When someone would talk about property investing, my eyes would roll back in my head and my brain would implode all at the same time.
But on top of my principal residence, I always wanted to know how to ‘have a property portfolio’, and ‘how to research investment properties’.
But then I started to pick up little easy-to-digest property investing nuggets, and since implementing them my knowledge has more than doubled (okay, it is all about getting into the ‘mindset’, too!)
OK, so I won’t get all preachy and technical about the best practices of investing smart (because frankly I am not qualified, and there’s a lot to it! And there are already lots of great articles on it, like how our contributor, Nicolette Harris, bought five properties with a total value just shy of $3 million. Sign up for our ‘How She Did It’ eBook here to read all about it).
But here are three super easy-to-do property investing tricks that will really help boost your knowledge and give you a kickstart.
1 – Supply/Demand Ratio
if there is demand but limited supply this creates competition and people are likely to pay more than market value or more per week for rent. Gauge this by looking at how many properties are advertised for sale online, how many people searching in that area, number of people attending inspections.
2 – Access to employment opportunities, infrastructure and demographics
Who wants to waste time getting to and from work, making it hard for kids to get to school or making grocery shopping more time consuming than it has to be? Lookout out for proximity to shops, parks, public transparent, major roads. And an extra tip: you’ll want to buy in an area appealing to a broad audience: young singles, young families, empty nesters.
3 – Speak to a few Real Estate agents.
They are the word on the street and generally, they know things you may have missed in your Federal, State or Local government research. New road proposals, flooding or drainage issues on a particular street, the demographics of the area and so on. They are a wealth of knowledge – you just need to extract it from them.
Whatever you do, just start to wrap your head around what you can afford, how much you can borrow, and the process of buying an investment property. Speak to a trusted mortgage broker and see what financial position you’re in. Who knows, you might have more equity in your existing property to borrow in a whole new price bracket. (water views and a second bathroom, please)
This information is available through a number of websites, some listed below or better still – go for a drive around the area (if possible). www.realestate.com.au)
– Local government/council websites
– www.residex.com.au – free suburb reports
– www.realestate.com.au – free suburb reports
– www.abs.gov.au – free and almost endless supply of information, on (and not limited to) demographics, age, average income, population, industries and employment in those industries for the area
DONE IT? Tell the world (and us) about it in our Facebook group so we can check it out!
