Empower Blog Property & Financial Investment

Game Plan: Make an extra $90,000 in passive income a year

There are plenty of strategies an investor could use to get some clever property purchases, but how do you get there without working two jobs or skimping by on Vegemite toast every evening? Here's an article on how to achieve $90,000 a year in passive income by 2020. In this article on Your Investment Property Magazine (YIP Magazine), Empower W...

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The Route to Success

In this July 2013 issue of Smart Property Investment Magazine, Ben writes about the route to success in property investment by having a property investment plan that works for you. Although strategy is essential to property investment success, but what exactly should a 'professional' property investment plan include? In this article Ben explains th...

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Is the Real Estate Agent a Friend or Foe?

I’m often amused by the antagonistic approach that some buyers adopt when dealing with a real estate agent in the midst of a negotiation.  Sure, the agent is employed by the seller to get them the best price and terms and draw as much money as they possibly can from the buyer but equally, they’re a crucial cog in the chain for you getting the ...

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Victorian (Melbourne) Property Price Data – By suburb and property type

This month has seen the release of the Valuer General’s Property Price Guide data for Victoria for the period up until December 2012.  Now you might think this data is a bit old, and should be release earlier, however it’s important to recognise where the data is being collated from and when the data is actually recognised. The data is source...

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Five creative ways to increase rental returns

Quite often investors ask us about clever ways to enhance property value. Most investors pay a lot of attention to the value of the property but why don’t they pay as much attention to the returns? Well, we do, and some clever investors out there do so as well. While we like to see our equity position growing, the bottom line for any ‘buy and h...

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What has Bungy Jumping got to do with Property Investing?

It was the summer of 93 and I’d just entered my first year at Uni ready to embrace the freedom of life ahead of me… one full of expectation, opportunity and adventure.  It was the year I turned 18 and a bunch of my mates had all pitched in to buy a bungy jump experience for my birthday.  We’d recently just come back from our schoolies week ...

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What to Expect Post Settlement Re: Your Finances

So you have secured the property and settlement has just occurred.  The stress of the last couple of days is sort of behind you as you still try to get your head around the process that just took place and all the parties that made it happen, from the two banks, the two solicitors, the selling agent, the vendor, your buyers agent, your broker and ...

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One more look at predicting the Future

In the previous article, we discussed one of the key factors in developing a long-term wealth building strategy  -  the need to “predict”, or at least make assumptions about, how household cashflows will change over time.  Before starting any investment with a goal of building wealth, it is critical to have a clear picture of the anticipated...

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Which Property Investment Strategy is Right for you?

Those who follow property investment would know that there are two main groups of investment strategies – Growth vs Yield - those strategies that chase growth and those that chase yield.  It is all well and good to have these debates as magazines, blogs and TV shows need content and this always makes for a good read, but aren’t we missing some...

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RBA Rate decision – July 2013

Although the RBA still has scope to move on rates, as indicated within minutes of its last board meeting, they chose to leave rates on hold this month, which was in line with the market consensus of most economists. Helping them with this decision was the movement in the Australia dollar, which has now found a base around the 92 cents US.  The ...

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Challenging the top five roadblocks to property investing

Many people WISH they could be property investors, but for whatever reason, don’t commit to the journey. In our industry we see the objections and roadblocks which people put up when it comes to property investing. Sadly, many of these roadblocks are either artificial or ill-founded. In this article I will workshop the top five objections so that...

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Identifying Honest Advice

Being able to distinguish between good advice and a sales spiel is essential for successful investing writes Ben Kingsley in this June 2013 issue of Smart Property Investment Magazine. In this article, Ben shares his thoughts and experience when dealing with a Finance Advisor and how some of them had been great while others are not so. Whether y...

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Why we don’t like off the plan properties?

We all hear about the benefits of off the plan developments, but aside from stamp duty savings, groovy new dwellings and small holding deposits, what are some of the perils? Many investors have flocked to off plan developments in the past because they were either encouraged by the marketers who were promoting them, or lured by the stamp duty savin...

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