Host Special | Listener Q&A: How to buy your first investment property

One of our dedicated listeners Lily, asked six questions around buying her first investment property. The questions were so relevant and important they warranted their own entire episode. We discuss how to assess, prepare and act on buying your first investment property, what you should be buying and how to know if you’re ready.Questions:

1. Financially, what are some indicators you're ready to buy an investment property?  (Eg is there a rule of thumb for how much of your place of residence you should pay off first? And does that count money in an offset account?)
2. In terms of location - does the advantage of having local knowledge outweigh the risks of having all your eggs in one basket? (And if the advice is to diversify, does that mean look in a different suburb, or is it better to look in a completely different city? Diversifying makes sense in theory but buying in an unfamiliar city seems risky)
3. Is there any guidance around the value of an investment compared to the value of your place of residence, assuming you can service repayments? (eg would it be weird to have an investment property worth more than your place of residence, assuming you are happy living in a modest home?)
4. In terms of type of property, is it good to diversify from your first property or just to focus on a 'quality asset'? (Eg Our home is a townhouse - should we try hard to get a freestanding house for an investment property?)
5. What are some tips and considerations for structuring mortgages? (Eg we make currently make minimum repayments and keep any extra in an offset, just in case we want to buy or rent elsewhere and keep our current place as an investment property. However, it's looking more likely that this will be our 'forever home' and future property purchases would be investments - or if we didn't want to live here we'd be happy to sell it, rather than rent it out - would that change the strategy?)
6. What are the pros and cons of using the equity in your home as leverage?

RELEVANT EPISODES:Episode 162 | Houses vs Apartments Episode 161 | Listener Q&A: Building your own home, retiring on property & sustainable properties? Episode 157 | 2021 predictions & 2020 review

HOST LINKS:Looking for a Sydney Buyers Agent? www.gooddeeds.com.au Work with Veronica: https://linktr.ee/veronicamorgan

Looking for a Mortgage Broker? www.wealthful.com.auWork with Chris: hello@wealthful.com.au

Send in your questions to: questions@theelephantintheroom.com.au

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Please note that this has been transcribed by half-human-half-robot, so brace yourself for typos and the odd bit of weirdness…This episode was recorded in March, 2021.

https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au/podcasts/168

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