paisleylass

If your cats love them, ship them for sure! Any nicer options available here would probably be very pricy. My little ratbag is happiest with cardboard boxes and climbing bookcases so we haven't bought him a cat tree!

Thanks littlegreenman!! I would not rule out The Gap, two of my colleagues live there and really rate it! Though one of them's kitten died after being bitten by a snake. There are drawbacks to near-bush living!! But prices seem not crazy. For us the main drawback would be being a bit far from friends, we miss them after moving south from Chermside. We like to consume alcohol at eachothers houses so driving is not good! Heh. It really is early days, I know we'll view quite a few before buying hence getting practice in now! But we know what we want and may have a budget for small renos depending on the purchase price. Oh, and I just downloaded the Commbank property app. It's fab! Tells you 1 year and 5 year price growth %s by suburb, affordability once you plug a few saved figures in, only drawback is its searches are through Domain which I find inferor to Realestate esp. with regard to land size info. But can cross ref the two. Gonna check out The Gap again now, like travel distance to friends!

All In Brewing! Yep! It would be right the opposite end of the suburb, but worth a wobbly 20 min walk!!

Did an early-days style reccie northside last weekend. Plot in Nudgee which looks good, and easily big enough for a pool! Lovely views front and especially back, not overlooked. Gonna view the builder's display(s) maybe next weekend. Being a bit pressed into putting a deposit on the land before it gets snapped up, but nope, not unless we're sure! Also checked out an area in Carseldine, where a house is for sale at a good price but we're not that interested as it needs too much doing. But it did show us that the area is lovely, it's an older part with loads of cool larger houses/plots, and there are always a few on sale round there at any time. May go look at a mcmansion in McDowall that's open tomorrow, but time might be better spent elsewhere, ie. at the pub with our mates!!

Sweet house lastone, but small for the expected price! Sweet pool though!! Have to weigh this all up. Our friends in Deagon would be half an hour from Ferny, which is nearly as long as from southside! But then with a possibly tiny mortgage - so what! Much thinking needed... No rush, just testing the water!!

Bloomin 'eck fish, either of those would be pretty sweet for us! The Gap is a bit far from our mates, but sweet for work travel. I've not seen much as nice as those in the suburbs I mentioned at the start! They really do tick all the boxes. Budget is good for the Gap house, but really don't mind spending less :-) Lots of thinking to do, but plenty time too :wink:

Swoo! Nice!!

Oh, and no social housing nearby. Been there, no thanks, not again!

Looking for quiet, not near main road, can definitely do without schools! Not bothered about cafes or bars as long as transport is good, but then we can use uber for going out! But must be good peak time transport for work. House type pref two storey, far more space than two humans and a cat should need, cos we have lots of stuff! And mainly renovated/modern though we can do minor renos.

Parley is the Trump to flag's Sanders! :cute:

We'll just go to Aldi!!

We're sticking with the UK rule of thumb with the multiplier! We seem to be eligible for more because we have no children and no car (work vehicle only), which is great if job security is realistic, but we have both seen scary dismissals and redundancies. Given Australia's fragile economy and crazy political whims, it'd be good to make sure one of our (equal sized) salaries pay the mortgage and bills, with a modest food budget also!

I'll be honest, we will limit our borrowing to what we think we can afford (far less than online calculators say!), and overpay as much as possible. Make hay while the sun shines. I never think of retirement, I had a massive health scare in my early 20s and feel lucky to have reached 40s and be in pretty good health. However am looking forward to early access to long service leave, we get 70% after 7 years, woo hoo!

That's a great point, and been a theme with us to some extent since we suddenly lost my younger brother. Life's too short. However! My aim is to make home life *like* a holiday, hence the separate fund for luxury(ish) home improvements. Even here at the rental, I love the pool so much that it's taken the edge off holidays! Except in winter :cute:

For the sake of peace, it's the multi-property portfolio schemes and the tax breaks that upset me. Lenders can do what they like to some extent, but the ATO needs to rein in negative gearing. Regulations in Australia make it more attractive to be a landlord, in terms of making tenants accountable for damage, neglect and non-payment. I fully agree with that, and wish we'd had so much protection when we were reluctant UK landlords.

Har! We wouldn't we'd just go on loads of holidays!! For real - can't take it with us!!

Dammit, my 'like' thing isn't working!

I think the tax breaks enjoyed by investors might be an issue!

Surely that would be potential for an endless cycle of people who can't afford to buy their own home having an investment property to let to others in exactly the same situation! Heh. Seriously though, whether owner occupier or investor, you need to have a good sum of cash already, which is proportionately increasing over time beyond the means of many. LMI insurers must be doing pretty good! To clarify, we aren't exactly broke, but being a lefty type person I do get riled by the bias towards investment.

Sorry flag, the pictures comment was a bit flippant, there's a lot more to it really. I have a sum of cash kept separate (inheritance) that I plan to make our home really ours beyond bricks and mortar. Stuff like making an amazing pool area, heating pool in winter, things that my brother would like for us. But back to pictures, I messed up with a command hook and there's a bit of paintwork missing!! Down to the paper. Oops! Landlord is great and has been quite flexible, like agreeing to a 6 month lease rather than 12 recently. We enjoy living here but, as nice as landlord is, he could cash in his investment any time...

I have no idea, I used to get heaps of weight loss ads as well, which I have never shown interest in! I do get lots of mortgage ads which I appreciate cos NAB's interest rates are woeful!! I don't actively read them, but they do enter my subconscious. Oh, hang on, I did leave a snarky comment once maybe! Har!!

Certainly separates the haves and have-nots.

I just think it's too prolific flag! I see ads daily on facebook for property investment seminars, not just small time stuff but get-rich-quick portfolio crap! I could never be tempted, it's way too risky! Jeez, we lost enough on our house in the UK. I swore we'd never buy again, but sick of not being able to hang bloody pictures up. And the rest.

I know haha! Of course we need rental properties, in fact both our landlords since we arrived were former owner-occupiers rather than intentional investors. Just seems so common here though, I have met so many people at work and socially who have investment property. And there is an oversupply of rentals, at least here in Brisbane.

Cheers folks! Oh yes, Wavell Heights is of interest but prices a bit high - the odd one sells at a price we could afford, but rare! We lived very close by on one of the only streets in Chermside that actually has houses! Love that area! I'm put off Mitchelton by tales of sardine-packed trains! I don't mind Shorncliffe line, it isn't as crazy. Oddly I prefer buses to trains, but anywhere I can get to work comfortably in less than an hour is good! Too old to do that standing nonsense haha! What puts me off auctions is the finality of it. Is it true, if a building inspection shows problems then it's tough, no negotiations or pulling out?! I'd love to attend one to watch though, they happen weekly near us (southside at the mo). I really hope it is going buyer-friendly K&L! I did see a house close to us that would have suited us perfectly (nice location, just not where we want), decent price, had heaps of opens over several weeks since mid Jan and only yesterday got its sold sign! Reason we want north is most of our friends live there. We've tried southside, and having a pool, but miss the house parties and pet playdates haha!