? Do you suggest I sell off-the-plan apartment before settlement? I have a very bad feeling about that off-the-plan apartment before settlement? I have a very bad feeling about that investment …

Look forward to your advice!

 

Question from Sonya

I’ve started listening to you guys (and yes, I tune out to the football banter) and yes, I have bought your book. My question is: What determines whether or not an investment property is a ‘dud’, and should you get out of it as soon as these signs start to appear? We bought an investment property in Thornbury, Melbourne. The area has had great growth in the last five years, average above 8%. Our property is a 2 bedroom townhouse, circa 1970s. It has grown about 4% pa and rent has not increased in the 5 years we’ve had it. Rental yield is about 4%. I believe the location is the problem as it is not a walk to the main hipster drag. We have cash flow to purchase another property, but could have more if we sell this ‘dud’. And we have a capital gains loss from a piece of land we sold a while ago, which we can use to offset any capital gain we may make if we sell the ‘dud’. Does this have signs of a property ‘dud’? Do we hold out and wait, or do we exit now, use the capital loss to our benefit and buy another property?

 

Question from Christian:

  1. I would love to listen to an episode dedicated to exit strategy and retirement.

These types of strategies, how to exit, how much income to expect in retirement etc.

  1. Are the days of large property portfolios over?? Given the current APRA restrictions and banks extremely conservative assessment rates, many investors with 3 – 4 properties are finding it difficult to borrow more for further purchases. Banks are assessing existing borrowings and P&I loans with rates at 7.5%. Rental income at 80% and negative gearing not taken into account. For an investor with 2 ­­– 3 properties or more, that kills your servicing to borrow more. Yes, it’s a first world problem, but we need to build a decent asset base to get the passive income stream down the track!

Thoughts??

Love your work!!

082 | Q&A – Great tenants vs higher rents, Investing in property overseas, Managing leverage and more

By in Podcast, Q&A, Real life stories

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It has been 3 weeks since our last Question and Answers episode, so it’s about time for another one! Thank you again for sending in your questions.

For today’s podcast, we will be answering these questions:

  • Question on tenants vs rents from Mark: Is it better to keep a great tenant on a lower rental, than push for a great rental return and gamble with the quality of new tenants (and subsequent vacancy in between.)
  • Question on exit strategy from Tom: Hi, I would like to hear more about exit strategies when time is not on my side. I have just turned 50, with my youngest child in yr 12 and eldest living in eastern states. My principal place of residence (PPOR) is paid off (value $1.1M) and I have 2 investment properties with a combined value of $1m. But an investment loan of $1.2m. The reason for the negative Equity is that I have been capitalising. The investment interest whilst I directed all rental income into paying off my PPOR. So now I need to know what is next. My goal is to retire or work reduced hours in and on a corporate role by age 55. I am presently in a well-paid job paying about $220k and have about $270k in super, which I am contributing up to the max.$35k pa. I can’t get my headspace around what to do next. any suggestions would be appreciated.
  • Question on investing in property overseas from Sean: Would be great to hear your thoughts about investing in property overseas as part of a portfolio, particularly NZ. There’s some “wave rider” type activity gaining momentum around Auckland, which has become a heated market it seems.
  • Question on career in property investing:Hi Ben & Bryce, Firstly I would like to say you guys are doing an awesome job with the podcast. Have been listening from the start and as a born and bread Victorian now living in NSW I love the footy talk!!!!I would also like to congratulate you on your book “The Armchair Guide to Property Investing“. I will be handing it out to numerous friends and family as I believe it is gold when starting out and not knowing which direction to go.So some background on my situation. I started educating myself 2 years ago with every property podcasts/book I could find and now believe I have the foundations for property investing going forward with the right team around me (coach, broker, accountant, solicitor & acquisitions team).We moved to the Hunter Valley to set ourselves up to give us more “choices” in the future. I am currently on a high income of $140k as a coal miner but to be honest, my heart isn’t in it anymore and I don’t enjoy my work (except the pay each fortnight).The reason for reaching out to you guys is because we currently have a 3 year plan (possibly shorter) to move back to the Geelong area to be closer to our family and also closer to Melbourne because we live and breathe AFL. By then we plan to have 2-3 good capital growth properties in our portfolio in major cities utilising the high income (currently in process of acquiring property in Brisbane as I write this email).By the end of 2016 my goal is to complete a Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management because I believe that everything revolves around finance in creating wealth through property. I am also working towards 1-2 weeks work experience with my property acquisitions team to see how everything operates on the ground.

    My question to you guys is what else would you recommend I do over the next few years in preparation to help transition into the property investing line of work (educating others to create wealth or something down that path).

     

  • Question on paying down debt or invest from Ian: Good afternoon gents, thank you for sharing your wisdom. I’m 40/67 episodes so far and still loving the insight. A question for your podcast: Getting rid of debt 1st vs investing 1st: As a health practitioner with approximately 5K of discretionary income/month would you recommend chipping away at approximately $35K of bad debt mixed between high and low interest accounts and then seeking professional aid such as yours to become a 1st time rentvestor or seek out assistance and attempt to send that bad debit into some sort of mortgage? Love your work and your banter.
  • Question on Property Investment Advisor or Buyers Agent first from Paul: Hey Guys, Love the podcasts and your book. Great help for us newbs. I have just started my journey into the world of property investing. After listening to you guys plus reading your book I have taken my first step and started meeting with mortgage brokers to get an understanding of where I stand financially. One of the brokers I meet with was from your team at Empower Wealth. He was great and very professional. My question to you guys is once I have my finances ready to go do I need to be looking to meet with a property adviser or a buyers agent next? Your advice on this would be great. Keep up the great work!

 

If you like this Q&A episode (Good tenants vs higher rents, Investing in property overseas, Managing leverage and more), don’t forget to rate us on our iTunes channel (The Property Couch Podcast) and our Facebook page. Any questions or ideas? Feel free to drop us your thoughts here: http://tpcaustralia.wpengine.com/topics/

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