Investing in beach side properties is a lifestyle decision that many Australians appear to be making. The Australia’s strong economy has withstood the global recession being experienced by many OECD countries during 2001 and 2002 thus interest rates have remained stable in general in the last 5 years notwithstanding recent rate rises.

Prices have continued to been determined by two factors:
a) Proximity to city and
b) Proximity to coast.
The biggest beneficiaries were those who owned property in Melbourne’s inner or bayside suburbs, or on the beach side properties located close to the city.

One area in particular is the Bass Coast region of San Remo, which offers stunning island, ocean and bay views, with a cliff top outlook that affords an idyllic getaway opportunity for landlocked Melbournians searching for the serenity of a coastal town. Bay views, beach walks, wineries and the explosion of golf clubs and resorts strongly support the growth in interest for beach side properties.
The following are reasons why beach side properties are booming:
a.    Families growing interest in owning beach front properties for holidays.
b.    Easy freeway access and by-passes that reduce travel times.
c.    Local councils support for tourism-based infrastructure.
d.    Increasing housing level quality and new.
e.    Development of resort style properties ready with family.
Appreciating population, tourism rental prospects, declining household sizes and rising incomes ensure that demand for dwellings constantly outpaces supply and prices continue to rise.
Investment options in these locations range from buying your own holiday house for your own personal use, to buying a holiday apartment which provides a year round rental return. If you hope to negatively gear your holiday house remember you can only claim tax deductions on the period the house was actually occupied by tenants throughout the year, a common mistake made by many aspiring investors.
Beach side property investment continues to attract plenty of Australian investors. This trend is set to continue as more and more people join the bandwagon attracted by the lucrative prospects that beach side properties offer. Most beach side properties like other real estate investments appreciate in value with time, this means that a timely and prudently done investment in this sector will afford an investor gainful returns for a long time.

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Rental real estate property ownership seems to be gaining popularity as investor’s grow weary of the dives and swoops of the stock market. What is evident though is the fact that not everyone has what it takes to be a landlord. Those that do may find rental real estate an ideal way to build wealth.
Once you decide to invest in rental property, your real work begins. Locating a lucrative rental real estate property typically takes time, connections and a lot of research.

Tips to get you started:
Recognize your time horizon
Similar to most other investments, you need to have a good idea of how long you plan to own a rental property before you purchase it. The longer you plan to own the property, the more you’ll probably need to invest in maintenance, repairs and improvements.
If you intend to keep it for 20 or more years, then at some point you may be going to be putting a new roof on that property. You’ll definitely put in new appliances and doing some major repairs. Therefore, if you’re only planning to own a property for 5 years, by contrast, you’ll probably want to avoid making any major improvements unless you’re sure you can recover the cost with a higher resale price.
Shorter time horizon may also expose you to more investment risk. Though your rental will almost certainly appreciate over twenty years, it may as well easily lose value in the next five years, chiefly if you’re buying in a worked up market. You may need a bigger potential yearly return to cover up for that risk.
For most small investors, longer-term rental ownership makes the most sense, you’ll have plenty of time to ride out any market swings, and rental income can make a nice supplement to your day job. Find enough rental properties, and being a landlord may become your day job.
If you intent to get a loan to finance your rental property ventures, then ensure that your credit is low, since this gives you better prospects of getting a decent loan, higher consumer credit is highly discouraged.

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It’s a popular market sentiment that property prices will experience a downward trend in 2009. Thus 2009 being a buyer’s market means that bargain hunters will be busy on the lookout in the Australian property market. Since some location fare better than others, market analysts are already searching for property hotspots. Lower housing affordability together with rising interest rates, skyrocketing fuel prices and increasing household spending continues to fuel the demand for the broader market.

The Australian bureau of statistics has reported that house prices depreciated to the lows of 1.8 per cent in the last quarter, the biggest documented drop since 1980s. The only cushion for the market being the active employment market, immigration and well controlled supply. The situation has slowly worsened, with the global recession being viewed to likely bring about asset disposals and, possibly, a depression. This turn of events has forced Market analyst’s to adopt a more protective approach towards investment opportunities.

Their attitude is informed by the belief that besides general opportunities to pick up troubled assets, there are areas that will experience greater property volatility than others. Though the occurrence of this situation offers greater bargain opportunities and capital gains for the longer term, it is important to be objective.

Many property forecasters believe that Adelaide and Melbourne stands a better chance than most of the other metropolis in the long term, this is because easier land supply boosts affordability hence makes the city a property hotspot and easy for private developers to work. Adelaide and Melbourne both have the benefit of competitive land supply and strong immigration levels.  Queensland area is more of a wildcard. The government has declared that it wants to establish a green belt on the south coast and is releasing land in the hinterland; an action many believe will stop growth.

Perth will most likely be linked with the mining sector and a move that carries greater investment risk, since prices are already overstated. Darwin is also believed to be expensive. Sydney has historically favored to move towards the Sunshine State, so the looming wave of retiring baby boomers should help keep the floor under control. Property hotspots are hard to ascertain, but do your research carefully and you will benefit.

Love life, not just the weekends. You only have one life, Live It! @ www.NicciAndLee.com