I'm in NZHerald :)

[Phoebeily]

Well done Gary! read your story and feel motivated

I am about to turn the garage into a minor dwelling. I am wondering if you can recommend any builder(s)? It is my first reno project and know nothing. Any advice would be highly appreciated.

[nicsa122]

The link doesn't seem to work any more

[Wayne]

The link doesn't seem to work any more

Could be because he posted the mobile version
He did post the whole article (minus his photo) though!
Try this

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11571162

[PTILoveYou]

Well done Gary! read your story and feel motivated

I am about to turn the garage into a minor dwelling. I am wondering if you can recommend any builder(s)? It is my first reno project and know nothing. Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Unfortunately my builder only does renos and I think minor dwelling is beyond his expertise.

I have not done any MD myself so I can't recommend anyone to you unfortunately.

[PTILoveYou]

Could be because he posted the mobile version
He did post the whole article (minus his photo) though!
Try this
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11571162

Thanks Wayne

[PTILoveYou]

Bad form quoting the whole article, Gary!

But congrats. Read the article and I was sure it said you were an optometrist. But it clearly says optimist.

... And still playing WoW? What's it like now? I had to quit when I got a full-time job, still miss it occasionally.

I quit WoW during the second expansion I think, Lvl 70. Got sick of the grind as it became a second job lol.

Then I quit computer games for a few years and just did other normal things like socialising, read books about wealth creation etc.

I would like to get back to it, but I think I will just quit very quickly after that. For me WoW is like Cartoons, and I'm past that age lol!

[Phoebeily]

I see. thanks for your reply.

[motoman]

That's a good reason to invest in real estate isn't it =)

yeah when its going up. if you asked the irish, americans and aussies they probably wouldnt have seen coming what the average NZ believes is impossible, the market doesnt go down. interest rates dont get to 18% rofl.

if you are recession proof, you are golden and can hang on another 20 years to see the properties climb back if a disaster does occur and you can realise your profit etc long term.

good on you. right place right time.

[PTILoveYou]

yeah when its going up. if you asked the irish, americans and aussies they probably wouldnt have seen coming what the average NZ believes is impossible, the market doesnt go down. interest rates dont get to 18% rofl.

if you are recession proof, you are golden and can hang on another 20 years to see the properties climb back if a disaster does occur and you can realise your profit etc long term.

good on you. right place right time.

Thanks Motoman.

Yes timing is very important, just as important as location, and personal skills in property investing.

I guess time will tell if I'm recession proof or not, only thing is how long will it be till recession hits!

[chrisgoh]

I guess time will tell if I'm recession proof or not, only thing is how long will it be till recession hits!

No one is recession proof.

Fear when everyone's greedy.
Greedy when everyone's fear.

[PTILoveYou]

No one is recession proof.

Fear when everyone's greedy.
Greedy when everyone's fear.

Well hopefully I can be greedy and buy lots during the recession =)

[motoman]

well worst case you come out with $200k, was a lot more fun than the hours spent of WoW? :-) hehe.

i think your LVR is pretty sensible isnt it and thats a big recession buster, when people are over stretched.

have you thought about property enhancing instead of just adding a room and making a flat horrible to live in, heaps of developers develop to enhance the beauty of a house or to provide a better standard or living. of course this is a lot of harder, essentially having to make the money at time of buying is more important than ever.

just curious if you plan to stay on the same track or try something new, buy, build, sell etc. i guess you really need a mentor for other strategies as well.

i hate the thought of all of aucklands 1 bedroom units been turned into 2 bedders :-(

[PTILoveYou]

well worst case you come out with $200k, was a lot more fun than the hours spent of WoW? :-) hehe.

i think your LVR is pretty sensible isnt it and thats a big recession buster, when people are over stretched.

have you thought about property enhancing instead of just adding a room and making a flat horrible to live in, heaps of developers develop to enhance the beauty of a house or to provide a better standard or living. of course this is a lot of harder, essentially having to make the money at time of buying is more important than ever.

just curious if you plan to stay on the same track or try something new, buy, build, sell etc. i guess you really need a mentor for other strategies as well.

i hate the thought of all of aucklands 1 bedroom units been turned into 2 bedders :-(

Our first 3 out of 4 rentals were 1 beddy conversions, but then we moved away from that and now buying half section crosslease houses.

There is minimal we can do as they are either crosslease or unit title, but we are not into development anyways.

With regards to development, just look at John Bolton's Powell St development in Avondale Heights (it's been updated on and off through the property magazine), if he did it in 2006, he could go bankrupt.

Ideally I would like to buy a piece of land or a house with big section, demolish, then build multiple town houses on it, but I don't think we will be in that kind of financial power to risk it.

Besides, our buy, renovate, recycle equity, and hold strategy is gold enough, and we don't need to venture to the 'greener' side of the fence.

[AlFa]

With regards to development, just look at John Bolton's Powell St development in Avondale Heights (it's been updated on and off through the property magazine), if he did it in 2006, he could go bankrupt.

He would be if not for raising market. But this does show how even property professionals could be short-sighted - he asked too little for the unit and couldn't predict the growth. I think on average townhouse was $580k with 5% deposit only. Right now it's around $800k easy but he can't charge more already. So when we talked couple of months ago he was certain he'll stay clear of any development.

[flyernzl]

Late last year, when APIA was hosting the NZPIF conference, we hired a professional PR consultant to promote the event.
This was judged to be a successful move, and resulted in a sell-out event.

Subsequently, APIA has now entered into a 12 month contract with this consultant to promote APIA and its members through the media.

This is hoped to acheive two aims:
- promote the benefits of APIA membership
- raise the public perception of the standing of property investors/residential landlords from down among used car dealers and politicians to somthing more acceptable in polite society.

That is why you are now seeing (hopefully) a lot more pro-active comment in the Auckland media, and will do over the rest of 2016.