Michael has been once again voted Australia’s leading property investment advisor by the readers of ‘Your Investment Property Magazine’, but he’s not a theorist… He has been successfully investing in property since 1971 and is a leading property commentator and Australia’s most widely read property investment blogger. Join over 115,000 others who get their updates from Michael and his group of expert guest bloggers and benefit from their perspective.
Everyone says they want housing to be more affordable. Politicians campaign on it, journalists write about it, and young Australians desperately need it. But after watching our housing markets for over five decades, I’ve come to believe that most of the people saying it don’t actually mean it – at least not when they understand…
One of the oldest lessons in property is that rules rarely affect everyone equally. And that’s what concerns me about the latest changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. The Federal Government has framed the budget reforms as a means to improve housing affordability, support first home buyers, and redirect tax incentives towards new…
You’ve probably heard the stories. A buyer gets gazumped after thinking they had a deal locked in, or a seller quietly loses faith in their agent and starts second-guessing every piece of advice. None of this needs to happen, because real estate agents actually operate within a fairly tight legal framework, and once you understand…
My favourite financial author is Morgan Housel. Here are nine of his best quotes for financial success: 1. More people wake up every morning wanting to solve problems than wake up looking to cause harm. But people who cause harm get the most attention. So slow progress amid a drumbeat of bad news is the…
Have you noticed that Australians seem to have become a little more short-tempered lately? You see it in the supermarket queue when someone takes their frustration out on a teenager behind the checkout. You hear about parents abusing teachers, nurses dealing with aggressive patients and relatives, and even junior football umpires needing escorts to protect…
Let me share something interesting with you. Roughly 70% of the people you run into in life are pessimistic. Only about 30% are genuinely optimistic. Now think about that for a moment. If most people tend to expect things to go wrong, to focus on the risks, the obstacles, the “what if it doesn’t work”……
Thinking of hiring a Buyers Agent to see you through these difficult times? Think again…. For most of the last five years, property investing in Australia has been forgiving. You could have picked a suburb almost at random — Melbourne aside — and still come out ahead. In that kind of market, the order you…
Capital city home rental vacancy rates generally tightened over August with most remaining at historically low levels. Despite low and tightening vacancy rates, rents for both houses and units however were mostly lower over the month. Hobart was the only capital to report higher monthly house rents, rising sharply by 2.4%. Perth rents were steady…
Most people who start investing in property never make it past their first or second purchase. In fact, around 92% of Australia’s 2.3 million property investors stall out early, and only a tiny fraction, around 20,000 people, ever build a portfolio of six properties or more. That’s a sobering statistic, but it’s not because property…
It’s important to have rich children. There I said it. Now, before you tell me there are more important things in life, let me clarify what I mean. Rich children grow into adults who are wealthy, yes, but they’re also resilient, curious, independent and compassionate. In my mind, “being rich” is about wealth in all…
