Banjo Smyth

Congratulations! You have bought your first house and now you’re simply waiting for the property settlement period to end. So what should you do? Sit around and be happy with yourself? Definitely not! Now is the perfect time to organize everything that needs to be done to the property before you start paying the mortgage.

The best thing about the Property settlement period is that you will be so excited that it will be a joy to ‘plan out’ what you are going to do. Make a list of all the revamps/renovations that you would like to achieve and see if there is anything that you can arrange before settlement occurs. For instance if you are going to get the floors polished, why don’t you get some quotes and set an actual date for the selected workers to start. Tradesmen are so busy these days that you often need to book them a few months in advance anyway. If you contact the Real Estate agent they will be more than happy to give you access to your property for any number of reasons. Don’t think that you can’t visit the house during the property settlement period. Just call the Real Estate agent and they should always be able to help you out.

Whether you are planning on doing some renovations or renting the property straight away it is vital that you use the property settlement period to your advantage. The last thing you want is to be paying the mortgage whilst you wait for a tradesman to polish your floors or whilst your looking for a tenant. If you use the property settlement period wisely and effectively everything that follows will be ten times easier – and remember

“by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”

Benjamin Franklin

In Chapter 1 (The Plan – How, What & Where?) we spoke about how you should buy in an area that is predicted to have high capital growth but is also accessible from your place of residence (if you are planning on doing some minor renovations).  We also learnt that buying an ‘average’ house in that area is vital in order to get accurate valuations and to make it easy to lease.  So now that you know ‘Where & What’ you’re looking for, let’s concentrate on some strategies to make finding your perfect Investment Property easier and Stress Free!

So where is the best place to start?  Where else but the

internet?  The internet has changed our lives in many ways and when it comes to Property investing this is definitely the

case.  It will save you hours and hours of time.  The first thing to do is to sign up to some of the internet Real Estate sites.  Simply search ‘real estate’ and you will find them.  My personal favorite is www.realestate.com.au but there are many others that are very informative.  When searching for properties you can really customize what you’re looking for and if you have followed my instructions from chapters 1& 2 it will take you no time at all to bring up a list of suitable properties.

Lets pretend you have decided that your ‘Perfect Investment Property’ is  –
- Located in St Kilda
- A 2 bedroom unit
- And your mortgage broker has arranged pre approval for a $350,000 loan

You simply enter all of these details in and you will be faced with a list of properties that fit this description.  How easy is that?

So now that you have a great big list of potential properties its time to contact the Real Estate Agents.  What I’m going to say next might cause you to fall of your chair but believe me – if you want to become a successful investor this statement is true

‘I love Real Estate Agents with all my heart because they are my Best Friend’

Ok, well maybe that’s a little bit overboard but if you can become friends (or at least acquaintances) with some Real Estate Agents you will have a massive advantage over the average home buyer.  You will get first access to properties when they come onto the market.  Plus, Agents are paid by commission and therefore it is in their interest to sell properties as quickly as possible.  Therefore they love Professional Investors because they make quick decisions.  Now I can hear you saying “but I’m not a professional investor’.  I promise you that it won’t take too much effort to trick the average agent into believing you are VERY professional.  Firstly why don’t you turn up with a clipboard and excel spreadsheet.  Ask some questions about the asking price and the predicted rent (making some notes as you go of course.)  Play the part of a Professional Investor – who knows you might even end up believing it yourself!