mrd

WOW… Doug and I arrived home last night from “An Amazing Two Weeks On The Road”.

The Perth and Melbourne conferences were a huge success.

The feedback and kind words from those that attended has been quite humbling.

Here’s just one unsolicited email received…

Good Morning Nick and Doug,

Firstly let me start by congratulating you both on the fantastic way you both hosted your Seminar on Saturday.

Nick, you are a genuine passionate family man wanting to help others. Both yourself and Doug with so much experience and knowledge on property Investing.

I have been to many property seminars in the past 12 months but none of them like yours.

I enjoyed the way you all came across so very friendly and down to earth. Most Importantly there was no sales pressure on anyone.

All the Information presented was very Informative and relevant to building wealth by Property Investing.

The other thing I liked was meeting real people that had already become clients of MRD and listening to them talk about the positive experience’s they all have had dealing with your team at MRD.

They all said they had wished they knew of MRD years ago.

Read more…

Developer Clearing
The Last Unit – Special Deal!

Last remaining apartment now selling

50 Riverwalk located in the Riverwalk district just 2 minutes walk to the Robina Town Centre and central to train station, the M1 Pacific Highway, Skilled Stadium – home of the Titans NRL football team, and the new Robina Hospital, all within a 5 – 10 minute walk!

On Thursday, 24th January 2002 , Derek Guille broadcast this story on his afternoon program on ABC radio.

In March 1999 a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee in NSW, Australia ) received a bill for his as yet unused gas line stating that he owed $0.00.

He ignored it and threw it away. In April he received another bill and threw that one away too.

The following month the gas company sent him a very nasty note stating that they were going to cancel his gas line if he didn’t send them $0.00 by return mail.

He called them, talked to them, and they said it was a computer error and they would take care of it.

The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome gas line figuring that if there was usage on the account it would put an end to this ridiculous predicament.

However, when he went to use the gas, it had been cut off .

He called the gas company who apologised for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue.

Assuming that having spoken to them the previous day the latest bill was yet another mistake, he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the problem out.

The next month he got a bill for $0.00. This bill also stated that he had 10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.

Finally, giving in, he thought he would beat the gas company at their own game and mailed them a cheque for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the gas company nothing at all.

Read more…

I’ve said it time and again that the residential property investment is a long-term proposition. The property market takes about seven to 10 years to move through a full cycle – from low capital growth/high rental yield, to high growth/low yield and back again.

Despite this, many property investors choose locations and property styles with little potential to survive and thrive throughout market fluctuations.

Some investors choose locations that lack the long-term underlying demand to drive capital growth, while others choose property styles that don’t reflect trends in the way people want to live.

In other words, the property investment decisions that look good today may not prove so attractive in five, 10 or 20 years. It’s essential to understand the nature of long-term economic and demographic trends, then select assets accordingly.

Interest rates rise and fall, but in the long term, dwindling oil reserves and rising petrol prices will be a key economic trend influencing the property market. In the coming years, rising prices at the pump will make outer suburban living and commuting less feasible and less appealing.

This will curtail the urban sprawl and increase demand among homebuyers for property in the middle suburbs close to public transport corridors, shops and schools.

At the same time, rising property prices in the inner and middle suburbs will put home ownership beyond the reach of more Australians, or at the very least, delay it significantly.

Figures from the Bureau of Statistics tell us that the proportion of households renting from private landlords increased from 19 to 22 per cent in the 10 years to 2006 (when the last census was completed).

What’s more, the proportion of Australians aged 35 to 44 who were renting rose five percentage points over the same period, to sit at 32 per cent. There’s every reason to expect that this trend will continue.

Because many tenants want to maintain the trappings of an urban lifestyle, the trend away from home ownership will increase demand for rental properties within walking or short driving distance from trams, trains, shops, cafes and entertainment. This will further boost capital growth prospects in the inner and middle suburbs.

Delaying having children is another trend set to influence the residential market well into the future. The median age for parents is growing, at 30.8 for women and 33.1 for men. And women aged 40 to 44 (said to have completed their families) have an average of two children, compared with 2.8 in 1981.

The shrinking family unit means that demand for low-maintenance, compact dwellings will rise, while demand for the conventional sprawling home on an outer suburban block will fall.

via Why it’s essential to have long-term investment views.

A $68-BILLION pension blow out will force the Federal Government to raise immigration levels and taxes.

Economists say the mass retirement of 4.5 million post-war baby boomers over the next decade, with the first wave born in 1946 reaching the pension age of 65 this year, will lead to a $68-billion-a-year blowout in the cost of aged pensions and healthcare, creating an “Enron-style” black hole in the federal budget. Analysis by demographic economists MacroPlan Australia, using government data, shows the annual bill for pensions will almost double to $63.5 billion a year by 2020.

Health-related spending for retirees will rise by $40 billion a year, from $51 billion in 2010 to $90.7 billion in 2020. And experts warn the Labor Government’s already-flagged measures such as increasing the Super Guarantee from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, raising the retirement age to 67 from 2017, and targeting “improved productivity” — especially from older workers — are “too little, too late” to avert the impending financial crisis.

“We have to radically increase the number of taxpayers through more immigration – and increase the amount of tax we all pay,” MacroPlan CEO Brian Haratsis said. “The Government tried to raise billions through its mining tax to pay for all of this but it’s fallen far short — some say $60 billion — of its target.  Now it is talking about a $5 billion disability levy.  We will see more of these little taxes introduced before the real tough decisions are made.

“Although the Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Department insists the pension system is “sustainable”, Treasury’s own data shows it is not. In its latest Intergenerational Report on the ageing population, Treasury admits to a slowly shrinking budget within just seven years. “From 2018-19 onwards . . . ageing and health pressures are projected to lead to a gradual deterioration in government finances,” it says.” A fiscal gap [deficit] is projected to emerge in 2031-32 and grow to around 2.75 per cent of GDP by 2049-50. “Economists say personal taxes will rise shortly into the next government’s term to head off the massive shortfall.

The number of people aged 65 or older will this year jump by 7.8 per cent to 248,641, and increase aged pension payments by $2.4 billion to $31.8 billion.  But that is just the start. The costs steadily increase year on year, pushing the pension and income support bill for retirees to $38.5 billion in 2013-14 — an increase of 30 per cent in just four years. And it’s not just pension payments that are spiralling. Government spending on aged residential care will rise by $1 billion a year to $7.5 billion annually by 2013-14. Other expenses such as community care, seniors allowances and concessions, and wages of staff at aged-care and health facilities will all rise in line with the retiring boomers, the government figures show. All this spells bad news for generations X and Y, who will be asked to foot the bill despite already struggling with record house prices, rising interest rates, rents and utility bills. “This is the baby bust,” demographer Bernard Salt warned. “This crisis has been waiting for 30 years or more and has come home to roost.” The costs are astronomical and adjusting to it is going to be painful and expensive.” A spokesman for Treasurer Wayne Swan said the Government faced an uphill battle.

via Retirees will cause economic ‘black hole’ | Adelaide Now.

The terrible disaster in Japan has turned my thoughts to Tom and Jan’s (mrd mentors in Adelaide) son, Leon, who lives near Tokyo.

He is in our thoughts and we trust all will be well for him and his Japanese family.  So many people have been caught up in this catastrophic event of biblical proportions.

I can remember some time ago Leon saying that owning a car was a very different experience in Japan. You see, people aren’t allowed to buy a car in Japan unless they can give written proof that they have somewhere to park it. You can’t just park your car anywhere like in some countries.

Monthly parking in Tokyo costs between 40,000 – 80,000 JPY ($500-$1,000 AUD).  Parking spaces in Japan are nothing like the driveways that we have here in Australia. A tight squeeze is an understatement. The mechanical parking lots look more like a ride at the amusement park. Cars are often driven into a cradle and stacked mechanically as in these examples below:

Read more…

No stamp duty payable on new property

Up To 6% Rental Yields

House & land packages in an accelerated growth region starting at $393,000

The Hunter Valley is made up of three Local Government Areas (LGAs) being that of Cessnock LGA, Maitland LGA and Singleton LGA.  Located approximately 165 kilometres or 1 hour 45 minutes drive north of Sydney, the area is Australia’s oldest and most famous wine making region with many of the nation’s top wineries located in the area.

The area is easily accessible with the Pacific Highway taking you to the region from Sydney and Brisbane while the New England Highway runs directly through the towns of Maitland and Singleton.  The area can also be reached by rail via the Hunter Line and main Northern Rail line while Jet Star, Virgin Blue and Norfolk Air all have daily flights to the nearby Williamtown airport.

The Hunter Region of New South Wales is an impressive economic growth story being one of NSW’s major centres of economic activity and spectacular growth over the last decade.

With a population of over 610,000, it is one of the largest regional areas in Australia and home to more people than the state of Tasmania, the ACT or the Gold Coast.  The last decade has seen strong population growth as people relocate to the region from other parts of Australia.

The region is a significant contributor to the NSW economy… Read more…

If you have not yet registered for Melbourne, it’s not too late.

If you have already registered, we’ll see you at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Melbourne at 7:00pm tonight for registration or at 8:30am tomorrow morning.

We had an amazing response from the Perth event  >>>click here to hear some of the feedback.

For all the details, costs etc or to register online >>>click here.   You can also register at the registration desk.

Looking forward to seeing you tonight.

Nick & Doug.

Two Irishmen in a park. One was furiously digging holes and the other was following behind and quickly filling them in again. They were drenched in sweat. A man watching from the sidewalk couldn’t believe how hard they were working but couldn’t understand what they were doing. Finally he said:

“I’m confused. You dig a hole and the other guy fills it in again! ‘What on earth are you doing?”

The digger leaned on his shovel and replied,  “Usually there are three of us. I dig, Read more…

Village Green is just 7km from the CBD of Brisbane

Opportunities to buy close to city centres don’t come often.  Village Green in Moorooka offers exceptional value being well serviced with public transport including a railway station and regular city express bus services.  Close proximity to schools, TAFE colleges and Griffith University as well as shopping and a range of recreational facilities. Read more…