Having owned half a dozen investment houses over the years my wife and I tired of tenants, maintenance, high standing costs, high changeover cost, high stamp duty and sold them all.
If you are looking at investing $600K which is a figure used here by a few, compare buying a renter -v- buying a portfolio of blue chip stocks.
Having been a full time share investor for about 14 years, it is my experience that the two investment vehicles are cheese and chalk. Shares perform better, have far lower costs, no stamp duty, no standing costs like insurance and rates,are liquid - so you can sell in a second instead of months - you can cash out as much as you need, when you need, and provide a good income return with the bonus of franking credits. What's not to like?
I would never again buy an investment property; if I want to own property [other than my home] I buy listed property.
It is ingrained in the Australian psyche to own bricks and mortar as an investment, but having been there and done that, I'm sorry I did not take up share trading earlier and saved a truckload in thrown away expenses.
