To be a successful investor we need to be 3 things

1. Positive
2. Responsible
3. Proactive.

If you think of the opposites to all the above and if you fall into any of those categories then you may have to start asking yourself a very important question – “Do I have the right mindset and approach to be an investor? Having said that I remember when my wife and I were just getting started and at social events I would be like a rooster in the hen house who just found something wonderful to eat. Id be crowing about how wonderful property investing was and telling everyone that they should get into it but was amazed of the negativity of some people as they would tell you every reason in the world why you shouldn’t get into property. (How many of you have had that experience eh)?

To make matters worse when beginning investors start out they may go to a conference or event of some kind and get heaps of great information then come home and get advice from their family and friends who are of course experts in the field…..well offer you so much advice about why you shouldn’t get into investing you’d think they were.

So how do we get started then? The majority of people don’t take this path till later in life when they have built enough equity in their family home. So what happens if I don’t have a home with heaps of equity you ask and you just want to get started now? Well of course this will depend on your current financial position but to get started you of course have to make a deposit for your property and it doesn’t really matter what stage of our lives we are at, we could all use some extra cash and one of the ways my wife and I did that was to investigate some of the many hundreds of ways to make money that a guy called Jamie Macintyre speaks about. In fact after we ordered his free $99 DVD (click here for a copy) – (oh and ask them for the free e-book too) – and later attended a conference, we actually bought this internet business.

There are many, many different ways to make money once you start educating yourself about how to do it. So wether you make money from your job, supplement your income and speed up the process using some of the different strategies mentioned in the free DVD or e-book or you already have a heap of equity in your current home to start out, you are going to need a deposit. Before the global financial crisis money was very easy to get hold of but things may have been tightened up a little bit since then but don’t despair, you just need to keep looking until you find the right lender.

So let’s say you want to go out and buy your first investment property for about $300,000 so you will need between 10-20% deposit – 30k to 60k. The next question I get asked is “what about all that debt and how can you afford it”? Well to start with its good debt or an asset….not a liability. In other words you are buying something that you know will go up in value over time provided you buy wisely and do your research and of course educate yourself about property investing. Don’t just go and buy the first thing you see or buy it because its close you where you live and you can drive past and admire it every day. Also don’t think that you will be a millionaire overnight because you will need to be committed to buying and holding your properties for as long as you can. You must buy in the right location, with the right amount of land content and at the right time of the building cycle (more about this later).

The main thing to remember is that you will not be paying your investment loan off completely out of your own pocket. You have three sources of income when buying investment properties in Australia (and other countries) and they are;

1. Rent
2. Tax deductions
3. Depreciation

We will start to break these down into more detail in future posts but remember before you start, it’s important that you seek proper financial advice from those who specialise in this area as everyone will have different circumstances. I am not a financial advisor and certainly don’t profess to know everything about property investing but I would love to share my knowledge, my experiences, my mistakes and journey with anyone who wants to learn and take or continue this journey for themselves……to be continued.

All the very best Anthony Shaw

PS – feel free to join our Facebook group here and add me as a friend.

A global slump in economic growth followed along with a considerable amount of pain resulting from losses in failed financial institutions, mortgagee property sales and failed businesses. In response to the crisis, central banks and Governments rushed in with bags of money to shore up the ailing financial system and to stave off what could have been the worst economic event since the Great Depression.

The trouble is central banks and Governments now find themselves in the same position as the fabled Dutch boy with his finger in the hole in the dyke, trying to prevent a major disaster. Somehow this temporary measure needs to be replaced with something sustainable. There is a limit to how long a finger can be held in a dyke and the challenge for the financial system is how to deal with the increasing amount of debt faced by governments, particularly in Europe.

There is potentially another crisis looming.

Already share markets are reacting nervously to the situation in Greece, where the Government budget deficit has now reached around 13% of GDP. Ireland, Britain Portugal, Italy and Spain are not far behind. Yields on Greek Government bonds have increased dramatically as the risk of default rises.

If the Greeks do not regain market confidence, they may not be able to refinance debt that falls due in the next few months and then the government would default or have to be bailed out. If Greece falls over, the cost of borrowing for other euro countries would go up as well.

Investors in international bond markets will need to proceed with caution over the next few months.

2010 will bring a lot of change not only in the Mortgage world but also in the Real Estate world, more on that in a while.

From a Lending perspective the market has tightened further but this week two Banks have re-entered the 90% market so the choice is getting better and so criteria should ease – it needs to! Lo Doc continues to be difficult which restricts many Self Employed people from buying. We have seen many clients this year with good deposits, great track records but because the Accountant does what he is paid to do, the Financials don’t reflect the true income so the Banks say ‘no’. This will ease in early 2010 with not only the Banks looking at high deposit Lo Doc business but a couple of Specialist Lenders poised to return to the market. This is good news all round. Entries at Baycorp (now Veda Advantage) also reached record highs and Mortgages for those with adverse entries can be done, at about double the interest rate charged by the Bank in the initial years. This again should change next year as more Lenders are due to re-enter the New Zealand market.

Regulation of the Mortgage Industry takes effect in October/November 2010 following Europe and Australia. Many think this will reduce further the number of Brokers but increase the level of protection for the Borrower. I for one welcome this, as a Mortgage is probably the most important financial decision we will make and it is important that the advice given is correct. This includes mortgage finance, investments and insurance.

One of the biggest changes in years in the Real Estate business took effect in November with the new REAA regulations coming into effect but there is more to come.

If you are like many couples currently experiencing the difficulties of the recession and trying to sell your home you just can not afford to do both this year.  If this is your situation, I have the PERFECT solution: give your home a hug by spending Valentines Day staging your home.  And do it with your lover.

Spend Valentines Day staging your home and reward yourself at the end of the day with a nice bottle of wine and dinner at home. Your house will love it, you’ll like the look once you’re done and with luck you will have increased the value of your home and made it easier to sell

One of the great things about staging your home is that it can be done with little or no money. No matter what your budget is, even if it is zero, you can use staging techniques to increase the appeal of your home.

When it comes to selling your home you want it to really appeal to buyers in a positive way. You want buyers to love your home, to look around and go, “Ooh, look at that,” or “Wow, that’s beautiful.” Your home should have some pizzazz, some sizzle. In other words you want to trick your home out and give it some bling!

Here are my tips for home staging:

1. Get Rid of the Clutter
   One of the most important things to do when it comes to making the inside of your home look desirable is to get rid of the clutter. After living in our home for a while we tend to accumulate stuff. I have heard professional home stagers recommend that the average home owner clear about 1/3 of their possessions out of the house before putting it on the market. Definitely remove any collections of dolls, spoons, Star Wars figures, or any other dust catchers.
   Some sellers put their stuff into storage, which can be a great idea. You could try Kiwi Self Storage in Constellation Drive, we have used these guys before and I recommend them, or Smartbox. Smartbox is a super service; they deliver a storage box on a trailer, you fill it and lock it and they store it in their warehouse ready for you to pick up when you are ready. It will cost less than you think!
2. Windows
   Make sure your windows are clean! Sparkling windows show off your view or garden and let the sunlight in.
   It’s a good idea to have window treatments on every window in the house, if they make sense. A combination of blinds with curtains is best. But here’s the catch, you also want to let lots of light into the house. So the blinds should be raised and the curtains fully open. This creates a nice framing effect on each window.
3. Lighting
   In addition to letting in natural light you want to add plenty of artificial light. The trick that home stagers use is to layer the lighting. They use a blend of light from ceiling fixtures, lamps, wall lights and task lights. You want to make rooms bright, without being too bright and not have any single light source overly stand out.
4. Doorknobs, Switch Plates and Outlet Covers, Oh Boy!
   If you are going to go to all of the trouble to make the walls and doors look great, you should finish the job by replacing all light switch plates and outlet covers with new ones. I also recommend replacing all of the doorknobs if they look at all worn, because it’s so inexpensive to do it. The reason this is a pet peeve of mine is that freshly painted walls with painted over switches and outlets looks like a cover up job to me. Replacing all of the switch plates and outlet covers in your home should cost you about $100.
5. Arranging the Furniture
   If you’ve ever seen a professional home stager in action they seem to have this great ability to take the existing furnishings you have and rearrange them, sometimes into different rooms and make your home look completely different–and so much better. Because the furnishings you have and the layout of the rooms in your home will be completely different for each person there aren’t a lot of general tips I can give you for arranging your furniture. Look in home magazines. It doesn’t cost anything to go to the bookstore and look at them. They are full of photos that can give you great ideas. These magazines share tons of useful tips and tricks for making your home look great. If you run out of ideas, try Homebase, they have a service where they will visit your home and give you a plan, for a few hundred dollars. What I don’t recommend doing is going out and buying whole new furniture sets for key rooms in your home just for staging.
   There are a few commonsense tips I can offer that apply, no matter what furnishings you have and how the layout of a room is.
   1. Don’t leave large dead spaces.
   2. Clearing the clutter applies to too much furniture as well.
   3. Don’t have everything pushed up against the walls.
   4. Add some greenery, nice fresh growing plants in the entry or in a strategic spot add drama.
6. Master Bedroom
   The master bedroom is the ultimate refuge. It is the haven within the home. No matter how large or small your master bedroom is, you want it to appeal to the buyers as a place they WANT to spend their nights. If your master bedroom is cramped, it’s time to move some of the furniture out.
   And please, if your home office and computer are in the bedroom, now is the time to put that office stuff away to help create that restful refuge!
   Also, closets are a big selling point for houses. Clear out your closets out. If your master bedroom closet is jam–packed, buyers will look at it and decide there just isn’t enough room, even if your closets are huge.
7. Bathrooms
   Your bathrooms should be so clean you can eat off the floor (but no need to test it this way!). There shouldn’t be any mildew, soap scum, toilet rings, body hair or anything else that makes the buyers think they are buying your dirt. Make sure the mirrors sparkle.
8. Kitchen
   “Kitchens and baths sell homes.” Pretty much any real estate agent in the country will agree with this. Making your kitchen look the absolute best it can is well worth it when you are trying to sell your home. The beautiful thing about staging your kitchen is that you really don’t have to spend any money to do it.
   Clean out any food that is past it’s “use by” date, and sending old plastic and glass jars to the recyclers. Check that your cupboards, refrigerator, and stove are clean, now is the time to spring clean, don’t wait til settlement day!

These tips will help to save you money while trying to sell your home and allow you to still spend time with your loved one on Valentines Day. A well-staged home that is competitively priced consistently outsells non-staged homes, even the do ups. By the way don’t forget the flowers! If you would like more tips for do-it-yourself home staging techniques call Ariel Levin on 021 528 318 or check out  Wendy Patton’s book  Rent-to-Sell by clicking HERE. she has some great ideas that might just help!

Love your house (and your spouse)
Published with thanks to Tony White and www.movenorthshore.co.nz.

Time represents opportunity. You have choices about how you use every hour of your day. You can choose to exchange some of your time for money and you have a degree of choice about how much money you exchange it for.

You can use the principle of leverage to increase the amount of money you receive. Leverage is simply finding ways of using other people’s time or resources to multiply the value of your time; for example by running a business where you hire people and sell their time for more than you pay them.

Another way in which time and money are connected is the value of one dollar now is higher than the value of one dollar received at some time in the future.

One reason for this is that with inflation, a dollar you spend at a time in the future will buy less than a dollar will buy today. Inflation favours those people who borrow, particularly if they borrow to buy assets that go up in value, such as property.

Another reason is money can be invested for a return. If you have a choice between having one hundred dollars today and receiving one hundred dollars in two years time, it makes sense to have the money now, because you can invest it so that in two years time you have more than one hundred dollars.

By investing at a rate that is higher than inflation, people who start saving and investing early in life have a huge advantage over those who leave it until later.

Those people who feel guilty about not saving will be interested in a concept being promoted by Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, who suggests that savers are losers. Before all non-savers get too comfortable with that proposition, his point is not that everyone should spend rather than save. Saving implies putting money away on a regular basis into a bank account where it will earn interest and slowly increase in value with compound interest.

There are three reasons why you could argue that people who save are losers.

• Firstly, the return on your savings is reduced because you pay tax on the interest earned.
• Secondly, over time, the effect of inflation will reduce the purchasing power of your money. In other words, if you save $100 and choose to spend it ten years from now, you will not be able to buy as much with your money as you can today.
• Thirdly, bank deposits offer a low rate of return when compared with other investments. That is because bank deposits are seen to be less risky than other investments.

The point made by Kiyosaki is that if you really want to get ahead financially, you are better to invest rather than save.

Investing in growth assets such as property and shares or investing in a business of your own should give you better protection against tax and inflation, and a higher return over the long term.

In my view, the best approach is to do a little of everything; invest for a good return, save for security and spend to enjoy life.

Of course, being a real estate agent the first thing I’m going to tell you is to talk to an agent in your area and get on therealestate.co.nz as most homebuyers are starting their search on the Internet and realestate.co.nz is the most trusted source for consumer Real Estate information.

However, if you simply can’t afford the commission or have your own reasons for not working with a Real Estate professional, there are some things you can do to make your house more attractive to buyers and to expose it to more of them.

THINK LIKE THE PRO’S – Don’t try to save money by taking photos with your digital camera or putting up a sign you created with a felt pen.

For about $200 you can get a professional photographer to take high quality photos and a good signboard should cost you a similar amount.

CLEAN YOUR HOUSE – Get it so clean your in-laws wouldn’t recognize it.

Polish all shiny surfaces, hardwood floors and granite are especially impressive when they sparkle.

Hardwood and granite polish can be purchased at any standard retail store like Mitre 10, Hammer hardware, Place Makers etc.

Bathrooms and kitchens need to be spotless, no dirty grout, no dirty dishes, no food sitting out, no dirty clothes or towels or dish rags in sight.

Vacuum and mop your floors, no dust bunnies or scuff marks should be visible. Dust displays and trinkets on shelves, a dusty house makes people sneeze and frown.

Rely on the fresh smell of a clean house, don’t over-perfume with candles, sprays or plug-ins. Many people are sensitive to perfumes and will wonder what you’re trying to cover up.

MOW THE LAWN – The first thing a potential buyer sees is the view from the street, make sure it’s a nice one.

Mow your grass, weed your flower beds, prune dead foliage and trim the hedges.

Do not leave toys, trash cans, tools or other distractions lying out.

DECORATE TO SELL – You want your potential buyers to see their future home, not your stuff.

Take personalised pictures and hangings off the walls, remove fake plants or sculptures and other personalized art, minimize furniture, get a storage unit if you have to.

Make sure an implied flow of traffic is present so that when potential buyers walk through the front door they feel compelled to make their way through the whole house.

This is achieved by arranging furniture and light in a way that is inviting.

From the 1973 Bloomingdale’s Book of Home Decorating (Source nadja.robot at Flickr)

PUT THE HOUSE IN THE PUBLIC EYE – Advertise your home for sale.

The most effective ways are on well-known and frequently visited websites.

Be sure to emphasize important features like the floor area, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, size of the section the house is on, new additions and benefits (new kitchen appliances, new roof, recent bathroom remodels).

Refrain from wasting readers’ time with long narratives or overly-descriptive “flowery” words.

GET YOUR REPORTS DONE EARLY – Get a home inspection, Then advertise that the inspection has been done.

If any of your report notes a problem with a particular system in the house, get an additional inspection done by a specialist and fix whatever may be wrong (ie If the builder notes missing tiles on your roof or evidence of water damage in the attic, have a roof specialist assess the integrity of the roof and have it repaired or replaced if you can afford it).

Remember, if you have knowledge of any material facts affecting the property or its marketability, you MUST DISCLOSE THIS TO A BUYER.

A LIM report from your local council will be appreciated by prospective purchasers and may save you time in the negotiation and conditional contract periods.

A QV e-valuer (estimate of market value) valuation is an affordable way the may help you underpin your asking price.

I would like to wish you the best of success in your selling endeavors and hope to service you as a buyer when you finally sell.

If you ever need assistance please remember I have helped many private sellers in the past so feel free to contact me.

Good luck with your sale
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This post is based & adapted with permission from a post by Jessica Murr. Jessica Murr is a Realtor in Far Northern California specializing in luxury homes, ranch properties, real estate sales consulting, social media and networking, first time homebuyers, and real estate investment planning.

..Finally, we’re priced right, our house looks so good we are considering keeping it and not selling after all, but we STILL don’t have any buyers looking at it!! What gives??….

I hate to say it, but maybe your agent isn’t using the right tools to market your home. Is your home on the agent’s website? Realestate.co.nz? Trademe.co.nz?

Are all the pretty new photos up there? (The more pictures the better!) Is the price correct?

Is your agent writing about your listing in his/her blog? Is your agent using online social media to share your listing with savvy buyers?

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, these are all places you should be able to find your listing. Pictures of it, links to it, descriptions of it, lots of info! Social media is not a trend that is going away.

It is not a “phase” and it’s not a thing the kids are doing.

It is the newest way to connect and communicate and share with the world.

Newspapers around the globe are going broke because people are going online to get their information and news.

Buyers want the newest, latest, greatest knowledge and they want it as fast as a click of a mouse.

They don’t want to search through a dozen magazines and as many newspapers to find their home. They want that information to be accessible and online media is the place they look for it.

So if your agent isn’t using social media to market your listing, he ought to be.

If neither of you is familiar with it and you would like some help, email me.

I’ll be glad to share my knowledge and give you some tips that will help move your property from “For Sale” to “SOLD”.

This has been adapted with permission from a post by Jessica Murr. Jessica Murr is a Realtor in Far Northern California specializing in luxury homes, ranch properties, real estate sales consulting, social media and networking, first time homebuyers, and real estate investment planning.

Alright, we’ve gone over the comparable sales, we’ve priced our home competitively, we are ready to be fair and reasonable, but we STILL don’t have any buyers touring our house!

Why isn’t our house appealing to buyers?

Take a look at your photos first. Is there clutter? Are there bright distracting colors? Is there a dead lawn out front, broken or dirty windows, kids’ toys lying around? Those have got to go. Clean your house – I can’t stress that enough. If your version of clean is that everything is stacked in the corner or that the pile of papers is under the desk instead of on top of it, HIRE A CLEANING SERVICE. They’ll come to you; they will clean EVERYTHING (even the nasty crud growing behind the toilet); they get it done in one day; they bring their own supplies. Where’s the down side? For $100 it’s done and your home will now be more attractive to buyers.

But my house is clean! It’s spotless; the cleaning service said there was nothing to do here.
Okay, why else might your house not be appealing? Dated furniture? Questionable paint schemes? Is it just ugly? Maybe not to you, but you’ve been decorating this house and putting things in it that you like, not what a buyer is going to like. Use a critical eye, ask your agent, ask some friends and neighbours, and if no one can give you any helpful tips, call a professional stager.

Stagers will come to your house, take a tour, prepare a quote, work with you to see what you can afford, and get the most important things taken care of first.

To be continued.
This post has been adapted with permission from a post by Jessica Murr. Jessica Murr is a Realtor in Far Northern California specializing in luxury homes, ranch properties, real estate sales consulting, social media and networking, first time homebuyers, and real estate investment planning.

Well, if you’re selling in Auckland, I can tell you it’s probably one of three things:

1. You’re priced too high
2. Your house is not appealing to buyers
3. Your agent is not marketing your house in the right places.

So, how do I tell if I’m priced too high? I’ve learned from my own experience as well as the feedback from buyers, sellers and agents all over Auckland that houses sell faster when they are priced competitively. Before you decide “competitive pricing” is pricing below comparable properties, understand that competitive pricing is listing for a price near what comparable properties have SOLD for recently.

Look at comparable properties and consider what criteria truly make that property comparable to yours. Basics like floor area, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and geographic proximity. If you have a two bedroom, one bath, 75 square metre home, it is not comparable to a four bedroom, two bathroom, 200 square metre home just because it’s only two houses down. Also, just because you own a 350 square metre home 40 kilometres from the closest town does not make it more valuable than a 120 square metres home in a suburban part of town 5 minutes from the commercial district. You need to ask your agent what features make your home comparable to others and only look at properties similar to yours.

Next, look at the SOLD price of those properties. It doesn’t matter what these people were asking for their houses, and it doesn’t matter what comparable properties that haven’t sold are listed for; all that matters is the bottom line – the sold price. If you price your home near that dollar amount, you are saying to buyers, “I am fair and reasonable” and buyers will be fair and reasonable also.

Lastly, when looking at these comparables, make sure they are homes that have sold recently. You should not consider homes that sold more than 6 months ago because an appraiser won’t and neither will your buyers when they decide what a fair and reasonable offer is. I don’t care that your house might have sold for $350,000 in 2005. You didn’t sell it in 2005, this is 2009. Let go of the past. If comparable properties are selling for $220,000 then your house needs to be priced close to that. Remember, the value of ANYTHING is only what an able buyer is willing to pay. If you are determined to list your home for more than 15% above what comparable properties are selling for, don’t waste your or your agent’s time. Wait it out, hang out for another 5-10 years when things are on a steady rise.

To be continued…
This has been adapted with permission from a post by Jessica Murr. Jessica Murr is a Realtor in Far Northern California specializing in luxury homes, ranch properties, real estate sales consulting, social media and networking, first time homebuyers, and real estate investment planning.