DogsComingToo

Been doing alot of reading and searches on websites about building your own home in Aus and it got me thinking about whether this was a possible way of making a quick profit.

So what do those with experience in the Aus market think. Is there money to be made in buying a plot of land, building and then selling it on? Or is renovating an old property the way to go to make a fast buck?

We know all about CGT and think we can work round that.

We're not looking to hold onto the house as an investment for rental or otherwise and we don't have enough spare cash to buy up land and then sit and wait for the land to rocket (or for the property market to crash)

My thoughts are that CGT must put people off and presumably if land/build is mega profitable everyone must be doing it. But then again maybe no one has had my cunning plan yet.... lol

southerner

I personally think renovations is a better business proposition, and you are not competing with large development/building companies.

Either way, work out how much profit is due to the inflation on the property, and how much due to your development skills. This is a common mistake that people make, it is easy to make money in a rising market and they therefore are not measuring their own performance properly. When the market slumps they are shown to not be as good as they thought they were.

eg. they spent too much on things that looked good to them, but had little payback, or they took too long from initial outlay until payback time. This last point is critical in property development.

Kiwipaul

Some people on this site have been claiming they've made a fortune buying land and building, but I just don't believe it. They have made money yes but thats because all land and property has gone up in value not because they have built a house on it.

My reasoning is this if you can make $100,000 by building a house (on top of the normal appreciation on the house) why don't these people do it for a living. A $100,000 capital gain on a house is a pretty good income, for just sitting back and watching your house go up. I could live on that no trouble at all.

The Tooth Fairy

Reverse Chinese accounts: capital gain counted, costs forgotten.

owieb

What you have to remember in Australia, is people want to build their own houses.

The whole point of buying a block of land is so that someone can live where they want in a house that they want. Buying a block of land and building a house for a quick buck doesn' t help anyone and is purely selfish!

It's only really the land component that will increase in value, and it would be worth far more in 5 years time if it hadn't been developed on.

People here are buying houses for the sole purpose of knocking them down so that they can build again. All they are after is a good block.

Plus, certainly in WA, if you are non-resident you have to get permission to buy land/property and there are timescales and restrictions on what you can do.

pommie bastard

Look past that the big money here right now is owning and running an Real estate agency , they cream both ends of the market in WA they charge 3% plus and manage rentals its a gold mine.

dotty

Its more about area than anything else. Most of the money made in realestate here in past two years has been about getting into an area before it goes up. Bit harder now as what has not gone up? Try some areas just out of cities maybe, areas where the overspill from the cities has to go.

dotty

Could be tricky for new arrivals, dont think you can own an agency unless you have held aussie licence for 5 years.

Ceri

I think you are referring to me.

We earn more than $100,000 with our combined incomes. Sorry..

Hubby alone actually earns above that figure. Tax is another thing though .

I thought you may have worked that one out at least, as I have always said we came from Sing on the same expat wage... earning above $100,00 is normal for most true expatriates.. the pay cut we took coming here to Aus with the company was " house rental was not paid for by the company, which was paid for in Sing by them when we lived there, and the tax here is unbelievable! (P. S we are not with the same company now... with the competition .. but wage is the same, a little higher, taxed hell of a lot more)

Why should we build, play with property ... we are not builders, or real estate investors... each to their own. I'm quite happy to own one house. The only time I will be owning two is when I go back to Britain... I'll sit on the Aus one for extra money in future retirement, or something I can hand onto any future children

And again I also will mention that a lot of plots of land you can not sit on for years... you must build a house on the plot within a certain time frame. The land my mate bought - it had to be built on, new laws.

The land I bought ... no, but it was an "old release " plot of land. which was never built on, it had been empty for about 15 years as previous owner never got round to building his own home on it.... I could have sat on it, but I wanted to build.. I was fed up of renting.

Sorry if I do not fit into your little neatly filed opinion on people... we are all different, and I have no interest in playing with the property market.... I'm not a shark. And I neither care to be a millionaire. At the end of the day, all that I'm interested in is in living a comfortable and happy life... is that so hard for you to understand.... money is not everything.

Kiwipaul

Your not the only one that claims money can be made by building houses here, I just don't believe it.
If you buy land build a house and live in it for 12 months and make a real gain of $100,000 that is actually free of all taxes and capital gains. To earn the same income you would need a salary of $200,000 as tax here is effectively 50% for high earners and you will have been working for the 12 months.

If the house profit was true you could take 12 months off and watch the house being built and still effectively earn $100,000 after tax and then do the whole thing again.

If this was true what do you think I'd be doing, and I'd be happy with $50,000 per house per year.

Ceri

what do you not understand about this statement??:

"Sorry if I do not fit into your little neatly filed opinion on people... we are all different, and I have no interest in playing with the property market.... I'm not a shark. And I neither care to be a millionaire. At the end of the day, all that I'm interested in is in living a comfortable and happy life... is that so hard for you to understand.... money is not everything"

It says it all.
oh b*gger off ! it's like talking to a brick wall., I may be Welsh ... but I thought I was speaking plain English.. oops sorry, forgive me , must be nice, must be nice... think nice thoughts ceri ...............

Kiwipaul

I'm just replying to the OP that you won't make a fortune buying and building (unless your a builder and then you might).

I don't think you understand, "comfortable and happy life" go together with money, if you don't believe me try living on what the state hands out and then see if thats a "comfortable and happy life"

And if you don't want to be a millionaire (even an Ozzie one) you are def in the minority.

Ceri

You'd do well in Singapore with your attitude., something in common with the Singaporeans, thinking money will cure all, bring happiness

Money does not bring happiness!.

Try health, family and knowledge first... you can be poor and happy. Some of the happiest experiences I've had comes from poverty... Money does not bring happiness!

Look I'm comfortably well off ... I'm no happier, it brings different probs... you lose sight of what really matters in this life. The best things in life are free believe it or not. Family, good health and knowledge before money.Move to Sing, with your philosophy on life... you'll love it there.


Cheers


P.S And instead of constantly bickering with PB and doing what you accuse him of ... why don't you try and help some of the other users who have asked genuine questions. I notice you spend half your time whinging about PB.. try helping the girl who asked where in Brisbane to live?

In my opinion you're far worse than PB... at least PB is entertaining, and speaks up against the sh*te in Aus... even if he is a bit controversial and goes over the top sometimes.. Some people here are too scared/fed up to post "real life" in fear of being attacked by the b*ll sh*ting "Aus is wonderful" groups.. it's a two way street by the way!

PPS sorry for changing the subject a wee bit (to the original poster) ... it's funny how these subjects do tend to go off on another coarse.

Kiwipaul

Their are no gurantees about anything in life but not having money worries sure does help. Half the posts on this forum are related to money or should I say lack of it.

pommie bastard

Your mood swings have me beat so the input on Self funded Retirees was your twin brother?