For a limited time you can read Robert Kiyosaki’s (author of the RIch Dad, Poor Dad Series) latest book for free online.

Here’s a bit about what you can expect from the book from their website:

“Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money will share Kiyosaki’s view of global economics and explore why people are now finding themselves challenged by these turbulent times. Kiyosaki will not only provide people with solutions to their financial problems, but explain what created today’s economic chaos — and how it can be eased. Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money will reveal that what appears to be the worst of times is actually an opportunity in the making, and a chance for people to invest in their financial education.”

Read it here - only available for another 2 weeks online and then you’ll have to buy the book when it comes out.

Just incase you didn’t see or hear about this report from ANZ’s chief economist, here is a PDF copy of the Report.

Basically it covers the the current supply and demand constraints on the Australian housing market. It then goes on to talk about the mother of all housing booms in to occur in Australia in the next 5 to 10 years.

Although the global finacial crisis has deepened significantly since this report came out, the basic fundementals still apply.

Download the report and have a read here: ANZ Economic Outlook October 2008

Well what a few months it has been, it’s like the last few years of the stock market’s bull run never happened.

So how did we get here? Well heres a quick visual run down.

Hopefully most of you haven’t been hit too badly if you have been trading for yourselves, but if your anything like me your Super (401k) has taken a beating in the last year. In fact the only person I know who’s super has gone up in the last year is my father in-laws, who I advised that the market was peaking last year so he smartly moved it into cash. He reminds me of it every time I see him…  If only I followed my own advice! Unfortunetaly for him as cash rates are coming down so fast at the moment, soon that won’t be offering much either.

So what do we do?

I’ve personally been getting educated the last few months, and comparing this financial crisis to the only thing that even comes close and that is bear markets and crashes of the past.
The main thing that has stuck with me from anything I’ve read or learned in the last few months about similar times like these is that after every crash or bear market money flows into property with a lag in time.  The lag is the only thing that worries me at this time as it may be longer than in the past due to strict financial conditions.
Here in Australia we do not have the housing over supply situation that America does. We have a large shortfall that is actually increasing. This undersupply is what will support Australian house prices. It all comes down to supply and demand. Sure some areas will do worse than others and even fall in value but in general we will not see huge falls in the price of our homes.
One thing is for sure at the moment, if you have the equity and can get the finance it seems like there are some great long term property deals at the moment. It’s the first time in years I’ve looked through realestate.com.au or the paper and seen some properties that actually seem cheap.  Avoid the usual supects of off the plan and high density apartments (these will do worse than others at the moment), just look for good location (with in 10ks of a city) decent property. The buyers are few and far between at the moment and some sellers are just getting desperate or sick of being on the market and they are dropping prices or accepting much lower offers.
Another thing worth investigating is property sub division. I’m currently working on splitting a property into 3 at the moment about 7Km’s from the city. The land will apeal to first home buyers with their increased building grant up until June 30 2009. I’m also dipping into some unit renovations to see how that fares in these times. I’ll keep you informed.
The 2nd lag to consider is the lower interest rates lag. It usually takes about 3 months for interest rate cuts to take any effect, but as we are getting big ones every month at the moment I think this is holding buyers off further seeing where they will stop. I’m sure by early next year they will slow down and the new year the property market should settle and have buyers return as long as unemployement doesn’t become too much of a problem.

Other problems at the moment mainly relate to finance.  Just this week 2 of the major mortgage insurers have made low doc loans a lot less usefull by allowing only a 60% lend instead of 80%. This I beleive has effected most of the big banks. This will have me looking for money else where too in any future deals which could be costly.

The other possible major finance problem is what Bill Zheng from Investors Direct calls the perfect storm. This is basically where sometime in 2009 or 2010 the world decides that Australia is in over its head financially and will not lend us any more money. We’ve been getting deeper and deeper into debt for decades and basically it can’t go on for ever…..  See Bill’s DVD’s here for more info on this one and for what he thinks you should do to prepare. I personally hope that this doesn’t occur and is sorted out some other way…..

Any way I’ve dribbled on enough for now, good luck with your Investing!

Check out this site for up to the mintue real estate and finance news.

Want to see what you need to buy in what suburb of Australia to help you pay off that investment property or even put some money in your pocket every month?

Well here is your answer:

Real Estate Investar (http://www.realestateinvestar.com.au) is giving away their “Australia’s Highest Yielding Suburbs Report” for free. They normally charge $49 for this report so grab yours now while it’s still available.

Download the PDF Report Here

Also check out the Real Estate Investar website for great news, ideas, events and tools to help you with your property investing.

Steve Mcknight from propertyinvesting.com has just released his July video update. If you are a current property investor or home owner or you are thinking of entering the property market in the next 6 months then you will want to see this video.

Steve McKnight covers:

1. Everything you need to know about recent important press articles
2. Is there a Housing Boom On The Horizon?
3. Current State Of The Property Market
4. To Fix Or Not To Fix

Steve also goes on to mention his upcoming one off seminar in Melbourne on the 9th of August. More info on that here.

You can check out the Video here.

On my recent property travels around the interweb, I’ve found these handy sites.

1. http://www.hotspotting.com.au - this site allows you to purchase reports (most are $88) on hotspots, high growth areas, no go zones and more.
2. http://www.positiverealestate.com.au/ - lists properties by investment strategy. For example if you are looking for subdivisions, strata titling or positive cash flow properties you can do it all from this site. There is also a heap of other tools and information available.
3. http://www.propertyupdate.com.au/0108/seminar_download.htm - Lastly this site has available Michael Yardney’s last web cast as an MP3, 2 special reports and an ebook available for download. Check em out.

If you haven’t heard of Residex before it’s about time you did.
Residex sell reports on predicted housing capital growth by area. You can get a report on the whole state or report on a single suburb or postcode.

They have a good newsletter that is worth signing up for to with sneak peeks at reports and overall market reports.
In this weeks newsletter included was one page from their “Market as a Whole” report. It is quite an informative page and includes comments on:

• The difference between The Australian housing market and the US & UK markets
• Population growth
• Demographic Change
• Housing Affordability
• Residex’s View on the current shape of things

You can view this full page preview here.

If you want to check out Residex’s very informative site, purchase a report on a certain area or sign up to the newsletter you can do that from here.

Steve McKnight and the propertyinvesting.com team have got a heap of gifts waiting for you at their site.

Included in your basket of presents are:

• Listen to Steve’s Christmas message as he reflects on 2007 and outline how to prepare for success in 2008.
• Free e-book – ‘Fundamentals of Investing Success’.
• Free video: Hot Spotting! Discover the #1 factor that investors should look for when seeking high growth locations.
• Mystery Prize - Entertaining but not investment related…  Xmas related.
• 3 Day Mega Conference - Grab a great deal
• Free Chapter – Interest rates are on the up and up - read what Steve’s advice
• Free video: Latest Deal

So head on over there now before Christmas is over!

Merry Christmas!

For first timers renovating, setting and sticking to a budget is paramount so as not to over capitalise.  The usual budget for a reno job is about 5% of the purchase price of the property.

From there:

• Research what needs to be done to the property and who will do the work (yourself or reliable tradesmen)
• Start from the Street - Street appeal - paint, render, new fence, new letter box etc
• Inside - flooring (floorboards or tiles and carpet), paint (neutral colours), blinds for curtains etc
• Kitchen - use cheap and effective ideas such as tile paint , laminate paint and new handles for cupboards and just replacing bench tops.
• Bathroom - make it look big and clean - mirror, whites, tub and tile paint, get rid of the shower curtain, new taps \ vanity and toilet if necessary
• Adding other value items that your tenants will appreciate such as a dishwasher and an Air Conditioner

Remember most renovations should be done within 4 weeks.

Good Luck and to read more about the subject head on over to the Reno Kings Web Site.

Our good friends over at International Living have provided us with a free e-book titled “To Have or To Lease: A Global Guide to Property Ownership Rules and Restrictions”.

This book gives you all the info you need on over 25 different countries.  Questions like: Should buy there? Can you buy there? What regulations are there? How do I buy? What entity’s can buy there? Am I better off to lease there?

All those questions and more are answered in this handy report.

Why not build a global property empire, you can get in on all the property waves and hedge your local risk.

Check it out here (PDF)