Buying apartments for rental investments.

[thecodemeist3r]

Hey guys, well I am aware 3brm homes are the number one vehicle for capital appreciation, but apartments are cheaper and you can really find some good deals for cash flow positive.

Are there any books that you guys no of to help me out and get me started, the ones that I find are for entire buildings which isn't going to help.

Also if you guys no of any good pointers for me to know to get started, that would be great.

[spurner]

There's a couple of good threads with some excellent pointers. From memory the main ones were:

* Buy in smaller/medium sized blocks
* Don't buy brand new
* Buy good sized apartments with good sized rooms
* Natural light, and pleasant outlook
* Carpark
* Buy in buildings with owner-occupiers
* Check out the body-corporate in depth (finances/politics)
* Ask neighbors/residents what the building is like
* Stay away from leasehold, hotel leases, guaranteed returns, leaky buildings, earthquake prone, no CCC, and any building promoted by spruikers or built by Conrads

I'm sure there are others which I can't think of right now. Maybe you can find them with a search or someone can point you in the right direction.

If you're buying cheap crappy shoebox rental apartments for cashflow then... good luck to you!

[CJ]

Apartments are all about cashflow. You need to do the figures and dont forget all the extra costs, (possible) higher tenant turnover.

[WGN ex-property manager]

Here is my personal plan for apartment investing.... this won't suit everyone.

The people who make the most money from partments are the developers..... so stick to home and incomes until you can BE the developer :-)

just my 2c worth

Robin

[Davo36]

I reckon apartments are cheap at the moment, but you have to be able to hold them until things come right and their value goes up to something resembling what they would cost to build new.

Spurner's precis is a good one. Buy well, in good blocks, watch out for any leaky stuff or problem body corps. Negotiate hard IMHO.

And the outgoings only ever go up, so factor this in - along with possible interest rate increases. And if it still pays it's way then buy.

[CJ]

I reckon apartments are cheap at the moment,

Auckalnd Apartments were cheap late last year and early this year. they are creaping up again now from what I can see.